Letters to the Editor
GOVERNOR
DEMOCRATS SHOULD FOCUS ON THE ISSUES
The Nov. 3 letter to the editor from Brickwood Galuteria was so full of misconceptions and assumptions that there's no wonder the Democratic Party has had no one step up to run for governor.
Brickwood is too busy finding fault with one party he is obviously not focused on his own party. After all, he is the one who said he would find a candidate by Aug. 31. Even one of his own legislators in the House penned "Who wants the job of raising all that money and taking on a popular politician to boot?" (Advertiser commentary, Oct. 14).
Brickwood goes on to comment about the recent conviction of a House member and says he hopes "this event will not act like a catalyst to drive people away from the political process." He fails to mention prominent Democrats who got in trouble with the law.
We have important issues to discuss during the campaign like education reform, tax cuts, eliminating the gas cap and many others. It's time we discussed substantive issues with qualified candidates and not resort to rhetoric for political gain. Let's make this a positive campaign about who can best lead the people of this great state.
Sam AionaChairman, Hawai'i Republican Party
WAVE HEIGHTS
DIFFERENT FORECASTS MAY BE THE PROBLEM
Recent letters sent to The Advertiser from surf reporter Beau Hodge and Dr. Ricky Grigg were incorrect in saying that we at KGMB9 use the "Hawaiian scale" to measure waves. That is not the case.
I do believe in using "face heights" to judge waves. The need for a consistent scale is urgent for public safety and for communication. Surfers shouldn't judge a wave's height any differently from non-surfers. So why the difference in KGMB9's surf report from the other stations?
While I'm not sure, it seems the other stations use our National Weather Service's surf forecast exclusively for wave heights. It appears Dr. Grigg also does the same.
However, at KGMB9, we rely on four different surf forecasts, including the NWS, for our broadcast. Sometimes those numbers don't match up with the NWS and that's because there are times we think, based on the review of the other forecasts, that the waves will either be bigger or smaller than the NWS forecast.
This is no slight on the fine staff of professionals at the NWS. They look at several computer models to come up with each day's weather forecast; we're just doing the same with each surf forecast. And whenever possible, I try to verify our forecasts firsthand by actually catching a few waves.
I'm sure this debate will eventually be overcome, but it will take time.
Guy HagiKGMB9
KAKA'AKO
GIVE US MORE SPACE, NOT UNNEEDED CONDOS
Congressman Abercrombie and just about all residents in this area not in the construction business are against the idea of the state's idea to sell state land for $50 million for three 200-foot-tall leasehold condos for a total of 947 units. In this area, 40-story towers are going up, with 14 at last count.
Ala Moana Park is maxed out, with weekend use exceeding capacity. Usage at Kaka'ako Waterfront Park, a former dump, is up dramatically; it's a great place to ride bikes and watch the sun set over the ocean. The small strip of grass in front is used by children daily playing soccer.
Some 25,000 new residents will move into this area in the future; the 36 1/2 acres are badly needed to help residents and visitors escape the noise. Hawai'i has a huge surplus; put in a mini-golf course, coconut trees, bike paths and grass.
The Nov. 15 article and cute photo of the Kailua Beach pavilion dedication show the foresight of park planning; open space is the only need for this area for generations to come.
Tom SebasAla Moana
ALUMINUM VALUE
Where's extra penny from can redemption?
Prior to the bottle law, the recycling company used to pay us a penny or more for each aluminum can turned in. Now we pay a 5-cent deposit for each can we buy, and we only get 5 cents back on the redemption.
Why aren't we also getting an additional penny or more for the value of the aluminum? What happened to the penny? Does the recycling company get the can at no net cost?
If we residents have turned in 390 million cans since the law took effect, that's at least $3.9 million that we would have received prior to the law.
Dennis KoharaKaimuki
FOOTBALL LEGEND
IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD
Local legend has it that prior to the Farrington High School football victory over Kamehameha in 1965, a few Farrington graduates enviously answered, "Kamehameha, Lower Campus" when asked, "What school you wen grad?"
The legend continues that after the game in which the Govs won it all in '65, a few Kamehameha graduates in tribute to the Farrington victory said that they proudly wen grad from Farrington, Upper Campus!
Richard Y. WillWaikiki
INCENTIVES
NEW FARM LEGISLATION IMPORTANT TO BUSINESS
The Hawai'i Farm Bureau Federation (a nonprofit organization) supports the efforts of the Economic Momentum Commission in recognizing a landmark legislation, Act 183, which provides the framework for farmers to receive incentives and support to keep them farming and to ensure the preservation of Hawai'i's agriculture industry.
Act 183 acknowledges that the people of Hawai'i recognize the significant challenges that present-day farmers face and that they are willing to help them meet those challenges so that they can succeed, remain in business and keep lands in agriculture.
Farming is a tough business, and farmers can benefit from the same kind of support provided to other industries valued by the people of Hawai'i such as tourism and high-tech.
As we move forward with the implementation of Act 183, we will fight to ensure that the true intent of this law is fulfilled. We must be prepared to help those willing to farm and to keep lands in agriculture. This is about supporting agriculture, not about preventing development. If the focus is allowed to change, there will be many losers — the farmers, the state of Hawai'i and the general public.
Farming is not a lifestyle. It is not a rural ambience. Farming is first and foremost a business. And, like any other business, it must be profitable to be sustained.
Dean OkimotoPresident, Hawai'i Farm Bureau Federation
DEVELOPMENT
WAIMEA VALLEY MUST BE PRESERVED FOR US
Our tiny island (much smaller than most counties on the Mainland) is a microcosm of the world. Yet we continue to sell great chunks of it to those who have no interest in our history, culture or people, but only money.
Waimea is the last unspoiled valley on O'ahu, with a stream that runs from the mountains to the sea unimpeded by concrete culverts or fertilizers and pesticides. The City & County agreed to buy this treasure to protect it from developers, and now it seems that they may get their hooks into our last valley after all.
Our historic home, including Waimea, is a finite resource. Once it's gone (developed), it's gone forever. None of us ordinary island folks will ever set foot in it again.
I volunteer in the valley. Every day I see hundreds of people from all over the world tell me this is the Hawai'i they came to see.
Soon we will have nothing left to share with them. Auwe, auwe, auwe.
Mary LeandroKailua
DO IT RIGHT
VACATION RENTALS DON'T HAVE TO CREATE FEAR
Thank you, F. Kenneth Stokes, for a reasoned commentary on vacation rentals that presents solid numbers in place of the hysterical, fear-mongering numbers thrown around by politicians and the few disgruntled but very vocal people who oppose this homegrown, valid aspect of the Islands' tourism economy.
All we seem to hear is the so-far-baseless fear that vacation rentals are a threat to neighborhoods. This Nov. 13 op-ed should serve as the basis for a fresh look at these new numbers, and as a fresh approach to an innovative part of the tourism industry.
Stokes' principal conclusions are that the vacation rental business:
It is time to be creative instead of fearing vacation rentals; fear shuts down the creative process. A positive outlook, along with the reality of these new real numbers, should generate more fresh ideas, thereby leading us to a way to integrate this cottage industry optimally into our tourism market in a way that will benefit all of us.
T.A. LopezKailua
UARC DEBATE
U.S. A SCAPEGOAT IN OVERTHROW
According to a Honolulu Advertiser report regarding the establishment of a university-affiliated research center at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa, a group of faculty members recently wrote a report stating that UARC "could also color decision-making by the university, causing the institution to fall more closely in line with U.S. Department of Defense goals" ("Faculty lists concerns on UH-Navy contract," Nov. 9).
Given that the primary goal of the DOD is the protection and preservation of the U.S. Constitution, one might be forgiven for wondering how on earth any UH-Manoa faculty member could possibly object to such a goal?
One thing this anti-Navy carping reveals is the uncritical acceptance of a historical fairy tale to support an entrenched cabal of self-anointed, latter-day "victims." One phrase in the report is particularly illuminating in this regard: " ... given the U.S. military involvement in the overthrow of Hawai'i's sovereign government ... "
The idea that a handful of embarked Marines on a single sailing vessel could have overwhelmed an entire island nation — a nation that itself was formed less than a century earlier in ferocious, bloody conflict involving tens of thousands of indigenous warriors and capable combat leaders — is utter rubbish.
The only job any sovereign has is to preserve the kingdom entrusted to his or her stewardship.
This sovereign in question blew it big time thanks to a combination of interrelated factors that included lack of adequate preparation for a demanding job, lousy judgment once on the job, a tendency to feel sorry for herself, and worst of all, a fatal inability — or, worse, unwillingness — to master the politics of her own court.
In this context, Uncle Sam was, and remains, nothing but a handy scapegoat, an uncomplaining dartboard used by Johnny-come-lately victim wannabes to divert attention from the wretched performance of this monarch, who will always be remembered for losing the kingdom she was given while it was still in its historical infancy.
That such rubbish is embraced by those who are determined to feel sorry for themselves in the midst of a serendipitous cornucopia of opportunity unequaled in the history of man and that such imagined victimhood is actually celebrated at UH-Manoa says all we need to know about a make-believe "university" right out of a Gilbert & Sullivan comic opera.
Let's get real. The United States Navy is not some baby sitter in the business of consoling self-pitying thumb-suckers who grandly presume to speak for all those of Hawaiian ancestry. There are much better candidates for a research-intensive UARC than a place dominated by cognitively challenged, lemming-like horde of faculty crybabies determined to cling to a politically correct fairy tale.
Thomas E. StuartVietnam veteran, Kapa'au, Hawai'i
