VISIBLY ACTIVE

CATALUNA'S CLAIMS ABOUT AIONA A JOKE

I was shocked and surprised at Lee Cataluna's column (June 10) claiming that James "Duke" Aiona has been marginalized as lieutenant governor.

Duke has been 10 times more active than any past lieutenant governor I can remember. Cataluna even implies that Mazie Hirono was more active in initiatives than Duke.

That is a joke. He has been front and center on the war on drugs, pushing many anti-drug initiatives. More recently, he has taken on underage drinking. He actively worked in other areas like the homeless issue and more.

This is by far the most front-and-center LG in years.

CLICK IT

SEAT-BELT OPPONENTS ARE FOOLING THEMSELVES

Many are upset over the "Click It or Ticket" campaign and defy advice to buckle up. Yet these people read the papers and watch TV and see over and over again how people not wearing seat belts get killed.

So why do they refuse to wear seat belts and rail against that campaign, so upset they write letters to the editor? It's because they have an abnormally strong faith that "it won't happen to me." Without that kind of faith you couldn't walk down the street for fear that a car will run up on the sidewalk and kill you, for example.

With those protesters against wearing lap belts, this faith is overly strong when it comes to driving a car or riding in one.

Believe it! It can happen to you, too!

WHY TARGET SOME DRIVERS, IGNORE OTHERS?

Oh, the irony of watching a driver receiving a ticket for not wearing a seat belt while being passed by one or more pickup trucks whose beds are full of children sitting unrestrained. Yet there is a law which requires dogs must be tethered!

Oh, and what about the hundreds of moped riders buzzing about our streets with neither a helmet nor seat belt? Something is truly wrong with this picture.

GOLF

ISLAND-STYLE CHARM LOST AT MANOA TOURNEY

This morning I attempted to take in the beauty of O'ahu Country Club and watch some of the golfers competing in the Manoa Cup, the state match play championship for amateurs. It had been some years since I last visited the club as a guest or a competitor.

Unfortunately, the charm and informal nature of Manoa Cup week has disappeared. Outsiders, whether a competitor, caddy or spectators, were welcomed. You could see locals of all sorts, dressed in more casual attire of T-shirts and slippers, wandering the course as they followed the action of players such as David Ishii and other aspiring competitors. Or they could listen to the spicy, colorful tales of Babe Carter.

Today, dressed in a tank top and slippers (at least I was wearing a pair of Scott's), I was asked to leave the "property" because I was in violation of their dress code.

As I said, I had not visited the club in several years, and perhaps everyone else is aware of the dress code, and that all spectators will strictly adhere to the dress code, which according to the club receptionist will be enforced all week.

Nonetheless, I cannot help but feel a little bit of the charm of the championship has been lost from the time when my father caddied for me in his white non-collared T-shirt and $1.99 Longs slippers.

KAMEHAMEHA

ONE OF THE BEST HULA FESTIVALS, RIGHT HERE

Here we are, only days away from what could be (should be) the biggest, best-attended hula competition in the world, and we have not seen anything about it in either the newspapers or on television.

It's called the 34th Annual King Kamehameha Hula Competition and will be held on Friday and Saturday, June 22-23, in the huge, comfortable, air-conditioned Blaisdell Arena. Some of the best halau hula in the world will compete, and the dancers and teachers will very likely outnumber the audience.

Tens of thousands of visitors in nearby Waikiki will not even know about the event, and once again, most hotels will do nothing to inform their guests of this wonderful, entertaining Hawaiian cultural event. Local residents who don't have dancers in their families also will very likely not know about it. And no one, it seems, will either read or hear about it after the event is over.

That the event is held in a more populated locale in Hawai'i, with the largest number of hotel rooms nearby, and in a comfortable, wonderfully equipped arena, should mean that it could be the best attended hula event ever — if only people knew about it.

Unlike the equally exciting Merrie Monarch Festival in Hilo, there will not be feature stories and color photographs in the Honolulu newspapers, or televised coverage on the local television stations. Am I alone in thinking there is something wrong with this scenario?

There is ample parking, and securing airline and hotel accommodations is not a problem. You don't even have to buy your tickets a year in advance. You can buy them now at the Blaisdell ticket office or on the days of the event.

CONSTRUCTION

JUST WHO DECIDES ON BUILDING PERMITS?

There are many people asking the same questions Mr. Arbitrario asks ("Infrastructure seems overburdened already," Letters, June 13) regarding continued construction without consideration of the impact on the associated infrastructure.

I would like to add to his list the following: The water system is old and mains continue to require emergency repair, the Department of Education cannot seem to find an adequate number of teachers to operate schools (without routine use of substitutes) and we are promised additional schools.

I also ask: Who's giving out the building permits? And is anyone considering the consequences of continued, almost out-of-control building, or is it the bottom line of someone's ledger?

TRAVEL

NEW AIRLINE GO! HAS OPENED SKIES IN ISLES

The reporting about go! Airlines has been very unfair in describing Aloha and Hawaiian Airlines as Hawai'i's finest and inferring that go! is using unfair tactics.

Back up a little prior to the arrival of go! Airlines and see how both Aloha and Hawaiian Airlines were joined in a classic case of monopolizing interisland travel by setting prices and schedules that made travel a nightmare.

To go from Kaua'i to Honolulu roundtrip, the prices were $278.

At the same time, both airlines offered roundtrips to the Mainland with prices of $299.

The arrival of go! Airlines has allowed me to visit my grandchildren and have them visit me.

Go, go! Airlines!

KAU INOA

KUMU MUST EDUCATE CIVIC CLUBS ON FUTURE

For many years the Hawaiian civic clubs never said a peep about things political. All of a sudden, when Bruss Keppeler forms a corporation, he steers the civic clubs in the direction to collect the signatures of the Native Hawaiians to make Native Hawaiians a part of his American corporation.

I liken this to a story in the Bible, when Ishmael's mother tries to steal the rights of Isaac in a similar way. Kau Inoa will only marginalize your grandchildren and great-grandchildren when the federal government is given the last say on what Hawaiians can or cannot do on Hawaiian lands.

Shame, shame, shame on the civic clubs and all of you for not educating the people about what they are giving up and what they gain through Kau Inoa. It is not only culturally pono, na kumu have moral responsibility to the Native Hawaiians and Hawai'i to do the right thing.

MAUI RESERVE

PRESERVATION DEMANDS RATIONAL ENFORCEMENT

I read the June 12 article about the 'Ahihi-Kina'u Natural Area Reserve with concern.

Efforts by bureaucrats and do-gooders probably represent one of the most intense public relations actions in Hawai'i. Too bad the interpretations are grossly inaccurate.

We walked to the man-made pond known as "Fish Bowl" yesterday to snorkel and picked up all of the trash we could find. The "trash" was mostly incidental micro-trash and it all fit nicely into a Ziploc sandwich bag.

We could not have gone to the area known as the "Aquarium" because the start of the path has been walled off since our last visit.

People become rational environmentalists by experiencing the beauty of nature, not being fenced or walled away from it.

The sign at the reserve says we need to preserve the area for future generations. Do the bureaucrats have a plan to re-open the area in another 200-plus years?

We need some rational management at the reserve. Maybe spend some money to put some clear signs that give helpful guidance. Does the existing sign that includes "feed fish" mean feed the fish or don't feed the fish? I know what it means because we were instructed not to feed the fish (and why) by the guide through the reserve waters on a paid kayak trip before the kayak companies were ceremoniously kicked out several years ago.

Somebody needs to step up and be sensible before no one can enjoy the beauty of the reserve area, except maybe those future generations.