MISSILE TESTING

WEST COAST GOT MORE ATTENTION THAN HAWAI'I

Just wondering? With all this hype about the North Korea missile test, all I have heard from the U.S. government and media is about how worried they were about the missiles' capability to reach the West Coast of the United States. Nothing about their "Tropical 50th State!"

Funny, no worries about the missiles' capability to hit Hawai'i. You would think with 25 percent of our land dedicated to the military that their "little tropical getaway" would garner some attention. Does anyone even know if Hawai'i is covered in the "United States Missile Defense System" which was up and running and looking out for the West Coast?

The most recent information shows that the long-range missile North Korea was testing was pointed in the direction of Hawai'i and if successful would have come close to the Islands. But, the "experts" say that damage would have been minimal! Can anyone define "minimal?" I don't know about you, but that comment sure made me feel expendable!

KAMEHAMEHA SCHOOLS

123 YEARS OF TRADITION SHOULDN'T BE DESTROYED

Eric Neeck is absolutely right (June 28). Kamehameha Schools should give preference to full-blooded Hawaiian children. Pauahi's sole intention was to educate her people and raise them out of the dismal conditions of 1883.

Today, as Mr. Neeck points out, the school admits only the "best and the brightest" Hawaiian children. But what is his solution? He wants the 9th U.S. Circuit Court to "shut this fraud down." But how will this help educate Hawaiian children? In fact, by ending Kamehameha School's racial preference policy more Hawaiians will be denied access to the school. The most "at-risk" Hawaiian children will have to compete with the best and the brightest non-Hawaiian children. Is leveling the education playing field the answer or is there a hidden agenda?

Instead of arguing for the dismantling of the school policy, why not work with the school to re prioritize its admission policy? Why not organize? There's power in numbers when the case is pono. Why destroy 123 years of well-intentioned tradition?

150 YEARS

PICTURES IN ZIPPY'S AD APPARENTLY MISDATED

Regarding "150 Years of Hawai'i History" Special in Sunday July 2, 2006, issue. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the many facets of your special in Sunday's paper. However, being sort of a history buff, myself, with particular emphasis on automobiles, I could not help but notice an obvious discrepancy. On page AA-9, there was a full-page advertisement for Zippy's Drive-In, which included two pictures of their McCully location. The picture on the top portion of the page was reported taken in 1966 and the bottom one in 2006.

The first picture could not have been taken in 1966 since the two vehicles on the left were built in the 1970s; the extreme left car is a second generation Chevy Camaro, built from 1970 through 1973.

The vehicle next to the Camaro is a Ford Maverick, which was built from 1970 through 1979. My guess would be that the Maverick is an early '70s model.

While this may be an insignificant detail, I felt that it should be pointed out, as I'm sure that others may notice the discrepancy. If the information came from Zippy's, someone may want to inform them so they can correct their files.

OHA CENTER

SITE NEAR HARBOR VITAL FOR SHIPPING NEEDS

I truly believe that native Hawaiians deserve a center to call their own. But building OHA's headquarters next to Pier 1 in Kaka'ako Makai is, to borrow Mayor Hannemann's buzzword, a "nice-to-have." That parcel next to Honolulu Harbor is vital to Hawai'i's future "need-to-have" infrastructure.

Honolulu Harbor is the main port of entry for the necessary goods that all people in Hawai'i use. A permanent building will keep the harbor from expanding, as our growing and thriving population will inevitably need it to. According to the state Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism, the Foreign Trade Zone at Pier 2 handled $4.7 billion in imports and exports in 2004 alone. If the harbor cannot grow with our economy, we are essentially choking ourselves.

A few months ago, Honolulu residents cursed our last mayor for ignoring the "need-to-have" infrastructure improvements in favor of spending on excessive "nice-to-have" projects. Let's not make the same mistake twice.

LITTERING

ATTITUDES MAY BE BIGGEST CHALLENGE

The letter about "Malama the 'aina" by Bill Carlile caught my eye as it was excellent, but I don't think it went far enough.

There are signs along our highways about littering and the fines that go with it. That kind of littering pales in comparison to the littering that is going on in our neighborhoods from Kahala to Kaimuki, Palolo to Kalihi. It's called "bulky item pickup," which occurs so infrequently that our communities are starting to look like trash dumps. It's not just bulky items that are being put out for pickup but all kinds of manini junk. Seeing open toilets on the sidewalk would make me laugh if it weren't so offensive. The sad thing is that just as soon as pickup is made, people start all over again. I have been with visitors who are horrified at our lack of "malama for the 'aina." I, too, am so disgusted with the lack of any kind of pride in our neighborhoods.

Having Lt. Gov. Aiona champion an educational drive would be a good thing, but so much more is needed. As a start, more money should be allocated to more than once-a-month pickups. But the biggest challenge as I see it is changing the careless and don't-give-a-damn attitudes of some of our citizens. How does one do that — community center awareness education?

YAP CULTURE

WESTERNIZATION SHIFTED PRIORITIES

Mogethin (Hello)! I'm writing regarding Richard Paddock's article about culture in Yap, Micronesia (July 2). I appreciate Paddock's interest in Yapese culture, but I believe additional perspectives could have been explored to create a more complete picture of Yap.

His interviewees primarily were from the higher castes. I can see how and why they would want to keep what is interpreted as Yapese tradition since they benefit from it. Had Paddock interviewed Yapese from other castes and women, he probably would have found that we don't share the thoughts expressed in the article.

As Paddock states, the Yapese caste system was frozen in time during the German occupation of Yap. Prior to German influence, the caste system was constantly changing. Likewise, prior to westernization, gender roles were equally valued. Today, women's roles are increasingly undervalued. Unfortunately, westernization has created a shift in priorities. Chiefs, who are supposed to put the needs of their villagers first, have an excellent opportunity to model strong Yapese traditions for their communities.

HURRICANES

LET'S CONCENTRATE ON STRENGTHENING HOMES

I talked to the insurance commissioner several weeks ago to find out about the status of the 30% rebate for Hawai'i's homeowners who install hurricane clips and was told it would take several more months before the program was in operation. I was told "If you want to learn more about this, you'll have to go to the Insurance Commissioner's Web site."

It has always been my contention that we should be concentrating on making our existing homes stronger and more able to cope with hurricane winds. That would reduce insurance costs and better protect our families and possessions.

I have testified before the Senate and House on how weak our homes are and how easy it would be to strengthen the weakest area of most homes - the wall-to-roof connection. With the simple addition of metal hurricane ties, all the nails are driven perpendicular to the uplift forces of hurricane winds, and the thick bracket ties the roof to the wall.

I have been informed by the local newspapers that the largest hurricane insurer, Zephyr Insurance Company Inc., will no longer sell hurricane insurance for any single-wall homes. If these homes are so weak that they can no longer obtain hurricane insurance, are any of our government organizations doing anything about it?

I will be giving a free talk at the Kapolei Public Library on Saturday, July 15, at 10:30 a.m. to inform homeowners how easy and inexpensive it is to upgrade their homes, without having to pay exorbitant insurance costs. If our homes are as weak as the insurance companies claim, how will they pay to replace these destroyed homes? Didn't we learn anything from Katrina?

What would happen if our port facilities and container cranes were destroyed by a hurricane, as happened in Korea several years ago? It would take at least six months just to replace the cranes.

Does anyone have a clear vision of what needs to be done and how to go about doing it before it is too late? Maybe we should look at ways of protecting things we already have.

UH-WEST O'AHU

UNDERSERVED GROUPS ARE BEING IGNORED

I find much irony in the two stories that appear side by side on the front page of the July 6 Advertiser. The stories demonstrate misplaced priorities of some members of the state Legislature. They fail to realize the potential benefits of investing in higher education. On the one hand, the annual bill for housing Island inmates in an Arizona prison will reach $50 million; on the other hand the legislators failed to approve $33.5 million in bond money toward the construction of a much-needed University of Hawai'i-West O'ahu campus. There is a connection between a society's level of educational attainment and its rate of crime. Education is a positive factor in the civil behavior of citizens.

The University of Hawai'i-West O'ahu has at least two programs that can affect crime statistics in the state.

First, there is the criminal justice administration program that educates future correctional personnel. Graduates of this program are well prepared to understand the dynamics of prisons and criminals and can approach their jobs in a more professional manner that affect the attitude and behaviors of inmates.

Second, there is the certificate program that educates future professionals in the area of substance abuse. This field is woefully short of qualified personnel and individuals whose knowledge and care can affect current and former drug abusers. The rate of recidivism in substance abuse is high, but with proper counseling of offenders it could be reduced. I personally know of several former substance abusers, who instead of returning to drugs, pursued education in the UH West O'ahu substance abuse program. They turned their lives around and helped others through careers in local social service agencies. This despite inadequate funding of the current programs and with personal sacrifice to them and to their professors.

The Legislature should take more seriously its mandate to serve the needs of all the people of Hawai'i. UH West O'ahu draws heavily from students from the Wai'anae coast; students who have no other access to higher education available to them; students who come from a geographic area where many have abandoned their dreams of success and instead have fallen into anti-social ways of survival.

We recently celebrated 100 years of Filipinos in Hawai'i. The West O'ahu campus enrolls the highest number of Filipinos of any UH baccalaureate degree-granting campus, yet funding for expanded programs for them and other under-served populations is ignored.