NATIVE HAWAIIANS

CEDED LANDS SHOULD BENEFIT THE MAJORITY

As I read Evan Silberstein's commentary, "Ceded lands appeal should be withdrawn" (Nov. 21), I couldn't help but think how sad it is that so much time is spent on ceded lands as a way to benefit Native Hawaiians when we have no evidence that it will.

OHA receives more than $20 million annually for this purpose, yet since its inception we continue to have more Hawaiians in trouble with the law, incarcerated, welfare dependents of the state and students failing to finish high school. These are all reasons why ceded lands should be used by the state to benefit the majority.

If our Hawaiian leaders really wanted to do something for their people, they would make every effort to see that our children have the same opportunity for a quality education as those in the advantaged areas. But then that would take work, ideas, bargaining, etc., and who has time for that?

RESOURCES

FILTER STORM WATER RUNOFF FOR DRINKING USE

We hear a lot about droughts these days and the horrible fires they can cause.

We also hear a lot about street flooding. For a perfect example of this, we need look no farther than our own island, to Mapunapuna, where, every high tide, Ahua Street floods. This can cost people huge amounts of money for flood repairs. It's pretty ironic that, while we complain about water shortages, huge amounts of water flood through our storm drains on rainy days, and nobody does anything to keep that water in a place where we can drink it.

Both of these problems trace back to water going through the storm drains. What if we just blocked up the storm drains where they pump out to the sea, then redid the piping so that it put the water that ran down the storm drains straight into a filter? In the event of a huge storm, we could just unplug the old pipes and let the water go out to sea.

If astronauts can drink their own filtered urine, we can drink filtered street runoff.

TEACHERS

RAISES SHOULD HAVE BEEN TIED TO DRUG TESTS

When the governor released the funds for the teachers' pay raises, it only confirmed what most of us knew: All politicians are terrified of offending the unions.

After all of the uproar and empty threats, the HSTA got exactly what it wanted. Pay raises and no drug testing.

Most people in Hawai'i knew this would happen, but as seems to be the case too often, we felt this time would be different.

Too bad the governor wimped out, just as all politicians do when it comes to a confrontation with a union in our state.

SAME-SEX UNIONS

NO ONE CAN CHANGE DEFINITION OF MARRIAGE

Put aside arguments of freedom, equality, inalienable rights and the pursuit of happiness. These words drawn from the Constitution only serve to confuse us.

The basic problem with same-sex marriage is that its proponents seek to redefine a historical social institution, some call it a sacrament. And at no time was the term "marriage" used to define "same-sex" union.

There have been societies that practiced bigamy, polygamy, polyandry, all under the name of "marriage." But there has never been a society that recognized "same-sex union" as "marriage."

And the term "marriage" is of great social importance. It unites two individuals of opposite sex, permanently, properly sanctioned by family, church and state. It legitimizes the children of this union with names, titles and inheritance rights.

And marriage not only unites two people. It unites families, villages, tribes, clans, nations, kingdoms, even empires.

Same-sex proponents would usurp "marriage" to confer its benefits upon their idea of a valid union. They want to change the definition of the word "marriage" to include a meaning it has never had — ever.

NA PALI COAST

PARK VOLUNTEERS MUST BE REGISTERED, TRAINED

There were several things not addressed in the Nov. 20 Advertiser article regarding the "volunteer" cited by the Department of Land and Natural Resources for camping in the Na Pali Coast State Park without a permit and possession of a weapon (bow and arrow) in a state park.

First, the individual was living and working (volunteering) out of a backcountry area without permits, or any training or direction on what to do. Camping and hunting permits are required for the area.

Department records indicate the individual does not have a hunting license nor has he taken a required hunter education course.

Volunteering to do trail maintenance and hunt goats is a worthy task, but it needs to be done in a coordinated manner that is safe for the individual and other park users, meets the needs of the park and provides the individual and department with appropriate liability coverage should they or someone be hurt.

Registering as a volunteer, having adequate training, licenses, permits and direction are necessary requirements, particularly when working and hunting in a remote area and in a heavily used recreation area.

Volunteers are a great aid in implementing DLNR projects in Hawai'i, but they need to meet basic safety and operational requirements.

SENIOR CITIZENS

ARE WE HARDENED TO PLEAS OF HOMELESS?

It seems that there are homeless people wherever we go in Honolulu. The most tragic of all are those homeless senior citizens who end up sleeping on the sidewalks and bus-stop benches. They pray for help and yet help never comes.

Have our hearts been so hardened that we fail to hear their silent plea for assistance?

What kind of society would abandon elderly citizens and leave them out to die on the streets — feeling hungry, dirty and all alone? Now is the time for the state and city governments to take care of them at such a time of desperate need.

Action speaks louder than words. We can say "The spirit of aloha" all day long, but as soon as the visitors arrive, they will soon see that this society does not care for the poor and homeless people. They will find abhorrent the way we neglect the basic needs of our senior citizens who have become homeless.