Enrich our legacy by moving forward

The Thirty Meter Telescope is committed to supporting Hawaii’s next generation of STEM students. I am evidence of that.

It helps sponsor the Akamai Workforce Initiative, which provides college students with internships at observatories and companies throughout Hawaii. Because of this, I have been able to do research, present at a symposium, and network with great people in some of Hawaii’s leading tech field industries. TMT has done a lot to support me as a Hawaiian in the past.

So last Thursday, when the University of Hawaii’s Board of Regents held a meeting to allow the general public to voice their opinions about the TMT, hearing parents of UH students speak so strongly against the telescope, well, it was extremely disappointing. Some even went as far as to state that if TMT is to be built, they will pull their children from the university. The absurdity of this declaration left me stunned. Why vilify the university? Why deny students the immense opportunity of higher learning? Doing either of those will accomplish nothing.

Those working with the TMT have proven time and time again over the past seven years that they are just as committed to preserving and protecting Mauna Kea and its archaeological sites as those of the Native Hawaiian community. The TMT’s environmental impact study has shown that it won’t adversely affect the aquifer. It will be a zero waste facility. TMT has chosen an aluminum coating for the dome to reflect its natural surroundings and camouflage the telescope as to not disturb Mauna Kea’s natural aesthetic.

They have even held public forums and asked for input from the community for years, and those in the community have supported them. As a Native Hawaiian University of Hawaii student, I can’t help but feel deeply saddened by the protests against the TMT.

My grandma always reminds me, "Don’t be an ‘alamihi crab!" She tells me that if ‘alamihi crabs are in a bucket and one tries to escape, the others will pull him back down into the bucket with the rest of them. "Instead," she encourages, "be like the ‘a’ama crab. He would rather lift his friends up than pull them down."

I have and will always choose to lift my people up. I truly believe if my ancestors were alive today that they would lift us up to new heights. I also believe they would be so proud that the mountain that they held so sacred would be held in such high regard by the global scientific community. It feels only fitting that the peak that Hawaiians held so dear would be an extraordinary gateway to that of great progress and discovery.

Mauna Kea has been chosen and proven to be superior to any other site on Earth for the telescope. With the TMT, we might be able to see to the edge of the observable universe — to see galaxies form, identify new stars and planets, to make the once unimaginable seem attainable. How astounding would it be, that in the vast and ever expanding universe, if one telescope in the middle of the Pacific answered some of life’s most burning questions.

UH and the TMT have taken every measure to safeguard the wants and needs of the people and of Mauna Kea.

TMT is committed to supporting everyone in the furthering of progress. I am evidence of that. TMT has done a lot to support me as a Hawaiian in the past, and it is beyond fitting that I support them now as a Hawaiian looking toward the future.