Koa, sandalwood project admirable

What an inspiring venture — preserving koa and also growing sandalwood alongside to sustain and to preserve Hawaii’s legacy ("Leaving a legacy," Star-Advertiser, Sept. 21).

Koa and sandalwood are natural partners. Sandalwood advocate Leigh-Wai Doo has been trying for years to get our Legislature to do something to grow and preserve our sandalwood trees in Hawaii. Much of our history is linked to the sandalwood. Early Chinese traders referred to Hawaii as the Sandalwood Mountain or Fragrant Sandalwood Mountain. The many uses of sandalwood are well-documented.

Now our famous sandalwood has practically disappeared. There are a few growing in Honolulu because of Leigh-Wai’s work. A pair sits in the front entrance of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office building on Pali Highway.

The U.S. China Peoples Friendship Association in Hawaii takes pride in helping to preserve and propagate the sandalwood trees and their significance to our Hawaii.

Chu Lan Shubert-Kwock
Chinatown

Terrorists can wreak havoc easily

9/11 has taughtus that it takes but a few determined extremists to injure and kill thousands of innocent people and bring down a nation’s economy, and not even a gun or bomb is needed. In this case, just a few box cutters were sufficient.

How is it possible then that we hear so-called experts opine that ISIS is not an imminent threat to the United States? How can they possibly know? The intent, willingness and determination of ISIS to attack the United States could not be clearer. All it takes is a plane ticket to fly into our country or two legs to walk across our porous southern border.

So when demonstratively cruel, brutal and evil people threaten us while lopping off the heads of innocentpeople, the American people cannot be faulted for feeling intimidated and fearful. When our home and families are so threatened, can there be any surprise that Americans demand that doors and windows to our home be shut and bolted?

Those politicians who cannotsee this will be laughed out of office.

Nelson S.W. Chang
Kaneohe

Stop plans to build on Mauna Kea

The Pacific Asian Community Alliance stands in solidarity with efforts to preserve sacred Mauna Kea.

Mauna Kea is revered as the eldest son of Wakea, the sky father. This mountain is of utmost importance to the identity, history and culture of Native Hawaiians. The construction of an 18-story telescope would devastate this sacred mountain. Five acres of native habitat would be destroyed, view planes that are used by traditional Hawaiian astronomers would be blocked, and the land used by natives for prayer and traditional customs would be permanently altered.

Such an act of environmental degradation would be both a tremendous insult and tremendous injury to the indigenous people of Hawaii, against whom colonialism has continuously committed outrageous systemic violence for centuries.

We demand that plans for the construction of this 18-story telescope to destroy Mauna Kea are stopped immediately.

Rina Sundahl
Steering committee member, Pacific Asian Community Alliance Eugene, Ore.

Police should police their own better

Our police chief is correct that a proper investigation must be conducted to protect the rights ofall parties in cases of alleged domestic abuse.

Domestic abuse is a national issue and not a new problem.Many believe that it is futile to report incidents of domestic abuse as the female involved is blamed for causing the problem or refusing to file a followup complaint.

However, repeat offenders are perceived to be guilty without further evidence.

There is a widespread community belief that the "uniformed brothers" of the police department, fire department and paramedics will do everything they can to protect each other when one of them is perceived to be in trouble with the law. My family has some experience with this.

We have a right to expect and recognize a higher standard of behavior from our police officers.

Curtis Lee
Salt Lake

Press should have exposed FDR illness

Viewing the magnificent PBS documentary series on the Roosevelts reminded me of one of the most egregious betrayals of the public trust in American history, one that in its way was comparable to Watergate.

I refer to the decision of a dying man to seek a fourth term while concealingthe truth about his condition from the voters.

The sight of those photographs of a dreadfully ill Roosevelt in his last year of life made me wonder anew howhe was able to perpetuate this fraud. The White House doctor lied blatantly in pronouncing the president healthy. And his immediate staff did all it could to conceal the truth. Still the press could have and should have exposed him.

Carl H. Zimmerman
Salt Lake

Homeless have taken over libraries

I am not surprised to see the article about how the homeless are moving off the sidewalks controlled by the city and moving to the beach controlled by the state ("Homeless shift to state beach," Star-Advertiser, Sept. 20).

These street folks are way smarter than people realize. They know how to exploit every loophole.And besides, the state has already given up the state public library system, both inside and outside, to these same people as they sit at the Internet terminals all day and read about the laws and find the loopholes, and then sleep on the grounds at night.

The state does absolutely nothing to combat this growing homeless/vagrant problem. Why does the city have to shoulder all the burden of this problem?

Ann Ruby
Downtown Honolulu