Hawaiian leaders must step up for TMT

The Thirty Meter Telescope construction on Mauna Kea is expected to pump $90 million into our economy and educational system. Private and public schools are expected to receive much of the annual economic benefit going directly to the educational benefit of our keiki. Generations of our children will benefit from the excellent educational knowledge of the universe if the TMT project is completed.

What’s disappointing is the deafening silence of many of our Hokulea navigators and supporters, who are not speaking out more in support of the TMT project. We have the opportunity to show the world that Hawaiians can not only navigate the seas but also take the lead in navigating the universe.

The majority of Hawaii residents supports this project, but we need more influential Hawaiian leaders to come forward and support this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to move our state to the forefront of exploration (“Support for TMT is building,” Star-Advertiser, March 25).

Hal Omori

Mililani

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Hoped to see more students rallying

We are visiting from Hawaii island this week, and were able to join the “March for Our Lives” at the state Capitol Saturday morning. I was proud to join all the citizens who took the time to show up, but I did not see a massive showing of all the high school, grade school or middle-school children who should have been here.

Toby Hazel

Pahoa, Hawaii island

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Marching students had some guidance

The “March For Our Lives” rallies were billed as student-organized and student-led (“‘Do not be silenced’,” Star-Advertiser, March 25).

I am amazed at how so much was put together within 30 days of the Parkland high school shooting. Even just the rally in Washington, D.C., which I watched on television, bore all the evidence of a top-shelf rock concert.

A few obvious aspects that had to be organized: obtaining government permits for use of the huge public space; designing and ordering appropriate staging, lighting and sound systems; marketing the event; securing the entertainment and security. Not to mention how the participants traveled to and from D.C.

And the money to pay for it all! I had no idea lunch money could go so far.

No, even with the television reports that the students organizers kept outside influence from co-opting the events, the one-sided messaging strongly adds to my suspicions that these rallies were indeed the result of particular political interests using the students as props to work political efforts on gun control.

Jim Hochberg

Downtown Honolulu

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Raising deposit fee won’t solve problem

Regarding our tax-hungry elected officials who want to increase the can and bottle deposit fee from 5 cents to 10 cents because not enough recycling is getting done: Oh?

Have you tried to find a recycling center somewhere close to home lately? We used to recycle all our products every week until the center near our shopping area disappeared. So we found another and then that one disappeared.

The nearest recycler to us now is three miles away, in the opposite direction we normally travel.

I see this as just another smokescreen to provide more money for politicians to spend as they see fit, not for the community’s good.

John Kavanagh

Halawa

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Self-made Waianae camp works better

Whenever people build something themselves and manage it, they become a community, and community is what the general homeless population lacks.

The Waianae Small Boat Harbor community has patterned itself after an intentional settlement in Waimanalo, where people cleared the land and built their dwellings, creating a community.

Do not disturb this. Contrast the Waianae community with the “ohana” camp near Kona. One is self-made and the other was put together by the bureaucracy and volunteers.

Homelessness is a condition called anomie, or lack of norms — a lack of community with self-policing norms. When people take charge of their problem and work hard to solve it, bureaucrats and politicians should step aside. The Waianae community should continue and become a permanent settlement. Any other use of the land is less important.

The Hawaiian people were alienated from their lands in their own country. Allow them to reclaim a place to stand and live, on their own island.

Jean E. Rosenfeld

Downtown Honolulu

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A&B helped school thrive in Kailua

Much has been said about Alexander & Baldwin lately in the media that has not been positive. From my experience as the director of a small private school located in Kailua Town for 10 years, A&B has been a good community partner.

As a landlord, A&B has always listened and done what it can to help our small school. A&B recently stepped up to help ensure we could make the move to a new location on a sound financial footing.

A&B has supported our school’s environmental programs, “Plant Your Butts Here” and “Adopt a Block,” that support the area’s water quality and native species. Hekili Street alone has improved from being littered with more than 10 bags full of trash to less than 1/2 bag of trash, due to its partnership. It also sponsors the Kailua Fourth of July fireworks, I Love Kailua Town Party and other events that bring the Kailua community together.

While the community may not agree with everything A&B does, to be fair, they should get some credit for being a good neighbor and supporter of the Kailua community.

Kaori Brown

Kailua