Letter: TMT should have a Hawaiian name

Vincent Matsuda suggested a Hawaiian name, “Hina Maka,” for the Thirty Meter Telescope project. I would agree, but suggest a name in the words of Queen Liliuokalani, “Kilo Hoku,” which means stargazer, astrologer or astronomer.

In a May 28, 2015, Scientific American article, “On Mauna Kea, Astronomers and Hawaiians Can Share the Skies,” Michael West quotes Queen Liliuokalani as saying, “The world cannot stand still, we must either advance or recede.”

I’m a second-generation hapa haole from Japanese immigrants who arrived here in 1894. It would be a shame to lose such a prominent and lucrative project for our people of Hawaii, whom I love, and who already have lost so much.

Our airport, parks, roads and freeway are named after politicians. Why not extend Hawaiians the same courtesy by giving TMT a Hawaiian name? It would be the proper thing to do.

Iris T. Mudgett

Mililani

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