Letters To The Editor
April 23, 2008 - MidWeek
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Del.icio.usTruth about sonar
MidWeek‘s recent Old Friends feature on lawyer Paul Achitoff includes a quote from him about sonar and whales.
The Navy, which Achitoff is suing, has a different view. In combination with other specific factors such as particular ocean conditions and underwater terrain, sonar has been linked as a possible contributing factor to a few dozen marine mammal deaths, primarily of beaked whales in the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea over the past decade. By comparison, commercial fishing kills hundreds of thousands of marine mammals each year.
There is no scientifically valid evidence linking Navy sonar to the injury or death of any humpback or other baleen whale anywhere. In addition, there is no scientific proof that sonar caused any mass stranding of beaked whales or other marine mammals in the Pacific.
The story also repeats a false and misleading Earthjustice statement about Navy undersea warfare exercises. The presidential proclamation that established the Papahanumokuakea Marine National Monument allows the Department of Defense to conduct activities and exercises within the monument. The proclamation requires those activities and exercises to be conducted in a manner that avoids, to the extent practicable and consistent with operational requirements, adverse impacts on monument resources and qualities.
The Navy takes these requirements very seriously and is proud of its stewardship of the environment.
Capt. W.S. Gureck
U.S. Pacific Fleet
Dinner on Don Ho
I enjoyed Ron Nagasawa’s column “Let’s Do Lunch.” I also like to pay secretly at times because of an incident that happened with Don Ho.
In 1980, as a rookie police officer working on the midnight shift in Sector 14 (Niu Valley to Sandy Beach), there was no place open to eat during the shift. One night I hopped into a senior patrolman’s car and he drove to Likelike Drive Inn. As we did not have portable radios in those days, we called off for chow (45 minutes).
While eating, Don Ho came in with three women at his side. He looked at us and said, “Hi, officers.” We replied, “Howzit, Mr. Ho.” As we were about to leave, Don Ho was also leaving and said, “Good night, officers, you folks are doing a good job.”
As we requested our bill, the waitress related that Don Ho secretly paid for our meals. Mr. Nagasawa’s column brought back memories of the generous person he was.
Alan Arita
Honolulu
Yes, sex education
I completely agree with Bob Jones about the importance of comprehensive sex education in our schools and at home. If parents are worried that their teens may “get ideas” from explicit sex information, they should be much more concerned that Hawaii ranks 12th nationwide in teen pregnancy and sixth in teen chlamydia.
And one in four teens today has contracted a sexually transmitted infection, many of which can affect their reproductive futures and several of which are currently incurable (HIV, HPV, herpes).
The programs offered by Kalihi Palama Health Center, the Life Foundation and Planned Parenthood of Hawaii respect the intelligence of teens and help them understand the potential consequences of uninformed decisions. Right on, Bob.
Melinda Wood President,
Planned Parenthood of Hawaii
No Kalihi ‘slum’
This is in response to the cover story on Dr. Larry Tseu, in which it’s said that his family “with five young children was bankrupt, and moved to the slums of Kalihi.” How dare you call Kalihi a slum?
My mother grew up on Auld Lane in Kalihi in the early 1900s and she told my sisters and I that Kalihi was where the aristocrats lived. She mentioned this to us because, being as we were born in Waikiki, we used to tease her about Kalihi. After what she told us about Kalihi, we shut up!
On weekends in the 1930s, my mother would take my sisters and me to Kalihi to visit our tutus. Their humble home was always spic and span - as the old saying goes, you could eat off the floor.
Clare Hunt Kasher
Kaimuki
Don’t blame men
Katie Young seems to have it in for men the way she misstates the University of Michigan findings in her column “Of Husbands And Housework.” This is biased and insensitive reporting, using men as the scapegoat.
The research economist directing the study reveals a well-known pattern in his report. Men tend to work more outside the home and women take on more household labor, however, both men and women do more housework than those who stay single. Denigrating men for their contribution to maintaining a home is a horrible waste of space in your weekly.
Look closely at the study and you find that gardening, home repairs and washing the car are not included in the study. Yet, these types of studies fail to account for men’s and women’s work outside the home necessary to maintain a stable home. In its own fallible way, the study proves that men and fathers make a significant contribution to house, home and family.
Larry Holbrook
Honolulu
Fast-learning Bush
Beth Mattias’ letter criticizes President Bush for not learning from his mistakes in Iraq. She needs to learn that Bush was actually acting on the Iraqi Freedom Act, which was passed by Congress in 1998 after strong advocacy by President Clinton. The act specifically called for ousting Saddam Hussein and remaining in Iraq to establish democracy. The military is carrying out the decisions of Congress and two presidents. They have served the country well by keeping Islamic terrorist attacks overseas, not in America. That is the lesson Bush has learned.
Russel Noguchi
Pearl City
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