Union sellout
Union sellout
The teachers of Hawaii have been stabbed in the back by their own “leadership” (Tribune-Herald, May 4). Saying the rejected contract is “the best they could get” is a slap in the face by the non-working leadership. (They get paid out of the teachers union dues for this?)
Shows how pathetic their negotiating skills are. They completely gave in to the state. Who do they work for, anyway? Their members or the state? When was the last time any of the negotiators were in a classroom? Our non-supported, underfunded teachers deserved better than this insult. The teachers should reject this betrayal and kick out their “leadership,” too. (But they’ll just get a job with the Department of Education, probably negotiating for the DOE next time).
No, I am not a teacher or have children in this joke-of-a school system, but I know a sellout when I see one.
William Wade
Kehena Beach
Keep the coral
How old is the tradition of rock-and-coral expression along the Queen Kaahumanu Highway? Certainly older than I am.
When Big Islanders saw strips of asphalt cutting through the lava beds near the airport, they found a way of making the asphalt and concrete lines their own, by adorning them with messages of love, remembrance and aloha.
Hundreds of people over decades of time created a lei of aloha along the asphalt. What makes it all so unique in the world is that it DOES show respect for the ‘aina because it does no permanent harm. The generations that created it have turned it, as a whole, into cultural folk art, unique for its scale, composition, sentiment, age and respect.
As with most folk art or modern art or impressionistic art, etc., the white coral and stone creations are viewed as positive expression by some, blight by others, tradition by some, messy by others. There will never be a consensus. But if the “intent” of this folk art … is weighed, then countless people are being affected, hurt, disrespected by its removal.
If so many are hurt by the destruction of the “Trail of Aloha,” why should so much volunteer effort, even well-intended, be poured into a divisive issue when it is better used for purposes on which we ALL agree: cleaning the parks, beaches, streets and water of tossed beer cans, fast food wrappers, discarded fishing nets, broken Styrofoam, shards of plastic. There is a vast difference, both in intent and result, between those who create loving messages along the asphalt of the highway, and those who mar ancient artifacts.
There is a difference in purpose and result between those who improve and respect our trails and those who desecrate them. Why not direct our volunteer efforts toward things we all support? The newspaper prints opportunities for volunteers every week: be a hospital volunteer, help build community gardens or trails in Honokaa, plant trees and preserve native species, honor police and firefighters, aid the homeless, support animal sanctuaries, help clean churches or community centers, volunteer in the schools.
The creations along the asphalt of the Queen Kaahumanu Highway are singular in the world and one of the only places on this island where such folk art can be expressed without hurting the ‘aina. Please allow locals to continue to have such a place. Allow it to continue to “wow” tourists. Allow it to honor vets, express gratitude, remember loved ones. Use it to welcome and share kindness.
Yes, some original messages get messy. So tidy it, maintain it, look at it with new eyes, but don’t take away this cultural tradition.
Joan Oviatt
Hawaiian Paradise Park
Not so efficient
(Regarding the county’s new electric cars): You don’t buy electricity by the gallon, and the Volt is an electric car.
The “gallon” in your article costs $13.60 at HELCO’s $0.40 per kilowatt-hour. Gas is about $5 per gallon, which means that these $47,000 cars effectively give the equivalent of about 33 mpg.
You can thank the Environmental Protection Agency for the misleading 90 mpg, and be embarrassed for our county government and the Tribune-Herald for being suckered in by it.
Lon Hocker
Hilo