Stop calling
Stop calling
Elections are still nine months off, but have you noticed that the onslaught of robo-calls and so-called surveys has already started? As for myself, any recorded message or “survey” that I get on behalf of a candidate … that candidate will not get my vote. Period.
Do-not-call lists don’t work or are ignored, and it doesn’t help to get mad and be rude to the person doing the “survey.” They’re just trying to make a living. But if candidates figured out that they were actually losing votes, they just might stop calling us at all hours.
P.S. Don’t forget Roger Christie.
Michael Engstrom
Hilo
They don’t care
I received a phone call from Gov. Abercrombie’s West Hawaii liaison after my last letter to the editor was published in January.
The meeting with Ms. Barbara Dalton was a very uncomfortable experience. She asked me why I wrote that letter, which criticized Gov. Abercrombie’s administration for not being transparent with the public regarding highway projects. In addition, she told me not to write any more letters criticizing the governor and go through her if I have any more concerns in the future.
I wrote several emails to Gov. Abercrombie’s Honolulu staff regarding the meeting I had with Ms. Dalton. Someone from the governor’s Honolulu office called me a few days later. He apparently told Ms. Dalton that it was inappropriate to tell me not to write letters criticizing the governor.
This individual (I didn’t get his name) also promised to get an update on the stalled right-of-way acquisition for the final east side Daniel K. Inouye Highway phase.
It has been over a month and I’m still waiting for this person to call me back. I’ve sent several emails to various individuals in the governor’s Honolulu office with no response. They don’t care about my concerns, it seems like, which is deeply frustrating. I will remember this when I vote for governor in November.
Aaron Stene
Kailua-Kona
Loss of principal
The families of Waiakea Elementary School suffered a major loss recently. Our outstanding principal, Jasmine Urasaki, has left us and transferred over to Waiakea High School. What a blow!
Such a loss for our parents and our children but certainly Waiakea High School’s good fortune.
Mrs. Urasaki always set a positive and upbeat tone for our school. Her smile and warmth welcomed parents into her office to hear and act on their concerns, but always uppermost on her agenda were the students’ welfare and learning environment.
On the positive side, while Mrs. Urasaki ushered our children into the school experience as kindergartners, hopefully she will now be at Waiakea High School offering her kind and wise ways to usher them out as seniors.
Good luck, Jasmine. You will be sorely missed.
Barbara Kozuma
Hilo
Headline misleading
It is my sincere hope that I would still be around when our giant Thirty Meter Telescope will be utilized by scientists across the globe to search the cosmos so that we may learn more about this “elegant universe” we are an integral part of.
This letter, however, has to do not with a personal desire but rather with one of the headlines regarding the TMT: “Science versus the sacred,” when its construction was approved overwhelmingly by the University of Hawaii regents. The headline is misleading in this case, since the word “science” has universal implications whereas the word “sacred” does not.
In general, however, the problem is that science and scientists do not unfortunately receive the kind of universal recognition they deserved for the incredible positive contributions made to humanity since the dawn of life.
Indeed, scientists who endeavor to discover the secrets of the universe to benefit humanity — not only in the physical realm, but also in the spiritual one — should truly be regarded as the messengers of God, whether they believe in one or not. Just imagine if the holy scriptures and the Hawaii Tribune-Herald had to be written by hand!
Abraham Sadegh
Hilo