Item: Campaign letters have their place

ITEM: Kaua’i is two weeks and one day away from the primary election. If this

one and the run-off in November are like past elections, letters for and about

candidates and related issues will start filling up the Forum page pretty

soon.

COMMENT: For readers who are wondering, TGI’s policy on letters to

the editor, as explained each day on this page, applies virtually word for word

to campaign letters. You write ’em, we’ll print ’em.

There are a couple of

differences, though. One is that if a candidate levels a charge at an opponent,

the letter likely will be used for a news article so that the target can

respond. The same applies to such letters submitted less than a week before an

election. Otherwise, we’ll print all campaign letters, space allowed and

without being taken advadvantage of—meaning that if we’re inundated with form

letters for any single candidate, some of them might not be printed, in order

to avoid repeating the same comments over and over again. Printing campaign

letters is a way to provoke thought among voters, not bore them.

ITEM:

Diana Liston is a mainlander, but her heart belongs partially to Kauai’s most

famous Hawaiian monk seal. She e-mails, “This past August, I was fortunate

enough to spend a wonderful vacation on Kaua’i. I felt lucky to witness the

monk seal and her pup on Po’ipu Beach. Since returning to the mainland, I have

been browsing the Web for more information on this pair. I found your article

in The Garden Island on Aug. 17 about the weaning of the pup. This incident

occurred during my stay (and did indeed break my heart)…I wanted to inquire

if the Kaua’i Monk Seal Watch Program had a newsletter in which they would keep

the public informed of the baby’s progress. Do you know of an address or phone

number?”

COMMENT: There is a newsletter, but not a mailing address that the

program wants to publicize just yet. An e-mail address, however, is available

for Barbara Frazier, the program coordinator. It’s frazier@hawaiian.net

ITEM: Syndicated cartoonist Cathy Guisewire, whose “Cathy” is part of the

The Garden Island comics, will take a vacation Oct. 2-29. During her break from

the drawing board, her syndicator, Universal Press Syndicate, will provide

“classic Cathy” strips from 1991, 1993 and 1994.

COMMENT: Drawing cute

faces and matching them with funny lines isn’t all work and no play.

ITEM:

A reader writes, “You have come to Kaua’i apparently knowing nothing about the

underlying Hawaiian/Polynesian/Asian culture of this community…You’ll

discover, in time, your inability to understand this community will reach the

Pulitzer (Newspaper) people and, like others in the past, you’ll be reassigned

to another small mainland newspaper where you’ll then fit in once

again.”

COMMENT: Oh. Well, thanks for letting me know.

TGI editor

Pat Jenkins can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 227) and [

HREF=”mailto:pjenkins@pulitzer.net”>pjenkins@pulitzer.net]