I am disappointed in TGI staff writer Dennis Wilken’s reporting of the tragic death of Michelle Ramos. His coverage of this murder reflects a mainland approach to reporting Michelle’s death as a statistic. This death, as all tragedies on Kaua’i,
I am disappointed in TGI staff writer Dennis Wilken’s reporting of the tragic death of Michelle Ramos. His coverage of this murder reflects a mainland approach to reporting Michelle’s death as a statistic. This death, as all tragedies on Kaua’i, has a face and a soul, and this story needs to be told.
The violent and heart-breaking ending to Michelle’s life, and the life of her boyfriend, is pointless if we treat it as a news story. Instead, through the process of grieving the short lives of these two people, we must look at the lessons that we can learn from their lives. We, the ‘ohana of Kaua’i, need to be able to know how we can help other, and ourselves, avoid further such tragedies.
If our newspaper treated this event as a tragic loss of two people in our ‘ohana, then the paper would have interviewed experts in domestic violence issues, such as Nancy Peterson of the YWCA Family Violence Shelter. If our newspaper were to delve into the known fact of crystal meth (ice) being a factor in this murder, then why haven’t you interviewed the police department about the drug problem on Kaua’i? Or experts in drug rehabilitation? Or the lifelong effects Michelle’s children will suffer from the loss of their mother?
This is not a murder of someone with no face and no soul. Let Michelle’s death mean something. Allow us to learn and try to keep one more person from using this drug as a “way to party” and saying, “I can handle it…it won’t make me crazy.” Show men and women that violence in a relationship can only get worse without help. That the first time anyone hits someone they love, they should get professional help. Interview people as to how to help employees with drug problems or problems of violence in their relationships. Teach families the dangers that they must be prepared to face if they know their children are using drugs or are in violent relationships.
This is not Los Angeles or New York. We are not strangers to each other.
Every tragic ending of a life on this island diminishes us all. Let us have the opportunity of learning the lesson through reporting the human side to this story.
Sandy Helmer, Koloa
