TGI Staff In 1999, seven people on O’ahu were killed by Xerox employee Bryan Uyesugi in what authorities characterized as rage gone awry in the workplace. In 2000, Kaua’i resident Miu Lan Esposo-Aguiar died after Gregory Aguiar, her husband, poured
TGI Staff
In 1999, seven people on O’ahu were killed by Xerox employee Bryan
Uyesugi in what authorities characterized as rage gone awry in the
workplace.
In 2000, Kaua’i resident Miu Lan Esposo-Aguiar died after Gregory
Aguiar, her husband, poured lighter fluid on her at their home in
‘Ele’ele. The victim, with burns over 75 percent of her body, died.
Seeking to halt violence in the home, workplace and schools on
Kaua’i, island resident Edee Bandmann has helped bring Dan Heidt, a
nationally renowned specialist in conflict resolution, here next
month to talk anti-violence strategies with the community.
Heidt, a resident of Caldwell, Idaho who has held workshops for the
Pentagon and the Idaho governor, is regarded as an expert in
techniques for preventing school and workplace violence.
Heidt, a professional bodyguard and consultant for more than 30
years, also counseled the stricken in New York City after the Sept.
11, 2001 terrorist attacks there.
Aguiar’s death prompted Bandmann to invite Heidt to Kaua’i.
“This is personal for me,” Bandmann said. “I knew Mulan when I was
her counselor when she was with the Alu Like employee training
program.”
Heidt is scheduled to hold anti-violence forums Feb. 6 at 3 p.m. at
the Kaua’i Marriott Resort ballroom and Feb. 8 at 9 a.m. and 7 p.m.
at the Sheraton Kaua’i Resort.
Similar meetings also are scheduled at Lihu’e Missionary Church at 9
a.m. Feb. 9 and at Lihu’e Lutheran Church at 9:15 a.m. Feb. 10.
Meetings also are scheduled for various Kaua’i schools next week.
Heidt delivers workshops to schools, corporations and organizations
nationwide. Working with staff and students from recent school
shootings, Heidt has first-hand knowledge about the dynamics that
bring about such events, Bandmann said.
The Kaua’i forums are co-sponsored by the Prince Kuhio
Festival-Kaua’i and the Aid Association for Lutherans, which has 1.5
million members worldwide and a branch on Kaua’i.
One workshop will deal with students making right choices, drug and
alcohol abuse and tips on avoiding violent situations.
Other workshops will discuss intervention and prevention of violence
in the schools, the role of parents and discipline, and workplace
violence.
The workshops and preventive measures are important because “drug and
violence are an issue throughout the state of Hawai’i,” said Kaua’i
Chamber of Commerce president Mamo Cummings, who plans to attend one
of the meetings.
Violence occurs on school campuses statewide but isn’t a major
problem, said Greg Knudsen, a state Department of Education spokesman.
“Any violence isn’t condoned on school campuses, and if there is any,
of course we would want it eliminated,” Knudsen said.
In addition to the forums by Heidt, Gary Shimabukuro of Laulima
Hawai’i in Honolulu has scheduled a workshop on drug-use prevention
in the workplace for 8 a.m. to noon Feb. 28 at Kaua’i Coconut Beach
Hotel .
Shimabukuro also has scheduled a workshop at the same hotel from 8
a.m. to noon April 18 on ways to prevent workplace violence.
Bandmann can be contacted about the Heidt workshops at 634-5351.
Additional information on the Shimabukuro workshops is available
from Cummings at 245-7363.
Staff writer Lester Chang can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) and
mailto:lchang@pulitzer.net
