• Mayor has vision, leadership • 2 Ni‘ihau scholarships at KCC • Moderation important at holidays • TSA frisking is terrorism Mayor has vision, leadership “Consider the postage stamp: its usefulness consists in the ability to stick to one thing
• Mayor has vision, leadership • 2 Ni‘ihau scholarships at KCC •
Moderation important at holidays • TSA frisking is terrorism
Mayor has vision, leadership
“Consider the postage stamp: its usefulness consists in the ability to stick to one thing till it gets there” — Josh Billings.
President Kennedy had a vision of landing a man on the moon, he listened to his advisors and made it happen. Our Mayor delivered a speech of a visionary of desire. He looked into the future with eyes of hope, not eyes of fear. Together We Can. He pointed his fingers at councilmen and women, Senators, Mayors both past and present. He asked for help from the federal, state and county government agencies.
He held people of his team accountable.
To quote Ralph T. Flewelling: “Some values are…like sugar on a doughnut, legitimate, desirable, but insufficient, apart from the doughnut itself. We need substance as well as frosting.”
Our Mayor wants more for “all” who live, visit and share Kaua‘i’s Aloha.
He used the word “‘Ohana,” reaching out to his family with the strength of a giant, and gentleness of his grandchild that rested in his wife’s arms as he felt Regina’s presence; as if she were at his side at the podium. When a man shares his family with his friends in that manner, he truly is a man of Honor.
May the newly elected County Council act as a body that was appointed to advise and legislate, not to be so self-righteous as in the past. My wish is to see value with honor, not discord. May they back our Mayor with perfection and excellence. May they honor and listen to others of less importance then themselves.
Thank you Mayor Carvalho for your visions and leadership.
Ronald Horoshko, Kalaheo
2 Ni‘ihau scholarships at KCC
It is wonderful news that Wayne James Rapozo has set up a new scholarship for Ni‘ihau students in honor of Ilei Beniamina (“Londoner creates fund to benefit Ni‘ihau students,” Dec. 2).
Readers of TGI (especially those with ties to Ni‘ihau) should know that there is already a scholarship for Ni‘ihau students, administered through the University of Hawai‘i Foundation, in honor of Bernice Elama Kanahele, who died in January 2005.
Elama was a native of Ni‘ihau and a pioneer in establishing education in the Hawaiian language. Elama and Ilei worked together to set up Ke Kula Ni‘ihau o Kekaha. Later Elama left to found another school for Ni‘ihau children on Kaua‘i, which eventually became Kula Aupuni Ni‘ihau A Kahele Aloha (KANAKA School). She then went to UH to complete her undergraduate degree. After that Elama joined Ilei at KCC to counsel and advocate for Ni‘ihau students there.
Elama also collaborated in writing a wonderful book about Ni‘ihau, “Aloha Ni‘ihau: Oral Histories,” a combination of stories about Ni‘ihau and a primer in the Ni‘ihau dialect. It was published by Island Heritage in 2007.
We became close friends of Elama after volunteering at KANAKA School and maintained that friendship until her untimely death.
We decided to honor her memory by funding a scholarship in her name for students from Ni‘ihau and from Ni‘ihau families. The Elama Kanahele Scholarship has received donations from many of Elama’s friends and has supported several Ni‘ihau students, predominantly at KCC.
Carolyn and Sandy Stidham, Po‘ipu and North Carolina
Moderation important at holidays
“’Tis the season to be _____,” as the line goes in a familiar Christmas carol. The word is “jolly,” but that, I suppose, could be substituted with words like “considerate,” “rejoiceful,” “compassionate,” “generous,” or anything else that may be suitable for the season when there is much focus on the birth of Christ by humankind in general, regardless of one’s religious affiliation or having none at all. It’s a time when people seem a bit nicer to one another…a time when people go on a buying splurge…a time when we get supersaturated with an abundance of fabulous food, fantastic frivolity, and a frenzy of appointments, acquisitions and activities competing for our time and attention.
Whatever the case might be, we may need to put some extra emphasis on this time of the year to be mindful that we need to be cautious not to over-indulge ourselves to the point of being over-stressed and therefore, feeling under the weather because we have become indulgent and unmindful in doing too much, drinking too much, eating too much, partying too much, or spending too much. On the other hand, we might find ourselves with too little sleep and not having enough time to simply relax.
“Everything in moderation” is the mantra to be remembered.
Sincerely.
Jose Bulatao Jr., Kekaha
TSA frisking is terrorism
The only way to stop terrorists from getting on our planes is by PROFILING. Random checks of children, seniors and Americans is just terrorism against our citizens. This administration seems to consider Americans as the enemy, very sick. So, instead of hurting the feelings of those that want to kill us by simple profiling, we allow the government to grope, harass and degrade Americans. What civilized country does that to their citizens..what country am I in?
Alice Monaghan, Princeville
