The Maui Goodness

Though Governor Linda Lingle never expressly mentioned “Furlough Fridays” in her speech on Friday, she did address the issue of education.  Lingle made it clear that she understands that our system of education is broken and suggested that we concentrate more on the time children are IN classrooms rather than OUT of classrooms.

(QUICK NOTE: Furlough Fridays are days where education is taken away from children in order cut staffing expenses to help the State budget deficit.)

Though we agree that Hawaii education has MAJOR problems, Lingle’s statement, “We need to get more worked up about what happens when they are in school rather than when … they are not in school,” is like saying, “When you have cancer, don’t worry about the fact that your doctor will be around even less to cure you, worry about the cancer!” How exactly does one fix a problem when those closest to it are given less time to fix it?

With a culture that obviously struggles to develop its children to be competitive in our world, wouldn’t you think that keeping teachers employed full-time should remain a priority?  Yes, our deficit is a big problem, but cutting education is the shortest sighted solution one can propose.  In her speech on Friday, Lingle reiterated her proposals to fix our economic woes.  She discussed:

• Programs putting unemployed welfare recipients to work. This sounds great, but in our personal experience, a sizable portion of people on welfare in Hawaii aren’t interested in working.  The idea of compensating employers for hiring welfare recipients is also a good idea in theory, but if an employer NEEDS an employee wouldn’t they have to hire them anyway?  This also seems short-sighted considering that when the program stops, many will go back on welfare because their employer won’t be able to afford keeping them on.

• Tax Credits for construction and Renovation. Island growth is really not a long-term solution either.  We have enormously high occupancy rates and big problems with distribution of scarce resources like water, as well as devastating environmental issues to try and fix before we encourage more construction.

So what is the solution to our economic problems in Hawaii? We feel high-tech industrial growth, long term educational growth, and preparation of  economic down turns will do us better than any other solutions.  Lingle did mention a proposal to set aside 5% of funds when tax revenues are growing.  This is a good idea, but government track records in this area have shown that money set aside often becomes reallocated with time.

The implementation of Furlough Fridays is indicative of Hawaii’s prioritizing education below most other things.  Lingle insinuates that the problem lies IN the classroom and that the problem is quality.  We disagree.  The blame falls everywhere between the parents all the way to the top administrators in the school system, as well as on the heads of legislators.  If administration would let teachers spend more time teaching than testing, if parents took more of an interest in their children’s education and genuinely wanted their kids to be brighter than they are, if government could find better ways to cut from the budget and possibly take federal aid we might see a brighter future in Hawaii.

Are teachers to blame? Surely some teachers in Hawaii shouldn’t be teaching, but for the most part teachers are NOT the reason for our lagging behind most of the country (and the world) in educating our children properly.  The problem is that education is not a priority in Hawaii when it should be #1.  Our spiraling cycle of education continues to build on an already poorly educated culture.  Much of this is due to our citizens already being poorly educated and not seeing the value in it.

Not only would an emphasis in education be helpful to us economically in the long term, but socially we believe the islands would become healthier.  In that, we mean with more understanding of other cultures, higher levels of confidence and income, and a broader more developed economic share of the world’s production and innovation could alleviate some of the ignorance and racial tension that is so prevalent in Hawaii today.

This editorial is just one view point from one of our writers.  Quotation and information was found through the Maui News.  Mahalo for your reporting!

Maui Pineapple Company, operated by Maui Land & Pineapple Company, will end all pineapple production in Maui, Hawaii. Warren Haruki, the Chairman and Interim CEO of ML&P, said that since 2002, Maui Pineapple Company (MPC) has lost $115 million in the businesses as well as $20 million they’d invested in a new fresh packing facility. They’ve been working for a year at making it profitable again but to no avail.

100’s of employees will be laid off as a century old business is shut down. Many are worried about what will happen with the 2,000 acres used in the ceased pineapple operations. Though ML&P has expressed that it will be used for other agricultural products, only time will tell whether it’s really sold for commercial and residential property.

This marks the end of an iconic industry that runs deep in many local families’ roots. With sugarcane also suffering, it’s not difficult to imagine what might happen to all of Maui eventually. Let’s hope we can keep the central valley green a little longer.

Advanced Maui Optical & Space Surveillance Technologies Conference

The AMOS conference was held at the Wailea Beach Marriott Resort on September 1st through 4th, the only conference bringing together international astronomers and space surveillance experts.

Hosted by the Maui Economic Development Board (MEDB), the conference had prominent speakers such as Senator Daniel K. Inouye (appropriately via satellite), Air Force Lt. General larry James, Keawala’i Congregational Church’s Kealahou Alika, MEDB President Jeanne Skog, and Wes Friewald (the President of Pacific Defense Solutions) among others.

One of the major topics was the satellite collision in Early February of this year.  Discussion over the concern about large amounts of debris in Earth’s orbit from the Russian and American Satellites was deliberated.

Senate passes measure for additional MSSS funding

MSSS (Maui Space Surveillance System) is home to the largest optical telescope in the United States, designed for tracking satellites.  10,000 feet above sea level, Haleakala Crater’s summit has multiple telescopes that are crucial for space research.

On October 6th, the US Senate passed a measure to increase funding by 207.5 million dollars for projects involving Hawaii.  $20 million of this will go to the research projects at the MSSS.

Maui Observes Spacecraft Crash into the MOON!

We know. It sounds untrue, but it’s a fact! Because Maui and Hawaii have such incredible observing facilities and excellent proximity for viewing, we have been asked to observe a spacecraft being intentionally crashed in to the surface of the moon on October 9th.

The plume of debris will rise up to 3 miles from the surface of the moon.  NASA and the university of Hawaii are hoping this event will determine whether water exists under the surface at the Moon’s poles.  If there is enough water on the moon, we could very possibly colonize it.  With water, agriculture, oxygen, and protective radiation shields would be possible.

We’ll keep you updated!

Plans for a new Maui prison has been under dispute for some time with lawmakers.  This new complex would replace the Maui Community Correctional Facility that currently houses 351 inmates.  This facility is old and holds 142 more inmates than it was originally built for.

Problems arose in the plans over disagreements at to the size, design and price of the prison.  The current price was set at $235 million with a completion date of 2012.  Governor Lingle put a stop to the plans when Senator Shan Tsutsui made some comments in a Maui News article.

Within government, there’s always going to be difficulties and disagreement with plans involving such a large budget.  Hopefully, an agreement can be made sometime in the future.

Billionaire David Murdock has plans to build over 200 wind turbines near Polihua Beach on the island of Lanai, Hawaii.  The power generated by the windfarm would be sent by underwater cables to the island of Oahu, our most populated island.  In this move, Murdock would recoup some of his losses from his struggling Lanai resorts as well as provide Oahu with a large amount of much needed renewable energy.

As with any change to the islands, residents and visitors are complaining about Castle & Cooke’s building of these windmills.  It seems that with any change, for good or bad, people become restless and upset.  But when you look at the project rationally and objectively,  it benefits everyone affected.

• Lanai Residents – Jobs will be made and the island will prosper with additional revenues.
• Maui County – Maui and Hawaii’s goal of using 70 percent green energy by 2030 will come closer to completion.
• Honolulu, Oahu – Honolulu will become less dependent on foreign oil and coal for their power needs.
• David Murdock and the Castle & Cooke Company – The new profits will make up for their disastrous losses over the years.
• Hawaii Visitors – The resorts of Lanai will remain open and Lanai will continue to have ferry services.

With time, our islands need to change.  It’s a sad thing that the Lanai is no longer accurately called the Pineapple Isle.  But as the world becomes smaller and the economies of each nation become further intertwined, the only way to survive is to acclimate and grow with the changes.  In light of all the bad decisions effecting Hawaii (overdevelopment, pollution, loss of Aloha), we believe that this is one of the better moves by a large corporation.