Education in Hawai'i

Education is really important in Hawai'i as well as other places. We must work together to keep our keiki in school and out of trouble. We must make sure that our keiki of all ages get through with their education, so they can share that knowledge with their family, friends, and others who don't know what they know. We have a low average rate of graduates, because they choose to do other things and not school. And we need that average rate to get higher and see more of our keiki graduate.

However, how can they do that if we are losing teachers? And how can we go to school if there’s some that are closing down? Without education we can't go that far. We need degrees and certificates to say where and what we can do for a living. We can’t teach/work if we don’t have the papers that say we are qualified to do what we want to do. I just want to see the next generations complete their school with the right teachers and believe that there are a lot of possibilities and opportunities for them once they finish their education.

And now we have all these candidates who are running for office that is saying they want to improve and see that things for education will follow through. They all claim that education is important and would like to work at fixing that problem. Some sounded convincing and some sounded like they did not know what they were talking about. When we see that the schools and education is improving then we know that some of these candidates are doing the right thing. Then they bring up the con-con. I didn’t know what that is and I still don’t know. I do know that many who’s running for office is against it, because the con-con is taking funds away from certain things and educational faculties are one of them. They want to fix the budgets for schools to open more private schools? I don’t agree with that, because we need our teachers and we can’t do that if their money is being taken away. And we don’t need more private schools to be open, we have enough. What we need are more educators to teach our keiki and give them the education that they need.

Sources:
-Maui Candidates
-Native Hawaiian Chambers of Commerce gathering

"Keep hawaiian lands in hawaiian hands"

While our people live on land that is free to the public, we have others standing and awaiting to take action. Before our generation, our ancestors have been on an ongoing fight for the freedom of our identity, our land, and our freedom as people. I was watching this video which I think is called “1985 Waimanalo Eviction.” This is a very sad video, because you feel depress and sad for the ways that the Americans felt about our people living off the land. These families fight and fight for what is rightfully theirs. How wrongful is it that others want to take it away from them? I cried throughout this video, because it really is a sad way to watch people tear down homes and arrest people who are of Hawaiian ancestry who have the right to stay on open grounds. Native Hawaiians “IMUA” they shout while their own kanaka and others take apart the hale that they had. And continuously they yelled out “keep Hawaiian lands in Hawaiian hands.” Why should we feel the need to fight our lands? In the days, our kupuna could roam free on these lands when they felt like it.

Our people have been fighting from generations to generations for their identity and the rights of our kanaka of Hawai‘i nei. I feel for them, because it’s hard to see and watch the pain and suffering that these folks are doing to our kanaka. We cannot continue to live like this; all of our people will be gone by then. Kekuhi Blaisdell said by 2044 our native “pure” kanaka will be gone! No more!” These people call themselves the good people, “protector of the lands.” If their good, then why are they separating us from our culture, our identity, our rights as people, and our own home lands. What is there left for us to do? How can we live our lives in a place where we can’t do as we please on our own land? This is absurd. I don’t agree with anything that has gone on, because they take our lands away and give to the military or to businesses. That is not right at all. And what’s even worse, is that we have to sign up to qualify for Hawaiian homelands and when awarded we still have to pay for owning the land?? I don’t like it at all, not the signing up part, but the fact that we have to pay for it under an agreement that was made.

Sources:
-1985 Waimanalo Eviction
-Kekuhi Blaisdell

economy down..money making for the fair..

Sherri Grimes was the fair director for the past three years. And this year was her last and final year as the lead person of the county fair. Her position is now open for selection of a new fair director. She had a good feeling that despite the economic downfall of gas and food prices, the county fair would end in a good turn out. She said that no matter the cutbacks that we the people of Maui had to make, the fair would have a positive take on it all.

In my opinion, I thought that this year at the County Fair was different. The prices went up, and everything was a change to the previous years, but all in all I felt that it was empty. A lot could not afford to pay their way back home from college perhaps? Or maybe some decided that the fair wasn’t for them this year. I thought that this year was empty of some sort. I didn’t feel that vibe of overload like I usually do at the county fair.

In the Maui News, I read that it was unbelievably packed at the 87th Maui County Fair. By Friday morning, all the food vendors had to go out and get more supplies because they didn’t expect a big turn out. They figured that they get the same amount as they did from last year. Little did they know, they had to rush out to get more supplies to fulfill the hungry needs of their customers. They were surprised at how this year had turned out to be. The food I might add was so delicious. I mean you can get them anywhere, but just the fact that they made it in the fair tasted way much better than the outside providers.
Everyone had their part in making this fair such a success and a good turn out. Although the prices went up and what not, the cash came rolling in from the people of Maui. Even though we are at hardship with this economy, we still support big events like these such as the county fair. We aren’t like O’ahu who has all these events like every month, so when the fair comes around everyone just uses their money. This is like a once a year deal for everyone to come together and relax and of course buy out the fair…

In the end, despite our economic downfall we were able to put aside our hardships and enjoy one weekend of fun before we had to go back to reality and face all these bills and prices that we have here in Hawai’i. And we made the people who put this fair together happy with all the money that they made. The turn out had put a smile on Sherri Grimes face for all her hard work and accomplishments.

My sources:
The Maui Newspaper

Pit Bull attacks 8-week old baby...

A clip taken from Honolulu Advertiser:


Nowadays, everyone wants a dog. Everyone seeks to find a dog that looks cool. And here in Hawai'i, most popular dogs are the pit bulls. They look cool, they look like they’re your body guard and they are just natural attraction to the public. It's like they have two personalities just like humans do. One minute they could be friendly, fun, loving dog and the next minute they turn into this aggressive, overpowering "person". Pit bulls are known to be playful, aggressive and born to be fighters. Now a day's they raise these dogs in training them to have "pit-fighting". This is very wrong and to me it seems like cruelty to these dogs. I mean there are a lot of different types or breeds of dogs, but this one is very special to me at the moment. Why? Reason for bringing up pit bulls is because there was very sad and tragic incident attack this past Sunday, October 5, 2008 which pertained to a pit bull in Wai'anae.

It was midnight of Sunday evening, when an 8-week old baby boy was brutally attacked by his great aunties house pet. His name is Iokepa Liptak. He was sleeping with his great aunty, Opal Sao, when she went out to the kitchen for a drink of water while her dog was right behind her at the time. When she looked, she noticed that her dog was no longer in sight and panicked. She ran to her bedroom in shock noticing that her dog was hovering above Iokepa attacking him on his head. This was such a sad attack to hear, read, and watch about. I was so sad just thinking about this baby! When Opal Sao went to grab the baby out of the dog’s mouth to give him to his mom, the dog turned and attacked the mom as well. This dog attacked Opal's niece on her thigh and calf. When the baby was in his mom’s hand, it was too late. He died at 8-weeks old in a matter of minutes. The autopsy said that he died in results of cranial cerebral injuries.

Opal Sao, the great aunty, was shocked and so hurt that such a thing had happened. She says that her dog was a good one, a family pet, and obedient. I guess you can say, because she raised the dog, she would never have thought of her being so violent. Penelope Rose is the name of the dog weighing in at 40 pounds, and is a pit bull mix dog. She was euthanized the very next day by the Hawaiian Human Society. And from what I read lately, pit bulls are natural fighters. They do what they want when they want if not spoken or taught to them. They truly have their own little personal traits as do the other dogs. The family is all in mourn, because this baby was so young not even yet a year old.

My own opinion as well as others I spoke with, believe that maybe the dog was jealous of this baby. There are times when you become so attached to something or someone you don’t want to share that with anyone. And that happens a lot with dogs too. When they are attached to something or become close to the owner, they tend to become overprotected or even jealous when all the attention is no longer on them.

My Sources:
-By Suzanne Roig and Dan Nakaso
Advertiser Staff Writers
Honolulu Advertiser

-Pit Bull Rescue Central
Veronique Chesser
http://www.pbrc.net/breedinfo.html