• Just say no to Kaua‘i Marathon • Kaua‘i’s major role in Venus’ transit
Just say no to Kaua‘i Marathon
In answer to the letter of June 8 regarding “tourism pays the bills” and the Kaua‘i Marathon: The author makes a number of assumptions which are not borne out by the facts.
First, the author states that the marathon attracts a “huge number of tourists.” This is true if a few hundred is a huge number.
Secondly, she assumes athletes coming to Kaua‘i to participate in a specific event have the same economic spending pattern as someone on vacation.
Third, the author equates requiring basic metrics for measuring the economic benefit of county economic development dollars versus the economic costs as being anti-tourist.
The economic costs are much greater than the grant, including public services and the cost to individuals stuck in traffic delays.
Fourth, the tourism industry which the author claims is hugely benefiting from a “huge number of tourists” will not fund the event.
Fifth, the event is planned to compete with, and actually cannibalizes, the Maui Marathon, which is a much older event, and which Kaua‘i’s organizers are no longer a part of.
Finally, the mayor and his administration of economic development ignores best practices tools available to them, including requiring a coherent business plan demonstrating what the exact return on taxpayers’ economic development dollars will be.
This event should have never been funded with its foolish date that directly competes with the other counties’ well-coordinated, year-round schedule of events. Indeed, the state’s race industry group has left one calendar quarter open for the Kaua‘i Marathon so that it does not cannibalize the other big three races — the Honolulu Marathon, Ironman, and the Maui Marathon.
The opposition to funding the Kaua‘i Marathon is not based on anti-tourism, or any other form of bigotry. We are also not opposed to Muslim or homosexual runners.
We are not opposed to running ar all. We object to using our tax dollars to subsidize an event, business or activity which does not honestly demonstrate in written fact what the cost-benefit ratio is for the taxpayers. The Kaua‘i Marathon is perhaps a great idea, but it has lousy timing and a worse business plan. Our tax money is not economic development, but becomes charity when the race does not have a coherent plan to become self-sufficient.
I would rather give that charity to purchasing $85,000 worth of iPads for our students, rather than support a financially failed thumb in the nose to Maui County and the Maui Marathon.
“We don’t want to be like Maui” is alive and well — witnessed by our tax subsidies for our bankrupt copy of Maui’s successful event.
Lonnie Sykos, Kapa‘a
Kaua‘i’s major role in Venus’ transit
We observed the last Venus transit in this century on June 5. Following the tradition of Venus transits, Waimea once again played a major role in this year’s observation. More than 100 visitors were drawn to the event hosted by Kaua‘i Community College at Russian Fort Elisabeth right outside Waimea. We welcomed visitors from Texas, Boston, Vancouver and Stuttgart, Germany. The sky was clear and the weather conditions were perfect for the observation.
Besides weather, the reason Waimea has been chosen as the location for the event results from its history. In April 1769 after an eight-month journey, Capt. James Cook, commanding the Endeavour, arrived at Tahiti to observe the transit of Venus for Britain’s Royal Society. After that, he traveled the Pacific and arrived in Waimea. The observation in 1874 was conducted by a British expedition in Waimea. The historical telescope mount with engraved plate is still located at its original place on the property of Pastor Olaf Hoeckmann’s Church, close to Waimea High School.
The natural science department of KCC conducted a service-learning project during the time of observation. I am a science instructor at KCC, and I brought four of my students to present posters and information about the transit and pointed out the importants of historical transits for the understanding and the calculation of the size of our solar system.
The public was invited including high school students in science classes from Kapa‘a High School, Waimea High School a charter school and Island School.
KCC provided all equipment nesessary for the safe observation of the event; a new state-of-the-art computer-controled telescope was employed to produce photographs and the best possible view for everybody who came out to look through its eyepiece.
It was a great opportunity for the community, in particular for high school students, to get informed about possibilities KCC provides to help pursuit a science or engeneering career. KCC provides a strong natural science education that is comparable to international standards. I was the only faculty selected in Hawai‘i to participate in a workshop sponsored by the National Science Foundation to establish an effective active-learning physics enviroment using computational and modeling tools. This shows KCC to be in the forefront of modern colleges and its commitment to serve the community in the most beneficial way possible.
Michael Hannawald, Lihu‘e
