• Far-reaching implications • Humans more important than birds • Start with the children Far-reaching implications A July 31 letter by Nick Galante sought to comment on the ongoing legal battle between Kaua‘i Springs and the county. Mr. Galante wrote
• Far-reaching implications • Humans more important than birds • Start with the children
Far-reaching implications
A July 31 letter by Nick Galante sought to comment on the ongoing legal battle between Kaua‘i Springs and the county.
Mr. Galante wrote that the idea behind the county lawsuit — that water is a public resources — will never fly and that the Knudsen Trust owns the water and can sell it to anyone they like. While Mr. Galante’s position might sound good to private property advocates, it demonstrates an ignorance of the law in Hawai‘i.
Article XI of the Hawai‘i State Constitution states that “all
public natural resources are held in trust by the state for the benefit of its people.” According to the Hawai‘i Supreme Court, both surface water and ground water are public trust resources. Thus, any water that flows through or under someone’s property does not belong to them as private property. While, a property owner may apply for a permit to utilize stream water or drill a well, any private use of water is subservient to the public trust and the specific quantities and uses specified in the permit.
Thus, the owner of a well does not “own” the water, but has only been granted the right for its limited use. Legal difficulties arise partly because the Knudsen family, or their predecessors, constructed their collection bore prior to the development of Constitutional and case law clearly establishing the public trust doctrine.
Therefore, the outcome of the Kaua‘i Springs case may have far-reaching implications, beyond Mr. Satterfield’s business, to plantation-era water systems state-wide.
Adam Roversi, Kilauea
Humans more important than birds
I have played high school football and was very bothered to hear that KIF football will be played in the heat of the day.
When you reach the high school level the game is much more intense then lower level youth football.
This will be putting player’s at risk of heat-related injuries. A lot of parents will not be able to watch there child due to work. A lot of people who watched games on Friday nights for many years as a past time will not attend due to the heat in the day.
Friday night football is one of the main attractions of the past and present. What else is there to do on a Friday night on Kaua‘i?
Attendance will be very poor and the KIF will lose lots of revenue. Revenue that is used for student sports.
It seems as though students are getting things a lot harder the way decisions are being made. First the teacher furloughs and now the games during the day. In society our children are the ones to be taken cared of, but it seems as though a bird is more important.
Blame should not be put on the county or the KIF; they are mandated by federal court and cannot afford to pay $10,000 in down bird fines with the way the economy is today.
Do we need to start a Save Our Students Coalition and start suing in federal court also? All I’m saying is humans are more important. Especially those in school.
Dustin Cremer, Kapa‘a
Start with the children
Sue Scott makes some good points about how complacent we are with violence on Kaua‘i in her letter of Aug. 2.
We baby boomers grew up in an era where it was all about us: personal fulfillment, values clarification, self-actualization, autonomy, finding our own way. That freedom from conformity was liberating and empowering. But the down side, I see now, is that outside of religious institutions, group norms about virtue, morality, and right and wrong were devalued along with other mainstream dictates and traditions. Anything goes … as long as you’re not hurting anyone. Ah, but there’s the rub. That line got fuzzy as well.
I see this firsthand in the groups I co-facilitate for the YWCA’s Alternatives to Violence Program for mostly court-ordered violent offenders. Many of those who find themselves caught up in the legal system for violent crimes never ‘got’ the basic tenets of human relations, self-regulation, accountability, etc. Many have grown up with abuse and have self-esteem issues as well. The ATV program emphasizes, among other things, anger management skills, communication skills, and cognitive re-framing skills that empower participants to choose interpretations and responses that work and feel better.
Last spring I also became involved with the Aloha Peace Project, which teaches these same basics to children from pre-school through fifth grade. APP is a character education program that has its roots in the positive psychology movement, and is now in five elementary schools on Kaua‘i. Schools that have adopted APP as their anti-bullying curriculum are offering just the kind of anger management/conflict resolution skills that Ms. Scott advocates and more, using interactive, fun, age-appropriate activities that teach peace.
For example, children learn “re-framing” by putting on decorated “peace glasses” so they can see from the perspective of a peacemaker. They learn about taking timeouts and thinking before they act with a fun hand jive: “Stop. Think. Peace.” They learn about cooperation, empathy, honoring their feelings, valuing diversity, conflict resolution, and much more. The program builds on itself year by year. More schools are requesting the curriculum but that will require more APP volunteers. If you want to make a difference in the cultural norms around violence on Kaua‘i, consider volunteering with a program that takes peacemaking to the children during their formative years. Contact program founder Laura Taylor at 826-6567.
Linda Pizzitola, Kapa‘a
