Let mountain heal
Whether you are for or against the Thirty Meter Telescope on Maunakea, there are a few things that are plain as day for everyone to see.
First, the scientists who traverse the mountain are horrible drivers. They drive too fast, they aren’t courteous and have no regard for anything else except what they are doing. Their only concern is to get up the mountain as quickly as possible to do their studies.
The second culprit is the tour drivers — same thing, they’re in a rush to get their clients to the prime locations for that sunset view. The only problem is, you’re sharing it with 15-20 other vans and hundreds of tourists who are naive about where they are or how to act. This happens nightly, seven days a week.
The third violator is the “local resident” who wants to visit Maunakea but is ignorant of what is pono. Tire tracks on most of the cones near the summit attest to this. They never go away. And going up and getting snow during the winter is an annual tradition, but with that many people it becomes anarchy every winter weekend.
The fourth perpetrator is the University of Hawaii for its many years of mismanaging the mountain. Its negligent attitude has led to this confrontation, and it should be stripped of this responsibility.
I can’t think of one tall peak anywhere in the world that has large buildings on its summit: Mount McKinley, Rainier, Whitney, Everest, the Matterhorn, NONE.
TMT wants to put in the tallest building on the Big Island, on the tallest mountain in the Pacific Ocean, which is sacred to all Polynesia. It’s a natural treasure just like all tall mountains in the world. It should not be desecrated.
There should be a five-year moratorium on Maunakea to let the mountain heal. No motorized vehicles past Hale Pohaku. If you want to go to the summit, you walk, like our ancestors used to.
Hawaiians, tourists, scientists, locals, everybody got to do the walk. Then you can view the stars as the ancients did, without scarring the earth.
Science is essential for life, but we should use it to take better care of this planet before we go looking for others to exploit.
Stan Atkins
Olaa
Drug problem
Hawaii has become the victim of drug abuse throughout many years. Nearly 8.76 percent of people have reported the use of drugs, mainly crystal meth.
Between 2013 and 2015, law enforcement agencies seized nearly 700 pounds of meth from the streets of Hawaii. Users of this drug take it for the hallucinations and the energized feeling, but the aftermath is insomnia, depression, anxiety, weight loss and much more.
In 2002, more than 2,730 meth users sought treatment in the following facilities: The Exclusive Hawaii, Hawaii Island Recovery, Ke Ala Pono Recovery Center.
A treatment that is commonly used is the Matrix Model. What that does is it gives you a 16-week comprehensive behavioral treatment that includes behavioral therapy, individual counseling, drug testing and family education. You can’t help the problem directly, but what you could do is, first, identify the problem, have an intervention and make sure they know you care.
Here are numbers that will help and facilitate: National Capitol Poison Center, 800-222-1222; Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 800-662-HELP.
Zoe Medina
Hilo