Two recent Hawai’i stories I’ve been following have taken turns for the worst:
TheBus – An August 19th letter* by OTS President James Cowen dropped a bombshell. It said, “We recommend that TheBus customers not purchase a September bus pass until it is apparent whether the buses will be running.” A bus official recommending riders pay day-to-day is not reassuring. The letter also says that the Teamsters have broken off negotiations until August 25th – the day before the strike deadline. Yes, I already have contingency plans, but I’d be really happy if I didn’t have to implement them.
Kamehameha Schools – Although the school does not have a statement on its web site, all the media outlets do. A Honolulu court ordered Kamehameha to allow incoming seventh grader Brayden Mohica-Cummings to attend classes – at least temporarily. (This is a different person than the anonymous student that led to this blog entry.) Mohica-Cummings is not Hawaiian, and there is some question as to whether his mother falsified his application form intentionally.
Despite Headmaster Michael Chun’s optimism, I fully expect a backlash from students. The teachers and staff are all professionals, and will do their best to protect him. Still, life is bad in middle school as it is – I fully expect student backlash of some kind. I sincerely hope I’m wrong.
The unscientific opinion polls for two local news stations, KITV 4 and News 8, show that approximately two-thirds of respondents are against non-Hawaiian admissions to the Kamehameha Schools. It should be noted that according to the 2000 Census, Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders make up only 9.4% of the Hawai’i state population, and less than 0.1% of the U.S. population.
Right now, I’m sitting on the sidelines and continuing to follow both stories. Cross your fingers.
* LINK TENDING 1/11 – Removed dead link.