Civic
Youth Speaks Hawai‘i
Editors’ Picks
Best Disappearing Act
Gov. Linda Lingle
There was a time when all the energy in Hawai’i politics came from the fourth floor of the State Capitol. Four years ago, Gov. Linda Lingle looked set to run the table with ambitious reforms in resource management, big rethinks of educational and economic policy and stunning progress on Hawaiian Homelands. These days the governor’s headlines, such as they are, feel reactive, and tentatively so at that–she’s not happy about teacher travel, she wants more of a voice in tourism policy, she thinks rail should be on the ballot but isn’t sure whether she supports it or not. She made a splash earlier this year with a bold proposal to buy Turtle Bay, and she does have some thoughtful policy initiatives brewing, but for whatever reason–distraction created by plans for a U.S. Senate run, the stunning ascent of Mufi Hannemann as a political force or just plain old second-term blues–the governor has been quiet as a Washington Place mouse. –Ragnar Carlson
Best way to feel good about wasting money
Funding random student and teacher drug testing may make community leaders sleep better at night; but at what cost? Supporters of student drug testing say that the tests give students a reason to “just say no.” An even better reason would be our children’s complete understanding of the social and biological effects of drugs.
“We should be using effective drug education that is realistic,” Hawai’i Drug Policy Forum president Pamela Lichty says. “We have to provide students with accurate information, not scare tactics.” And while Hawai’i public school teachers continue to point to the constitutional violations of random drug testing, we can only hope that abstinence advocates don’t have virginity tests in the work for teachers who aren’t married. –Travis Quezon
Best mentoring of Hawai’i’s Youth
What started a decade ago at the old Wordstew events hosted by the godfather of Hawai’i slam poetry Jesse Lipman, where Hawai’i’s young people stuffed into a loft to listen to hip-hop and hear what would eventually evolve into the Islands’ own unique brand of slam, has been highlighted this year by the success of the Youth Speaks Hawai’i slam poetry team. Founded in 2005 by Steve Kealoha Wong, its teachers have been dedicated to building the next generation of leaders, teens aged 13–19, through both written and spoken word poetry. This summer, the Hawai’i team was the winners of the national championship at the 11th annual Youth Speaks’ Brave New Voices competition in Washington, D.C. –T.Q.
Best Acknowledgement of Hawai’i’s homeless
In June, Gov. Linda Lingle extended an emergency proclamation for Hawai’i’s homeless for the fourth time since 2006. The proclamation allows state agencies to bypass red tape and expedite the construction of homeless shelters and transitional housing projects on O’ahu. The State Legislature estimates that there are more than 6,000 homeless people on any given day–more than 800 of them are children–and that 37 percent are of Hawaiian or part-Hawaiian ancestry. –T.Q.
Best reason to legalize prostitution
When politicians and police cracked down after public outcry on the visibility of prostitutes in Waikk and Chinatown, the industry simply pushed into someone else’s backyard–literally. Without addressing what Libertarians view as the true criminal element in prostitution–pimps–Hawai’i residents are simply denying the inevitable existence of “world’s oldest profession.” –T.Q.
