Editorials
Friday, July 31, 1998

Asian Americans being
considered for medals

OF the 301 Medals of Honor bestowed upon soldiers in World War II, only one went to an Asian American. Realizing that the underrepresentation was due to an unwarranted slight rather than any scarcity of valor, a team of Pentagon researchers is compiling a list of Asian-American soldiers from the war to be reviewed for the top decoration.

The effort grew out of a project involving the review of records of African-American soldiers, seven of whom were presented last year with the medals for their previously unheralded courage on World War II battlefields. Five other African Americans were belatedly presented Bronze Stars.

Under a review ordered by Congress in 1996, a team at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, Calif., has identified 105 Asian Americans whose combat records earned them Distinguished Service Crosses, but who may have been overlooked for the top honor. The search is to be completed by Sept. 30 and the results forwarded to a military review board, which will decide who merits the award.

Among the 105 whose extraordinary feats will be reviewed is Hawaii's own Daniel Inouye, who led his platoon through heavy weapon fire to capture an enemy artillery and mortar observation post in Italy in 1945. Hawaii's senior senator crawled to within five yards of a machine-gun emplacement and destroyed it with two grenades. After standing up and blowing up a second machine-gun nest, he continued to fire at other hostile positions. Even after his right arm was shattered by a grenade, Inouye continued to lead his platoon until the enemy gave up.

The heroism of Asian Americans during World War II has been recognized in various ways in recent years. The ultimate recognition will come with awards of the Medal of Honor.

No-parking zones

JUST when you thought government couldn't get any more involved in our day-to-day lives, the City Council may test the limits. Its members are slated to vote next week on a bill that would set up, on a pilot basis, no-parking streets in four neighborhoods. Two of the zones would be in Manoa and McCully, near the busy main campus of the University of Hawaii. Where students are supposed to park would obviously be their problem, not that of residents who are sick of the crowds.

It's easy to feel sympathy for the homeowners, who complain that noisy UH students hog street parking, leave their litter behind and are a general nuisance. There should be no trouble in some streets getting the required 80 percent of residents to petition the city Department of Transportation Services for a residential permit parking zone on their turf.

But this concept is certain to widen the rift between the haves and the have-nots. It will result in few and perhaps even no parked cars on heavily traveled thoroughfares, thus making the homeowners happy but causing student motorists to circle in frustration. This is political pandering to vocal voters while ignoring the needs of less influential groups like students.

As pointed out by Carl Shelton, who lives on Atherton Road, "Everybody (moving into the area) knew the university was there. That is the flavor of the neighborhood." How sad that more of Shelton's neighbors don't share his sentiment. Government is eventually going to decide everything for us -- what we can build, where we can smoke and even who gets to park.

Incarceration concerns

AN additional 600 prison inmates have been flown to correctional facilities on the mainland as the state moves toward expanding prison space in Hawaii. But federal Justice Department charges about conditions at one Southwest Texas jail housing Hawaii inmates make the construction of an additional facility here even more urgent.

A 13-page Justice Department report found that inmates' constitutional rights have been violated at the Dickens County Correctional Center in Spur, Texas. The facility -- more like a jail than a prison, according to Justice -- was run by the Austin-based Bobby Ross Group until April, when its operation was transferred to Correction Services Corp. A May 1997 riot involving Hawaii inmates resulted in the death of a prisoner who had been sent to Texas by the state of Montana.

The report says guards have resorted to the use of shotguns instead of less dangerous weapons such as chemical agents to quell disturbances. It adds that guards are not properly trained, and medical and mental health care is inadequate.

For Hawaii, out of sight does not mean out of mind. Although the inmates are housed in Texas, the state of Hawaii remains legally responsible for their well-being. The state attorney general's office is understandably concerned about the Justice Department charges. Public Safety Director Keith Kaneshiro must gain assurances that mainland facilities now housing 1,200 Hawaii inmates meet federal standards.

Meanwhile, Governor Cayetano should expedite his assessment of Big Island land as the potential home for a 2,000-bed prison. The governor last month rejected Kau as a prison site because of highly vocal opposition by some area residents. He is now considering two sites on state land near the Kulani Correctional Facility.

Hawaii has been housing inmates on the mainland since 1995, but this can only be a temporary solution. Cayetano should decide soon on the site so construction of this urgently needed facility can begin.

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Rupert E. Phillips, CEO

John M. Flanagan, Editor & Publisher

David Shapiro, Managing Editor

Diane Yukihiro Chang, Senior Editor & Editorial Page Editor

Frank Bridgewater & Michael Rovner, Assistant Managing Editors

A.A. Smyser, Contributing Editor