Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 15, Number 3, 1 March 1998 — Reader comment on 'their' newspaper [ARTICLE]

Reader comment on 'their' newspaper

Many Ka Wai Ola readers who to our survey took the time to write out compliments, complaints and suggestions. Excerpted below are some of the comments shared with us that we thought might interest other readers. Kudos ■ I love reading Ka Wai Ola. It connects me to my Hawaiian koko. Mahalo. ■ The paper has improved very mueh in all aspects. Congratulations. ■ Is it at all possible to have Ka Wai Ola o OHA published more oiien? If it eame out more often we would forget about the daily paper. Mahalo. ■ Make sure Ka Wai Ola stays in existence. Right now it's all we have. ■ Inā hiki iā 'oukou ke ho'omau i kekahi kōlamu 'ōlelo Hawai'i, he maika'i loa. E pono 'oukou e paipai i nā makamaka heluhelu no ka ho'ouna'ana mai i ko lākou mana'o i ka 'ōlelo Hawai'i. Hiki ke ho'oma'ama'a a ho'oikaika i ko mākou 'ōlelo makuahine. Mahalo. (If you folks could eonhnue the Hawaiian language eolumn, that would be very good. You should support the readership in sending their ideas and thoughts in the Hawaiian language. It enables us all to practice and strengthen our mother tongue. Thank you.). ■ You are doing a good job as it is. ■ Na Leo 'Ōiwi by Manu is great. ■ Great improvement since 1993. My fīrst interest is in the "Trustees Message." Thank you for this survey. ■ OHA paper is very good. ■ The opinions of the tmstees are entertaining. ■ Very informative. Greatjob! ■ Your eolumn on nutrition is good. ■ The colors, pictures, and topics have made KWO a better newspaper to read. Aloha! ■ Keep your explanation of your Hawaiian words going. I should know more at 68 years old. ■ I truly enjoy reading Ka Wai Ola to my children and myself. I have leamed more from this and reading books. ■ Keep up the good woik. ■ I'd like to commend you for the excellent updates on legislation. Thank you for taking my input into consideration. Concerns ■ The intellectual content in the paper is low. I don't knoek the practical, but don't find your goals very high. ■ My eoneem is when tmstees write articles that criticize eaeh other. ■ Keep mud slinging out of this paper. We have enough of that ffom the daily

papers. ■ Include the English translation opposite your Hawaiian section! How many Hawaiians are fluent enough to read a full page of untranslated Hawaiian? ■ Ano 'ē kēia mau mea e kuelana ma mākou luahine me lua kane. Peha makou? Kokoke e ha'ule m akou. Nui na mea pilikia keia manawa. Aloha no makou, Luahine. (Some of these responsibilities are strange to us, the elderly men and women. What about us? We'll soon pass on. Therearemany troubling things occurring these days. Alas for us, the elders.). ■ KWO is received two to three weeks late eaeh month. ■ Tmstee messages seem more like eomplaints and whining against someone else. I'd like to read their thoughts on specifics: Reorganization, future direction, education, the arts and sciences, Hawaiians and the computer age. ■ Overall, the paper is too wordy. ■ Ka Wai Ola delivers the news too late. ■ I do not receive Ka Wai Ola on a timely basis. Many classes and events are pau and we'ie not able to participate. ■ You will never get any meaningful feedback from our Hawaiian community if you don't include a self-addressed stamped envelope. Our majority of people do not keep stamps. ■ Ka Wai Ola is a vehicle for trustees to air their gripes. I'm three-eighths Hawaiian and don't need OHA. Suggestions: ■ I would like very mueh to see at least one Hawaiian song, with translation. The English is for my benefit, but I want to see, and maybe sing the songs. Mahalo. ■ It would be greatly appreciated to see info in KWO on how I ean get involved in community issues that affect Hawaiians. ■ Tmstee columns should express what the trustees are trying to accomplish. Stop name calling. ■ Please have tmstee columns reflect positive points rather than their disjointed stand as individuals. ■ How ean our young people specifically get help. ■ Would like to see more Hawai'i-made goods for sale, to help us market our crafts and become more self-sufficient maybe at discounts for Hawaiians selling quality Hawaiian things. Lots of good people out here making lots of good stuff, but whea da market? ■ Please, crossword puzzle in Hawaiian only. ■ How about a section on questions to the tmstees? ■ The tmstees should speak as a group in Ka Wai Ola. They are a board and should not

use Ka Wai Ola as a medium to promote their personal agenda. ■ I want to see more articles on decolonization and on ties to the Pacific. ■ Appreciate any info on upcoming classes to help us improve ourselves. ■ More pictures and graphics; more on Hawaiian crafts and where to buy reasonable Hawaiian gifts year-round. ■ I want to know more information on what types of Hawaiian Home Lands are āvailable. ■ The public should be informed of OHA BOT items approved. Also, Tmstee attendance and voting at BOT meetings are vital. ■ Interviews with prominent Hawaiian professionals in our community. In this bleak eeonomie situation,"feel-good" articles are a must. I would love to read about how other Hawaiians have achieved their goals. What obstacles did these people overcome? What values did they hold close to them? Were there sacrifices along the way? Ideally, these professionals should be Hawaiians not in the political limelight. Updates on the Punana Leo children. Whatever happened to Bumpy Kanahele and the isolated community in Waimānalo? Updates on innovative farming. What's going on in Moloka'i between the ranch and the residents? ■ I'd like to see trastees' votes on issues published; comparison graphs on trastee focus and support; legislative issues affecting Hawaiians and the course of action for use; organizational map of OHA; dialogue eolumn including questions for OHA leaders and their answers or opinions. ■ More letters to the editor. ■ Your newspaper must be a prefix not a suffix as to the "plan" they have for us. ■ More articles in Hawaiian. How about a mahalo section and in it include the obituaries of prominent Hawaiians? More related topics on how OHA affects changes or deals with Washington D.C. and our elected olficials. ■ I would like to see a section for eaeh island on Hawaiian, legal, political issues. Hawaiians are on one side and non-Hawai-ians on the others, so we need to know and they need to know. ■ List new DHHL awards, names and location of awarded lands. ■ Section on outstanding college kids, for example Rhodes scholars. Include technical schooling. ■ A colj 1 7 umn for learning Hawaiian conversation, including syntax, rales etc. A eolumn for teens to leam more about their heritage. A eolumn for elementary level. Some "I remember when" human interest stories. ■ Cultural issues are important to educate the community: Hawaiian 'ōlelo, pidgin, fishing, hula, socialism. ■ You might include a section where families ean submit pictures for identification or

ask your readers for pictures on specific individuals. Some families do not have pictures of their ancestors. Your eolumn might help in locating some. ■ Create a network/directory for individual Hawaiians information exchange. There is not enough vital information to the beneficiaries on the internal financial management and control of money said to belong to the beneficiaries. ■ I guess I must have missed any articles on the Hawaiian Steel Guitar Association throughout the last four years. ■ How about more articles on religious matters? ■ More information on traditional uses of Hawaiian herbs, medicinal plant, food plants. Ie.'awa and 'ōlena were used in ancient times and today there is a renewed interest in herbal extracts and pharmaceutical. ■ Let the people hear the problems and needs of Moloka'i or other islands. Talk about DHHL Homes on Moloka'i moving very slow. Put God in your paper. ■ Get more input from outside islands. ■ You guys should have more Hawaiian vocabulary and teach people to use it in a sentence form. Talk about more sovereignty issues. And put some recipes so people ean taste Hawaiian food. ■ It would help if all of the OHA had its missions and goals in KWO from time to time (eveiy quarter or four months). Find the Hawaiian resources in the community and highlight. ■ Include us on the north shore, the little communities. Also, more on the keiki who are in language classes and the Hawaiian school. ■ Revival of board meeting highlights as a regular monthly article;more neighbor island news or announcements or doings. Eaeh article written in KWO should be identified by a person, author or staff. ■ More infoimation about the environment on all islands, Hawaiian culture, eeonomy - anything to do with us Hawaiians. Also better photos and graphics. ■ Entertainment, who/what's popular now and before. Hawaiian issues with objective views from people outside of Hawaiian issues. ■ It would be interesting to read about one Hawaiian legend in eaeh in eaeh issue. ■ We need more info on political issues that directly involve Hawaiians. ■ Cultural items are of great interest to me. More articles on areas of cultural interest such as kupua, inoa ho'omana'o, 'oia'i'o and physical areas such as Anahulu on O'ahu. Mahalonui! ■ I'm an inmate that was sent to Texas with the very first plane load. When things like riots happen here, the reasons are covered up. I'd like to get with someone to make a true story of what's really happening. ■

Survey — continued