Letters | 4-24-15

Mauka Kea: Progress or preservation?

The disagreement over whether to proceed with the new telescope on Mauna Kea reminds me of the long, acrimonious run-up to construction of H-3 on Oahu.

A state legislator, opposed to the highway, drove me to Halawa Valley to see the ancient women’s heiau that she said was too culturally and spiritually important to allow the project to proceed. I could see only dense alien undergrowth, possibly hiding a bulge. She told me I couldn’t see the heiau because I was looking with “haole eyes.” I told her that if she couldn’t get haole eyes to see her heiau, there would certainly be a super highway where we were standing.

Heiau or no, I was opposed to building H-3. I thought it would be tragic to despoil a valley that was still so nearly pristine. Today I have to admit that H-3 is a huge benefit to windward residents, giving them more time with their families, less time eating traffic fumes.

Progress or preservation? It’s a difficult choice in Hawaii. Perhaps “haole eyes” see only lava and lingering snow atop Mauna Kea and fail to appreciate its spiritual and cultural imperatives. Still, I cannot help but wonder if the daring ancient Polynesians who used their great knowledge of the heavens to push their horizons north to Hawaii, and their heirs, the modern Hawaiians who are using the stars to sail Hokulea beyond the Pacific, wouldn’t share the excitement of using the Thirty Millimeter Telescope to peer all the way back to the origins of our universe.

Are the telescope’s opponents “protectors” of Mauna Kea, or are they merely backward? That’s today’s conundrum.

David Polhemus

Waimea

If TMT built, name it to honor Hawaiian ancestors

Here is another perspective on the TMT. The two sides of this argument seem to be uncompromisingly divided into the camps of science or spirituality. The TMT is both science and spirituality. The search to the stars is a quest to answer questions that embrace both. Where did we come from? Where are we going? Is there anyone else out there?

These are likely the same questions that Hawaiian ancestors contemplated when they courageously navigated here from the South Pacific. I think they would be proud to see the TMT as a temple and a tribute to their spirit and a lasting legacy seeking answers to questions that all of humanity asks.

On the other hand, the scientists need to admit and communicate the spiritual nature of this quest. The questions being asked are really beyond science. This is not a hotel or a minimall. It is a temple on hallowed ground. The scientists need to be sensitive to the spiritual nature of the Hawaiian people. If it’s built, bless it and name it in a way to honor the Hawaiian ancestors.

Gary Abrass

Kailua-Kona