Malu 'Aina

Letter to the Editor:   No to General Wiercinski as UH President

Protesters have heard enough.
David Shapiro, 5/11/14, failed to see how insulting it is to a growing number of Hawaiians and others to have a General being considered for UH President.  The insult is about the illegal U.S. military overthrow of Hawaii as a nation, the ongoing illegal occupation, and a long list of U.S. military horrors that have occurred since, in Hawaii and elsewhere. Wiercinski was involved in Bush’s illegal wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and during his 2 years as Commanding General for U.S. Army Pacific, failed to lift a finger to investigate and clean up DU radiation contamination in Hawaii.   The UH Board of Regents are part of the problem of occupation.  They appear to be groveling for military dollars for Hawaii since Dan Inouye, Hawaii’s military cash cow, is now dead. It’s time to stand with the students and say “Demilitarize.”  If we can’t end the U.S. military occupation of Hawaii in the next few weeks, let’s at least prevent the military occupation of the U.H. president’s chair.

Jim Albertini

UH Hilo Monday May 19  at 6PM Science & Technology Bldg on Lanikaula St.
Kona Tuesday, May 20th 6PM Island Naturals Health Food Store

FYI

——– Original Message ——–

Aloha Jim Albertini, Mahalo for all your work on peace and justice in Hawaii. Faculty and students at the University have started a petition which we will present to the BoR meeting on Thursday. Here is the link: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/616/439/144/oppose-the-appointment-of-lt-general-wiercinski-to-the-uh-presidency/?taf_id=11076550&cid=fb_na

—

Mary Tuti Baker
PhD student — Indigenous Politics and Futures Studies
University of Hawai`i
Saunders Hall, Rm 617
808-551-0672

Aloha peace ohana,
I watched via livestream this morning Interim President David Lassner’s talk and Q&A.  I found him to be really intelligent with broad experience in the University.  But more than that.  I know him from the late 1970s.  He was involved in support of protesting the eviction of Native Hawaiians at Hale Mohalu.  He has a real sense of justice and compassion for people and is my choice  for president.

I attended this evening’s talk by Retired Army Lt. General Francis Wiercinski.  I sat in the third row middle and there were at least a dozen others throughout the auditorium like myself, holding signs questioning and protesting the General seeking to be UH president.  His presentation was awkward, disjointed and came through as a canned talk. He seemed nervous.  He has no experience with the University of Hawaii and his 34 years in a military culture (including illegal wars in Iraq and Afghanistan) is not compatible with a university campus of free flowing exchange. Some of the signs we held said: UH pivot to peace, not militarism, No Trust ! No Job! Have You No Shame – Withdraw Your Name! Hawaiian Values Aloha ‘Aina — Military Out of UH and Hawaii, No More UARC, Military Culture is NOT UH Culture, General NOT Qualified,  Get a generalist–Not a General, No Combat College and War degrees at UH, Killing & Education Don’t Mix,  The Pen is Mightier than the sword -No General, Return Stolen Nation – U.S. Out, Demilitarize Hawaii and Respect Mauna Kea, No TMT Industry, General UH Insult, Wiercinski LLC – “Foreign Military Sales” Expertise, No Education Expertise, No General- No Drone UH, Protest is Not the Problem, Dissent is Not the Enemy,
It seems to me the General is the inside track choice of the business community who want to cash in on the U.S. military pivot to the pacific and Asia, drone war training, etc.  With Dan Inouye now gone, they are looking for every opportunity to bring in military bucks.
It was clear the General is not well grounded in Hawaiian history of the overthrow.  Frankly, it is insulting to have a General of the occupying power now seeking to become the president of the University of Hawaii, but he seems clueless to this insult.

The Q&A was very controlled.  Questions had to be put on cards and then selected and read by a Regent.

I wish there had been more students and community people there to join the protest but it wasn’t bad.   I think we did it in a peaceful and respectful way to all involved, but the messages were clear.  Quite a few people are not happy with the possible choice of a General for UH president. Dozens of those attending signed the petition opposing The General for UH President.

To: Editors- Letters

From: Williamson Chang and Somerset Wong

Re: We would like to submit the following as a “Commentary”

Williamson Chang Tel: 808 342 1228

“Wiercinski not Qualified to Serve as President”

May 7, 2014, by Williamson Chang, Professor of Law and member of the Faculty Senate, University of Hawaii at Manoa and Somerset Wong, Third Year Student Richardson School of Law.

Lt. General Frank Wiercinski is not qualified to serve as President of the University of Hawaii. At least not yet. He does not meet the minimum qualifications of the Board of Regents or the Executive Committee of Manoa Faculty Senate. He does not have a doctorate degree from a respected institution of higher learning. He would not receive tenure at Manoa nor does he have “five years or more” of successful leadership in higher education. This is disturbing: as President he would rule on every tenure and promotion application in the system. Perhaps he could be a candidate one day: he could obtain a doctorate in Management [possibly from Shidler] he could seek a professorship and work his way up the leadership ladder in the University. He is only 57 years old.

Moreover, as evident from his May 6^th presentation, he does not seem to understand and meet other key job requirements. The President has a duty to “advance the University’s strategic commitment to Native Hawaiians, other indigenous persons [including Pacific Islanders] and under-represented people.” According to the Board, that duty includes making Manoa “a model indigenous serving institution, to include Malama aina and sustainability.”

Wiercinski was asked directly about Malama aina—“caring for the land. ” He responded by stating that the Army had an outstanding record as to endangered plants and species. In fact, in a September 2013 article in the Hawaii Tribune Herald he was quoted as saying: “I don’t think anybody does it better than us, when it comes to protecting the environment and being cognizant of and protective of cultural sites.” He failed to touch upon the environmental failures of the military: the clean up Kahoolawe as promised, and the failure to be fully forthcoming as to the use and clean up of depleted uranium shells at Pohakuloa, Makua and Schofield Barracks.

Wiercinski was also asked about “Hawaiian values,” after all, the military is responsible for inter alia the wrongful overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom, the unconstitutional imposition of Martial law during World War II, the controversial use of “ceded lands” and the failure to address the effects of nuclear testing in the Marshall islands. Wiercinski seemed to lack the trust of the Hawaiians present.

General Dwight D. Eisenhower became President of Columbia after serving as commander of all Allied forces in Europe during World War II. By most accounts, his tenure as University President was a “disaster”. The military culture and the world of academia are vastly different. In one, orders come down from the top, and orders are obeyed, “or people die.” A University is based on faculty governance, consensus building, academic freedom and a shared dedication to learning, teaching, and research and community service. This is a public university. The president of the University is the intellectual leader and face of the state to the rest of the world. Wiercinski should not be president.