Online Opinion06

Letter to the Editor


From Dan Polonski (TIM) I am a transfer student at HPU from the Tadmor Hotel School in Israel. One month ago I read the Kalamalama newspaper for the first time; now, after reading the September issue, I discovered that I cannot be silent anymore. It is a pity, but I found your paper not interesting, not relevant, and without any position on actual student problems. Excuse me for my cynicism, but except for the 9/11 Remembrance Ceremony and the Club Carnival, the newspaper was almost empty of any actual information for the HPU students. More than 50 percent of the Kalamalama contents are not relevant to them (us!). You call Kalamalama the “Hawai‘i Pacific University Student Newspaper,” and I ask: is it really a student newspaper? Or, with some imagination, can somebody say that you are just one more free Honolulu newspaper, for example, like the Honolulu Weekly? I wonder; if, and how, Kalamalama is independent from University management. In my understanding and experience, a student paper must ask questions, focus on student problems, and be in healthy opposition to University officials and policies. Are there no problems at HPU? For example, do the students have enough copy machines? Why are the campus dorms and Cadmus Properties more expensive than houses rented from outside? Should the computer lab be open more hours than now? I found only one criticism: a student complained about being charged for printing while he paid $4,925 semester tuition.

Paper clarifies policy by Jaclynn Fasken, Business manager Kalamalama is Hawai‘i Pacific University’s community newspaper. It is an official, university-sponsored newspaper. It is produced by students training to be journalists, and it gives the highest priority to student issues, events, and activities and to information about university administration, policies, and programs: information that students need to know. Our articles are carefully selected to cover all major HPU events and to inform readers of events to come. On the front page of the Sept. 30 issue, for example, were articles about graduate students, club carnival, and the 9-11 remembrance ceremony. HPU events always make front-page news and fill the first two sections, and the final sports section, of the newspaper. We dedicate 7 to 9 pages per issue to student life and HPU news. Beyond articles providing information students need, or promoting or covering student events, we try to select articles of interest to a diverse campus. Kalamalama doesn’t focus on all the global problems, but we do select the ones that affect or are likely to affect HPU students. We rarely cover something that the Honolulu Advertiser or Star Bulletin has covered, unless it is of interest to the students or students have expressed an opinion on it. If HPU students have ideas for articles they would like to see in Kalamalama, then they should by all means write and submit them. We are always looking for new writers and different voices. HPU events are advertised without cost in Kalamalama, and we try to influence vending prices by offering discounted rates to clients who offer HPU students a discount. We thank you all for reading us, and we invite you all to tell us, please, when you have questions and concerns.

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