A diverse group – all of us supporting the Comprehensive Management Plan to malama Mauna Kea – met in front of the new court house yesterday to show our support for the process.

Judge Hara ruled that a Comprehensive Management Plan had to be done before any new construction could happen on the mountain. Many, many volunteers worked very hard and did their very best to ensure that the CMP would comply with the spirit of the ruling – which is to malama Mauna Kea.

No matter what side of the issue we’re all on, we all want the best for Mauna Kea.

Everyone had a fair chance to provide input to the process. We aloha everyone who participated. It took everybody’s input to make this the best plan it can be.

We came together yesterday to celebrate the process.

Last evening, Baron Sekiya posted this announcement on his blog.

The National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (NAOC) has joined the Thirty Meter Telescope Project.
As an observer, China will participate in planning the development of what will be the world’s most advanced and capable astronomical observatory.

“The TMT is delighted to take this exciting new step forward in our relationship with the National Astronomical Observatories of China,” said Henry Yang, chairman of the TMT board and Chancellor of the University of California, Santa Barbara. “We appreciate their interest in contributing to this important international endeavor, and we look forward to continuing to work with the Chinese astronomical community in fostering China’s collaboration in the TMT project.”

NAOC officials also hailed the development.

“We believe that the Thirty Meter Telescope will provide an otherwise unattainable opportunity for the Chinese astronomical community to make significant discoveries, perform cutting-edge science, and advance technological development,” said Jun Yan, director of the NAOC. “We believe our joint effort will foster a successful collaboration on this world-class project, and we hope to build high-technology, core components of the telescope.”

Several weeks ago, Ka‘iu Kimura, the new director of ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center, told us about her wish to build a center that would be suitable for accommodating international scientific conferences. Although I understood her words, I did not fully understand what she was saying until I saw this new announcement.

During that same conversation, master navigator Kalepa Babayan told us of attending international conferences at Athens and Hamberg as a representative of ‘Imiloa. ‘Imiloa participated because of its uniqueness as a center of world astronomy that includes the native Hawaiian culture in association with its astronomy. Sitting in Kuhio Grill with Ka‘iu Kimura, Kalepa Babayan, Clyde Hayashi, Wally Ishibashi and Pete Lindsey, we were all amazed at the international reputation of ‘Imiloa. I asked, “You mean the Athens? Not Athens, Georgia?” Kalepa said matter of factly—yes, Athens, Greece.

China’s entering into the TMT project as a partner is one more indication of the importance, the specialness, of Mauna Kea, Hawai‘i and the Hawaiian people.

My Letter to the Editor ran in yesterday’s Hawaii Tribune-Herald. Here is the letter:

Many Support CMP

Friday’s Hawaii Tribune-Herald headline read: “Mauna Kea Plan Sparks Suit.” Certainly, people are within their rights to sue. I would like to point out, though, that it is only a small group of people that opposes the Comprehensive Management Plan (CMP) for Mauna Kea and plans to sue. Many, many more Hawaiians on this island support the CMP. At the meeting where the Office of Hawaiian Affairs supported the CMP, OHA Trustee Robert Lindsey testified that there is overwhelming support on the Big Island for the plan. This is apparent to me, as well.

We must aloha the plaintiffs, though, for having been in the forefront of the Mauna Kea issues for so many years. They brought the issues to the rest of our attention. They won a lawsuit, in which it was found that a CMP was needed. (Now, however, they are arguing against it.) We must also mahalo the countless volunteers who worked on the CMP, addressing the concerns brought forward by the plaintiffs and doing everything they could to make this plan pono. It is very important that we malama Mauna Kea. I have not met one person who doesn’t want the best for Mauna Kea.

Three years ago, when I first heard that the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) was interested in coming to Mauna Kea, I volunteered to be on the Hawai‘i Island Economic Development Board’s TMT committee. If it was going to happen, I wanted to have a hand in making sure it was done right. It was obvious to me that this is about our keiki and future generations now; it’s not about any of us. If we can move forward with this, they will be able to look to the skies instead of into the mud. And they will know that they can achieve anything.

Did you know that the TMT has pledged $50 million toward our Big Island children’s education? It will be administered by carefully selected community members and is earmarked primarily for K-12 education. If we do the CMP in a pono way, then and only then can we look ahead to a place where science and the Hawaiian culture can coexist. When it can, then we can site the best telescope in the world on the most sacred mountain in the whole world.

When I was a small kid, my dad, who was a very wise Hawaiian man, told me: “Get thousand reasons why ‘No can.’ I only looking for one reason why ‘Can!’”

Not, no can. CAN!

Richard Ha
President, Hamakua Springs Country Farms

After deliberating for two days, the Thirty Meter Telescope Observatory Corp. board voted yesterday to site its new telescope here on Mauna Kea, not in Chile.

Although I’ve been working on this project for almost three years now, I was not prepared for the emotional rush that came when Henry Yang, president of the TMT, called to tell me of the decision.

All I could think about was how this would help our people launch their kids into the middle class. All that most of us want is for our kids to do a little better than we did.

The median family income in Hawai‘i is around $56,000. Here on the Big Island, it is $46,000. But on the east side of the Big Island, the median family income is in the mid-$30,000s. And in some communities it is in the low-$30,000s.

We all know that low family income is sometimes associated with social problems. And Hawaiian families occupy the lowest rungs on the family income ladder.

Education is directly related to family income. The more education, the higher the family income. Education is the great equalizer.

The Thirty Meter Telescope folks have pledged $1 million dollars annually for 50 years, which will be administered by carefully selected community members, primarily for K-12 education.

We all know that many of our students who enter college fail, or lower their aspirations, because they are not prepared to succeed. We want this TMT fund to prepare students to succeed.

So if we are truly interested in elevating our people and taking them away from drug problems, abusive relationships and other social ills, then we must help parents to launch their kids into the middle class. For those who are prepared to succeed, the sky is the limit.

My pop influenced me at an early age. When I was 10 years old, he inspired me with the attitude of “Not, no can. CAN!”  So I know the value of influencing elementary school kids. They are very impressionable, and with the right environment and the right teachers, anything is possible.

This is why we created the Adopt-A-Class project. Sometimes the Keaukaha School kids come to our farm on their excursions. I tell them stories and give examples of how a positive attitude can overcome any problem. And at the end of the tour when I yell out “Not, no can!” they all yell back: “CAN!”  Right on!

I see the annual $1 million Education Fund as a way of opening up kids’ minds and making them understand that they can do anything. We do not want our kids to wallow in victim-ism. That is waste time.

What we need is for them to have an optimism and a pride that our people were astronomers and the best navigators in the world. We want all kids, not just Hawaiians, to feel that high aspirations and goals are normal and not out of the ordinary.

The TMT leadership—Henry Yang and Jean Lou Chameau—listened to our advice very early on. They went and talked to community folks, like Kumu Lehua and Patrick Kahawaiola‘a, and they understood that the common denominator on which people on all sides of the issue could agree was the education of our keiki.

We have our eye on a goal, and so yesterday’s announcement that the TMT Board has decided on Mauna Kea for its new telescope is a huge, huge deal.

RToday is the big day – The Thirty Meter Telescope Corporation’s board is meeting to decide where to site the TMT.

Will it be in Chile?

Or will it be in Hawai‘i?

We’ll have to wait and see.

We’ve come such a long way. It was three years ago when we first heard the TMT folks were interested in siting their telescope on Mauna Kea. Back then, the community was torn apart over astronomy and control issues.

Together with Roberta Chu and Bob Saunders, I volunteered to sit on the newly formed TMT committee of the Hawai‘i Island Economic Development Board. I was determined that if a new telescope was to be sited on Mauna Kea, it needed to be done right.

To me, “done right” meant doing things local style. And local style is all about building relationships. One must go talk story, again and again, until a certain level of trust is built. This takes time.

Spending time is an essential part of trust building. One cannot avoid spending the time.

Fortunately, Henry Yang, President of the TMT Corporation and Chancellor of U.C. Santa Barbara, and Jean Lou Chameau, President of Cal Tech and one of the TMT Corporation partners, both understood the importance of relationship building. They took the time to meet and get to know the people. They did this for its own sake.

If we are successful and the TMT is sited on Mauna Kea, it will be because of the foundation that was laid in the first few meetings. From there, we all just went out and built relationships.

A little at a time, in wider and wider concentric circles, people started talking to others and common ground was found. Groups started talking to groups – labor unions, business organizations, astronomy folks, university and community college folks, as well as many other groups and organizations that joined this coalition, which had as its purpose, the common good.

One of the most important things we learned from the Hawaiian community was that the process is the most important thing. Follow the process. Following the process meant that all participants in the process made for a better end product.

And, following that logic, we acknowledge and appreciate the contribution of all involved. So the process made all of us contributors to the end product. It was not “us against them.” It was just us. All of us!

We also need to aloha the early, loud voices for bringing up issues that needed to be addressed.

This is what I envisioned when I said that if the TMT comes here, it needs to be done right.

It also means that if the TMT selects Mauna Kea tomorrow, our work is not done. We must make sure that the four sub plans for the CMP are done right. We need to continue working hard to protect the rights of all the parties.

No matter whether Mauna Kea is selected or not, we did this right and we will have no regrets.

Aloha, mahalo and congratulations to all.

I went to O‘ahu last night for the last of the Thirty Meter Telescope Draft EIS hearings, which was held at Farrington High School’s cafeteria and where I said a few words.

What I keep coming back to again and again is what Kumu Lehua Veincent told me the first time I asked him what the TMT should offer the Big Island as an introductory, good faith gift. I asked him if it would be appropriate to ask for “full ride” scholarships for at least five native Hawaiians to attend the best colleges in the nation.

He asked me, in a very sincere way, “And what about the rest?”

I felt so stupid that I could feel my ears getting hot.

That is the essential question: “What about the rest?” This is about the keiki, the future generations—all of them.

Three years later, University of Hawai‘i President McClain has announced that if the TMT comes to Hawai‘i, in addition to its other negotiations there will be an annual, $1 million benefit package for education emphasizing K-12. It will be effective for the life of the project—50 years—and will begin as soon as all the permits are in place.

It will be set up to address Kumu Lehua’s question: “What about the rest?”