Town Square

Click here to listenTonight Kauai journalist Joan Conrow, Sen. Gary Hooser and Big Island journalist Hunter Bishop join me as we look at the ugly underbelly of the Superferry controversy - what the island-to-island opinions of the issue and the way they have been expressed have revealed in our character.

Click here to listenAs the saying goes, "charity begins at home." So does how we teach, love and help our children to develop into loving and independent adults - and how we model loving adult relationships for our children. Creating "loving living rooms" is the subject of tonight's Town Square with Bobbie Sandoz Merrill, MSW, author of More Parachutes for Parents, and her husband, Dr Tom Merrill. Together they wrote Settle for More and are now touring the country leading workshops and speaking. We'll hear the fundamentals of their philosophy, which they say they has evolved from the way they live and love.

Click here to listenJoin us for a Celebration 2007 edition of Town Square with guest Frances Moore Lappe. Perhaps best know for her 1971 book, Diet for a Small Planet, Hope's Edge: The Next Diet for a Small Planet with daughter, Anna Lappe (2003) and Democracy's Edge (2005), Lappe has released Getting a Grip, a practical approach to creating a "living democracy" by changing our expectations of government and ourselves. As we are in fund drive mode, phone lines will be available for pledges only.

Click here to listenThe Hawaii International Film Festival is celebrating its 27th year this month...so how did a small project of the East-West Center begun in 1981 grow to be one of the largest and respected international film festivals in America? Join us this week for our annual HIFF preview with Executive Director, Chuck Boller and programmer Anderson Le.

Click here to listenStudents at UH Manoa say there isn't enough security to keep them and their belongings safe. After a spate of burglaries at UH earlier this year plus violent episodes on a few college campuses nationwide - and despite the Hawaii state auditor's report and a proposal to the Honolulu Police Department to have off-duty officers patrol the campus - the question remains how campus security will protect UH Manoa, its students and faculty. Tonight students from the UH Manoa newspaper, Ka Leo, have their say. Guests: Tracy Chan, Associate News Editor and Hannah Miyamoto, Commentary Editor.They may have voted for it as part of their contract, but some teachers and others, including the ACLU, say the teachers' union was pressured into accepting random drug testing and that it will be costly and not effective. This week we'll speak with Graham Boyd, the national director of the ACLU Drug Law Reform Project and Pam Lichty of Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii - and you.

Click here to listenStudents at UH Manoa say there isn't enough security to keep them and their belongings safe. After a spate of burglaries at UH earlier this year plus violent episodes on a few college campuses nationwide - and despite the Hawaii state auditor's report and a proposal to the Honolulu Police Department to have off-duty officers patrol the campus - the question remains how campus security will protect UH Manoa, its students and faculty. Tonight students from the UH Manoa newspaper, Ka Leo, have their say. Guests: Tracy Chan, Associate News Editor and Hannah Miyamoto, Commentary Editor.

Click here to listenIn April, the Hawaii Legislature adopted a resolution asking the Matsunaga Institute for Peace to convene a working group to determine how Hawaii might become the "Geneva of the Pacific." Is this realistic? Hawaii State Senator Gary Hooser and Jon Van Dyke, UH Professor at the William S. Richardson School of Law believe it's possible.We'll also check in with noted peace researcher, Professor Johan Galtung, who will join us from Norway. He'll update us on peacemaking education and the Transcend Peace University where many diplomats and peace activists are trained.

Click here to listenOur guest on September 13 will be Dennis Kucinich, visiting Hawaii as part of his 2008 campaign for President. Rep. Kucinich is expected to cover some of the main issues that he sees facing America today and in the future.This is your chance to ask Rep. Kucinich your burning questions. Call early since the lines will fill up rapidly.

Click here to listenTonight we'll continue our conversation on sustainability in Hawaii. We'll discuss, among other issues, what responsibility business has to create a sustainable Hawaii and what consumers expect from the businesses they patronize.Guests:Austin Imamura, Chairman CEO of Pacific Rim BankBarbra Pleadwell, Partner, Hastings and PleadwellJosh Stanbro, Head of Creative Commons, an enviromental consulting firmKevin Vaccarello, Founder and co-facilitator of Sustain Hawaii and VP and Program Director of World Business Academy, among other affiliations

Click here to listenGuests:Is a train really the transit solution for Honolulu? Is it a done deal or are there other possibilities, for example a high-tech bus that is in use in Europe?

Click here to listenGuests:1st Lt. Ehren Watada, father Bob Watada, Jon Van Dyke, Professor of International Law and Constitutional Law at the William S. Richardson School of Law, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Lynette Cruz, Assistant Professor of anthropology, Hawaii Pacific University and Chair of the Hawaiian Issues Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawaii, Col. Ann Wright, author Peter Laufer ("Mission Rejected").Tags: Lt. Ehren Watada, Iraq, Iraq War, Nuremberg, Nuremberg Principals, International Law, Town Square

Click here to listenA group of about 50 people is protesting a proposed Navy research center at the University of Hawaii by occupying the university president's office. The students, faculty and community members oppose the university's plans to conduct classified research on weapons systems on the Manoa campus. All research would be secret, including the outcomes. At the state legislature, the House Committee on Higher Education passed a resolution on March 29 "urging the University of Hawaii to abandon establishing" a University Affiliated Research Center with the Navy.Guests:Gary K. Ostrander, Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Education at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.Ruth Dawson, Professor of Women's Studies

Click here to listenGuests:John R. Searle, Mills Professor of Philosophy and Language at UC Berkeley. He will speak this evening at UH-Manoa on the topic "Consciousness as a Problem in Neuroscience." Jeannie Lum, Associate Professor, College of Education.

Click here to listenAct 50, passed by last year's legislature and signed into law by the governor, effectively criminalized homelessness in Hawaii. This law is now under attack by advocates and may be repealed. At the same time, Hawaii has been designated one of the "meanest" states due to Act 50 and actions against the homeless including police sweeps of parks and beaches. There is insufficient shelter space, and programs for the homeless cannot cope with the need.Find out what is being done and how to join with those working on solutions.Guests: Rev. Robert Nakata,pastor of Kahaluu Methodist Church and member of the Windward homeless coalition; Lois Perrin, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii; andDarlene Hein, director of the Waikiki Health Center's Caravan program, and chairperson for Parters in Care.

Click here to listenWhat is the status of the clean elections bill moving through the Hawaii legislature?Guests: Jessica Wineski, Field Coordinator, The Hawaii Elections Project and Clean Elections Hawaii, and Colin Yost, a Honolulu attorney.

Click here to listenContinuing our media theme this month, we look at the effect of the nanny reality shows, the parenting models they present, and whether this benefiting or hindering families. Our panel of parenting experts includes Kathy Bentley, Program Director and Parent Educator from PARENTS, Inc. Ms. Bentley was selected as one of the Outstanding Parent Educators in North America by Parenting Press. Also joining us, Momi Durand, Executive Director of Keiki O Ka `Aina Family Learning Centers, primarily play mornings, plus Bob Raasch, Program Adminstrator for Intervention Programs, TIFFE (The Institute for Family Enrichment) and Barbara Naki, TIFFE, Nationally Certified Trainer for the Nurturing Parenting Program.

Click here to listenPodcasting is yet another permutation of broadcasting when you want it. We'll visit with members of the Hawaii Association of Podcasters about personal internet broadcasting, how it's creating more alternatives, and why listeners should research their choices.Guests (with links to their podcasts): Ryan Ozawa (HawaiiUP), Burt Lum (Rough Take) and Todd Cochran (Geek News Central).

Click here to listenAccording to television producer, independent filmmaker and writer, Danny Schechter, there is no doubt about commercial media's current function. In celebration of Freedom of Information Day and Sunshine Week, Mr. Schechter discusses his new film, "Weapons of Mass Deception" screening this Friday as part of Honolulu's FOI festivities.

Click here to listenWe examine a new study which surveyed American high school to students to find out what they know -- or don't know -- about the First Amendment. Lead researcher, Dr. David Yalof of the University of Connecticut, Patrick Taomae, President of the ACLU Board of Directors, Iyar Martin, student editor of the Farrington High School newspaper.