Ka Leo O HawaiiKristen Sohn
5/8/02
(In response to "Alma mater portrays Hawai'i as a 'whore'" by Lance Collins, May 6.)
Read the alma mater again. When I was reciting the alma mater at my graduation, I got a beautiful picture of the fertile Manoa valley drenched in its usual drizzle. And you got a what — a picture of a woman in heat? With your two degrees from the University of Hawai'i at Manoa, don't you have the discernment to know by now when to read between the lines and when not to?
The etymology of alma mater is fostering mother (score one for Mr. Collins). Alma mater is better known here in America as a school a person has attended or graduated from, and a song or a hymn of the school. It doesn't pertain to that of a caring mother. Why? Because an etymology is just that — it is the root of the word. Is UHM a fostering mother to me? Hell no, but it is my school, and I sang its song on my graduation day.
You say our alma mater "reframes our university as not only the training ground as colonial dominators, but also as the site of our first test-rape." Why — because of her "wide-flung doors?" Is it possible that Hawai'i is well known for her hospitality and friendliness to those who visit her islands?...
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