I believe that the Thirty Meter Telescope shouldn’t be built on Mauna Kea. Well first of all, yes I am Hawaiian and was born and raised on the islands. The reason is because they can simply put it somewhere else and the simple fact that a majority of Hawaiians do not want it. An analogy I’ve heard recently is, if I were to go in your front yard and build a massive building and tell you, “Oh don’t worry, it’s for science,” wouldn’t you get upset? Whether it be for science or whatever, Hawaiians don’t want it, do not build it. Pretty simple if you ask me.
– Ivan-Hoe Takemoto
In all honesty, I believe that the Thirty Meter Telescope should be built on Mauna Kea due to multitudes of reasons. To begin with the creation of the Thirty Meter Telescope will cultivate research and development and hopefully contribute to newly discovered things or further our knowledge in space. I do consider the perspective of the Hawaiians claiming that the land is sacred and should not be disrespected, however, it can be argued that there is no evidence that the land is sacred or that there is no physical documentation. The building of the telescope will mean that the Hawaiians will be losing a major part of their history, culture and values, but the world is progressing at such an incredible pace that we cannot afford to look back and second guess our actions.
– Devin Lee
I am against the building of TMT on Mauna Kea. I know that we have one of the best views in the world to look up and see the stars, planets, solar system, etc. but how many more telescopes do they need on the mauna? As a Native Hawaiian, this topic is hewa. The mauna is sacred, kapu! Why not use the methods of navigation and reading the stars the way our ancestors did in the past? The more they build, the less Hawai‘i will be! It stems deeper than just building a telescope. Too much taking going on. What about giving back? What about leaving it alone! What of the beautiful islands will be left? What about the water, land, plants and animals? What about our culture, morals, values and even our existence? We are the land! The more land they take, the more extinct we will become.
– Alisha Kaluhiokalani
As a Native Hawaiian, I feel as if I’m being pressured to be against the construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope. However, as an enthusiast of all things education and space exploration, I believe the pros outweigh the cons greatly. The construction of the TMT on Mauna Kea can benefit the future generations of Hawai‘i, as well as those who are currently in the career of astronomy.
– Brooklyn Fischer
With everything happening on Mauna Kea (lot of respect), I believe the government should look for other sites to built the telescope instead of building on sacred land. Science will always be important for us even if it’s going to improve our chances of communicating with satellite systems. Also, discovering new planets we never did before to learn about them more closely. Yes! I would like to see this happen.
– Blanca Munoz
I personally do not think that the TMT should be built on Mauna Kea. My reasons are because of how many people are aganist it there are. You would think as the governor, who is supposed to be the voice of the people, would listen to the people, with the majority of them being protestors, with protestors being from all over the world. Another thing that I don’t understand is why UH only leases the land for the telescopes at a mere $1 per year. When I see how expensive UH classes/parking are, and they recently had to cut staff to save money, but you see that they lease it out only for $1 to these big companies, it does not make any sense. Also I don’t think it should be built here because I know another island is willing to have it built on their mountain. So I do not think it should be built because there is somewhere else it can be built and the people there want it.
– Noah Lorica
