I did as well! @rimunroe I don't remember my handle, but you took me down a nice little path on memory lane.
The Warcraft mod was a little goofy, but as a younger kid who couldn't appreciate the hardcore competitive scene I liked the variety and silliness it brought.
I spent way too much time finding custom skins online to keep things interesting. Good times.
Having grown up in Hawai'i, I know both people who worked in the observatories (or who reserve time on its telescopes for academic work), as well as people who have opposed the continued growth of facilities on the mountain.
While this became a salient topic in the media during the proposed TMNT telescope construction, there's an angle to all this that has been lost in the national media. Some of the voices quoted as opposed to development tended to be the loudest, and in my opinion least reasonable, ones. These arguments tended to hinge on Native Hawaiian identity politics and cultural grievances - while there might be something there, such statements could come across as close-minded, and I think they mischaracterized the debate as about science and progress versus NIMBYism and indigenous rights.
The more legitimate concern has been the State of Hawai'i's general mismanagement of development on the mountain, and the failure of its relevant Board of Trustees to fulfill their contractual obligations. Many private/public construction projects in Hawai'i have the unfortunate tendency to turn into haphazard federal cash grabs: the exploding costs and years-behind-schedule rail system in Honolulu is a good example, and there's a fair argument to be made that the thirteen telescopes on Mauna Loa have followed a similar pattern. Some of these were legally supposed to have been cleaned up years ago.
As mentioned, I know people who've used some of the telescopes for research and I don't think many people in the islands question the value or substance of their work. I also personally prefer it to local government's addiction to developing tourism. At the same time, I think there's a fair debate that's less "we don't like scientists," and more "please clean up your old messes like you promised."
This is all tangential to TFA, and I doubt the current federal administration cares about it. I'll still be curious to see how this plays out. Pulling funding could hurt efforts to responsibly steward the site, which would be bad. At the same time, it could discourage the Board of Trustees from continuing to chase the next federal money hose opportunity in a questionably sustainable way.
In an ideal case, those involved will find a way to continue pursuing research, while those managing the site will pursue a more organized, transparent, and responsible development plan for the land in question.
I’ve lived in the neighborhood for over sixteen years and am raising a family there.
There’s a lot to say about the crime factor, and it’s complicated. I will say that it’s common to miss it if you don’t happen to witness it. Streets that look quiet, well-developed, and peaceful will suddenly become violent and then go back to normal as if nothing happened.
I also lived on Drexel for a few years. A graduate student was shot and killed nearby while walking home. Another night we witnessed a drive-by shooting while eating dinner. I’ve got a number of crime-related stories after living here that range in severity from “funny-in-retrospect” to “somebody died.”
Something that still strikes me is how crimes can happen right outside homes without anyone noticing. The University Police have a daily email list of “serious” incidents that I check - I’ll often notice a carjacking or home invasion within 500 feet of where I was taking a nap on my couch.
It’s a great neighborhood with a lot going for it, which is maybe part of what makes the crime issue so hidden. It doesn’t look sketchy or violent until it suddenly is.
> It’s a great neighborhood with a lot going for it, which is maybe part of what makes the crime issue so hidden. It doesn’t look sketchy or violent until it suddenly is.
This conversation is fascinating to me. When I lived there, not one person had any illusion about the fact that we lived in a very violent place. The regularly-heard gunshots on 53rd got rid of those notions very quickly.
Students are regularly held up at gunpoint, sometimes shot and killed.
How on earth can you live in Hyde Park and not know of the violence?
The Warcraft mod was a little goofy, but as a younger kid who couldn't appreciate the hardcore competitive scene I liked the variety and silliness it brought.
I spent way too much time finding custom skins online to keep things interesting. Good times.