Is Sydney Sweeney TOO sexy?
Dear Editor, October 6, 2026
Beautiful and sexy Hollywood star Sydney Sweeney has once again come under severe criticism for yet another television ad in which she is featured. This one has her seemingly nude but strategically holding various sports balls shielding parts of her body (I only watched it ONCE, I promise!). The ad has caused quite a stir in the media and hormones.
The main criticism seems to be that the ad allegedly objectifies women athletes. Really?! Critics think that a nude hot woman holding a variety of sports balls would fool viewers into thinking she was an athlete representing all women athletes? Or that Sweeney’s message was that all women athletes SHOULD LOOK LIKE HER? MOST spectators of women’s sports do NOT tune in expecting every athlete to look like Sweeney. Even beach volleyball, despite the wardrobe (or lack of!), does not have too many women like her.
In a sense, the criticism is almost reverse body shaming: she is beautiful, knows it, and has apparently declined to issue a tearful public apology.
And the issue of objectifying people goes both ways—and, if we are honest, in MULTIPLE directions. We are ALWAYS at risk of reducing people to their talents, skills, physical traits, or whatever can be squeezed into a thirty-second commercial. When we praise athletes or watch THEIR ads, are we saying that their skill with a ball is what makes them valuable? Should teachers and brain surgeons be upset that star athletes are paid much more than they are for simply playing games exceptionally well? Are kids learning that elite athletic ability is what makes them valuable?
In modern America, it is easy to confuse great attention with great value; social media has made an entire business model out of the mix-up. It is up to us to teach BALANCE—a concept less glamorous than celebrity and also less likely to make a quick buck. There is value in all sorts of skills and traits, but we should NOT OVEREMPHASIZE any one of them. One of the main traits that defines our value as human beings is HOW WE TREAT OTHERS. You can use your beauty, athleticism, or intelligence to achieve and excel—but you still must treat people well.
It should be obvious that physical attractiveness is a necessary part of our evolution. It’s nice to say that people should love us for our brains but what if they find someone smarter? How many women go out looking for a mate and tell themselves, “I sure hope he’s not sexually attracted to me”?
One of the main problems in America is that we find it so easy to criticize those who are not like us. In general, we should not judge a book by its cover (or lack of cover in Sweeney’s case!).
We should celebrate our individual gifts and uniqueness without having to put down others for having different gifts.
Someone once said, “People are so judgmental. I can tell by just looking at them.”
Leighton Loo
Mililani, Oahu
* * * * *
Legacy data centers are backbone of the modern Internet
Dear Editor, October 8, 2026
Hawaii County is vetting Bill 170, which amends the definition of data center on Hawaii Island and restrict their construction. I support this proactive action as long as it doesn’t cause unintended consequences.
This will happen if the county council implements a total ban on these centers. Legacy data centers are backbone of the modern Internet. These facilities cache web content and provide web/data hosting.
Hyperscaled data centers, on the other hand, consume copious amounts of water and electricity are the real problem. These centers are being constructed to support the roll out of artificial intelligence in modern society. I strongly believe these kind of inflated facilities have no place on Hawaii Island due to their negative societal and environmental impact.
As far as the chance of the hyper scaled data being constructed on this island, I believe the chances are above average. NELHA has cold seawater that can be used to cool these massive servers. If I recall correctly, there was developer that proposed to construct a data center in the Hawaii Ocean Sciences Technology Park component of NELHA several years ago.
Aaron Stene
Kailua-Kona, Hawai’i