Campus News
- Hawaiʻi: College ranked 16th
- Kapiʻolani: Hospitality program accredited
- Hilo: First pharmacy class | Requiem singers
- Mānoa: Valentine event | Help for eating healthy | Sustainable triathlete | Fiji project | No more cows | Nobelist’s exhibit | Accolades | Orange obake | Home hazards guide | Programs recognized
- UH System: Career kiosks | Study abroad DVD
Big Island’s community college is 16th in nation
Hawaiʻi Community College placed 16th among the top 30 U.S. community colleges in 2007 college rankings by The Washington Monthly magazine.
The ranking was based on the 2006 Community College Survey of Student Engagement and campus graduation rates. Hawaiʻi was recognized in particular for encouraging programs emphasizing collaborative, project oriented and community based learning activities.
topHospitality and Tourism Department accredited
Kapiʻolani Community College’s Hospitality and Tourism Department was one of only 12 two-year college programs accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Hospitality Management Program.
The department is one of only three in which all faculty are American Hotel and Lodging Association Certified Hospitality Educators.
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Hilo welcomes first future pharmacists
Ninety University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo students received their white consultation coats and recited the Oath of a Pharmacist, pledging to serve all humankind, during a formal ceremony in Hilo during October 2007.
Dean John Pezzuto says members of the College of Pharmacy’s inaugural class, including (pictured from left) Rovigel Gelviro, Dan Lupi, Adrienne Au and Wilson Nyasa, share solid academic backgrounds, strong commitment and positive attitudes.
Pharmacy students are using borrowed biology and chemistry classrooms for now. Four modular buildings are being readied in University Park of Science and Technology to serve as temporary quarters until permanent facilities are built.
Officials expect to field as many as 1,000 applications by the February 2008 deadline for the second class in the four-year doctor of pharmacy program. Email for information or call 808 443-5900.
More on pharmacy studies at the College of Pharmacy website.
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Hilo singers are Carnegie bound for Requiem performance
Sixteen members of the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo’s University Showcase Singers join musicians from across the country in New York City’s Carnegie Hall Jan. 21, 2008, for a Martin Luther King Jr. Day performance of Karl Jenkins’ Requiem.
Last spring the group, led by UH Hilo Performing Arts Department Chair Ken Staton, participated in the Hilo premier of the Welsh composer’s mass for the dead. The 2005 classical orchestration incorporates Japanese haiku and shakuhachi and hip-hop percussion with traditional Latin text.
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Valentine event planned for people who met at Mānoa
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa alumni who met their sweethearts or future business partners on campus are invited to join Chancellor Virginia Hinshaw for a special Valentine’s 2008 event.
Visit the UH Centennial website for information about the event or to share your story of a happy match made at Mānoa. Information is also available by email or calling 808 956-6133.
topNew website helps Hawaiʻi eat healthy
The new Hawaiʻi Foods website provides calorie and nutrient content information for foods common to Hawaiʻi, including local favorites from bittermelon to sushi. The site also offers an interactive personal diet assessment tool, recipes and other resources.
Hawaiʻi Foods was created by the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources and the university’s Cancer Research Center of Hawaiʻi.
Visit the website.
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Staffer expends own energy for sustainability
Olwen Huxley puts a lot of energy into her job—even swimming 2.4 miles, biking another 112 and running a 26.2-mile marathon in a single day.
Before competing in the Oct. 13, 2007 Ironman World Championships, the junior specialist in the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s Center for Smart Building and Community Design collected more than $2,000 in pledges to the Campus Energy/Sustainability Fund.
That would buy enough compact fluorescent light bulbs to save more than $10,000 a year on UH’s electricity bill, says Huxley.
A triathlete since 2000, Huxley completed the 2007 Big Island ironman 294th overall with a time of 5:43:02.
Read more on sustainability at Mānoa.
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Hands-on architecture assignment assists Fiji villages
Eight architecture graduate students have embarked on a long-term class project to provide community buildings for the economically depressed Fijian island of Batiki.
Working with Adjunct Associate Professor Marga Jann and former Fiji Minister of Housing Adi Asenaca Caucau, each student will design and oversee construction of a building—school, church, library or council hall—to serve the island’s 2,000 people. The students will visit the five-square-mile volcanic island’s three coastal villages in January on their own initiative and hope to complete design plans this spring.
Villagers, primarily subsistence farmers and fishers, are raising money and the team is seeking international grants to cover construction, which is expected to take two years. For information contact email Marga Jann.
topHow now? No more cows
Cows long ago departed the grounds of the once-rural University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa campus in Honolulu. Now they’re gone from the university’s North Shore facility as well.
With disrepair at the Waialeʻe Livestock Research Farm mirroring the decline of Hawaiʻi’s dairy industry, the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources sold its last 20 cows, once used for dairy nutrition and reproduction research.
Officials hope to continue research in partnership with private dairies while negotiating a move to a former Meadow Gold operation on state land in Waimānalo.
topExhibit features legacy of Nobel winning namesake
The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s Hamilton Library hosts Re-discovering a Forgotten Treasure: The Georg von Békésy Art Collection in the first-floor bridge gallery during January and February 2008.
The Hungarian-born scientist won the 1961 Nobel Prize in Physiology for research on mechanisms of the inner ear. Five years later he joined the faculty at UH Mānoa, where the Pacific Biosciences Research Center’s neurobiology laboratory is named in his honor.
Ever the scientist, von Békésy used an analytic approach in selecting pieces for his extensive collection of paintings, statues and artifacts. Upon his death in 1972, the art objects were donated to the Nobel Foundation and about 3,000 art books came to the Mānoa libraries. Librarians Ted Kwok and Patricia Polansky curated the free, public exhibit.
See the library website for library hours. Email or call 808 956-9932 to arrange group tours. Read more about Georg von Békésy and the Békésy laboratory at UH Mānoa.
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Mānoa group wins song contest and students earn honors
UH Hawaiian Combo, a quintet formed by University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Department of Music Hawaiian Ensemble Director Chadwick Pang, won the 2007 Ka Hīmeni Ana song competition with its performance of "E Nani E" and "Aloha Nō."
The 20-year-old contest is for small groups who sing nahenahe (soft, sweet) Hawaiian-language songs, unamplified, to traditional accompaniment; winners receive an opportunity to record with Hula Records.
The UH group, now called Mānoa Voices, includes Maori Ensemble Director Sophronia Smith, alumni musicians Justin Kaʻupu and Rosanna Perch and Japanese singer Mamina Koga.
In other honors―
- Minako McCarthy won the top student design award at the Association of Family and Consumer Sciences’ 2007 Art Design/Apparel and Textiles Juried Showcase and Exhibition. One of her dress designs is modeled in the picture.
- Monte Watanabe was named one of the nation’s three most outstanding electrical or computer engineering students by Eta Kappa Nu honor society.
- Mortar Board and Golden Key International honor societies won the Silver Torch and Project Excellence awards, respectively, for community service projects.
Orange obake gets blue ribbon
Tropic Sunrise, a University of Hawaiʻi-bred anthurium grown by Green Point Nursery’s Harold Tanouye, won the Society of American Florists 2007 Blue Ribbon for Outstanding Varieties. The flower was developed by a College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources team led by Professor Emeritus Haruyuki Kamemoto.
CTAHR’s 57-year-old anthurium research program, now led by Horticulturist Heidi Kuehnle, has released more than 40 new commercial varieties since 1963, helping develop the state’s most lucrative cut-flower crop, valued at $5.4 million in 2006.
Photo by Eric Tanouye
topGuide helps homeowners plan for disasters
The Homeowner’s Handbook to Prepare for Natural Hazards provides detailed information on emergency preparedness and evacuation planning for tsunami, hurricane, earthquake or floods. Based on current science but presented in a simple, straightforward manner, the 98-page handbook is designed to dispel myths and help homeowners make informed decisions and implement simple, cost-effective measures.
Here’s a list of 10 things you can do (details in the handbook):
- Gather emergency supplies
- Create disaster-specific evacuation plans
- Apply property-specific interventions
- Assess your house
- Strengthen your home
- Use the state’s Loss Mitigation Grant program to fund improvements
- Obtain adequate home insurance
- Explore hurricane insurance discounts
- Make mitigation part of home improvement
- Use qualified, licensed professionals
Download the free handbook or mail order a copy for $5. Visit the Sea Grant College Program website or call 808 956-7410 for information.
topRecent rankings and accreditations
Several University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa programs received votes of confidence during 2007.
- The School Library Media graduate specialization was ranked among the top 10 in the nation by U.S. News & World Report.
- Shidler College of Business was rated among the top 20 undergraduate business schools by U.S. News & World Report.
- Public Health Studies received the maximum (seven-year) re-accreditation by the Council on Education for Public Health.
New campus kiosks offer Career Connections
Use a new interactive tool to explore potential careers via website or dedicated kiosks. Developed by University of Hawaiʻi community college staff, Career Connections guides you through a self assessment to gauge your abilities and interests, and then identifies careers that relate to your strongest skills.
Select a career area to learn about the skills and abilities required or view the more than 450 videos describing job activities and options. The Hot Careers feature describes 40 nontraditional and high-demand career areas and lists the community colleges where you can get training. Games add a fun way to explore careers, practice interviews or build networks. And when you’re ready to start job hunting, Career Access provides tutorials on finding, applying and interviewing for jobs.
Career Connections kiosks were unveiled at Honolulu Community College’s Norman Loui Conference Center Nov. 30, 2007, and are being installed on all UH community college campuses.
Visit the Career Connections website for more information.
topDVD encourages students to go global and study abroad
In an effort to encourage more students to consider study abroad, the University of Hawaiʻi’s Office of International Education has produced a DVD and colorful postcard on the theme "go global."
On the DVD, students talk about their experiences abroad and scholarships that helped cover the costs. The featured students represent majors, ethnicities and hometowns underrepresented in study abroad programs to provide role models for students who might not consider international study.
See the webpage to view the video.
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