UH West Oʻahu’s Bachelor of Arts in Public Administration (BAPA) degree has been named the sixth-best online degree program nationally by CollegeAffordabilityGuide.org.

The website’s analysts reviewed all universities in the United States with online degrees in public administration and related degrees in naming UH West Oʻahu one of the nation’s top schools for an online public administration degree. California State University-Northridge’s Tseng College of Graduate, International and Midcareer Education’s online Master of Public Administration program was named best in the country of the 44 non-profit schools that were ranked.

“Many schools now offer intriguing specializations and electives at the undergraduate level,” the website noted. “For example, the University of Hawai’i – West O’ahu’s Online BAPA has concentrations in healthcare administration, justice administration, disaster preparedness & emergency management, and general public administration.”

UH West Oʻahu’s online offerings have appeared in other rankings, including one by Best Value Schools, which earlier this year identified the university as providing the best value of online colleges in the state. It noted the school’s selection of online courses and distance learning opportunities through online and interactive television formats.

Additionally, UH West Oʻahu’s Bachelor of Arts in Social Sciences degree was been ranked the 9th best online program for social sciences in the nation by AffordableColleges.com. The university was named the No. 3 Best Online College in Hawaiʻi for 2018-2019 by OnlineColleges.com.

UH West O’ahu offers online coursework in many areas of study. Students may pursue UH West Oʻahu’s distance learning upper division coursework entirely online after completing lower division coursework by attending classes on campus in-person and online and/or a partnering University of Hawai’i Community College. This includes programs in Business Administration, Public Administration, Social Sciences (Applied Track), Early Childhood Education, Political Science, and Psychology entirely online.

The Fall 2018 U-Pass, a pass good for five-and-a-half months of unlimited rides on TheBus and sold at a steep discount to university students, is being offered for purchase at the University of Hawaiʻi-West Oʻahu Student Services Office.

The U-Pass is being sold for $225 (cash only), or about 36 percent less than buying five months of monthly adult bus passes at $70 each. UH West Oʻahu students with a UHWO identification card are eligible to buy a U-Pass, which is good for bus rides from Aug. 1, 2018 to Jan. 15, 2019.  

The passes are on sale through Sept. 28 at the Student Services Office in C141. All sales are final and no refunds are available. The pass is non-transferable.

TheBus provides service to UH West Oʻahu as part of Route 40 Honolulu-Mākaha, which travels between Ala Moana Center and Mākaha Towers. In Kapolei, the Route 40 bus stops at UH West Oʻahu and the Kapolei Transit Center.

TheBus also operates Route 99, an express bus service that runs mornings and evenings, which serves UH West Oʻahu and includes stops at the Wahiawā, Mililani, and Waipahu transit centers.

The first three volumes of Teaching Oceania, a publication series produced by the Center for Pacific Islands Studies at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and edited by UH West Oʻahu Assistant Professor of History Dr. Monica LaBriola, has been updated and made available in the EPUB format to make the works more accessible.

Dr. Monica LaBriola

LaBriola, who serves as series editor, said minor revisions have been made to the volumes published in 2016-2017, but that more significantly EPUB versions have been created to enhance accessibility for students without an Apple device. Previously the works had been available only in iBook and PDF formats.

The publication of Teaching Oceania grew out of a need for suitable materials on broad Pacific Islands topics for undergraduate students in Pacific Island Studies classes, according to its authors. The publications were drafted collectively by participants at a Center for Pacific Islands Studies’ (CPIS) workshop in 2016 that was co-sponsored by Kapiolani Community College and Brigham Young University Hawaiʻi. In turn, LaBriola edited the materials under the supervision of Dr. Julie Walsh, a CPIS specialist, with media selections enhanced by Dr. Alexander Mawyer.

The first three volumes have been downloaded more than 6,900 times since August 2016 from ScholarSpace, an open-access, digital institutional repository for the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. The first volumes are Militarism and Nuclear Testing in the Pacific, Gender in the Pacific, and Health and Environment in the Pacific. Additionally, a fourth volume on Oceanic Art is scheduled to be published soon.

LaBriola said the series materials are being used by Pacific studies faculty and students in Hawaiʻi, the Pacific Islands, the United States mainland, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Korea, and elsewhere. Each unit is free to download online. The EPUB versions can be used on any device or platform with an EPUB reader such as Icecream or Calibre—or search for “free EPUB reader.”

Updates about current and new volumes in the series are available through a Facebook page on the series at https://www.facebook.com/TeachingOceania/.

More than 250 attendees from across the United States and other countries will convene to discuss food systems education and hear from U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, UH President David Lassner, and UH West Oʻahu Chancellor Maenette Benham during the Sustainable Agriculture Education Association Conference beginning July 27 on the UH West Oʻahu campus.

The conference is attracting educators, administrators, students and others interested in agroecology and sustainable food systems education. The biennial event is being co-hosted by the University of Hawaiʻi System Office of Sustainability and the Sustainable Agriculture Education Association, a group of scholars that champion interdisciplinary agroecology and sustainable food systems programming in higher education. Dr. Albie Miles, UH West Oʻahu assistant professor of Sustainable Community Food Systems, is serving as a conference co-coordinator. The conference host committee also included other UH West Oʻahu faculty and staff, including Dr. Manulani Meyer, Dr. Daniel Lipe, and Elise Dela Cruz-Talbert, MPH.

The conference will focus on indigenous knowledge, decolonization, and socio-ecological resiliency in agroecology and sustainable food systems education. The conference presents an opportunity for UH and other institutions are working to integrate traditional knowledge, practice, and culture into post-secondary education on food systems. In addition to more than 60 presentations and workshops by leading national food systems scholars, participants can choose between visits to MAʻO Organic Farms, the Kaʻala Learning Center in Waiʻanae, Hoʻola Hou ia Kalauao in Kalauao, Paepae o Heʻeia in Kaneʻohe and the UH West Oʻahu Student Organic Garden.

Presenters and workshop leaders include those from the American Museum of Natural History; University of California campuses at Berkeley, Davis and Santa Cruz; UH Mānoa; the Norwegian University of Life Sciences; North Carolina State University; Kamehameha Schools; the University of Vermont; University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and the University of British Columbia, Virginia Tech, among many others.

UH President Lassner will give the conference’s opening remarks on Friday, with the keynote speech that day by William Aila Jr. Director of the Hawaiʻi Department of Hawaiian Home Lands and former head of the Department of Land and Natural Resources.  

On Saturday the keynote address will be delivered by Neil Hannahs, former director of Kamehameha School’s Land Assets Division and currently director of Hoʻokele Strategies LLC, an enterprise that serves as an intermediary in developing and connecting social entrepreneurs with mentors and investment capital.

Sunday morning’s keynote will be delivered by Gabbard, who represents Hawaiʻi’s 2nd Congressional District. She will be followed by Chancellor Benham, who will offer reflections.

The Hoʻōla ʻĀina ʻO Māʻilikūkahi Youth Food Sovereignty Congress will run concurrently with the conference and provide a platform from which community-oriented, intergenerational and cultural approaches to building a sustainable food system are honored, cultivated and launched, according to the UH Office of Sustainability.

Mokauea Island and fishpond

The National Science Foundation has awarded UH West Oʻahu Associate Professor of Mathematics, Dr. Esther Widiasih a two-year, $116,381 research grant to study the fishpond on Mokauea Island, across from Mauliola (Sand Island), in the Keʻehi Lagoon.

Dr. Widiasih

Widiasih is the principal investigator for the “Dynamics of the Mokauea Fishpond” research project, which aims to first understand the workings of the Mokauea fishponds and second, to gain insights into traditional Native Hawaiian sustainable aquaculture practices, viewed through contemporary scientific and mathematical lenses.

According to the Mokauea Fishermen’s Association, a group whose mission includes preserving Mokauea island and traditional Hawaiian ways, it is believed Mokauea Island’s fishing community has roots extending back to pre-historic times. The association notes that about 40 Loko iʻa (fishponds) existed in the area, producing nearly one ton of fish annually, but were destroyed by dredging. Work on the island has included removal of invasive species and planting of native plants.

The association was set up to preserve the island and the surrounding fishery as a traditional fishing village and to protect the ability to live and practice as has been traditionally and customarily done in Hawaiian fishing villages. UH West Oʻahu’s involvement with Mokauea Island dates back several years and includes field studies during Ethnomathematics Summer Institutes.    

The fishpond is roughly 50 by 100 yards

The fishpond measures roughly 50 by 100 yards but currently is not used to raise fish because of its shallow depth due to land erosion and silt accumulation. Widiasih’s investigation aims to understand the workings of Hawaiian fishponds in general and the Mokauea fishpond in particular.

The research will utilize tools from statistics and applied mathematics, along with integrating the ancient knowledge from Native Hawaiian cultural and fishpond practitioners. The results of the study will provide insights into ancient knowledge of the Native Hawaiian sustainable aquaculture practices, viewed through the lenses of western scientific and mathematical language. It is thought the study will contribute important discourse of sustainable food production.

Widiasih will utilize statistical as well as numerical methods and will incorporate ancient knowledge from Native Hawaiian cultural and fishpond practitioners. Water quality data and flow pattern of the fishpond will be collected and used to develop a mathematical model that captures the dynamics of key physical parameters as well as the pond’s circulation patterns. The investigation will also include the development of an online site to host and manage data collected as well as other available data and studies on the Mokauea fishpond and its surrounding areas.

Emma Lake (center) and other Regent Scholars were honored at a July 19 ceremony. Also on hand were Regent Brandon Marc Higa (left) and UH President David Lassner (right)

Emma Lake, an incoming freshman who graduated from Mililani High School, has been awarded a Regent Scholarship that provides a full tuition waiver for four years of undergraduate study and a one-time travel grant.

Lake was one of 20 high school students earning the award, which is given to students with a record of outstanding academic achievement. Regent Scholars are selected from students who receive a SAT total score of at least 1340 (new SAT), or an ACT combined score of at least 29 along with a 3.5 grade point average in academic subjects. Applicants also must possess extracurricular achievements that are deemed remarkable.

Lake, who wants to become a game designer, will be seeking a Bachelor of Applied Science with a concentration in Creative Media. “I chose UH West Oahu because of its great Creative Media program,” Lake said in an email.  

Lake and other Regent Scholars were honored by the University of Hawaiʻi on July 19 with a ceremony at the UH Mānoa Campus Center Ballroom.  

Chris Lee (right) discussed his career, success, and the Academy for Creative Media with Beyond the Lines host Rusty Komori (left).

Chris Lee, founder and director of the Academy for Creative Media System, appeared on Beyond The Lines, a local show exploring issues of leadership, achievement and success, to discuss his career, career tips, and the evolution of the ACM at the University of Hawaii and UH West Oʻahu.

Lee, who was President of Production for TriStar Pictures and Columbia Pictures before moving back to Hawaiʻi, appeared on the July 23 broadcast of the show, a copy of which has been uploaded to YouTube. Lee sat down with Rusty Komori, host of Beyond The Lines, and author of a book by the same name, to answer questions about his achievements and ACM.

Lee discussed his journey from ʻIolani School to Yale University and then to New York, where he worked on Good Morning America. Positions helping filmmaker Wayne Wang eventually led him to Los Angeles where he worked as a freelance script analyst and eventually became the first minority President of Production of a Hollywood film studio. During his Hollywood career, Lee oversaw Academy Award-winning films (Jerry Maguire, Philadelphia, and As Good as it Gets) as well as Executive Produced Superman Returns and Valkyrie.

Lee provided insight into the founding of ACM in 2002 and related information including:

• ACM was born when Lee expanded upon a UH request to help establish a film school at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa into a system-wide initiative. He was instrumental in pushing the concept of enhancing creative media resources on all 10 UH campuses and helping raise public and private funding for the venture. “I felt that if you could get the programs to work together, the whole would be stronger than the parts,” Lee told Komori.
• The ACM program originally set up on the Mānoa campus was modeled after traditional film schools, like USC and the American Film Institute. Lee said the Mānoa campus’ program has developed fantastic filmmakers. Lee noted he is most proud of graduates who’ve stayed in Hawaiʻi and gotten jobs, but he also noted there are graduates working for firms such BlumHouse Productions, which has produced films such as Jordan Peele’s Get Out and Paranormal Activity.
• Creative Media is changing quickly as technology evolves. “When we started there was no YouTube, no Facebook, there was no Instagram, there was no Snapchat, there was no smartphone,” Lee said. “Everything has changed because of technology in a very, very short period of time and the modes of production and distribution have completely changed. You have to be aware of that and keep moving forward like that.”
• Lee is clearly proud when he talks of a new ACM building that will start construction next year at the UH West Oʻahu campus. At the same time he knows he has to be flexible. “The building we’re making will be as much future-proof as possible,” said Lee, who is on the UH West Oʻahu campus weekly, though his UH System office is at the Manoa Innovation Center. “We don’t know what’s coming down the line.  We do work now with a lot of this emerging stuff like VR (virtual reality) and AR (augmented reality).”
• As much as things change, some things remain central. “I don’t know what kind of shapes and forms storytelling will take in the future, but it does come down to just telling stories. That’s always going to be a key thing that we can impart to our students because they do have a lot of great ideas for stories, but then we’ve got to figure out how to tease it out [of them] and figure out how to [help them] tell it.”
• Hawaiʻi needs full-fledged film studio facilities. Lee believes Hawaiʻi’s film production industry would flourish with the added capacity and he hopes that facility will also be built on the UHWO campus to provide even more opportunties for our students and graduates.

Lee also parceled out advice and observations when queried by Komori, noting that people from Hawaiʻi should not feel they can’t be successful on the mainland. He pointed out that Albert Cheng, a Punahou School graduate, is chief operating officer of Amazon Studios as well as it’s co-head of television. Ryan Higa, a former Hilo resident, is a successful YouTube personality, he said. Lee also recommended people be willing to explore different things and take advantage of opportunities when they presented themselves. He did so himself when he left a good segment producer job with Good Morning America in New York City to get into the movie business in an unpaid job with Wang on the West Coast.

In terms of business advice, Lee spoke of having to find the right people. “That’s the most important lesson I can give anybody,” he said. “No matter how good your vision is, if you can’t find the right people to execute it, it’s not going to work.”  

Lee also shed light on pitfalls for successful people. “I think it’s really easy to suffer from hubris. To think you know it all and think you are the smartest person in the room when you rarely are. I prefer to put myself in a room where everyone else is smarter than me, and to continually learn from them.”

Photo from exhibit – Sugar workers, Wainaku, Hawaii Island

A photographic exhibit chronicling the history of Japanese in Hawaiʻi, from the arrival of contract workers in 1868 to present day, will be displayed in the James & Abigail Campbell Library’s second-floor exhibition area from Aug. 20 to 31.

The Hawaiʻi Nikkei Legacy Exhibit is touring the state as part of the 150th anniversary celebration of the arrival of the first Japanese immigrants to Hawaiʻi. It traces the journey of the immigrants and their descendants as these Nikkei (Japanese who relocated overseas) preserved their cultural values while blending with other cultures in Hawaiʻi. The exhibit took two years to develop and has been seen by thousands in Japan as well as being shown this year on Maui, Kauaʻi and Oʻahu.

The exhibit was put together by Nisei Veterans Legacy, a group dedicated to preserving, perpetuating, and sharing the legacy of Japanese Americans who served in the U.S. armed forces during World War II. The photographs relate the experiences of Issei (first generation immigrants) and examines the role of Nisei (second generation) soldiers during the war along with the roles they played in Hawaiʻi government and politics thereafter.

The exhibit is sponsored by Nisei Veterans Legacy, the Consulate-General of Japan in Honolulu, the Japan America Society of Honolulu and the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaiʻi.

A series of free workshops on genealogy will be presented beginning this month through a collaboration of UH West Oahuʻs James & Abigail Campbell Library and the Nānākuli Public Library.

The series will tackle issues related to researching ancestors and will present information on types of resources found at libraries and archives. Each of the workshops will present different topics through a number of different guest speakers.  The workshops will be presented from 6 to 8 p.m. on the dates below at the the Nānākuli Public Library. The library opened in April 2018 on a 3-acre site next to the Nānāikapono Elementary School on Farrington Highway.

The current schedule for the series includes the following:

• Aug. 9: The cultural importance of genealogy and what genealogy resources available through the Hawaiʻi State Library System.
• Aug. 16: How to find and use oral histories and newspapers.
• Sept. 13: How to get your research started at archival repositories.
• Sept. 20: Representatives from local archives talk about what their collections can offer patrons.

Other workshops will be scheduled for the series, which is scheduled to run through Nov. 15.  Questions about the workshops? Call the Nānākuli library at (808) 668-5844.

Jack Giardina

Jack Giardina, a recent UH West Oʻahu graduate in Information Security and Assurance, is one of four scholarship recipients of CrowdStrike Foundationʻs NextGen Scholarship awards for the 2018-2019 academic year.

Giardina, who will use the scholarship as a graduate student at Virginia Tech University, was selected for the scholarship created to support development of the next generation of talent and leadership in cybersecurity and artificial intelligence. The $5,000 scholarships were the first granted by the CrowdStrike Foundation, which was established by CrowdStrike Inc., a leading company in cloud-delivered endpoint protection.

Giardina was one of the top graduates from UH West Oahuʻs Information Security and Assurance program, which is certified as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education, according to Dr. Matthew Chapman, associate professor of computer science and cybersecurity.

“Jack’s performance was outstanding in both academics and national cyber competitions,” wrote Chapman in an email. “Due to his excellent technical, writing, and presentation skills, Jack was hand-picked as an intern during his final year at UHWO, serving as the Cybersecurity Best Practices Analyst in the UHWO Cyber Security Coordination Center.”

“I have no doubt that Jack will be one of our Nation’s future leaders in protecting our country’s critical infrastructure from malicious cyber actors.”

Other scholarships were awarded to Maggie Engler, a Stanford University graduate student; George Hasseltine, a Brown University graduate student; and Nicole Krantz, a George Mason University undergraduate student.

Giardina credited the Information Security program and faculty at UH West Oʻahu as preparing him for the workforce and providing him with foundation for success in graduate school.

“The faculty had such an impressive mix of experience, that I really felt ready for work in either the private or public sector,” Giardina wrote in an email. “Many of the hard skills I learned in the program have translated easily to my current job (as a security analyst), so much so that I still think of my old classes nearly every week.”

UHWO will begin the University Strings ensemble in addition to its other offerings, including chorus, Hoʻokani Kulani events, and University Band.

Auditions for UH West Oʻahu’s new University Strings ensemble are underway, with students, faculty, staff and the community invited to try out.

Jon Magnussen

The auditions run through Sept. 22 for the University Strings (MUS 410H) ensemble. It is beginning its first season and is open to those with experience in string (violin, viola, cello or double bass) performance. High school students who are participating in the Early Admission program and Hawaiʻi Department of Education teachers taking MUS 410H for teacher reclassification credit are welcome to audition in addition to UH West Oʻahu students, faculty, staff and community members.

The University Strings ensemble will perform under the direction of Dr. Jon Magnussen, a recipient of the Board of Regents’ Medal for Excellence in Teaching for 2018. For more information on auditioning, contact Magnussen at jonmagnu@Hawaii.edu.

UH West Oahuʻs Music program has been expanding, with a new Music Certificate being offered for the first time during the 2018 Fall Semester. The program recently debuted the UH West Oʻahu Music webpage detailing the programʻs various offerings and classes. Other auditions will be held for:

• Bobby Moderow Jr.

  Nā Hōkū Hanohano award winner Bobby Moderow Jr. will begin teaching at UH West Oʻahu during the 2018 Fall Semester. Moderow will direct the campus’ Hawaiian Ensemble (MUS 311 or MUS 211) which is open to students, faculty, staff and community members who are experienced in singing or playing an instrument. The Hawaiian Ensemble is scheduled to with the University Band during the annual Winter Concert, and during Hoʻokani Kulani events throughout the year. For more information, contact Dr. Jon Magnussen at jonmagnu@Hawaii.edu.

• The University Band (MUS 419), under the co-direction of Chadwick Kamei and Michael Nakasone, is open to all UH West Oʻahu students, faculty, staff, and community members with band experience.  Also welcome are O‘ahu high school band junior or senior students participating in the Early Admission program that offers college credit only, and Hawai‘i  Department of Education teachers taking MUS 419 for teacher reclassification credit. Highlights of the University Band year include the annual Winter Concert, Community Concerts at area shopping malls, and UH West Oʻahu commencement ceremonies. All interested participants should contact Mr. Chadwick Kamei at ckamei@hawaii.edu to schedule an audition.  
• The University Chorus (MUS 114), under the direction of Justin Kaʻupu, is open to UH West Oʻahu students, faculty, staff, and community musicians including Early College high school students. The University Chorus begins its rehearsals on Monday, Sept. 24 with twice weekly rehearsals through Dec. 7 on Mondays and Thursdays from 6:30 to 7:50 p.m. Highlights of the University Chorus year include the annual Winter Concert with the University Band and Hawaiian Ensemble, Fall and Spring Commencement ceremonies, the all-collegiate “E Hīmeni Kākou” spring choral festival, when more than 300 singers from campuses all over the island unite to sing for and with each other, and the annual Kapolei Choral Festival of Hawaiian choral music in April. For more information, contact Dr. Jon Magnussen at jonmagnu@Hawaii.edu.

Erik Haines

In addition to Bobby Moderow Jr., a member of the group Maunalua and known for his mastery of slack-key guitar and falsetto singing, Erik Haines, director of education for the Hawaiʻi Opera Theatre, will also join UH West Oʻahu to teach Beginning Voice (MUS 121B), Haines, who also serves as voice instructor for the Hawaiʻi Youth Opera Chorus, has taught at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, Windward Community College, Chaminade University and Punahou School.

Chancellor Benham gave attendees an overview of the campus’ Strategic Action Plan

UH West Oʻahu’s new Strategic Action Plan 2018-2028 took center stage as faculty and staff gathered for the campus’ traditional Convocation/Professional Development Day that precedes the start of the academic year.

Chancellor Maenette Benham’s remarks focused on the plan, which will help guide the campus as it grows during the next decade. The document was also discussed before smaller groups in breakout sessions to more fully explain what it entails.

The campus has worked on the plan for about a year and a half, with faculty, staff and students providing input at various points in its development along with help from community partners. Readers of the document will be taken from foundational material such as UH West Oʻahu’s value proposition, its mission, guiding principles and distinctiveness, to more detailed material on evaluating progress toward plan goals and alignment with University of Hawaiʻi and accreditation requirements.

More detailed information in the Strategic Action Plan was discussed during breakout sessions

Benham gave a brief overview of the plan which includes three impact strategies concentrating on 1) Increasing Student Success and Engagement; 2) Advancing Dynamic and Integrated Learning Experiences; and 3) Strengthening our Assets and Infrastructure.  The plan also includes more specific goals to be implemented, though Benham noted the plan is designed to be a dynamic document that can be amended as is needed. For that reason only a few hard copies will be printed.

Convocation/Professional Development Day also yielded other information, including:

• The campus is pursuing the creation of two new academic divisions to add to the existing five. The new divisions are Natural Sciences and Community Health, and Transdisciplinary Studies.
• Tenants of the new Administration and Health Sciences building may be able to start moving in as soon as mid-November. Construction of the new building is on budget, allowing for the installation of photovoltaic panels on the roof.
• Faculty and staff will be surveyed on their professional development needs.

Employees with 10-years of service were honored

The event also included recognition of 13 new faculty and staff, along with recognizing employees who received promotions.  Seventeen staff were celebrated for having 10-year work anniversaries with the University of Hawaiʻi, two staff who had reached 20 years with UH (Carrie H.M. Tome and Erline Vasconcellos), and a duo who had been with UH for 30 years (Larry Andres and Annette Lehano). Sandra Maki was recognized for her 40 years of service at UH and Associate Professor of Music Jon Magnussen was celebrated for receiving a 2018 Board of Regents’ Medal for Excellence in Teaching.

The day concluded with Kaiāulu, or a gathering of fellowship and celebration of good work with a lunch, games, music, and campus piliʻāina.

Wanstead documenting her work

UH West Oʻahu senior Chelsea Wanstead summer was filled with adventure, though not exactly the kind every student hopes to encounter.

Wanstead’s summer sojourn included travel to the Dutch Caribbean island of Sint Eustatius (also known as Statia), carefully unearthing bones from an 18th-century cemetery, and traveling to Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas, to further scrutinize her work through an osteological (study of bone structure) analysis of the human remains.

Wanstead’s travel and participation in the work were part of an eight-week Research Experiences for Undergraduates project funded by the National Science Foundation. Wanstead was selected to take part in the eight-week long program, “Exploring Globalization through Archaeology,” run by faculty at the Center for Archaeological Studies at Texas State. Through the program she chose to delve into the growing field of dental anthropology for her research project, which she will present at a conference in 2019.

“I learned so much,” said Wanstead, in an email.  She explained that included a type of excavation method for extracting human remains, formulation of a research project from start to finish, and creation of a research poster that she presented at a symposium. Wanstead noted classes had prepared her for the program, including the importance of provenience and detail in the excavation process that she learned in Dr. William Belcher’s field school and archaeological techniques class and insight into skeletal analysis learned in Dr. Jennifer Byrnes’ Human Skeletal Biology class.

Dr. Byrnes, a UH West Oʻahu Assistant Professor of Forensic Anthropology, said the program provided a valuable experience to Wanstead. “This opportunity gives her a leg up for graduate school applications, which she plans on pursuing after she graduates,” Byrnes said.

Workshops that were previously held at Hale Kūahuokalā are shifting to the Nāulu Center this semester.

ʻĀina-to-Ōpū and Herbal Medicine/Do-it-Yourself workshops will move to the Nāulu Center this semester to make use of the culinary arts facilities in the Campus Center space.

In the 2018 Spring semester the workshops were held at Hale Kuahuokalā in the Student Organic Garden because the Nāulu Center was under construction for most of the semester.

The workshops organized by the PIKO Project begin Sept. 5. Other activities that were held in the māla (garden) will remain there, including All Level Yoga. The ʻĀina-to-Ōpū and Herbal Medicine/Do-it-Yourself sessions are free and open to students, faculty and staff. They include:

ʻĀina-to-Ōpū workshops

The kitchen facilities within the Nāulu Center

These workshops are scheduled 1:30-2:30 p.m., on the first Wednesday of the month in the Nāulu Center culinary arts lab through November.  

• Sept. 5: Infused sugarcane juice. Press juice from kō (sugarcane) stalks, and infuse with māla herbs (mint, turmeric, citrus, etc.). Note: This workshop will be held at Hale Kuahuokalā.
• Oct. 4: Coconut Roti. Join Indrajit from the UH West Oʻahu Financial Aid Department as he makes this Sri Lankan flatbread.  Side dishes will be made from māla produce.
• Nov. 7: You can incorporate more vegetables into your diet by adding kalo (taro) to your burgers. The meat used will be locally raised and harvested; the kalo will be from the māla.

Herbal Medicine/Do-it-Yourself workshops

These workshops are scheduled 1:30-2:30 p.m., in the Nāulu Center culinary arts lab.

• Sept. 19:  Golden Milk aka ʻŌlena Lattes. Learn about turmeric’s health benefits and make this warming “kinda-like-a-chai latte-but-not” drink.
• Oct. 17: Coconut Oil. Process oil from coconuts and learn about its medicinal + culinary uses.
• Nov 28: Fire Cider. Boost your immunity and digestion with this spicy tonic. Makes a great handmade holiday gift. Note: This workshop will be held at Hale Kuahuokalā.

Work Parties: The garden will continue to host Saturday Work Parties on one Saturday a month. These are scheduled for 8 to 11 a.m., Sept. 8, Oct. 13, and Nov. 3.  Participants will join māla managers and learn how to prepare soil, build compost, install irrigation, and sow seed. Participants are advised to bring water, sun protection, shoes and a healthy snack to share.

Harvest Days: There also will be weekly harvest days in the garden every Tuesday from 9 to 11 a.m.

All Level Yoga:  These sessions led by Emily Yamamoto are scheduled from 11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. every Tuesday in Hale Kuahuokalā beginning Sept. 4 and continuing to Dec. 6.

Please contact tasiay@hawaii.edu to RSVP workshops and for other inquiries.

The No’eau Center is ready for the start of the 2018 Fall Semester

The beginning of the 2018 Fall Semester will bring with it an expansion of hours at the James & Abigail Campbell Library, Noʻeau Center, and the Pueo Fitness Center. The UH West Oʻahu Bookstore will also open for extended hours the first week of school.

The beginning Monday, Aug. 20, the following hours will be in effect.

• James & Abigail Campbell Library: The library will go to a six-day-a-week schedule (Monday through Saturday) from the five-day-a-week summer schedule as well as lengthen hours of operation. Monday through Thursday the library will open from 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.; while on Fridays it will open at the same time but close at 5 p.m. On Saturdays the library’s doors will open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Noʻeau Center: The center’s hours will be 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Tutoring and Testing will be from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
• Nāulu Center: Open from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
• Pueo Fitness Center: The Monday-to-Thursday hours will be from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. On Fridays the center will be open from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Da Spot and the campus dining room will have hours of 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The following offices and services will keep their current schedule.

• The UHWO Bookstore. It will be open from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Monday to Friday.   During the first week of school the bookstore will have extended hours: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday, Aug. 20 to Thursday, Aug. 23; 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 24; and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 25.
• Campus Health Services will keep its 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. hours, Monday to Thursday, staffed by a health aide and dispensing health information and non-emergency supplies such as bandages, feminine products and Bacitracin ointment.

UH West Oʻahu’s 2018 Fall Semester begins Aug. 20 with instruction running through Nov. 30. Campus offices and services are subject to holiday closures.  During the semester there will be holidays:

• Sept. 3 (Labor Day)
• Nov. 6 (Election Day)
• Nov. 12 (Veterans Day)
• Nov. 22 (Thanksgiving)

The 2019 Spring Semester begins Jan. 7, 2019.

Pili ʻĀina began with the singing of Mele Honouliuli

The 2018 Fall Semester’s Pili ʻĀina began Thursday morning with the singing of Mele Honouliuli, a song highlighting the significant features of the Honouliuli, the largest ahupuaʻa within the ʻEwa moku and on Oʻahu.

It was a fitting way to begin the day of cultural development for UH West Oʻahu’s faculty and staff, because the geographic spots shared in the song were among those that would be visited by the group. The participants came from across UH West Oʻahu’s campus and included new faculty and staff as well as employees who’ve worked on campus for years, but have never had a chance to attend a Pili ʻĀina.

The Aug. 16 event had several goals including helping faculty and staff connect with the community and give them an understanding of place, something that, along with people, are fundamental to Hawaiian culture. As Pu’u Zablan, PIKO assistant director and author of the Mele Honouliuli, said, it was important for faculty and staff to understand the place where they work and the areas from which their students come in order to better serve them.

McD Philpotts (l) and Pu’u Zablan (r)

Pili ʻĀina also goes to UH West Oʻahu’s mission that embraces Native Hawaiian culture and traditions while supporting students of all ethnic backgrounds. The campus’ Strategic Action Plan also lays out a vision of a dynamic learning environment where all students, faculty, and staff embody and perpetuate Pacific and global understanding rooted in Native Hawaiian values.

It’s also hoped Pili ʻĀina will help foster a sense of community among faculty and staff, while increasing connections between the campus and the broader community.  Objectives include showing participants how place and people are fundamental to Hawaiian culture and understanding, and increasing understanding of culture-based and placed-based pedagogy to assist in academic achievement, engagement and retention of students.

To help provide an understanding, participants were taken to:

Participants got a chance to see Oahu from 3,700 feet elevation at Pālehua.

• Pālehua. Located above Makakilo in the Waiʻanae Mountain Range, this was known to be a place with abundant ʻohiʻa blossoms in ancient times, when the area was named Manawahua or Makakilo. Participants learned about the area’s history from McD Philipotts, a descendent of West Oʻahu’s Campbell family and traveled to the 3,700-foot level to get a panoramic view of Oahu’s south side.
• Puʻuʻokapolei.  This was known as the epicenter in the district of Honouliuli and the site of a sacred temple. Participants heard from Mikiala Lidstone, head of the Ulu Aʻe Learning Center and a steward of Puʻūokapolei, which is associated with the gifts of Kapōʻulakīnaʻu, one of Pele’s sisters.
• Kapāpaʻapuhi. The tour of Honouliuli included both areas in its mountains and a visit to sea level at Kapāpaʻaphui, an area where fishponds were located that helped provide for thriving population in Honouliuli.

UH West Oʻahu also was a stop on the tour, with participants assembling at Hale Kuahuokalā in the Student Organic Garden to hear from artist A.R. Kupihea and Kēhaulani Kupihea.

Participants also screen printed shirts as part of the activities

Faculty members will also be given a chance to further engage the local community during three site visits during the 2018 Fall Semester sponsored by the UH West Oʻahu Institute of Engaged Scholarship. As with Pili ʻĀina, the visits are an opportunity for faculty to gain a deeper knowledge about Honouliuli. During the visits faculty will be provided with an opportunity to collaborate with community members and other faculty on ways to enhance engaged scholarship experiences and activities.

On Aug. 24 there will be a visit to Camp Pālehua on the southern slopes of the Waiʻanae mountains. The second of the visits is scheduled for Sept. 28 to Hanakēhau Farm in Waiawa Makai, where work is underway to restore ʻāina after years of use by the military.  On October 26 the visit will be to Mālama Loko Ea, an ancestral place of importance in Haleʻiwa. Each visit is on a Friday from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. UH West Oʻahu faculty should register at https://goo.gl/forms/gKwKggmiNTwArYul2.

The cover of Smells Like Stars and its author, UHWO Assistant Professor of English, D. Nandi Odhiambo

Smells Like Stars, a novel by UH West Oʻahu Assistant Professor of English D. Nandi Odhiambo, has been included in the Canadian Broadcast Corporationʻs preview list of recommended fall fiction.

The book, which will be published on Oct. 8 by literary publisher Book*hug, was one of 24 works included on the list of promising Canadian works scheduled for the fall. The 220-page paperback is currently available for pre-order online and will be sold in bookstores in Canada and the United States when published.

The novel published by Book*hug, follows a journalist and her photographer fiance as they investigate the killings of horses in a town on Canadaʻs west coast. The novel is one of discovery, or as Book*hug’s synopsis states, “Ultimately, Smells Like Stars draws attention to what is hidden in plain sight, that life can be cruel, ambiguous and without meaning.”

Odhiambo says he wanted to write a novel that delves into the entangled link between the personal and the political as a contrast to major literatureʻs early modern emphasis on the individual as distinct from their social environment.

“Since language is limited in its capacity to represent the human experience, my intention was to do work that departs from the linguistically based model for the novel, and emphasizes interpretation in rendering a structure of experience that is elusive in its tangibility and inseparable from its interpenetration with its environment,” Odhiambo wrote in an email.  

“Therefore, Smells Like Stars is inspired by a desire to write about the instability of meaning by exploring the impact of internal forces and affective relationships, repetition of habits, and chaos of perpetual change on characters with future oriented concerns.”

Smells Like Stars is the fourth novel by Odhiambo, who was born in Nairobi Kenya and moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba in the 1970s.  His first novel, diss/ed banded nations, was published in 1998 and followed by Kipligatʻs Chance in 2003. The Reverendʻs Apprentice was published in 2008.

Dr. Masahide Kato

Two articles authored by UH West Oʻahu’s Masahide Kato — one an effort to use Native Hawaiian knowledge and cultural values in teaching at UH West Oʻahu and the other on Hawaiian Graffiti — have been published peer-reviewed journals.

Assistant Professor of Social Sciences/Political Science Kato’s article, “Community Resonance: Indigenous Epistemology and the Learning Community Program at the University of Hawaiʻi West Oʻahu,“ appeared in the Practices from the Field section of Learning Communities Research and Practice, an open-access, peer-reviewed journal published twice a year by the The National Resource Center for Learning Communities at The Evergreen State College.

Kato’s article reports on an effort in 2015 to increase retention of first-year West Side students at UH West Oʻahu by creating an indigenous culture-based learning community with the help of the PIKO Project, a program funded aimed at providing educational and service programs that integrating Hawaiian knowledge and cultural values with cultural engagement. With the help of Dr. Manulani Aluli Meyer, a program was designed to integrate Hawaiian knowledge and values into learning activities.

Kato explains that Hawaiian concepts such as Aumano Kuleana (collective transformation through individual excellence), ʻĪke ʻĀina (the knowledge of the land) and Aloha ʻĀina (love of the land) were woven into the program, which was inclusive of both Native Hawaiian and non-Native Hawaiian students and faculty. Students participated in the classroom, placed-based service learning, and cultural activities.

The result was twofold: integrating indigenous epistemology in these situations resulted in a holistic learning environment, while it also connected diverse communities in an interdependent relationship through resonance of its foundational conceptions.  Together, the interdependence of diverse communities and learning activities formed through such resonance provided an opportunity for transformation.

Kato quotes one of the students on the program’s transformative effects: “In this class we all grew as individuals and came together with all of our ideas that we gained from the knowledge that were instilled in us. Together we learned that changes begin with us.”

Kato’s article, “Hawaiian Style Graffiti and the Questions of sovereignty, law, property, and ecology,” was published in July by AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples, a Sage Publishing journal published in association with Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga, New Zealand’s Māori Center of Research Excellence.

The article came from research Kato did from 2006 to 2012, noting graffiti, interviewing the graffiti writers and also those opposed to the practice. The article attempts to capture the aesthetic and symbolic expressions of decolonization in the spray painted graffiti pieces by a crew primarily composed of Native Hawaiian writers. It also focuses on the indigenous aesthetic practice of kaona or the act of hiding or seeking meaning, analyzing contested issues of jurisdiction, sovereignty, property claims, and ecological integrity under prolonged colonial and military occupation.

Kato’s concludes fundamental kaona of the graffiti goes beyond notions of criminality and vandalism in that artists expose the illegality and invalidity of settler colonial and occupational power.

“The practice of kaona in Hawaiian style graffiti allows both writers and the community of audiences to connect with the ancestor’s (i.e. kiʻi pōhaku writers) path that had steadfastly perpetuated indigenous aesthetic and cultural practices against the emerging settler colonialism by transfiguring the symbol of colonial power (e.g. letters and fonts) into their own means of expression,” the article concludes.

“Thus, Hawaiian style graffiti can be seen as the futuristic act of interjecting the original understanding of Hawaiian law, sovereignty, ecology, and cultural values into the present to visualize and hopefully actualize the society in which life, aesthetic expression, and ecology are more valued than property.”

The articles are available online at the links included above. Kato said the articles will be uploaded to the James & Abigail Campbell Libraryʻs repository for faculty research, DSpace.

Frame grab of Aunty Lynette Paglinawan hosting Nohona Hawaii classes last fall

Aunty Lynette Paglinawan, UH West Oʻahu’s Kupuna-in-residence, will teach an informal class on Nohona Hawaiʻi–Living a Hawaiian Way, in a 13-week course that runs every Monday beginning Aug. 27.

The non-credit classes are free and open to faculty, students, and the community interested in Hawaiian cultural values and how to live them in the 21st Century.

Paglinawan, who studied under noted Hawaiian scholar Mary Kawena Pukui, was named a Living Treasure of Hawaiʻi in 2012 for her significant contributions to society and high level of accomplishment. Paglinawan is also an educator, having been a member of the Myron B. Thompson School of Social Work’s Hawaiian Learning Program at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.  

The weekly course is scheduled from 9:30 to 11 a.m. Mondays at Hale Kuahuokalā in the Student Organic Garden. The schedule is as follows:

Aug. 27–What is Lōkahi/Pono
Sept. 3–Holiday
Sept. 10–What is the Hawaiian way? What is form and essence? What is spirituality? The piko and naʻau?
Sept. 17–Hawaiian Worldviews
Sept. 24–Hawaiian Spirituality in healing and health
Oct. 1–Cultural Trauma: Relevance to healing and health
Oct. 8–Self-Care: Hoʻomaʻemaʻe: Cleansing rituals
Oct. 15–Rituals of Engagement
Oct. 22–Huaka’i: Historical/sacred Sites: Kūkaniloko (2 hr. class)
Oct. 29–Highlights and lessons of Kūkaniloko
Nov. 5–Self-Care: Laʻau Lapaʻau
Nov. 12–No Class – Veterans Day
Nov. 19–Moʻolelo presentations
Nov. 26–Moʻolelo Presentations
Dec. 3–Haʻina Mai Ka Puana (what did you learn) and Paʻina (bring food)

This will mark the second year Paglinawan has offered the class during the fall semester.  The Academy for Creative Media at UH West Oʻahu shot video of some of her prior talks and have posted them online.

The Noʻeau Center and the James & Abigail Campbell Library are again teaming up for a series of online workshops aimed at helping students better research and write class papers.

The Research and Writing (RaW) Skills workshops begin at 5 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 6, and will be followed by three other sessions. The workshops are meant to assist students through all the steps of doing research and writing an effective paper for any class assignment. These workshops will be hosted live and online via Zoom.

Students who are in the beginning stages of a writing assignment, those who have not begun formal research for their topic, and others who struggle with narrowing or broadening their topics are encouraged to attend the first workshop. Students will also learn how and where to look up appropriate background information using reference texts.

Students can register online at https://goo.gl/forms/o93BpDAjdoVivwXH2. They will be given an email notification with instructions on how to access the workshop.  

These remaining workshops are scheduled on the following dates:

• The Research Process. Wednesday, Sept. 19. Best practices for starting your research process, as well as strategies to find scholarly sources for your topic.
• Outlining, Writing and Rewriting, Thursday, Oct. 4. Strategies to use when beginning to write your essay along with tools for crafting a paragraph.
• Citations and Polishings. Wednesday, Oct. 17. How to tackle finishing an essay;  guidance on creating citations and references as well as tips on revising.

All workshops will be from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m. Students can register for workshops here: https://goo.gl/forms/QnsQPUXV5W9I5wVv2. For more information or to see info related to workshops they may have missed, students can go to our RaW website at bit.ly/uhworaw.

Can’t make it to the live airings? Don’t worry! This four-part series will be available on YouTube and linked in each episode page within two business days of the live airing.