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May 2004, Vol. 29 No. 2
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Published February 2004

Campus News

Justice describes life in U.S. Supreme Court

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg with hula halau

A balance of mutual respect and passionate disagreement. That’s how the Hon. Ruth Bader Ginsburg describes the relationship of the U.S. Supreme Court justices. During her February 2004 visit to Honolulu as the William S. Richardson School of Law’s ninth jurist-in-residence, Ginsburg described legal process and life at the court in meetings with students, attorneys and the Honolulu Rotary.

"The Supreme Court is ever so much more important than the individuals who compose the court," she says. "Despite sharp differences on some issues, we remain good friends. We respect each other and genuinely enjoy each other’s company." Outside the courtroom, the lives of the justices who have been together nearly a decade are nothing out of the ordinary—congenial lunches before hearing arguments, handshakes before entering the courtroom, birthdays celebrated in the dining room with a toast and song.

There are some unusual benefits. Children of several justices have held wedding receptions at the court and Ginsburg’s granddaughter celebrated her third birthday there, feasting with friends on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. And the University of Hawai'i law school made sure the justice’s second residency involved out-of-the-ordinary experiences, including outrigger canoeing with students, horseback riding with friends and a hula performance by the law school halau.

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Cloners and other visitors come to UH

Ryuzo Yanagimachi and Ian Wilmut

Ian Wilmut, who cloned Dolly the sheep, says he jumped at the chance to visit fellow cloning pioneer Ryuzo Yanagimachi at Manoa’s Institute for Biogenesis Research in March 2004.

The Scottish scientist also made the rounds of media, held meetings with medical school faculty and delivered a public talk as part of the university’s Distinguished Lecture Series.

Other prominent spring 2004 visitors included 2000 Nobel Prize recipient in economics Daniel McFadden; Fred Korematsu, who challenged Japanese Internment in a 1944 Supreme Court case, and Phi Beta Kappa lecturer and noted UC Berkeley chemist Graham Fleming.

Read more: Distinguished Lecture Series | Ryuzo Yanagimachi | Fred Korematsu case

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Students model in Seventeen magazine

Student models pose for Seventeen magazine

UH is in the zone. The School Zone, that is. The University of Hawai'i System is the featured campus in the May issue of Seventeen magazine’s four-page section on student hotspots, fashion trends and campus traditions.

"We felt not a lot of people knew about this amazing institution and that it’s a great place to study," says Carrie Sloan, senior editor.

Nearly 400 students responded to an O'ahu-wide casting call for models. Thirty-eight were used in photo shoots on the UH Manoa campus and at student hangouts around town, including Andrew Ogata and Ecko Lapp, pictured. Students were asked to wear outfits representing their sense of style as a UH student.

"I figured they were looking for a local, casual style, not a lot of makeup or hair, just Hawai'i," says graduate marine biology scholar Lapp.

Junior Xavier Sequeira feels the article "gives people a chance to see that we’re just like other kids, to find out what we do, what we look like and our culture." Concludes graduate student turned beachwear model Adam Luchs, "The best part was knowing this was going to be good for our school."

Read more: Seventeen magazine feature

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Chinese tea lodge proposed for Manoa Valley

sketch of the proposed teahouse

Imagine a modest Chinese country house where visitors can ponder ideas or enjoy music over a leisurely cup of tea while contemplating a garden, mountain and waterfall.

Artist, scholar and University of Hawai'i Manoa Emeritus Professor Tseng Yuho Ecke did, and she’s pledged $600,000 to establish such a tea lodge in the university’s Harold L. Lyon Arboretum on O'ahu.

Ecke prepared this artist’s rendering and named the proposed facility Shi Wu Tea Lodge, for the Chinese concept of understanding universal experiences and enjoying the six human senses—sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch and comprehension.

Planners envision a simple, tranquil, harmonious venue for intellectual and cultural activities, particularly those related to the art and culture of Chinese tea. The UH Foundation is working to raise $100,000 for furnishings and $600,000 to establish an endowment to maintain the lodge and its programs.

For information: Susan Lampe, (808)956-8034 or giftplanning@uhf.hawaii.edu.

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Hilo dorms wired for speed

The University of Hawai‘i at Hilo now provides high speed Internet access to dorm residents via the Housing ResNet System. Tied into the university’s computer network, ResNet replaces dial-up connections with speedier access for research and communication.

Read more: UH Hilo Housing

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Hawai'i Community College machine program retools for telescopes

For 55 years, Hawai'i Community College trained machinists to work in the sugar industry. The courses, dropped in 1995, have been restructured as Machine, Welding and Industrial Mechanics Technology to meet the needs of local businesses, including the Mauna Kea observatories, for machinists and other metal workers.

Previously, temporary workers were brought from the mainland to handle the exacting demands of creating observatory components. A $200,000 federal Rural Development Grant funded expanded facilities and updated equipment, including computerized milling machines, a radial arm drill press and a line-boring machine.

For information: (808)974-7418

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Kapi'olani Community College adds education assistant and fitness degrees

illustrations of doing situps

Two new programs at Kapi'olani Community College will provide educational assistants for public schools and fitness professionals for positions in health tourism and wellness firms.

The associate in science for educational paraprofessionals is designed to qualify existing Department of Education employees for No Child Left Behind requirements and train new employees to work with hearing impaired and other special needs students.

The associate in science in exercise and sport science will prepare personal trainers and instructors for the fitness industry.

Both programs are scheduled to start in fall 2004.

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CD to help in recruiting music students

UH music department CD

Talking only goes so far when you’re recruiting music majors. So the Univeristy of Hawai'i at Manoa Music Department created a compact disk to demonstrate the caliber of performance by the department’s wind ensemble, choirs and orchestra.

The CD project, coordinated by Professor Takeo Kudo, features eight works directed by department faculty members and one student conductor.

Selections include original compositions by UH composers, pieces from the general repertoire and an arrangement of a Hawaiian song composed by Helen Desha Beamer.

Read more: UH Manoa Music Department

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Traditional Hawaiian style ulua fishing documented on video

ulua fishing the traditional way

University of Hawai'i at Hilo Affiliate Professor Charles Langlas’s Kau La'au & Ma'ama'a: Traditional Hawaiian Ulua Fishing explores preservation of tradition in the modern world.

Nine years in the making, the new video features three generations of the Big Island Hauani'o family who still use kau la'au, hang-baiting, to catch ulua weighing up to 100 pounds.

The fishermen make an 'ohi'a pole, dye the line and catch eel for bait. They wedge the pole into a cliff above the sea, and suspend the baited hook in the white water below.

Kau la'au was widely practiced before World War II, but decreasing ulua numbers and modern fishing techniques contributed to its decline.

The video was shot in Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, with the fishermen providing most of the commentary. Langlas plans a DVD release in summer 2004, screenings at various UH campuses in the fall and a broadcast by KHET.

For information: Charles Langlas langlas@hawaii.edu.

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Honolulu Community College and Cisco seek seamless algebra curriculum

Honolulu Community College is a pilot site for the Cisco Global Learning Network program intended to create a seamless curriculum between the Hawai'i state Department of Education’s algebra 1 course and math 24 and 25 in University of Hawai'i community colleges.

The Internet teaching tool incorporates animation, video, audio and online assessment with the standard algebra text.

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UH participates in Arts First curriculum project

Three Windward O'ahu schools will test the ARTS FIRST Essential Arts ToolKit, which provides resources for generalist teachers to help students achieve state learning standards in fine arts.

The University of Hawai'i at Manoa’s Curriculum Research and Development Group will evaluate the program, tracking schools to see if there is a correlation between the arts and student performance.

The federally funded program is sponsored by the ARTS FIRST Project, a collaboration of the Hawai'i Alliance for Arts Education, UH and other organizations.

Read more: ARTS FIRST­Hawai'i Arts Education

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Success is sweet for Maui Community College culinary students

Jelly made on Maui

Challenged by Maui's Tedeschi Vineyards to find a practical use for fruit sediments left over from the production of its raspberry wine, Maui Community College culinary arts students worked with Associate Professor Christopher Speere and pastry arts Instructor Teresa Shurilla to perfect a recipe for raspberry wine jelly.

With a USDA grant to help pay for a new production kitchen, packaging equipment and marketing activities, Speere expects to turn the venture into revenue for the culinary program.

Next lesson on his syllabus—mastering e-commerce. In the meantime, the jelly sells on campus and at the vineyard. For information, call (808)984-3690.

Read more: Maui Community College culinary programs | Tedeschi Vineyards

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Hilo receives UH’s largest ever individual donation

The largest donation from an individual in University of Hawai'i history will help Hawai'i and Pacific Island students attend the University of Hawai'i at Hilo campus.

The $2.4 million commitment from Alec and Kay Keith will provide scholarships to academically promising students.

"A student who works hard, shows potential and wants to go to college should not lose that opportunity because of financial considerations," says Keith, a research scientist, entrepreneur and affiliated faculty member at Hilo.

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P­20 Initiative awards eight grants

The Hawai'i P­20 Initiative has awarded its first eight grants for projects to improve student achievement at all levels of education.

Among the recipients are an eight-school consortium that will train teachers to use learning communities to ease ninth graders into high school, a Kealakehe program to help children’s and parents’ entry into kindergarten, a model West Hawai'i literacy project involving parent-child interaction and a UH service learning project to meet the Palolo community’s educational needs.

P­20 is a joint project of UH, the state Department of Education and the Good Beginnings Alliance. The $180,000 in grant funding was provided by the W. K. Kellogg and Samuel N. and Mary Castle Foundations.

Read more: Hawai'i P-20 Initiative

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