January, 2007 Vol. 32 No. 1
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Published January 2007

Campus News

Record gift advances sustainability at Maui

student chefs in kitchen

A $1 million commitment from Dorvin and Betty Leis—Maui Community College’s largest gift to date—will support sustainability initiatives in environmental, economic, programmatic and academic areas. Initial efforts are planned in the culinary arts, construction technologies and agriculture programs.

Future courses in renewable fuels and energy conservation will be explored. The campus fine dining facility has been renamed The Leis Family Class Act Restaurant in honor of the Maui mechanical contractor and philanthropist and his wife. Dorvin Leis serves on the Maui Provost Council and UH Foundation Board of Trustees.

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Get help starting and running a small business

The Entrepreneurship Program at Kapi’olani Community College offers training to help small business owners succeed. Courses include accounting, finance, management and marketing, as well as a start-up class that helps clients develop a business plan and avoid common pitfalls.

For information, contact Rosie Harrington.

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Kapiʻolani to train employees for China industry

Kapi’olani Community College will train workers from China’s hospitality industry under an agreement with the country’s Higher Education Training Center. The institutions are also exploring training opportunities in nursing and healthcare.

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Honolulu staff trains Japanese counterparts

groupshot

Honolulu Community College faculty members and administrators provided workshops for colleagues at Japan’s Osaka Gakuin University in November 2006.

Topics ran the gamut from instructional techniques to budgeting to public relations and marketing.

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Kaua’i student service facility project underway

Kauaʻi Community College broke ground in its One-Stop Center, which will consolidate admissions, advising, cashier and other student services in one location near the front of campus. It will also house University Center student support and information services.

Take a video tour of the plans.

The campus is also moving ahead on facilities to house apprenticeship and continuing education programs.

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West Oʻahu long range plan wins landscape award

artists rendering of the west oahu campus

UH West O’ahu received a Merit Award from the American Society of Landscape Architects–Hawaiʻi Chapter for its Long–Range Development Plan for a new campus east of Kapolei.

Developed and submitted by landscape firm PBR Hawaiʻi, the West Oʻahu plan was commended for addressing community concerns and a sense of history and incorporating sustainability concepts.

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Computer science degree courses offered online

UH Hilo launches its distance learning bachelor’s program in computer science in spring 2007. Students who have completed general core requirements can complete all computer science courses online working at a full- or part-time pace.

Learn more at Hilo’s distance education website.

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Arboretum receives planning award

Lyon Arboretum at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, together with architectural firm Group 70 International, received an American Planning Association–Hawaiʻi Chapter Environment/Preservation Award for documents related to the arboretum’s planned upgrade. The project will bring the main building into disability access compliance, rebuild two cottages and renovate the remaining cottages.

Read theMālamalama story on the arboretum’s plans.

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H banner deployed to Iraq

troops holding Manoa Warriors banner

Soldiers of the Schofield-based 25th Army Unit posed with hometown pride in fall 2006 before mounting their newly acquired University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa athletic team banner at the top of "College Wall" in the unit’s dining facility in Tikrit, Iraq.

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Gift creates fellowships in medicine

Three University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa students earned assistance with medical school costs this year in exchange for a pledge to intern and practice in Hawaiʻi. The fellowships were creaed under a $1 million gift from the Barry and Virginia Weinman Foundation. By reducing student loan debt, the fellowships free students to consider practices that serve community needs rather than having to bow to economic demands, says Barry Weinman, a member of the UH Foundation Board of Trustees.

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Federal funds create opportunities for underserved populations

  • The John A. Burns School of Medicine will use satellite and other distance education technologies to provide continuing education for healthcare workers in the Pacific Islands, where residents suffer disproportionately high rates of diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease and oral health problems and life expectancies are as much as 12 years shorter than the U.S. average.
  • The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s Center on Disability Studies will evaluate intervention techniques and reading software to identify services and technologies that benefit indigenous students who have disabilities.
  • The William S. Richardson School of Law’s Center for Excellence in Native Hawaiian Law established a fellowship program for new graduates to pursue summer research projects and develop community outreach programs.
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Online master’s in evaluation has Pacific focus

The Univeristy of Hawaiʻ of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa College of Education and Pacific Resources for Education and Learning have developed a distance learning master’s specialization in evaluation that incorporates the cultural context of the Pacific region. The two-year, self-paced program begins summer 2007. A federal grant covers tuition and expenses.

For information, contact Mary Church.

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Have a seat… and desk… at Sinclair Library

desk in Sinclair LIbrary

Fifty years after Sinclair Library opened at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, the wooden study desks are a bit worse for wear. A gift of $1,000 to the Sinclair Library Golden Anniversary Campaign will cover restoration of a classic two-seater desk and purchase of two new oak chairs. Donors will be recognized with a brass plaque on the desk.

For details, contact Dana Myers.

Donate online via the University of Hawaiʻi Foundation.

Visit the new Mānoa Library website.

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Public service announcements promote education

screen cap from a commercial with a teacher and child

Three public service announcements developed by the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s College of Education help students and families value education, build connections to school and encourage personal responsibility. The 30-second spots were created with support from a federally funded truancy reduction demonstration project. The videos are available on DVD.

View the public service announcements or place an order online.

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Office space available for biotech firms in Kakaʻako

BioSPOTS isn’t a new ailment. It’s Bioscience Space Program with Offices and Technology Systems-an offer of leasable space for a limited number of biotech companies in the John A. Burns School of Medicine’s Kaka’ako facility. Provided under a federal Economic Development Administration grant that helped fund equipment for research and training, the program is intended to attract private capital investment and create jobs in biotechnology. Priority is given to companies that conduct joint research and development programs with UH and have the potential to expand.

For information, see the JABSOM news page or contact Lawrence Burgess

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Medal honors Hawaiian studies founder

Photo of Abraham Piianaia next to the Regents' medal

The University of Hawaiʻi Board of Regents presented a posthumous Regents’ Medal of Distinction to the family of Abraham Piʻianaiʻa in recognition of his work on behalf of the Hawaiian people.

A descendant of aliʻi trained in Hawaiian language and protocol by his grandfather, Piʻianaiʻa was a popular UH geography professor for 40 years and principal mover in the establishment of the Center for Hawaiian Studies and School of Hawaiian, Asian and Pacific Studies. He passed away in 2003 at age 87.

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UH to manage disaster center

UH takes over as managing partner for the Pacific Disaster Center on Maui under a three-year agreement with the U.S. Department of Defense. Established in the wake of Hurricane ʻIniki, the center has a staff of about 30 and $6 million annual operating budget. It provides applied information research and analysis support for disaster management and humanitarian assistance.

See the center’s website.

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Scholarship benefit honors nine as Stars of Oceania

Lubuw Falanruw
Lubuw Falanruw

The university’s inaugural Stars of Oceania dinner launched an endowment to scholarships for UH students who are from the Pacific Islands or doing work that benefits the region.

Honored at the dinner were Kalo South Seas Village Revue producer Kalo Mataele Soukop and Tihati Productions owners Tihati "Jack" and Cha Thompson, as Shining Stars for their work as entrepreneurial pioneers; software executive Lubuw Falanruw, as a Rising Star for serving as a role model; and Micronesian navigator Mau Piailug, Tongan canoe carver Tuione Pulotu, Samoan advocate Pulefano Galea’i and cultural consultant Malia Craver as Guiding Stars for perpetuating traditional culture and values. Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann and voyager Nainoa Thompson were named Stellar Navigators.

The program is administered by the University of Hawaiʻi’s Pacific Business Center Program.

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