2013, october 21

A K LEO T H E

MONDAY, OCTOBER 21 to TUESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2013 VOLUME 109 ISSUE 22

Serving the students of the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa.

V O I C E

www.kaleo.org

follow our

T W IT T E R : @KALEOOHAWAII for BREAKING

NEWS, UPDATES, WEB EXCLUSIVES & VIDEO COVERAGE.

BOA RD OF REG ENT S APP ROV E SUP PLE MEN TAL BUD GET FOR FY 2015 READ MORE ON PAGE 2

LYLE AMINE / KA LEO O HAWAI‘I

Page 2 | Ka Leo | Monday, Oct. 21 2013

Twitter @kaleoohawaii | news@kaleo.org | Noelle Fujii Editor | Fadi Youkhana Associate

News

LYLE AMINE / KA LEO O HAWAI‘I

The Capital Improvement Project requested a budget of more than $500 million.

Board of Regents approves more funds, employees NOELLE FUJII AND FADI YOUKHANA News Editor and Associate News Editor

The Board of Regents has approved the university’s fiscal year 2015 supplemental budget, including a proposal to cut funding for the Daniel K. Inouye Center.

The university budget will now go on to the state Department of Budget and Finance, which is the governor’s budget agency. The committee will then recommend what the governor should include in his budget.

THE DANIEL K. INOUYE CENTER AT UH MANOA

The board approved an amended request for $5 million in state general obligation bonds for construction of the Daniel K. Inouye Center on the Mānoa campus, which is subject to the six conditions of approval by the Committee on Budget and Finance.

“We request that the $15 million in state capital GO bonds and the $10million in federal funds to be replaced by a single $5 million state GO bond appropriation,” interim President David Lassner said. “This will enable the fund-

raising for the private and federal levels to take place.”

Lassner made the amended request after hearing Inouye’s former Chief of Staff Jennifer Sabas’ testimony, which was on behalf of the Inouye family. Sabas asked UH leadership to slow the project down to allow for a longer period of time for the design process and to receive additional input and comments. The design will be funded

by UH and private funds.

Construction for the center will not begin in July 2014 as planned.

DEFERRED MAINTENANCE ACROSS THE CAMPUSES The university’s deferred maintenance backlog has reached $487 million.

“Our flagship campus is over 100 years old now,” chairwoman of the BOR Committee of Budget and Finance Jan Sullivan said. “Some of the renovation projects are great.

Some of the buildings, we can no longer be proud of the fact that we ask our students and our professors to operate out of these facilities.”

In the current fiscal year, $78 million was appropriated for repairs and maintenance.

“That is essentially enough

to keep up with current repairs,” Lassner said. “It does not allow us to make any dent in the backlog.

If we use it to make a dent in the backlog, then we’re falling behind on current repairs.”

The Capital Improvement Project supplemental budget request calls for $14 million in general funds, which was cut from the base budget in FY 2012 and was based on a temporary cut in the University of Hawai‘i Professional Assembly members’ pay. If the funds are received, the university can take the $14 million in tuition revenues it had been using so it can pay the debt service on $212 million in revenue bonds.

“The revenue bond payback is 30 years, so for 30 years, the university will need to set aside $14 million in tuition revenue to pay down the principal and interest on these $212 million revenue bonds,” Director of University Budget Office Laurel Johnston said.

The debt service on the revenue bonds will also be dedicated to addressing the university’s deferred maintenance backlog.

“In addition, that $14 million is enough to eliminate the deferred maintenance backlog for all of our

campuses except Mānoa,” Lassner said. “So in the case of Mānoa, after we finish what that $14 million can bond, we would also be looking at dedicating a portion of the tuition increases that have already been approved by the BOR for the next several years, that would also be used to bond additional repairs and maintenance to eliminate that backlog at Mānoa.”

The budget also called for an allocation of 25 percent of net tuition increases, which have already been proposed, to eliminate the deferred maintenance at Mānoa.

In FY 2015, almost $14 million of new tuition throughout the system will be committed to revenue bond debt service, according to a presentation at the meeting. For fiscal years 2016-21, an average of $2.5 million of new tuition will be committed each year from Mānoa.

FY 2015 SUPPLEMENTAL BUDGET The FY 2015 supplemental budget includes both operating and CIP budget requests. The CIP budget request is accompanied by general fund support and the operating budget.

The operating budget request for FY 2015 includes a total of about $53 million and 206 full-time employees.

The request also includes $2.5 million and 46 full-time employees to support the strategic outcome for UH to become the model indigenous serving institution.

“This cuts across several initiative and touches all of our campuses across the state of Hawai‘i,” Lassner said.

The Mānoa campus requested almost $6 million and 29 full-time employees. This also includes $250,000 in support of its athletic program, which was added during the Committee on Budget and Finance meeting earlier this month.

The CIP budget request includes about $257 million in GO bond funds, $224 million in revenue bonds, almost $2 million in revolving funds, $10 million in federal funds, $1 million in private contributions and $35,000 in special funds.

“The university has never pursued a revenue bond issue of this magnitude in its history,” Sullivan said.

The system’s operating budget for FY 2014 was about $1 billion, which included all means of finance, including special funds, GO bond funds, revenue bonds and federal funds. The CIP budget, by all means of finance, was about $212 million.

Advertising@kaleo.org | Gabrielle Pangilinan Student Ad Manager

K A LEO T H E

Page 3 | Ka Leo | Monday, Oct. 21 2013

V O I C E

After Arts Garden

Ka Leo O Hawai‘i University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa 2445 Campus Road Hemenway Hall 107 Honolulu, HI 96822

Newsroom (808) 956-7043 Advertising (808) 956-7043 Facsimile (808) 956-9962 E-mail kaleo@kaleo.org Web site www.kaleo.org

EDITORIAL STAFF Editor in Chief Bianca Bystrom Pino Managing Editor Joseph Han Chief Copy Editor Kim Clark Assoc Chief Copy Editor Kirstie Campbell News Editor Noelle Fujii Assoc News Editor Fadi Youkhana Features Editor Jackie Perreira Assc Features Editor Karissa Montania Opinions Editor Doorae Shin Sports Editor Joey Ramirez Assc Sports Editor Jeremy Nitta Comics Editor Nicholas Smith Co-Photo Editor Chasen Davis Co-Photo Editor Ismael Ma Web Specialist Blake Tolentino

ADVERTISING

Candies & Treats!

Bale/Manoa Gardens 5:00-10:00 P.M.

Jai the Band Da Push-O-Verse Bassick Concept Camile Velasco

E-mail advertising@kaleo.org Ad Manager Gabrielle Pangilinan PR Coordinator Tianna Barbier Ka Leo O Hawai‘i is the campus newspaper of the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. It is published by the Board of Publications three times a week except on holidays and during exam periods. Circulation is 10,000. Ka Leo is also published once a week during summer sessions with a circulation of 5,000. Ka Leo is funded by student fees and advertising. Its editorial content reflects only the views of its writers, reporters, columnists and editors, who are solely responsible for its content. No material that appears in Ka Leo may be reprinted or republished in any medium without permission. The first newsstand copy is free; for additional copies, please visit Ka Leo. Subscription rates are $50 for one semester and $85 for one year. ©2012 Board of Publications.

ADMINISTRATION The Board of Publications, a student organization chartered by the University of Hawai‘i Board of Regents, publishes Ka Leo O Hawai‘i. Issues or concerns can be reported to the board (Rebekah Carroll, chair; Nicholas Pope, vice chair; or Mechelins Kora Iechad, treasurer) via bop@hawaii.edu.

Visit www.kaleo.org/board_of_publications

kaleo.org/artsfestival

Page 4 | Ka Leo | Monday, Oct. 21 2013

Advertising@kaleo.org | Gabrielle Pangilinan Student Ad Manager

Canned Food Drive For the Hawaii Food Bank Drop off ff cans ans @ hemenway hall 107 32675

=

RAFFLE

1 CAN

1 RAFFLE TICKET

32675

WIN PRIZES SUCH AS $200 GIFT CARDS, T-SHIRTS AND HATS!

LAST DAY: NOVEMBER 14TH RAFFLE WINNER WILL BE PICKED @ GROOVE IN THE GARDEN (NOV 14th, 2013)

Kennedy Theatre 50th Anniversary Season Earle Ernst

the

WILD PARTY

By Andrew Lippa based on the poem by Joseph Moncure March

Oct 23, 24, 25, 26 at 8pm Oct 27 at 2pm Just $5 for UHM students with a validated Fall 13 ID www.hawaii.edu/kennedy or call 956-7655.

October 25, 2013

Open-minded about self-healing? If so . . .

Learn little known research-oriented Shizendo Ki arts to help self, others relieve stress, anxiety, aches & pains.

Dojo format: Earn kyu & dan ranks as you progress! Beginners welcome.

-6 to 7:15 p.m. Ki exercise, therapy class -7:30 to 9 p.m. Aiki-waza self-defense class. Classes meet Mondays & Friday evenings at Soto Mission of Aiea, Kauhale Street across Aiea Post Office. Two free trials! Adult (non-students) $30 mo. for 1 class; $40 mo. for both. College students (ID) $15 mo. for one class, $20 for both.

Call Instructor Kimura at 671-1422. Further details online at Shizendo Ki Kinesiology.

ART EXHIBITS • LIVE CONCERT SLAM POETRY • KTUH JAMS FOOD • & MORE

kaleo.org/artsfestival

HOME COMING 2013

10.23.13

Twitter @kaleoohawaii | news@kaleo.org | Noelle Fujii Editor | Fadi Youkhana Associate

Page 5 | Ka Leo | Monday, Oct. 21 2013

News Ways to MĀnoa: event to showcase sustainable modes of transportation A LDEN A LAY VILLA Staff Writer

Commuter Services will hold an event to explore different ways to get to campus. The event, “Ways to M ā noa: An Alternative Experience,” will be held at Hamilton Library Plaza on Wednesday.

“We are having this event to offer a lot of different alternatives for everyone to get to campus and give people that information,” Transportation and Demand Management coordinator Crystal Steiner said. “My hope is that they will come and find something new and try an alternative mode of transportation.”

The event will feature 16 exhibitors, including Cycle M ā noa, TheBus, vRide, University Health Services M ā noa and Opconnect.

with Commuter Services, and we are making sure our sales fall with Ways to Mānoa,” Meiser said.

“So, we’ll be having a sale at 11 a.m.”

According to Meiser, people will arrive an hour early to sign up because Cycle Mānoa does first come, first serve. Cycle Mānoa will have about 30 bikes that are refurbished.

“The bikes will range from free — we always make sure we five to six free bikes — to the most expensive, which is $100,” Meiser said.

“We always make sure everything’s affordable.

If you are a student and bring a valid student ID, we’ll give you free bike lights. That’s a big issue with bike safety, making sure that you have lights and that you’re visible.”

ALL PHOTOS BY: ISMAEL MA KA LEO O HAWAI‘I

Long Range Planning Office representative at the event, added that the office is looking at future plans of sustainability for the campus.

“We’re here to not just support the goals of Commuter Services, but taking a look at how it integrates with other elements of planning: Where are you going to put electric vehicles, where you put PVs (photovoltaic systems) to support the electrical vehicles and how you might look at the drainage and maybe turn it into hydroelectric power to charge electric vehicles and bicycles,” Williams said.

WAYS T O M Ā N OA

“One of our exhibitors will be vRide,” Steiner said. “If people live further out, you can do a vanpool where everybody pays the expense.”

On average, people can save $5,000 a year by being in a vanpool instead of using their own cars.

“For students, in particular, they can study while commuting to campus,” Steiner said. vRide will offer one free month for every new UH Mānoa vanpool started from now through the end of the year.

Health Services will attend the event to encourage people to use their feet or a bike.

“To be healthy, the Center for Disease Control recommendation is that we get at least 10,000 steps a day — that’s roughly five miles a day,” Steiner said. “It has profound health impacts, so the health group was really interested in coming and having that discussion.”

According to Steiner, research shows if you use an alternative mode, you’re going to be more fit than someone who rides in a car.

“It’s the ultimate way to multitask,” Steiner said.

“You commute, you get your exercise in and you don’t have to drive to the gym.”

Ellen Meiser, a graduate student and active member of Cycle M ā noa, said Cycle M ā noa will have its semester bike sale at the event.

“This time, because we’re on campus, we’ve coordinated

2010 COMMU T E R S U RV E Y LIMITING OUR CARBON FOOTPRINT According to campus architect Sharon Williams, the initiative of the University of Hawai‘i is to educate the populace for healthy, vibrant, successful lives.

“The carbon output of our populace is directly impacting the way the school conducts itself,” Williams said. “Student tuition is directly impacted by the rise of the price of oil and what happens in our world. We have to look to educating our students, faculty and administration about sustainability and what we can do to reduce our carbon footprint.”

Williams said if the campus had zero energy costs, it would reduce its electrical costs by $30 million a year, which is 20 percent of student fees.

“That can be reallocated to education, and we also become a model, an education tool for how the rest of the community can evolve,” Williams said.

Williams, the Physical, Environment and

According to Steiner, in 2010 the Transportation and Demand Management Program conducted a survey to determine how far students, faculty and administration live off campus.

“Some of the interesting things they found was that 43 percent of all faculty, staff and students live in three miles around the campus — a real commutable distance for walking or biking,” Steiner said. “We found that 20 percent live within one mile. We don’t always think that we live that close and there are fears. I hear a lot: ‘I’d like to ride my bike, but I’m scared to do that.’ That may be true, but there may be other ways that you can do it as well. That’s part of the reason why we’re bringing people that really know their stuff, that can help people get over that hump. Maybe biking isn’t the right way, but maybe there’s another way.”

Page 6 | Ka Leo | Monday, Oct. 21 2013

Twitter @kaleofeatures | features@kaleo.org |Jackie Perreira Editor |Karissa Montania Associate

Features

Werewolves W erewolves IK AIK A SHIVELEY Staff Writer

WIKICOMMONS

SCREEN GEMS

WIKICOMMONS WIKICOMMONS

WIKICOMMONS

Werewolves are known as the children of the moon or lycanthropes and have been part of cultures that date back to the emergence of man.

These beastly creatures in one form or another have been present in the cultures of ancient Egypt, with the jackal-like priest Anubis, Navajo tribes with skinwalkers and ancient Rome. Similar to witches and vampires, the exact historical origins of werewolves are unknown.

Like other legends and folktales, these creatures are seen as evil entities that terrorized people. During the Middle Ages and through the early modern era, it was common to believe that individuals could shapeshift into wolves to wreak havoc. In France from 1520-1630, there were thousands of werewolf trials that were similar to witch trials. Werewolves were commonly blamed for the destruction of livestock and murders throughout Europe during this time period.

Most of the trials involved people who were poor and ate contaminated rye bread. Rye bread will often grow a fungus known as ergot, a powerful hallucinogenic. This is a theory for why people thought they were able to transform into animals such as werewolves. The werewolf trials consisted of being tortured and, if convicted, publically executed.

Werewolf culture also had a presence during WWII with the Nazis. While not actual werewolves, the Nazis developed a special unit called “Unternehmen Werwolf” (Operation Werewolf) in which soldiers went behind enemy lines and used guerilla warfare tactics to

sabotage their enemies. enemies Today, there are several illnesses that can be linked to werewolves. Lycanthropic disorder is a form of dementia in which an individual believes that they can shapeshift into an animal, commonly a wolf. Hypertrichosis is a medical term for excessive body hair. Centuries ago, individuals with hypertrichosis would stay indoors so they wouldn’t be provoked by others. This behavior led people to believe they were actually werewolves, and carnival sideshows would use such individuals with this disease for entertainment.

MY T H S Some gain control of their shapeshifting as they become older and master the transition, but the common conception is that they lose control of themselves during a full moon. This behavior, along with the werewolf itself, was brought into mainstream media in 1941 with Universal’s classic film “The Wolfman.”

The film established a werewolf’s weakness: silver. Various cultures value silver as a mystical element with divine powers. Werewolves are also commonly referred to as enemies of vampires. When people become werewolves, they lose all connection with humanity. With their enhanced physical strength and heightened senses, they attack and murder all in their path, whether it’s livestock or other humans.

‘THE EXORCIST’ (1973) IK AIK A SHIVELEY Staff Writer An innocent little girl, Regan (Linda Blair), becomes possessed by a terrifying entity, and her mother (Ellen Burstyn) turns to Father Karras (Jason Miller) to perform an exorcism.

“The Exorcist” was courageous for releasing such a graphic film at a time when people weren’t used to it. This movie may be the first to receive national attention for people walking out of a film before it finished. “The Exorcist” left its mark in the horror genre as it terrified viewers and won Academy Awards. It was nominated for 10 Oscars including Best Picture, a feat that only a few horror films have ever achieved.

With no similar movie to compare it to, “The Exorcist” was called one of the scariest movies of all time. With a mixture of vulgar language, repulsive actions and intense special effects, viewers were terrified. Several interviews showed people even fainting as they exited the theater.

F I N A L V E R D I C T:

CHANGE YOUR PANTS!

WerewolF FILMS “The Wolfman” (1941) “The Howling” (1981) “Teenwolf” (1985) “Underworld” (2003) “Van Helsing” (2004)

COVER YOUR EYES

A little girl who can spin her head around will send chills down anyone’s spine.

Twitter @kaleoopinions | opinions@kaleo.org | Doorae Shin Editor

Page 7 | Ka Leo | Monday, Oct. 21 2013

Opinions

Crime, punishment and gay rights

E x c l us

iv

e

W

eb

iv

President Vladimir Putin has banned any demonstrations in Sochi during the Olympics, according to The Washington Post.

China. As a renowned international event, the Olympics need to stand for human dignity. It seems integrity has become such an elusive concept in sport politics. It doesn’t have to be. To stand up for human rights and freedom, the Olympics should only take place in cities and nations that respect those universal virtues.

For more information, check out The Human Rights Watch and their campaign that implores IOC President Thomas Bach to step up as a representative of the Olympic movement and “demand the repeal of this repugnant law.”

E x c l us

CLAUDIA HIMMELREICH / MCT

do what everybody hungry for knowledge does – explore.

The bottom line is that the accusation of “non-traditional sexuality” destabilizing society is fl awed. The new law exposes a profoundly uninformed government and population in Russia, as most people in Russia simply don’t know anyone out of the closet.

The “crime” of freedom of speech is offensive to the human spirit, and its punishment according to that inhumane law would impact all Russians, homosexual or not, along with the participants in the Olympics and its spectators.

It is time for the International Olympic Committee to break the tradition of hypocrisy started with the Nazi Olympics of 1936 and continued most recently in

W

with the Russian LGBT community, boycott the games and even change the location of the Olympics at the last minute.

There is hope. Because the discriminatory law has received so much negative international attention, the Russians will not dare to enforce it, especially on foreign citizens and during the Olympics.

It’s clear Putin and his administration are forgetting the uniqueness of our time. In today’s world, it’s almost impossible to keep information secret. Attempting to keep minors away from “propaganda” ignores the fact that each one of us actively creates the information age. Internet is the revolutionary outlet for social liberties. The Russian Duma may pass an oppressive law, but the people will inevitably

e

Here’s something you should think about: If you were in Russia and you showed this article to anyone under the age of 18, you’d be considered a criminal. You could be fi ned, locked up for 15 days and deported.

The Russian Duma passed a bill in June, quickly made law by President Vladimir Putin, that targeted any spread of information about “nontraditional sexual relations” among minors. This new law makes it a crime to have any discussion about alternative sexuality and to make any hints that it may be of equal value to traditional arrangements.

The law’s strangely nebulous language allows for some creative

interpretations: It conveniently lumps together consensual sex between adults of the same gender with practices like pedophilia, dendrophilia and bestiality. It may get one locked up for something as trivial as wearing a gay pride Tshirt in front of teenagers.

Russia’s new anti-equality laws have garnered international attention because of the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, taking place in four months. The International Olympic Committee, an organization standing “against any form of discrimination,” was duly questioned, challenged and pleaded to protect basic human rights in the increasingly fascist and homophobic Eurasian country. Voices were raised to purposely break the law in solidarity

eb

PAVEL S TANKOV Contributing Writer

Read an extended version of this article at kaleo.org

Page 8 | Ka Leo | Monday, Oct. 21 2013

Advertising@kaleo.org | Gabrielle Pangilinan Student Ad Manager

!

T I GET D A O L N W O D !

W O N E L I B O M

KA LEO

SPORTS

FEATURES

UH ID Accepted Here

UH PRODUCTIONS

ALOHA NIGHTS

DIRECTORY

......

FOR SALE

KALEO.ORG

THE BUS

CAMPUS INFO

SURF REPORT

USEFUL LINKS

KTUH

TRAFFIC MAP

Comics@kaleo.org | Nicholas Smith Editor

Page 9 | Ka Leo | Monday, Oct. 21 2013

Comics

Advertising@kaleo.org | Gabrielle Pangilinan Student Ad Manager

Page 10 | Ka Leo | Monday, Oct. 21 2013

Games

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Lewis

In S. Beretania 2424 S. Beretania Ph. 808.949.0050

We’ll Deliver To Dorms 808.744.2283

Hours: Sun-Thurs

10 am - 1 am

Go to www.kaleo.org for this puzzle’s solution.

HOME COMING 2013

Fri-Sat

10am - 2 am Fill in the grid so that every row, every column, and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 thru 9.

Puzzles will become progressively more difficult through the week.

Solutions, tips and computer program at www.sudoku.com Go to www.kaleo.org for this puzzle’s solution.

GET IT ON

2424 S. Beretania St.

Solutions, tips and computer program at www.sudoku.com

10.23.13

$8 Menu

Puzzles will become progressively more difficult through the week.

10.23.13

ACROSS 65 Like so 1 Floating platforms 66 Zappos.com inventory 6 Guy or fellow DOWN 10 Haughty sort 1 Big name in vermouth 14 Creepy starer 2 A second time 15 Top military draft category 3 Vary irregularly, as prices 16 Skid row denizen 4 Koppel and Knight 17 German cars bought by 5 __ Lanka Riyadh residents?

6 Teeth-and-gums protector 19 Not many 7 Conductor Previn 20 Releases (on), as an attack 8 “Star Wars” princess dog 9 “Piece of cake!”

21 Cafeteria carriers gone 10 Out-of-tune string instruments? missing?

11 Like Jack 43-Across’s diet 23 QB’s mishap 12 Does as directed 24 Tennis icon Arthur 13 Curtain call acknowledgments 25 Makes a choice 18 Part of YMCA: Abbr.

26 Drawing upon 22 How-__: instruction books 28 100-yard race 24 Feel lousy 30 Shoulder wrap 27 Neato water sources?

32 “Once __ a time ...”

28 Insult comic who was a 34 PC software frequent Johnny Carson guest 38 Rose of baseball 29 Crumb-carrying insect 39 Hard to hear 30 Relaxation center 40 Was a passenger 31 Put a curse on 41 Figure skater’s leap 33 Dessert with a crust 42 Uncle Remus’s __ Rabbit 35 Financial planner’s concern 43 Nursery-rhyme Jack or his wife 36 Handheld computer, briefly 44 Put down, as floor tile 37 Go down in the west 46 “__ my case” 39 “The X-Files” gp.

48 Fixes with thread 43 Ninth mo.

50 Plastic coffee container 45 Pop the question designed for a Keurig brewer 47 Ploy 51 Sports enthusiast 48 Work really hard 54 Streamlined onion relatives?

49 Spooky 57 Pie à la __ 50 Reeves of “Speed” 58 Basketball’s __ “The Pearl” 52 Dancer Astaire Monroe 53 Homes for chicks 59 Stories you’ve heard a bajillion 54 Future flower times?

55 J.D.-to-be’s exam 61 Bad to the bone 56 __ A Sketch 62 Promgoer’s concern 57 Trig or calc 63 Leaning somewhat 60 Prof.’s helpers 64 Lousy grades ANSWERS AT KALEO.ORG

Fill in the grid so that every row, every column, and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 thru 9.

GET IT ON

OPEN LATE

Twitter @kaleosports | sports@kaleo.org | Joey Ramirez Editor | Jeremy Nitta Associate

Page 11 | Ka Leo | Monday, Oct. 21 2013

Sports Senior Xenia Suworowa went 6-12 last season and was 4-4 in conference play.

ISMAEL MA KA LEO O HAWAI‘I

Addition through subtraction JEREMY NIT TA Associate Sports Editor

Replacing the best player on a team is never easy. Many teams have struggled in their attempts to fill the void left by a graduating senior who played a major role for the squad.

However, the Rainbow Wahine tennis team, coming off a 5-11 record and a 4-4 mark in the Big West, is looking for addition through subtraction as it heads into its second season of membership.

Hawai‘i will be tasked with replacing fi rst-team All-Big West honoree Katarina Poljakova. Senior Xenia Suworowa, who also received fi rst team honors last year, will step into her former team-

mate’s role. But the team believes that replacing one of its stars may not be as hard as it seems.

The Rainbow Wahine brought in one of the better recruiting classes nationally this season, introducing three players who will have a chance to make a splash quickly.

“We have one who’s a transfer from Maryland (Sarah Gealer) who’s a sophomore and was a fivestar recruit out of Los Angeles,” head coach Jun Hernandez said.

“She’s a very good player, and she’s going to help us out a lot this year somewhere at the top of our lineup. Cindy (Nguyen) is another. She’s a girl from Southern California who’s another five-star recruit, and she’ll be somewhere in our top six as well. Then we have

Julia (Weisel) from Maui who’ll be competing for a spot too.”

The trio of newcomers gives Hawai‘i depth on its roster, as Hernandez believes the team is now much more complete from top to bottom.

“We’re going to have a much more solid lineup from one through six,” Hernandez said.

“Even my seventh and eighth best players are going to have a chance to compete. So I have eight players who can play in the top six, which is a great thing.”

The team will be led by Suworowa, one of just two seniors on the team, who was also named the team captain earlier in the year.

But both Suworowa and the team are focused solely on the future,

not on what happened in the past.

“We always miss the players who leave,” Suworowa said. “Our team captain (Poljakova) was a big part of this team. I played doubles with her, so I’m going to miss her a lot, and I already do.

But we’re always excited for the new and young players coming in. They always come in excited and work hard because it’s a new experience for them.”

Hawai‘i fi nished fourth in the Big West last season and was eliminated from the conference tournament in the semifi nals by top-seeded UC Irvine. This year, the ‘Bows are determined to build on what they started.

“It is my last year, and I want to fi nish strong, and I do want to

make it a memorable year,” Suworowa said. “Of course I’d like to do at least as good as I did last year. We have some team goals that we’ve set. We’d like to win the conference championships and get our ranking back. Unfortunately, we lost that ranking towards the end of last season.”

“We set our goals together,” Hernandez said. “It’s important that they all know what we need to accomplish and the work that needs to be done. I just tell them to work hard, every single day and keep pushing yourself. Keep learning, and keep adding to your tools on and off the court.

But the main thing in doing all of this is to really have fun and enjoy what you’re doing.”

Twitter @kaleosports | sports@kaleo.org | Joey Ramirez Editor | Jeremy Nitta Associate

Page 12 | Ka Leo | Monday, Oct. 21 2013

Sports

Rainbow Wahine looking for new identity JEREMY NIT TA Associate Sports Editor

Senior outfielder Sharla Kliebenstein had a .243 batting average and 37 RBI last season.

PHOTOS BY ISMAEL MA KA LEO O HAWAI‘I

In the record books of the Rainbow Wahine softball program, a short list of names graces the top of almost every major statistic: Kelly Majam, Jessica Iwata and Kaia Parnaby.

Last season, Majam and Iwata fi nished their careers ranked in the top five in numerous offensive categories, while Parnaby rewrote the single-season record books as the ace of Hawai‘i’s pitching staff.

Now, all three are gone, part of one of the most successful graduating classes in University of Hawai‘i history. With them goes almost a third of last season’s offensive production and the bulk of the pitching production.

But as the Rainbow Wahine softball team begins preparations for its 2013-14 campaign, new players are beginning to emerge from the shadows of last season’s stars.

While a great deal of talent has been lost, the team feels confident that it will be able to pick up where it left off without missing a beat.

“We’re really confident because we know that we have a lot of potential,” senior outfielder Sharla Kliebenstein said. “We have a younger team, but the younger girls are very talented. Right now,

we’re just trying to work in that chemistry and figure out where everyone works on our team.”

Head coach Bob Coolen is in Indianapolis as Majam (now Elms) is one of nine fi nalists for the 2013 NCAA Woman of the Year award and was not available for comment.

But associate head coach Deirdre Wisneski has seen the talent of this year’s squad and expressed hope for the players looking to take on the roles of last season’s seniors.

“We have something like 10 or 11 new players, but the passion is there,” Wisneski said.

“And the excitement is there that we haven’t seen in a while in the first week of practice.”

The team knows what it has lost and that overcoming those losses will be no easy task. But the ‘Bows know that the only direction they can move is forward.

“We’ve learned a lot from the girls of the past,” junior catcher Kayla Wartner said. “We just have to follow their lead and follow our seniors to lead us in the right direction. We definitely lost a lot of talent last year, and it’s going to be hard to replace them. But the people we have and the people coming out want it. And I feel that if we keep working on it, then they’ll get there.”

“We’ve gotta go with what we have,” Wisneski said. “We can’t try

and make our players into them because it just won’t work. But we know we have a lot of talent that came in. When you try to fill the roles, it’s hard. At shortstop, I wish I had another Jessica Iwata. But who knows, maybe we do. All we can do is continue to groom the players we have in Kristina Akiona and our freshman Sarina Jaramillo.”

Some players are even relishing the opportunity to step into a bigger role than they held last year. One of these players is Kliebenstein, one of the team’s seniors who has moved into Majam’s old spot in center field.

“When we had Kelly Majam and Jessica Iwata here, it pressured us to try and be as good as them, rather than be as good as we could be,” Kliebenstein said. “I feel that with them gone, we’ll be able to show our talent, instead of trying to measure up to them.

“We don’t have them here, so we can’t point at them and say, ‘Do it the way Kelly does it,’ or ‘Do it the way Jessica does it.’ Now it’s, ‘Do it the best that you can do it.’ I think that it definitely benefits us this year.”

The Rainbow Wahine will have about three weeks to prepare for the start of the fall preseason, when it hosts the annual Kama‘aina Classic on Nov. 8 and 9. Taking part in the tournament will be in-state rivals BYU-Hawai‘i and Chaminade.