March 29, 2012
Ke Alaka i Volume 99: Issue 10
LEADER
Empower Your Dreams
Winter Ball
Winner gives prize money to runners up 10
Students put on dancing shoes for 2012 Ball
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Ke Alaka i
Table of Contents
March 29, 2012 • Volume 99: Issue 10 Kent carollo
LEEANN LAMBERT
ed i t or -i n - ch i e f
advis o r
DEWEY KEITHLY hea d p hot ogra p h e r COPY EDITORS
VIDEO PRODUCTION
Kel sey R oye r, A my Ca rl st on , M a r i s s a E l d er, Tay l o r R i p py
L in ds ay Ban c ro ft Jame s C h o i, Alex L e n g, Jas o n Brow n
PHOTOGRAPHERS
ART & GRAPHICS
M ei Y i n Dewey Ke i th ly B a r t Jol l ey
Mic h ae l Gulde n Ste ph an ie T s e C o n o r Riley
MULTIMEDIA JOURNALISTS Na t ha n Pa cke r, E l l e n Wy n n , An drew Lyo n , C a m ron S to ck f o rd , G i s e lle Ramire z , Make n zi e H ea d , N a ta l i e D rewe r y, C ame ro n Ko b e r, A b i gay l e B u tl e r, K a s h a Ban dman n , Mo rgan B ouwhu i s , A a ro n C o f f ey INTERNS S uza nne T u ttl e Phi l l i p A n d r u s
AD MANAGER Aaro n Knuds e n
NEWS CENTER
Publisher
Box 1920 BYUH Laie, HI 96762
P r in t Se r vic e s
E d i t o r i a l , p h o to s u bmis s io n s & dis tr ibut i on i n qu i r i e s : ke a l a k ai@ byuh .e du. To sub scr i be t o th e R S S FEED o r to view a d d i t i o n a l a r ti cl e s , go to ke alak ai.byuh . ed u.
ON THE COVER
The Entraide Congo Presentation Team were the recipients of the first-place Business Plan prize of $5,000, which they will use towards building their organization. Pictured: Vulcain Minerve Yengo, Nowah Afangbedji, and Josh Christie. Photo by Bart Jolley
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Me e t BY UHSA Presi dent Mu st apha El Akk ar i an d Vi ce Presi dent Kesa Kau f u si
ON E We ek
E-mail: kealakai@byuh.edu Ad Information: kealakaiads@gmail.com Phone: (808) 675-3694 Fax: (808) 675-3491 Office: Campus, Aloha Center 134
Ke Alaka‘i
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CONTACT
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Students danced the night away at the 2012 Winter Ball on Friday, March 23 at the Polynesian Cultural Center. Photo by Dewey Keithly
Empower you r dreams wrap up
[page 14] Wi nt er Bal l hel d at t he Polyn e si a n Cul tura l Cent er
Robert R. Holland D.C., L.M.T.
CHIROPRACTIC & MASSAGE THERAPY
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Rehabilitation for Whiplash Injury, Neck Pain and Back Pain No Fault Insurance Accepted KAHUKU-NORTHSHORE 56-119 Pualalea Street TEL:293-0122
MAR
CALENDAR
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter31 The day Saints will have the Semi-annual
APR
General Conference from Salt Lake City, Utah, this weekend. It will be shown at the BYUH Stake Center. Sessions are from 6 til 8 a.m., a break then 10 a.m. until noon on Saturday and Sunday.
NOTE WORTHY news headlines
Saturday Priesthood 2 p.m. 01 The (Hawaii time) session will be shown
will be a Chamber Orchestra 03 There Concert in the McKay Auditorum
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APR
taped delayed Sunday, April 1, at 6 p.m. in the BYUH Stake Center West Chapel for the Married Students and at 7 p.m. in the East Chapel for BYUH 1st & 3rd stakes.
from 7:30 to 9 p.m. Admission to the concert is free.
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the week in
QUOTES
“I do not think we can overs t a t e the sa c redness of thes e g ift s o f procrea tion. Brethren, yo u a re cha rged to protect and d e f en d God’s daughters and th e p ower or v i r t u e you both hold t o crea t e l i f e. Brothers and sisters , t h e re is no pl a c e in your lives, bef o re o r a f t er mar r iage to joke a bou t t he s e power s or to watch movies t h a t depi c t i ntimacy or to d res s in a way tha t tempts or that s ay s yo u do not care.” -S i dney Hendersen said in h is d evot i ona l address on Ma rch 27.
“We a re not considered ‘Chr is t ia n ’ by some, I suppose beca u s e we a re not f our th- centur y Chr is t ia n s , we a re not Athanasian Chr is t ia n s , we a re not creedal Chr is t ia ns o f the b ra n d that arose hu nd re d s o f yea r s a f ter Chr ist. No, whe n we spea k of ‘restored Chr is t ia nit y ’ we spea k of the Church as it wa s [ bef ore] . . . great councils we re ca lled to deba te and anguish over wha t it wa s they really believe d .” -El der Jef frey R . Hollan d s a id t o stu dent s attending Har va rd Law S chool .
Gen. Lloyd Austin, right, Vice Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army, talks to reporters March 23, at Joint Base Lewis McChord in Washington state. Austin said that the case against Robert Bales, the soldier accused of killing Afghan villagers is set to go through a “long process.” Photo by AP.
U.S. soldier detained for rampage The situation in Afghanistan took a turn for the worse earlier this month when a lone soldier reportedly went on a rampage, killing 16 Afghanis civilians, including women and children. The soldier accused of the crime, Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, was detained for the killings. Bales recently faced questioning about the event. While he can recount certain events that transpired before and after the killings, he said he remembers very little about the event itself. Bales has undergone severe questioning to determine his mental stability, as well as the likelihood of the events being correlated to post-traumatic stress. After more than a decade of fighting in Afghanistan, the situation on the ground appears to be steadily worsening as of late. Insurgencies have been on the rise over the past
few weeks. This is partially assumed to be out of retribution for the attacks as well as other events that have taken place recently. Aside from the recent killings, some NATO forces recently were caught burning copies of the Quran. Also earlier this year, American troops were videotaped urinating on corpses of dead Afghanis. These situations, as well as others, are creating a less and less stable Afghanistan. These events all are taking place amidst talk by U.S. forces about withdrawing from the nation. Gen. John Allen recently said that, despite the certain drawbacks that have existed lately, effort must be made by U.S. forces to continue plans to withdrawal from the country. - C ame ron Kobe r
March 29, 2012
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BYUHSA’s new president, Mustapha El Akkari, said his hardships have enabled him to believe in his own abilities, believe in God, and serve others. Mustapha was born in Tripoli, Lebanon in 1989. He began playing basketball for the Lebanese National Team at 15. In 2006, during the Lebanon-Israel War, El Akkari received a phone call that altered the course of his life dramatically; a travel agent in Houston, Texas, asked him to move to the United States and play ball. El Akkari said he had a difficult time adjusting to Houston, a foreign place where he knew no one. “It was pretty sad, new system ... new rules. I struggled a lot. I was by myself. Everybody was a Christian. I was confused. I had to pick up their language. They said Muslims were terrorists. I am a Muslim and all I have is God.” Eventually, the parents of a friend at El Akkari’s Christian Community School welcomed him into their home and fed him. He transferred schools during his senior year and graduated in 2008. In September 2009, BYUH Coach Ken Wagner called Mustapha and offered him a scholarship to study here. A feeling of peace and excitement traveled through El Akkari while talking to Wagner, he said. Many schools had offered him the same scholarship, but the BYUH campus captured his attention. “I had a good feeling when Coach Wagner said [BYUH] is a special campus. I Ke Alaka‘i
Finau Kesa Kaufusi
Mustapha El Akkari New BYUHSA leader’s charge: Enter to learn and serve now
love what he said. I didn’t hesitate to sign the papers and send them back to him.” El Akkari has played basketball here and is pursuing a degree in supply chain and finance. When he was injured in a game, he decided to work at BYUHSA and became a VP for Special Events from 2011-2012. “I love the department, and I believe I can contribute something especially for students,” explained El Akkari. His dedication to serve encouraged him to run for BYUHSA president this year. Since winning the election, El Akkari is looking forward to bettering BYUH and encouraging students to engage in more activities. He plans on working with every bishop to know the students’ needs. “We need to take advantage of the diversity we have. Students most likely talk to their bishops, so we are going to work with them.” Together with Kesa Kaufusi, El Akkari has some projects in mind. “We will still maintain community service and continue the charity that we do. We want to provide a better recycling project that will stay and be controlled forever. I want to do projects that will last for years. I want to leave this place with something valuable.” He said he believes each BYUH students should learn how to serve now. “I am looking for ‘enter to learn and serve’ not just ‘enter to learn and go forth to serve’.” When asked how he would serve students with a different religion, he replied, “I am used to it. I am comfortable around people. Coming to an LDS school is like a new book for me. But taking classes helps me to build friendship and to understand people. Having friends from different cultures helps me too.” He added, “I look at the students as my brothers and sisters. I know everyone has a story of how they ended up here. We live here together.” El Akkari said of his strengths, “I keep trying hard. That’s something I believe. It’s your work ethic and your knowledge that they cannot take away from you. If you dream big, you work hard and pray about it.”
VP: Having a great attitude BYUHSA’s new Vice President, Kesa Kaufusi, talked about the importance of having a great attitude. Kaufusi was born in Navutoka, Tongatapu, Tonga. She served as student body president during high school, and attended the University of South Pacific upon graduating. After completing one year of school, Kaufusi was called to serve in the Honolulu, Hawaii Mission for the LDS Church. It was during her mission that Kaufusi was introduced to BYU-Hawaii campus. Soon after returning home, she made her way back to BYUH and began studies in accounting. Having served a mission in Hawaii, Kaufusi learned to love students from all different cultures. “I like the diversity in school; more people, more friends, and it’s nice. Being at BYUH reminds me of who I am.” When El Akkari asked her to be his running mate, she said yes with a goal in mind. “I want to help IWORK students. I want to make the students feel BYUH is their home.” When she was asked what a leader is for her, Kaufusi answered, “A happy person, always ready to help people.” She added, “We are all equal to each other. The greatest leader of all is someone who can serve his fellow beings. We should lead by example.” She believes her best asset as a leader is her energy and friendliness. As a missionary, she learned something that she would never forget: “People can’t understand the meaning of your message unless you tell them that you love them.” -Ma. Vis Tagu ba
A Summer with the Sharks Biology student takes research to new depths by studying tooth loss in sharks
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hunling Shi presented her research on tooth loss and food consumption rate in hand-fed sand tiger sharks last week as one of the Science Department’s researchers at the annual Undergraduate Research Conference held on campus March 22. Ling, a biology major from Chengdu, China, and a recent graduate of BYU-Hawaii, did her internship two years ago at the Shanghai Changfeng Ocean World Aquarium. Because of that connection, she was able to return a year later to do her senior research on the large sample group of sand tiger sharks who were held there. She presented last week and is in Laie because her husband is still in school. The sample group of sharks was four times larger (8 sharks) to that of one academic source Ling used in her research by J.J. Correia (2 sharks), so she felt confident that her results would be more accurate. “During my data collection, there were health problems that occurred in the sharks,” she said of the disassociation of her results to other published studies. “There was no correlation with the water temperature and food consumption. It was hard to get accurate data because there were a lot of variables.”
Ling spent the first month of her internship collecting thousands of sand tiger shark teeth from the bottom of the aquarium. She said of her experience: “It was a little scary being among the sharks in the aquarium, but sharks aren’t as dangerous as people think. When I saw black tip and white tip sharks in the wild, they didn’t even care if we got close to them. I’d like to continue my studies on sharks in the wild compared to sharks in captivity in order to get more useful data for the aquarium.” Although Ling did not feed the sharks, she was able to be in the aquarium with them on a regular basis. She recounted how she was frightened once when a shark circled her. “Sharks are more aggressive during the summer because it’s mating season,” she said, so she and the professionals at the aquarium had to pay attention to the sharks’ behavior when offering food to the sharks by hand. In order to feed the sharks by hand, the trained individuals offer dead fish on the side of the aquarium, and if the sharks are hungry, they come eat it. When feeding these sharks in
the aquarium, Ling recalled, the employees are always wearing a metal glove to prevent injury. The sand tiger shark goes by other names around the world, such as the grey nurse shark in Australia, and the ragged tooth in South Africa.
-P hil Andru s
Above: BYU-Hawaii alumna Chunling Shi. Photo by Phil Andrus. Below: Sand tiger shark teeth collected as part of Shi’s research project. Shi diving with her subjects at the Shanghai Aquarium. Photo courtesy of Chunling Shi.
ONE
WEEK
The McKay Center for Intercultural Understanding collaborated with other campus organizations to host a week of events focused on unifying students at a local and global level.
Students, faculty and community members gathered the morning of March 24 in front of the new David O. McKay Center for Intercultural Understanding to receive location assignments for the semiannual Spirit of Aloha service project. Sara Siddoway, a senior in anthropology from Texas who served alongside Anna Fifita as project lead for the event, commented that she enjoyed planning the service project. “I loved being actively involved in a project aimed at serving the community.” Volunteers were sent to one of three project locations in the community, which included Laie Elementary, Kahuku Hospital, and the Ulanui Women’s Canoe Club. Service ranged from yard work to the re-painting of parking lot markers was involved, but a lot more than a morning of manual labor was taken away from the experience. Junior Matt Giles and his wife, Jeska, volunteered Saturday at the Canoe Club and have since been back to visit those they met and served with. “The Spirit of Aloha service project was a great opportunity to start a relationship with people I didn’t know in the Laie community. They’re great,” commented Giles, a California native studying ICS.
- T AYLOR RI PPY
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Students Brooke Shephard and Oko Lkhagvasuren participate in the Spirit of Aloha service project. Photo by Bart Jolley
Ke Alaka‘i
Hunger Banquet spreads awareness on Campus The Hunger Banquet, sponsored by the David O. McKay Center for Intercultural Understanding, helped spread global awareness and promoted action in the ongoing fight against global hunger as students experienced eating within the budgets of the various classes of the world. Entering into the banquet, students were given a role to play at random, which ranged between low income, middle income, and high income citizens. Each role had a different seating and food situation. While high income citizens representing 15 percent of the world’s population dined at tables with linens and silverware, the low income roles sat on the floor amongst trash and were given rice in a single napkin to eat with their hands. The low income roles represented the majority of the world’s population where their main concerns are shelter, food, and water on a daily basis. Maxwell Abagulum, a senior ICS major from Ghana, recounted his own personal experiences growing up in Ghana and the struggle against hunger. “Growing up was different. I am the youngest of 12 kids, and my mom worked hard to provide for our family.” Abagulum expressed how people walked several miles to obtain necessary water and how even rice was only eaten on special occasions like Christmas Day. Abagulum will graduate this April and hopes to help the people of Ghana who are struggling. Gifty Pokuaa Boateng, a senior in ICS-communications with a certificate in peace building from Ghana, was also in attendance. Boateng thought the event was amazing and a great way to learn about the world around us. “Not only is it a great way to learn about the world,” she said, “but also what we can do to help each other.” Boateng mentioned how she did not grow up with riches, but she always had something to eat due to the hard work of her mother. “My mother tried her best to give up everything that she had to take care of her two children.” Dr. Chad Ford, director of the center, expressed the importance of “acting upon our awareness.” Ford inspired the crowd after speaking by issuing a statement. Ford gave his promise to match any donations made by students. “Donate what you can and send an
Above: Lauren Ockey eats a scoop of rice on the floor among trash while others sat at a table with linens at the Hunger Banquet on March 22. Bottom left to right: Maxwell Abagulum speaks to attendees at the banquet about his experiences with hunger in Ghana. Ockey and Bobby Poort and Zach Tilton are also pictured. Photos by Dewey Keithly
e-mail to the McKay Center, and I will match your donation.” He continued to emphasize the idea to take action in mall ways throughout people’s lives. Hunger and poverty issues are affecting the majority of the world’s population and without help the numbers can continue to rise. For additional information about how you can help, contact the David O. McKay Center for Intercultural Understanding or the One organization or go to www.one.org. - Natalie Dre we ry
March 29, 2012
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Documentaries inspire students to get involved A small group of students gathered together to watch a screening of a couple of documentaries in an event put on by the David O. McKay Center for Intercultural Understanding and the ONE organization. The screening included two films, one called “The Other Side of Chocolate,” a film about child trafficking for the chocolate business, and the other was a film produced by the ONE organization about water pressure. The documentary about water pressure focused mostly on the desert town of Rajasthan, India, where water is very scarce - so scarce, in fact, that each citizen only uses about four liters of water per day. The people of Rajasthan created a group that improved the collection of rain received each season. Everyone from farmers to businessmen worked together to create a working and improved system, because of the dire need for drinkable water. Organizations such as ONE work with the Indian government work to bring wells closer to villages, to help young women in India to become better educated by making water more accessible, and less time consuming to retrieve.
Women carry water from the wells of Rajasthan, a focus of one documentary shown at the One Week film screening on campus. Photo by abmdsudi,trekearth.com.
Music unites campus and community at Open Mic Night One Week on campus culminated over the weekend with an enjoyable evening of song. The McKay Center for Intercultural Understanding scheduled the Aloha Center to put on an open mic night aimed at presenting music devoted to inspire both personal and global peace. 8
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Lauren Ockey, a sophomore from Utah in ICS communications, was one of the individuals who put on the screening. She commented, “This was part of my project for my ‘Be The Change’ project for our class with Dr. Ford, and we wanted to have an awareness campaign for human trafficking because it’s something we are really passionate about.” The second documentary focused on the issue of child trafficking into the Ivory Coast, a small country in West Africa where most of the world’s cocoa comes from. Children are often met by strangers, who then promise the children money that they can give to their family if they work. These children are coming from some of the worlds’ most poor nations, such as Mali. Nichelle Warwick, a sophomore in marketing from Utah, said, “I think it’s great that they’re trying to raise awareness for things like trafficking, because it is something that so many of us aren’t aware of... I hope we can grow and that this can be something that we as a school can focus on and help make a change in the world.” In the film, children are then taken to a bus station, and deserted by these strangers. Once the children reach the border, they get off the bus and are quickly surrounded and rounded up by traffickers on motorbikes and smuggled across the border into the Ivory Coast, where they will be sold for roughly 250 Euros or around $332. Jeff McLeod, a sophomore from California in business management, said, “It made me think of how messed up the world is, just to get money... I’ll definitely talk about this with other people, and I’ll sign a petition, but I am not quite sure how else I can get involved with this cause.” The government of the Ivory Coast is working to stop child trafficking, but denies that it is a large problem. Every chocolate company refuses to comment or admit that any children work on the plantations from which the cocoa comes. Nestle, Mars, and other chocolate companies all released statements saying they are not responsible for the issues of the plantations, as they are owned by individual farmers. - C am ron St ock ford
Performers from around the campus and community were encouraged to attend and present their musical talents. One of the highlights of the evening came from the Tonga family who sang. The family consists of five children who enjoy performing with their parents various religious and secular songs. They performed various songs aimed at bringing to pass personal peace. The girls explained the family started singing in 2008. The family soon realized that their children had real potential to
sing. Together they have performed in various church activities in an attempt to spread their message of peace and faith. One of the daughters, Tiuti, mentioned how important music is in building bridges saying, “You can share your testimony through music and it brings people together.” Other performers that evening included Jon Ako, Ho’oulu Cabrinha and Kaui Krueger’s Hawaiian music trio who played traditional Hawaiian falsetto-based music. -CAMERON KOBER
Pictured: Elder Kent D. Watson. Photo by Dewey Keithly
Management Society honors Elder Watson for a lifetime of leadership
The BYU Management Society hosted the 2012 Global Leadership Award Dinner in honor of Elder Kent D. Watson. Elder Watson was sustained a member of the Second Quorum of the Seventy of the LDS Church and received the award in honor of his many leadership positions in both his professional career as CEO of PricewaterhouseCoopers, China and multiple church callings. Elder Watson accepted the Global Leadership Award and said, “I am honored to receive this token, which I take as a robe of responsibility.” Leonardo Li, a senior in accounting from China commented on the speech given by Elder Watson and said, “From his speech, we can tell he is a very humble man. He received the award but he remained very humble. From his experiences we can tell he has held leadership positions in many different areas.” During his acceptance speech Elder Watson shared, “Leadership is having a vision of helping other people see their possibilities and how they can achieve those possibilities. I’ve discovered in both my profession and in church that assignments come to those who are the busiest. The timings of those assignments are always when it is least convenient. A true leader is someone willing to do what they are asked, especially in the church, even when it is least convenient.” He quoted President Thomas S. Monson and said, “Remember that the mantle of leadership is not the cloak of comfort, but the robe of responsibility.” The night consisted of musical entertainment by Tahitian dancers, xylophone players and vocalists accompanied by pianists. The award presentation was by Linda Ramos, the president of the BYU Management Society here at BYU-Hawaii, and a senior in hospitality and tourism management and exercise and sports science from Mexico. Ramos expressed her thoughts on the acceptance speech
given by Elder Watson, stating, “What impressed me the most was even though he has served and been very successful in his career as a CEO, he is so humble. You can sense his spirit and how humble he is. That inspires me. That is the kind of leader I want to be. I want to love people in a way that I can serve them.” Ramos explained the goals and purposes of the BYU Management society and said, “It is huge all around the world.” It helps leaders develop their skills, expand their network, and serve the community. It offers different services and activities. Even if you are not a member of the chapter, you can be helped by attending interview practices. The BYU Management society teaches students how to market themselves to a company and how to be motivated to become leaders in the world. Robert Clavel, a junior in international cultural studies from California, also said of Elder Watson’s speech: “It inspired me to realize what are qualities of a leader and the areas I can improve. Even though we are inadequate sometimes we can become leaders in the lord’s kingdom.” This was not the first time Clavel listened to Elder Watson speak. Clavel served his mission in Taiwan. “His humility makes it so much easier as a missionary at the time,” Clavel said, “and even now to accept what he teaches because he has done it in his own life. His humility is what draws me to his teachings.”
-Gise lle Ramire z
March 29, 2012
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EMPOWER
Business plan winner surrenders prize money to runner up
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The Akin Clothing group shined in the award ceremony of this year’s Business Plan competition as Ben Howells traded the first-place prize money with second-place winners from the group Entraide Congo. The Award Ceremony was held on March 22 in Cannon Activities Center. The prizes for the winners would be determined by the following: 1st place –$ 5,000, 2nd place – $3, 500 and 3rd place – $1, 500. See the column to the right for prize winners. Howells explained his feelings about the other group members when asked why he gave them money. “I know the guys leading the Entraide Congo project, Yengo and Nowah, and they are truly special people with amazing stories and I really believe in what they are doing. I felt that overall the money could help them more than it could help us out. I really want them to be able to actually carry out their project in the Congo as soon as possible and hopefully they can do that now, he said.” Yengo expressed his appreciation and gratefulness to Howells in his comment from one of his photos on facebook. “Our Team Ke Alaka‘i
YOUR DREAMS CONFERENCE
Ben Howells, of Akin Clothing, presents first-place prize money to second-place winners Nowah Afangbedji and Vulcain Minerve Yengo, of Entraide Congo. Photo by Bart Jolley.
‘Entraide Congo’ ended second but gained first prize. We can start this project in Congo now. Thank you to everyone for the support and prayers. Ben, you’re the man.” The ceremony ended with applause and smiles from the audience because of the generosity shown by the Akin Clothing team. Howells further shared his thoughts and feelings of the competition saying, “I love that we do this competition here. I honestly think that there is no better place in the world to start a business than BYU-Hawaii. The competition is a real learning process. You learn so much “I just felt that overall the money could help them more than it could help us out. I really want them to be able to actually carry out their project in the Congo as soon as possible and hopefully they can do that now.” -Ben Howells
from the judges, mentors other competitors and everybody involved. I think the thing I learned the most is just to think big, start small. It helped me believe we really can do anything we work hard at but how important it is to really get the foundation in place to build as you go.” The finalists of the 2012 annual Business Plan and Social Entrepreneurship Competition kicked off their presentations on March 22 with three teams under each category: Domestic, International and Social Entrepreneurship, competing for both prestige and opportunity. “We know you will be very impressed with all those presenting today who have put so much time and talent into preparing for this competition,” said Paris Clavel, one of the chairpersons of the event. She welcomed and introduced the panel of the business professionals who were also the judges of the event. The judges included James Croft, Craig Earnshaw, Dennis Sessions, Jeff Yarbrough, Robb Horlarcher, Scott Peterson and Al Gardiner. Each group was given a maximum of three minutes to present their main objectives, marginal market value, strengths and the possible competitors of their business plans. The participants of the Golden Egg Puffs group highlighted the strengths of their plan. “It’s simple unique and delicious,” Geoffrey Lo explained during his presentation. The Ono Empanadas also emphasized that their product was “quick, affordable and healthy to eat.” While the first two teams of the domestic category created a food business, the Scooterville group was concerned about the welfare of the tourist at Polynesian Cultural Center. “Through this product, we will be an exclusive scooter provider for 3,000 tourists every day,” Semisi Livai explained. The international category groups presented after the domestic, underlining the advantages of their international business plans. The East Asia Group presented their plan on exporting kelp/ abalone seeds from China to Japan. The project, Discover Youth Development Center, helps students find their career path in Shanghai, China. “Our mission is to help China students to discover themselves,” stated Barry Yin, a senior in accounting from China. The last to present under this category was the Pamuka University Preparation group that had the plan to help Mongolian students enter colleges in other countries, inspired by President Gordon B. Hinckley’s words, “Education is the key to success.” The social entrepreneurship groups were the last category to share their plans. Each of the participants discussed the benefactors of their projects and how it would change their lives. Ben Howells, of the Akin Group, was supported by his friends during his presentation. His project plan is to sell T-shirts to provide school uniforms for developing countries.
The Entraide Congo has the plan to “empower Africans through business and entrepreneurial skills” by first helping the return missionaries of the church to get training in accounting. Vulcain Yengo, the presenter of the group, explained the situation of the RM’s in their country. “I saw how touching it was. I know how hopeless they are. This will change the problem in Congo,” Yengo said. The New Smiles ended the presentation with a goal of improving a dental health care by “putting a select number of students though dental school in Brazil.” -Ma. Vis Tagu ba
Judges deliberated who would win the Empower Your Dreams conference. Photo by Dewey Keithly
CONFERENCE WINNERS DOMESTIC •1st Place Scooterville- Semisi Livai from US •2nd Place Ono Empanadas- Dario and Melissa Arias, from Argentina and US •3rd Place Golden Bubble Eggs Puffs- Geoffrey Lo from Canada INTERNATIONAL •1st Place Discovery Youth Development Center- Melinda Yin from US, Barry Yin and Hong Zhifeng from China •2nd Place Pamuka University Preparation Services- Tserennyam Sukhbaatar and Purevsuren Davgajamts from Mongolia •3rd Place East Asia Group- Sun Yang from China, David Borchardt and Lorrin Stone from US SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP •1st Place Akin Clothing- Ben Howells from UK, Trevor Bullock and Ammon Sanchez from US •2nd Place Entraide Congo- Vulcain Yengo from Congo, Nowah Afangbedji from Togo, Devin Ero and Wencuit Teng from China, and Josh Christie from Japan •3rd Place New Smiles- Philip Catudal from Canada, Tomas Puzey and Dean Lang from US March 29, 2012
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RESEARCH SEMINAR SCIENCE DEPARTMENT EXHIBITS SENIOR STUDIES Students were given the day off from classes so that they would have the chance to attend the Empower Your Dreams events that were going on throughout the day on March 22 including the annual Undergraduate Research Conference. The events were broken down into sessions and the 14th session was held in the back of the Aloha Center from 11 a.m. to noon and was a display of the senior’s science research. There were around 24 posters in
total that displayed the research projects that the seniors had done. As everyone walked around and observed the projects the student who had created the project stood by to explain the posters or answer any questions that onlookers may have had. Samone Isom, a sophomore from Arizona who is majoring in biology, attended the event. “All the presenters knew what they were talking about and they acted very professional. It would have been better if they had taken up more space because it was kind of crowded.” The biology projects varied from the effects that seaweed supplements have on the loss of body fat to the effects of transplanting various species of trees to other areas. The psychology projects also ranged from the effects of emoticon use in texting to the perception of interracial marriage. Even though the event was not as well advertised as some of the others, there was still a very good amount of people who attended and supported those who had displays. Some interesting highlights include Monique Mullenaux and her “Investigating
Ethnic Identity and Self-Esteem Amid Biracial and Monoracial Young Adults” as well as Leslie Camille Shepherds project on “Effects of Aromatherapy: A Study of Aromatherapy and Culture.” Mullenaux is a senior from Arizona and is majoring in psychology. Her project was on “Investigating Ethnic Identity and Self-Esteem amid Biracial and Monoracial Young Adults.” Mullenaux said she is interested in clinical psychology and she wanted to do a project that would help her in the field of clinical psychology. She had noticed there was a difference on campus between domestic and international students in the terms of helping them with self-esteem, ethnic identity or any other issues they may have, and this observation inspired her to use this topic for her project. Mullenaux said there are two different theories for her project. One is that some people believe that if a person is of one race (Monoracial) that they would have a higher self-esteem and sense of ethnic identity because they wouldn’t have to struggle or fight for how they identify themselves. The other
Above, Nana Mensah and left, Adam Scalese explain their research. Photos by Dewey Keithly
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is that if one is Biracial or Multiracial they have to consciously make a decision of how they identify themselves and that will result in higher identity scores. Her hypothesis was that Biracial or Multiracial participants would have higher ethnic identity and self-esteem scores. However, she was surprised to find out that her research showed that there was not a significant difference between Monoracial and Biracial participants in ethnic identity or self-esteem. One interesting theory that Mullenaux said she found in her research was, “if you take a majority group
such as Caucasians from the mainland, place them in a minority setting, like what is happening here in Laie, they begin to reflect and have the traits of a minority group.” Leslie Camille Shepherd, a senior who is majoring in psychology from Texas, did her research on “Effects of Aromatherapy: A Study of Aromatherapy and Culture.” Shepherd said that about two weeks before she was assigned to write up the paper for her senior project, a woman had given aromatherapy to her in another class she was in and the idea was fresh in her mind. Shepherd said, “I wanted to see if culture had any
effect on the effectiveness of aroma therapy.” She gave all the participants a short survey before the experiment; this survey measured both a current sense of anxiety and their general anxiety or lack thereof. Shepherd then split her participants into two groups, both meditated to the sound of calming music but only one group used lavender oil as part of their meditation process. Afterwards, she had all the participants retake the survey to see if there was a change in their anxiety levels. Sadly her sample size was too small to see if culture had any effect on the aromatherapy session.
- Abigayle Bu tle r
Left: Seniors present their research in the Aloha Center on March 22 as part of the university’s annual Undergraduate Research Conference. Below Left: Connie Grimes. Below Right: Camille Shepard present their findings to passersby in the Aloha Center Mall. Photo by Dewey Keithly
March 29, 2012
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Winter Ball
Ma’ane’i No Ke Aloha Love is Here and Now
Winter Ball gets mixed reviews from students Hundreds of students dressed in their best attire attended the Winter Ball and danced the night away. Romance was the goal of the evening, which was made clear by the theme “Love is Here and Now.” The Polynesian Cultural Center catered to the event with a massive array of entrées, side dishes, desserts, and a salad bar. Some students even waited up to 20 minutes to get a table for the buffet. Couples were serenaded while they ate by the live band, Nueva Vida, that preformed until 10 pm when a deejay took over. The middle of the floor was cleared for dancing and got more and more attendants as the night went on. The atmosphere was crazy under the black lights and disco balls while everyone danced their hearts out. Mathew Lotomau, a sophomore majoring in graphic design from Australia said, “The setting was awesome! The lights just added to the great atmosphere that the music had already created.” Lotomau continued, “The turn out was really good and everyone looked stunning.” There was a wide range of music throughout the night from a variety of eras. Even though the dance floor was 14
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crowded, Jessica Enos, a junior majoring in psychology from California said, “I didn’t like a lot of the songs they were playing, they were kind of hard to dance to. Also the changing colors of lights were annoying.” Enos added, “but overall it was good.” Also available in the package was a canoe ride around the PCC. Realistic swans and flamingos were placed around the torch lit river creating a charming ambiance. Jessica Keller, a junior from Utah majoring in psychology said, “I loved the canoe ride. It was fun floating under the stars and listening to music with my handsome date.” Her date went on to propose that evening and the two are now engaged. -Abigayle Butler
The various activities at the ball: fine dining, canoe rides and dancing. Photos by Naomi Yanga and Dewey Keithley.
Attendees of the 2012 BYUH Winter Ball. Photos by Naomi Yanga
Kua ‘Aina offers delicious is denser than the usual style and lends a soft nutty flavor to the overall sandwich. and affordable burgers
The next point is most obvious: the Quietly tucked away on a corner across from patty. Kua‘Aina uses an actual grill to flame broil their burgers, so naturally their patties Pizza Bob’s in Haleiwa is the casual burger are much less greasy than those cooked on a joint Kua‘Aina. It is open daily from 11 flat griddle. The patties are made fresh, and a.m. - 8 p.m. with mellow beach side rock I had mine cooked medium rare. The patties music playing and the choice of indoor or come in two different portion sizes—1/3 outdoor seating. I fear this place is greatly pound and 1/2 pound. The patties were large, underappreciated. While college students at BYUH usually look no farther than Kahuku seasoned well, lightly charred and very juicy. The third point on the checklist Grill, I’ve got to say that this little shop has them beat in the burger department (though is the toppings, and Kua‘Aina offers a slew Kahuku Grill still holds the title for the best of them. I settled on the Ortega Pepper Burger and my wife ordered the Avocado fries on the North Shore). There are four steps to deciding the Burger after a long deliberating stare at their large menu. My burger came with the worth of a burger, and I went through each usual accompaniments of lettuce, tomato, one with Kua‘Aina. The first step is the bun; you see it and pickles, and the canned chili pepper was large and complimented the burger well. My first, before you even get to the burger, and where most burger joints overlook the impor- wife’s burger came with an entire half of an avocado resting on the open face burger. The tance of investing in a good bun, Kua‘Aina does not. Their bun is a mixed grain roll that toppings were fresh and worked well with the
The counter at Kua’Aina Burger in Haleiwa. Photo by Andrew Lyon
flavoring of the meat. The final critique has to do with the sauce. While there was nothing original about the sauce on my burger, several condiments were readily available at the table including Chipotle Tabasco sauce. Even better? The flavors in the burger didn’t need a lot of extra sauce to compliment them. At $8 a burger and $2.40 more for a generous helping of their unique crispy fries, Kua‘Aina in Haleiwa is a very affordable location for finding a great burger. The closest Kua‘Aina Burger is located at 66-160 Kamehameha Highway in Haleiwa.
NEED DIRECTION? Thursday, March 29th, 9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
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-ANDREW LYON