We're online: www. thekala.net A STUDENT PUBLICATION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI‘I • HONOLULU COMMUNITY COLLEGE • VOLUME 4, SPRING 2010
No more parking lottery
Next year, it will be first come, first served
By Joel Chasteen Ka La staff writer
Students are finally getting what they’ve been asking for with the elimination of the parking lottery system next semester. Starting in the fall, all student parking lots will be open on a first-come, firstserve basis – for the first time in over five years. After close to 100 students signed a petition presented by the previous Student Senate asking to remove the lottery, current ASUH President, Poima “Po” Sataua, pushed the issue through for approval. This, however, was no easy task. “Getting it approved through the administration had been very difficult,” Sataua explains. “I was presented with this issue when I first came into office last semester but the admin never said there was a deadline to submit the proposal. That is why it had to wait until this spring to get passed.” Sataua had told the school’s administration that the students wanted the lottery to go away, but there were internal issues that prevented the proposalfrom being approved sooner. “It’s not faculty parking. It’s student parking,” Sataua said. She also explained that the school is making certain decisions based on what they think the studentswant, but not enough students are
Ka La photo by Chris Balidio
Student parking will no longer be assigned via a lottery -- instead, it will be first-come, first-served starting next fall. speaking their voice for accurate decisions to be made. “We understand that there are a small percentage that will not be
happy about this decision,” Sataua said. “More student’s need to tell us their opinions so we can try and get what the majority want.”
The parking rate will be a $20 flat rate fee for daytime students while evening rates will remain the same.
Second-annual Springfest features Koauka and Pohaku Friday, April 23
They walked to show support -- in high heels
300 expected to graduate this Spring
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KaLa
OPINION KaLa • Honolulu Community College, University of Hawai‘i
KaLa Ka La is the campus newspaper of Honolulu Community College. Ka La publishes 2,000 copies every month during the Spring and Fall Semesters. Ka La and all campus publications are funded by student publication fees and advertising. All materials published in Ka La may not be reproduced or reused without permission of the HCC Student Media Board. Ka La is published under the supervision of the HCC Student Media Board: Chairperson Julia Ching Publications Director Camille Agojo Radio/Broadcast Director Joel Chasteen Faculty Advisers Emily Kukulies Mike Leidemann
Staff members Lauren Bali Christopher Balidio Vance Baron Jaron Chang Joel Chasteen Li Mei Chen Nicholars Diaz Andrew Garma Cirilo Guisadio Arianna Joy Steven Lynch Korry Paige Andrew Pang Wesley Sanderford Wilsie Scott Charles Sinfuego Mathew Vasconcellos Ashley Wilson Gerald Yamada Nicole Yoshizumi
ISSUE 2, SPRING 2010 Contact Information editor@thekala.net Student Life & Development Building 2, 1st Floor Phone: (808) 845-9498 Submissions Ka La invites letters to the editor, articles, events, advertising, and classifieds. Ka La reserves the right to refuse or edit submissions. Submissions must be signed and include a daytime telephone number and email address. Editors and writers are responsible for content, which does not necessarily reflect the opinion of HCC faculty or staff.
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www.thekala.net Issue 2, Spring 2010
Program draws 'rave' reviews MELE takes a hands-on approach By Stephen Lynch Ka La staff writer
I'm a delinquent. I like going to raves, I drink, I smoke, I play rock music, and I’m probably a little too liberal for comfort for most people. Now, I’m also an honor roll student about a year away from becoming a professional audio engineer. What? Yes, you see, we’ve got a really good thing going at HCC called the Music Entertainment Learning Experience, or MELE program for short. For those of you who aren’t too familiar with it, well, it’s basically a program to take people with a musical interest and teach them about the industry. I first heard about this program, surprisingly enough, at a rave, when a friend of mine mentioned that he was going to start taking classes to learn how to be an audio engineer. I’d tried college before, and well... Let’s just say that I was at a rave, not in class anymore, and leave it at that. But when he mentioned learning about something that was actually awesome, of course, it peaked my interests, and when I found out that it was at a community college and actually affordable, it got me rethinking my whole stance on higher education.
KA LA Photo by ChRIS Balidio
MELE students have helped coordinate sound and music equipment for a number of campus events, including this month's "Walk a Mile in Her Shoes" event. This is one of the things that the MELE program is doing. It’s giving anyone an opportunity to get an education in the two main fields of the music industry, audio engineering and music business. These are two careers that until very recently people had to go off island to get an education in, or else know someone in the business in the islands already. Now you can begin a career in either of these two fields on island, and at a community college price. And don’t think you won’t get a quality education for that money either. These classes are all Belmont accredited classes, (Belmont being one of the top music industry universities in the nation), but you’re still paying HCC’s tuition. So instead of
spending about"$22,000 a semester, you only have to spend about $1,700 and you don’t need to fly all the way to Nashville either (although you do have the option to transfer, and some already have). So this program’s cool, and it gives anyone, including kids who would have otherwise been a burden on society, a legitimate opportunity to be awesome. But there’s something else that’s even more important. This program is providing the educational support and background for the next wave of professional music industry leaders in our local music scene. Most of the people in the industry here had to learn most of their essential skills by themselves, and it’s taken them a long
time to learn what they need to know. With the MELE program, people can learn these necessary skills in an educational environment,and with the help of experienced professionals, which will potentially create people who are already somewhat knowledgeable about the industry they are attempting to become a part of before they enter into it. So who knows exactly how much of an impact the MELE program will have on the music scene in the islands, but if people like my friends and I in the MELE program are any indication of the direction that we can potentially take music on the island, then it’s a very exciting time to be involved in music.
KaLa
NEWS KaLa • Honolulu Community College, University of Hawai‘i
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Issue 2, Spring 2010
Springfest returns to HCC Event to celebrate campus and community
Ka La staff
Local groups Pohaku and Koauka will be the headline acts at the second annual Honolulu Community College Springfest, which will be held on campus Friday, April 23. The event, sponsored by the ASUH-HCC Student Senate, also will feature games, keiki rides, food vendors, Polynesian dancing and other entertainment, according to Senate President Poima Sataua. The event is designed as a celebration avail-
Koauka will be one of the headline bands at Springfest this year.
able to both the HCC and Honolulu communities. The first Springfest, held last year, brought several thousand people to the campus. This year’s event will be held from noon to 9 p.m.
on the parking lot grounds fronting Building 7. One of the unique things about the festival, which is free and open to the public is that it is entirely student driven. The first one was envisioned
last year as a fun way to highlight the campus as fun, vibrant place to learn, make friends, and get a solid education. The goal is to bring the campus and community together in a way that showcases the campus to the rest of the community. Sataua said the event requires a great deal of coordination and dozens of volunteers from all parts of the HCC community. The Student Senate in April approved the spending of up to $20,000 to pull the event off. Paying for entertainment, park-
ing, extra security, and tenting are just a few of the expenses that go into a production of this scope. Although there will be entertainment throughout the day, Koauka and Pohaku will be the big-name draws in the evening. They’ll be playing on stage from 7 to 9 p.m. Earlier entertainment will include a Polynesian dancing troop, a DJ, and a possible battle of the bands. Food vendors are planning to sell everything from Hawaiian to Mediterranean food.
Rest easy while you're in class You'll be able to concentrate on school work because you know your kids are in good hands with professional, on-campus care:
Keiki Hau'oli Children's Center Now, with immediate openings for preschool children Financial aid available For more information: 845-9466
KaLa
NEWS KaLa • Honolulu Community College, University of Hawai‘i
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Issue 2, Spring 2010
Ka La Photo by Chris Balidio
Strolling the HCC mile--in high heels By Gerald Yamada Ka La staff
Ka La Photo by Chris Balidio
Ka La Photo by Ron Santos
Ka La Photo by Ron Santos
Honolulu Community College's United Against Violence Task Force held its second annual “Walk a Mile In Her Shoes,” an internationally recognized men’s march to stop rape, sexual assault and gender violence. Inspired by the saying “You cannot understand a person’s experiences until you have walked a mile in their shoes,” men at HCC boldly walked across campus one morning in April to educate the community about a very serious subject and to rally the community to take action to prevent sexualized violence. In collaboration with the Honolulu Community College Auto Body Repair and Painting, Automotive Mechanics Technology and Carpentry Technology programs, there was live music, exhibits and activities for everyone to learn more about violence prevention and campus and community resources Honolulu Community College was actually the first organization in Hawaii to participate in this effort to stop domestic violence. This year several other UH schools organized their own event. Why do it? According to RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, one in six women has experienced sexual assault in her lifetime; college-aged women are four times more likely to be sexually asaulted; every two minutes someone in the U.S. is sexually assaulted; 60 percent of sexual assaults are not reported to the police and only 6 percent of rapists ever spend a day in jail. We hope to see you again next year and please continue to help to stop domestic violence in Hawaii.
KaLa
OPINION 5
KaLa • Honolulu Community College, University of Hawai‘i
Issue 2, Spring 2010
Lounge life is dominated by 'Brawl' By Mathew Vasconcellos Ka La Staff
The HCC student lounge is open for all types of game playing, but from what I’ve seen over the last years, practically every student who plays games likes the fighting ones – old and new. Occasionally, students will play games like Mario Party 4 for the Nintendo Gamecube, Super Mario 64 for the Nintendo 64 on the Wii Classics, but it seems like the game of choice is really Super Smash Bros, Brawl for the Ninendo Wii. Often times when I pass by the lounge on my way to class or the computer lab, students are there
Ka La photo by Mathew Vasconcellos
Super Mario Bros. Brawl seems to be the game of choice at the HCC Student Lounge but where do the people get all the time to play it?
playing Super Smash Bros. Brawl for Wii or any other fighting game. I don’t take interest in fighting games. I’ve even had to leave the lounge on
a few occasions because the people playing would scream anytime the fight games got super exciting. People like me find video game playing a good stress
reliever, but too much game play can be pretty bad for you, especially if you’re looking for a banner year in college. I don’t know how all the game players in the lounge find time to blow off that stress, especially around finals week. Apparently, even with the break time everyone has here and there, they're more likely at least five people playing video games in the lounge, and a crowd of about 10 other students watching them battle tooth and nail for a victory. I personally have played with them a couple of times. The first time was they were playing Super Mario 64 on the Wii Console Classics where
you can download some old games dating back to Super Mario Bros. I don’t recall the frequent game players ever bringing a Super Ninendo Entertainment system to the lounge or even a Sea Genesis for that matter either. The system they’re playing is always a Ninentdo 64 or, on occasion, a Playstation 2, Playstation 3 or a Wii. Practically every single time I see them play like there’s no tomorrow, the gamers are always going against one another and never ever do they play solo. To the players, going solo is like shutting someone out of your life, with everyone watching you do it.
Nas' show gets the crowd talking and dancing By Korry Paige Ka La Staff Writer
Rap legend Nas made his Hawaiian debut March 19 at Aloha Tower, giving off-neglected Honolulu hip hop fans a hit-packed performance that will be talked about for years to come. Honolulu’s own Tempo Valley kicked things off with the 11-piece collective’s soulful mix of funk and beat poetry moving the crowd. Ewa MC Creed Chameleon joined them on stage for a jazzy rendition of his single “Flesh and Blood.” The crowd showed them over, but clearly Nas was the main draw. Boston MC and former contestant on VH1’s “White Rapper Show,” Sully was up next. It was sort of odd to hear his “punch you in the face” rhymes after Tempo Valley’s mellow vibe. I figured it might be a good time to use the rest room. Manoa Valley’s The Spacifics followed Sully with a return to
Nas made his Hawaii debut in March at Aloha Tower.
funky live hip hop. The crowd seemed more receptive, especially during the Obama sampling “Are U HI?” and Godzilla horns of “Room Service.” He has backed Creed Chameleon and Tassho Pearce, aka Emirc, on tracks, so it only made sense for them to be there. The multitasking Flip The
Bird MC/producer and clothing line owner Tassho hit the stage with an energy that was infectious. The crowd was hyped and holding up their H’s and their omnipresent camera phones during “Honolulu” and label anthem “Flip the Bird” featuring mate Creed Chameleon. Then, oddly, turntable and scratch DJ legend Q-Bert came out and started cutting it up. It was sad enough that a few in the crowd didn’t know who he was, but it was perhaps sadder that the crowd probably couldn’t give two rips about the break dancers. There was some scattered applause at times, but the increasingly intoxicated crowd wanted Nas … and they wanted him now. Any up and coming MC’s hoping to get their mix tapes heard by DJ Green Lantern had their hopes dashed as he was a no-show. Boston DJ Statik Selecta was Nas’ DJ for the night. “Are y’all ready for Nas?” Screaming.
He does this for about four minutes, telling us we’re NOT ready, we’re not loud enough, are we sure we’re ready, and for a second it gets quiet. Nas sorta jump-strutted on stage with an orange lei and a knowing grin as the lights started flashing and the beat for “Hop Hop is Dead” dropped, driving the crowd bananas. He only rapped half of the song as the crowd was more than willing to rap the other half back to him. In fact, for most of the show Nas was content to let the audience rap his lyrics back to him, almost as if the crowd was performing for him. He performed most of his classics, such as “Street Dreams” and "Made You Look” but the biggest surprised came when Wu-Tan Clan’s RZA took the stage for a raucous “Wu-Tan Clan A'in’t Nothing to F*** Wit.” Nas joked that he didn’t know how he could follow up. After that night, it’ll be interesting to see who can.
KaLa
NEWS
www.thekala.net
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KaLa • Honolulu Community College, University of Hawai‘i
Issue2, Spring 2010
Seeking all Pirate volunteers HCC needs up to 60 people to volunteer to help with a casting call for the new "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie. Duties will include crowd control, sign up facilitation, relaying information and such. Those who wish to also participate in the casting will be given special consideration if they successfully complete their shift. The casting call will be held Saturday, April 24 at the Waikiki Community Center. If you are interested in helping or want more information, contact the HCC student life office.
Lama trees to be planted on mall HCC will be getting two new culturally significant trees on campus. The trees will be planted at 9:30 a.m. April 29 in the grass strip between Building 5 and the Mall. The lama tree was used only in temples and special structures in ancient Hawaii. It also was of special significance to the hula. Kapalama and Palama districts are named after the lama tree. There was a fort made of lama logs in the district. Kapalama means fortress of lama. Lama also means light and knowledge in the Hawaiian language -- both very appropriate for HCC.
Classic cars spanning nine generations were lined up on the campus mall one day recently, another reminder that HCC is 90 years old this year.
Phi Theta Kappa members
want to serve community By Taryn Shimizu Ka La staff
Member of the HCC debate team. Winner Ben Miner is at the center in the back.
HCC student wins in debate Honolulu Community College student, Ben Miner, claimed victory at the University of Hawaii Manoa Debate tournament last month. Miner defeated 48 students from UH and Hawaii Pacific University to be named the best debater. HCC attended its first debate tournament and although it didn't win, many of the judges felt the HCC team was very impressive and definitely a team to watch out for. The team plans to participate in another tournament at HPU on April 24. For more information, contact Douglas Raphael at 844-2388 or draphael@hawaii.edu.
Phi Theta Kappa offers many benefits that will help advance students to their goals. PTK gives out scholarships, helps students get great jobs, and looks great on transcripts when students want to transfer. Becoming a Phi Theta Kappa may sound difficult, but is worth the endurance. In order to become an active member, you need to maintain a grade point average of B or better, be a full-time student enrolled in a two-year college, have established academic excellence as judged by faculty and be of good moral character. Provisional members,
who do not meet all the requirements, are also welcome. They are those who have shown active interest in the group’s affairs and serve society in some capacity. We asked Brad Casamina, a past PTK president at HCC, to discuss the goals and benefits of the group. Q: What do you enjoy about PTK? A: I enjoy the fellowship and scholarship money. Q: What are your responsibilities? A: Since I’m the president, I oversee everything and am a liaison between campus and PTK. Q: What have you gained from being a part of PTK? A: I gained leadership skills and it taught me
things about myself that I thought I could never do. Q: What are the benefits of PTK? A: Scholarships. You get to meet a lot of people in the community. They could be your connection or future boss. Tutoring. Q: What events and activities do PTK participate in? A: We did “The Art of Slam," Kapalama Canal Clean-up, Samoa disaster relief. Collected books for kids in Africa. had a blood drive and adopted HIS shelter and held a fall fest for kids in shelter. Q: Why would you recommend a student at HCC to consider PTK A: Scholarships and recommendations to get into jobs and schools
KaLa
NEWS KaLa • Honolulu Community College, University of Hawai‘i
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Issue 2, Spring 2010
HCC work done, he's ready to move on By Willsie Scott Ka La Staff writer
Bradley Casamina has a face you have probably seen around campus. He is past president of the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, a peer mentor at the Native Hawaiian Center under the first year experience program, and a former student senator for HCC. It seems he is always at a table volunteering his time (usually just outside the library entrance) and helping those who need any kind of assistance. He also was the master of ceremony for various campus events including “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes” and the Berlin Ka La photo by Chris Balidio Wall re-dedication cerBrad Casamina will be one of about 300 HCC students graduating emony. this fall. Like others, he says he's ready to move on in his career. But you won’t be seeing Brad around much longer School “a long time as he graduates this spring that with some motivation and time management ago” makes Brad a nonand moves on in his career. skills, you can reach your traditional student in We’re featuring Brad in goals. the academic world. He this issue of Ka La as he Growing up and graduat- has worked for over five has distinguished himself ing from Waipahu High years for PACT (Parents at HCC and has proven
and Children Together), a private social work agency assisting children and women. He works there over 20 hours a week and has been enrolled full time at HCC since the fall of 2007 in the field of social work. While working at PACT, Brad became interested in obtaining his degree in his field of work. He started at HCC later in life, and feels it has contributed to his personal growth. "The one thing I really enjoyed the most was being able to grow as a person and becoming the student I am today,” Brad says. “I enjoyed the great professors who were there to help when needed. The small class sizes are good also. I really enjoyed all the great friends I made from being a part of PTK and Student Senate.” Next, he plans on attending UH at Manoa and continue his career in social work. Having a job
already while attending school eases any job hunting concerns a traditional student has, but he sees chances for all students if they take the time to network and make the contacts and lifelong friends who will help open doors to give them a chance to prove themselves. Looking back, the last two years went by fast, he says. With a busy work and academic schedule it’s easy to see why. “There are a lot of things that I will remember, but I guess the two things that stand out is being a part of putting Springfest together because if this is an annual event for many years to come, I can say that I was part of the group that started it. "Walk a Mile in Her Shoes" is something else that will always stand out because I never thought I would walk in high heels in front of a lot of people and in front of every news channel.”
2,000 expected at HCC graduation May 14 By Ka La Staff
Honolulu Community College’s 2010 graduation ceremonies will be held at 5:30 p.m. May 14 at the Waikiki Shell. Here’s some vital information if you’re planning to attend as either a graduate or a visitor. • No tickets are required for entry. You may invite an unlimited number of friends, family and colleagues. Seating is first come, first served with reserved sections only for graduates, faculty and college affiliated personnel. • The gates to the Waikiki Shell will open to family,
For more information: http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/ graduation/index.html
friends and guests at 4:45 p.m. Guests should take their seats and greet their graduates after the ceremony. The processional will begin promptly at 5:30 p.m.. • After the event there will be large letters posted on the perimeter of the grounds. Meet family and friends at the letter that corresponds to the graduates' last name. • Parking at and near the
Waikiki Shell is limited. Allow ample time to get through rush hour traffic and consider getting to Waikiki early or staying after to avoid the high traffic flow times. • Honors students earning a GPA of 3.5 or higher will be acknowledged in the proram. Those students will be awarded a gold honor cord at the event. You must attend to receive your honor cord • Volunteers are needed to help make this a successful event. If you can help, please contact Student Life, studentlife@ hcc.hawaii.edu.
As in the past, the Waikiki Shell will be the site of HCC graduation ceremonies. Seating is plentiful, but parking is harder to find sometimes.
KaLa
NEWS KaLa • Honolulu Community College, University of Hawai‘i
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Issue 2, Spring 2010
Prisoners offer writing, wisdom By Korry Paige Ka La staff writer
In February, HCC's Student Life and Development hosted a reading of the “Prison Monologues” in the student lounge. The "Prison Monologues" stems from the Women's Communityt Correctional Center creative writing program designed to put a face to Hawaii’s women prisoners. During the presentation, the six women prisoners, accompanied by armed prison guards, shared their poetry, regrets and dreams for the future. One of the women, Karen,was a former marketing executive. She was also an alcoholic serving a five year sentence for driving under the influence. She pleaded with students to not make the same mistakes she had made. “If you have a problem, don’t push it aside,” she
Ka La photo by Chris Balidio
Prisoners from the Women's Community Correctional Center in Kailua came to HCC this semester share their creative writing.
said. “Seek help. I wish that I had.” Another inmate, Charmaine, talked about the heartbreak of losing a daughter while she was serving time, adding, “If I can help one of you to avoid the mistakes I made, then her death will not be in vain.” Lead presenter, Yolanda,
lightened the mood. “I don’t want you to think that we just sit around boo-hooing,” she said. “You’ve heard of the Queens of Comedy? Well, we’re the real queens of comedy. We’re always acting out.” To illustrate her point, she and another of the presenters performed a
humorous skit, entitled, “Wasn’t Me!” in which a new inmate denies any wrongdoing despite staggering evidence to the contrary. When the skit was over, the head of the writing program, Pat Clough, talked about the Prison Writing Project and its participants.
“It’s an honor to work with them,” Clough said. Charmaine, speaking on the freedom creative writing provides, perhaps summed it up best when she said: “Our pens can take us to the beach (and allow us) to feel the wind in our hair, and hold our children once again.”