International student experiences an American pasttime -- Page 8
A Student Publication of the University of Hawaiʻi • Honolulu Community College • November 2016
Parking survey says ...
Ka Lā photo by Tiera Spencer
Campus vents, plans for changes By Larry L. Medina
Ka Lā staff writer
More than two months into the Fall 2016 semester, students and faculty filled out a survey on the parking experience on campus. They had a lot to say. "They (Student Government) went through an exhaustive amount of comments," said Emily Kukulies, director of Student Life and Development who provided oversight to the survey. "(SG) interviewed students as to what the nature of the problem was, and then they (created) the (email) survey.” Generally in surveys, the public comments are left blank, Kukulies said. "Not in this case. There
were four and five paragraph-long answers, so there was a lot there to process." Student government leaders sifted through the data to define what students' wishes were in regards to parking. "Basically, what the situation is, is that students want a safe and easy place to park on campus available to them when they want it," Kukulies said. The survey collected data and comments over a span of two weeks and was shared with Ka Lā in unedited form. There were some comments regarding remote Lot 8, located off-campus on Kokea St. There were minimal concerns about the distance (about a 10-minute walk),
but instead the majority of complaints were of the lack of security monitoring of the lot itself. "(Students) are not comfortable leaving their cars there unattended,” said a survey responder. "I would be for moving a security person to that lot as a security presence to help people feel safe leaving their cars in the lot all day." Even those who don't drive to school had something to say. "I don't have a car mainly because I live near school, but I wish they had more security in general." Another survey responder suggested improvements to the bus stops, which could encourage less driving to school, and perhaps al-
leviate some of the traffic congestion in and out of the lots that was a major complaint in the survey. "I think that the bus stops running westbound on Dillingham should be examined for lighting issues. The one fronting Building 6 is dark , and the stop fronting the construction could use some renovations." Along with concerns of secu-
rity presence, there was the issue of enforcement, mostly over Lot 1 and 1C, the most utilized of all the 15 student and faculty lots available in and around HonCC. One survey respondent felt that Continued on Page 3
KaLā • Honolulu Community College, University of Hawai`i N ovember 2016 2
Ka Lā, the campus newspaper of Honolulu Community College. Ka Lā publishes 800 copies each month during the Spring and Fall Semesters. Ka Lā and all campus publications are funded by student publication fees and advertising. All materials published in Ka Lā may not be reproduced or reused without permission of the HonCC Student Media Board. Ka Lā is published under the supervision of the HonCC Student Media Board: Chairperson
Angelina Peralta Board members Alyssa Baligad Tiera Spencer
Nakemiah Williams Writers
Kiki Williams Vania Graves
Christopher Garcia Larry L. Medina
Eric Rheinheimer Steffanie Sobitz
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HonCC students came up with a plan to improve security during visits at Oʻahu Community Correctional Facility.
HATS off to winning team
CENT students come up with best security solution By Steffanie Sobitz Ka Lā staff writer
Current and former students from Honolulu Community College’s Computing, Electronics, Networking Technology (CENT) program recently took a top prize in a competition to develop fresh, new ideas to help the Hawaiʻi state government operate more effectively. Competing as the Hawai‘i Advanced Technology Society (HATS), the HonCC team tied for first place in the competition and received $5,000 and the opportunity to interview with Blue Startups and XLR8UH. HATS team members chose Oʻahu Community Correctional Center (OCCC) for their project. Their goal: help OCCC staff with key aspects and issues they had with their visitor registration process. Gerome Catbagan, a graduating leader of the
HATS team said, “OCCC screamed out security to our team. We were drawn to the fact that the solution will most definitely be handling PII (Personal Identifiable Information) in which we cybersecurity professionals study every day to secure.” Most team members agreed that the team’s project manager, Jason Hayworth was key to their success. “Jayson Hayworth is the person who led our team to victory,” said team member Gabe Farinas. With Hayworth leading the way, the team was able to choose which sections of the project they wanted to work on. “OCCC is a security focused organization that protects the public by rehabilitating loved ones back into the community,” said another team member Kevin Ryan. In order for that to happen, inmates need to have the loving support of their families and friends.
HATS team is a cyber security focused club and OCCC is all about security. "It just made sense for us to tackle this problem.” The team’s solution to OCCC’s problem was to come up with and implement an automated visitation process for the correctional center. They created a website in which visitors could submit an online form to register for visitation. It has not only saved staff and visitors time and frustration, but also kept all of the information in one centralized system. This automated registration process can be translated to other businesses in order to assist with and keep organized their routine functions. Team member Christine Joy Rioca said, “Personally, my favorite part of this competition was being part of a team of underdogs who unexpectedly tied for first in a coding challenge. All the teams who were
a part of this competition specialized in software development – except us. As a result, this competition brought us closer as a team and granted us a great learning experience.” “I was part of Derrick Le’s team for doing the approval for the OCCC web app. I was assigned to create a ‘send mail’ function, so that after they got approved, they would get an email notification that they can visit the inmate,” said Phillipe Rigor, a HonCC alumni and current UHWest Oʻahu student, “I enjoyed doing the HACC because I got to communicate with the team and cooperate with other teams to create the web app itself.” Anyone interested in getting more information, or applying to join the HATS team should visit the website: hats.team/join
and drinks: Only dry snacks and covered beverages are permitted. Acceptable food items include the following: granola/energy bars, nuts, candy, chips, cookies, and other similar dry snacks. No meals (plate lunches/ fast food) or strong smelling foods are allowed.
There is a strict no food/ drink policy while using computers or other equipment (scanner, photocopier, microfilm machines, etc.). All library users are also expected to act responsibly and courteously by disposing of trash and cleaning up spills and crumbs.
Major spills should be reported to library staff as soon as possible. Failure to comply with posted restrictions or staff instructions constitutes a violation of the Library’s Rules of Conduct. Please help protect and maintain library materials, furniture, and equipment.
Reminder on library's food/drink policy By Ka Lā staff
The library promotes a welcoming space that is conducive to study, research, and learning. In order to conserve library resources and provide a comfortable environment, librarians are asking library users to follow guidelines regarding food
KaLĀ • Honolulu Community College, University of Hawai`i
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November 2016
Ka Lā photos by Tiera Spencer
While Lot 1C is filled to capacity on most days, almost no one parks in Lot 8, about a 10-minute walk away at the end of Kokea Street acrossing Dillingham.
Parking: complaints, solutions offered Continued from Page 1
security was doing a good job. "Security is being very visual with seeing if students have their parking passes. I like that there’s a security guard checking the vehicles when coming into the gravel parking lot (Lot 1C) to see if they have their parking pass." Other survey respondents disagreed, wanting more parking enforcement; more ticketing of violators. "It is not fair to the rest of us who pay to have parking," responded one who noted people without passes parking in the stalls. There was another comment, evidently from faculty, over students parking in the staff lots. “Students are parking in the staff parking lot, so we occasionally cannot find a spot when coming in late due to doctor appointments or such other reasons. Very frustrating!!!” An equally frustrated student complained about staff who were parking in the student lots. Other violations were equally irritating, like "the jackasses that like to make their own parking
stalls, creating a large blind corner, and creating a narrow path for vehicles to maneuver around the turns," wrote another. "I also came close to a couple head-on collisions because of the blind turns created by the same jackass." One respondent summed up the issue with parking stalls, writing, "(we need) visible (stall) lines because you can't see where each stall is when you're trying to park, which is probably why my car keeps getting hit and dinged and damaged. Also, the stalls are so small that when the parking lot is full, it's so hard to get in and out of the stalls which could also be how people keep banging my car. It drives me insane." A serious concern was of speeding in the lots. One respondent observed that the exit from Lot 1 adjacent to the fire lane is where vehicles enter illegally, and "often at high speed. Are we waiting for someone or someone's car to get hit before doing something about this?" "I wouldn't be surprised if a pedestrian gets struck by a vehicle in the parking lot and emergency vehicles having problems reaching
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the victim," said another. Parking Lot 1C is the largest parking lot on the campus, laid with just gravel, with "stalls" indicated by orange safety cones to help students, sometimes with the help of the parking attendant, figure out where to park and form a row for other drivers to follow. This lot garnered a unique set of comments, mainly centering on it being unpaved (“gravel messes up my car...at least fill in the pot holes”). Some wanted at least lines painted on the gravel, while others wanted more, like “(paving) the gravel area with actual concrete.” And there were still bigger wishes. “Add a two-story parking structure if need to on that gravel side,” another hoped. Derek Inafuku, vice chancellor of administrative services had some encouraging news to alleviate some of the survey’s concerns. “For Lot 1C, as far the repaving part, we got funds that were awarded to HonCC to do it. With the repaving I believe (includes) (re)lining (of the stalls).” But this will take some time. “As far as the time frame, I’m not sure if it’s going to be within
the next two years or three years. I believe (the funds) were awarded this year for fiscal ’17,” Inafuku said. “We all agree we wish we could have a parking structure,” said Inafuku, which he felt would take care of so many of the survey concerns “in one big swoop” and would have the added benefit of freeing up the other parking lots to be utilized for other things. Survey responders were grateful that SG had made such an effort to poll the campus. "The overall survey looks good, it is simple, self explanatory," wrote one. "Overall, the survey is well made, easy to read, simple, and straight to the point," wrote another. Kukulies noted that both the amount of responses and the appreciation by those who responded “shows that we have the right group of student government members who approached this issue the right way.” Chris Rallustian, SG member, was also surprised by the volume of responses. "It tells me that the public didnʻt think (the survey) was just for show. We (SG) are going to do something about this."
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... a few more survey comments on parking ecommend more t may be beneficial visible security to have one of the when it starts programs offered getting dark - lot 4. at HCC do a project to cement the entrance (don't need to pay a contractor to do the fix).
nforcement is tudents are blainconsistent and tantly parking should either be in faculty/staff done right or not done lots before 3 p.m. with at all. NO consequences on weekdays.
KaLĀ • Honolulu Community College, University of Hawai`i
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November 2016
He found his calling at HonCC By Kiki Williams and Vania Graves Ka La staff writers
Recently retired Honolulu Police Major Kurt B. Kendro supervised 160 police officers in the far-flung Kapolei District, which stretches from ‘Ewa Beach to Ka‘ena Point and serves a population of 160,000 people. In addition to providing 24-hour-a-day law enforcement to those residents, Kendro was also responsible for a $16 million budget for his unit and two police stations, and had to monitor smaller things such as building maintenance and electrical usage. “It’s not really something they teach in police recruit school,” he says. Kendro got started on his law enforcement path at Honolulu Community College, where he graduated from the Administration of Justice program. Originally, he had intended to go into the Army after high school, but he injured his wrist and decided to try Honolulu CC, which he said helped him to understand the structure and development of law. The school also introduced him to a broad range of liberal arts classes—like history, English and math—which he says also serve him well in his job today. History classes, for instance, taught him aspects of the U.S. Constitution, development of law and how the courts work. And his Speech 151 course was a great class which helps him to this day when he does public speaking, or has to address the Legislature, City Council or news reporters. “I remember we had to do the history of plate lunches in speech class,” Kendro said. “You had to be prepared for that class; the lessons I learned in that class, those lessons are still in practice today,” he said. Even so, he says that the most valuable class he ever took for his police work might have been in high school: typing. It helped him do his job much better, because most of his days were spent typing on a computer since he was an administrator and manager. He typed documents daily. “That is a long answer to a very short question,” he says. Which professors stand out in his memory from the Honolulu CC days? “Most of the Administration of Justice professors were police officers: Forrest Broome, David Heaukulani and Sydney Kim Han. Other instructors included police officers, detectives, or high ranking officers within the police
"You can’t be completely book smart, or completely street smart in order to be successful. You have to have a balance of the two." --Ret. Major Kurt Kendro
department,” he said. Even more memorable were his fellow students: “A lot of my peers became police officers or went into the field of law enforcement such as corrections, Sheriff’s Department and federal agencies and firefighting. It was kind of fun being with a cohort group that all went through the same electives,” Kendro said. After Honolulu CC, Kendro got his bachelor’s degree from the Honolulu campus of Wayland Baptist University and started working his way up the HPD ranks. The process of obtaining rank in the police department is based on years of experience and education, which all count toward the promotion process. When he became a sergeant, he already had nine years on the force. He became a lieutenant within 13 years, captain four years later (17 years), and was promoted to major after 20 years in the department. He served as a major for the last 10 years and now plans to take a job in the private sector. His advice for upcoming students going into the Administration of Justice Program is, “You have to have education and experience, they go hand and hand in order to be successful. You can’t be completely book smart, or completely street smart in order
to be successful. You have to have a balance of the two because they aren’t interchangeable,” he said. And you can’t ever stop learning. “You never stop learning. In order to be successful in any career you have to stay current with what’s going on,” he said. Asked to sum up his Honolulu CC experience in three words, he comes up with these: Atmosphere: It was great because he was excited about learning a new career field. Invaluable: The education was invaluable because you can’t put a dollar sign on the basics of your education at the start of your career, he said. Experience: The experience was great because the cohort group he was with all took the same classes and shared the same interests. After graduation he stayed in contact with those people, and they continue to make a difference in his life As for others, he suggests that students set goals for themselves and then keep striving to reach them. Kendro said he knew early on that he wanted to be more than just a police officer; he set his goal on becoming a major. The most challenging part of his career was knowing that he and other officers are looked up to by the public in the most dif-
ficult of times. He was the first and only person in his family to join the police and says his mother was terrified when he joined the force, buying him his first bulletproof vest. Since then he has been beat up, spit on, shot at, cut with knives and in fights where he was outnumbered but needed to protect other people. He also said two officers in his recruiting class were killed in the line of duty, one in his home while sleeping by a drug dealer and the other hit by a drunk driver while giving a speeding ticket. When people are victims of crimes, they face the worst thing in their life and look toward the police to help them through the process, he said. In the end, that’s what makes the job rewarding. Earlier this year, Kendro received the Silver Medal of Valor, the department’s second-highest award, for his work in a heroic rescue. On New Year’s Eve 2015, while patrolling the area for illegal fireworks, Kendro came across a house fire in the Historic Plantation Villages in ‘Ewa Beach. He attempted to alert the residents of the home by pounding on the walls and the front door but received no answer. When another officer arrived, they attempted to put out the flames with a fire extinguisher and garden hoses. Neighbors alerted the officers that a female was still in the house. Without hesitation, Kendro and the other officer entered the burning home and helped the 76-yearold woman escape. Their quick actions saved the resident’s life. “Ninety-nine percent of the police officers like being cops because they love helping people and making this a better society to live in,” Kendro said.
KaLĀ • Honolulu Community College, University of Hawai`i
November 2016
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2016: worst election ever? No matter who wins, we lose
By Eric Rheinheimer
The 2016 election will likely go down in history as one of the worst presidential election cycles ever. The two leading candidates are possibly the worst choices for president ever and we have two other candidates that barely anyone has heard of. You can choose (listed in the order of likelyhood they will become the next president): Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee and likely next president, is a hawkish Wall Street-friendly career politician who says all the right things in public, but has different positions in private. She is allegedly guilty of corruption and other crimes (although no charges have been brought), which is unsurprising considering she is the most 'establishment’ candidate and represents a vote for the status quo and a continuation of the current administration's policies. Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, is a sexist, racist, greedy, loud, obnoxious, jerk businessman with small hands and a fragile ego. He is facing countless lawsuits, is an alleged sexual abuser and possibly a billionaire (although he won’t release his tax returns). Jill Stein, the Green Party nominee, and the candidate getting my vote, is a doctor with appealing left/liberal stances including cancelling student loan debt, medicare for all, and a green New Deal. Gary Johnson, the Libertarian nominee, is a businessman and former New Mexico governor who has made some memorable gaffes and has shown himself to be generally unprepared for a serious campaign. Libertarian philosophy often falls quickly under real scrutiny. For some reason they think less government and regulations
Opinion will somehow produce a better result when the current mess we are in is largely due to the lack of regulation present in the world financial, labor, and environmental arenas. As of writing this, the corporate establishment mainstream media is pulling out all the stops to bring Trump down, and while I think he should fall, I worry that this was the plan from the very beginning. The establishment, the people really calling the shots in this world, want Hillary to win this election because she’s their girl and the war/environmental destruction/ wealth extraction machine will continue to run smoothly under her watch. There is a Malcolm X quote which refers to the 1964 Election of Johnson vs Goldwater which I feel is applicable to this election: “If Johnson had been running all by himself, he would not have been acceptable to anyone. The only thing that made him acceptable to the world was that the shrewd capitalists, the shrewd imperialists, knew that the only way people would run toward the fox would be if you showed them a wolf. So they created a ghastly alternative. And it had the whole worldincluding people who call themselves Marxists - hoping that Johnson would beat Goldwater.” In addition to Trumpʻs unacceptable behavior, temperament, and moral character, the policies he has laid out have made it abundantly clear to me that he is not the man for the job. He is a neofascist who is calling for increasing the military industrial complex and doubling down on 'law and order'
which already has us on the verge of a police state. His energy policy which calls for more fracking and drilling would be an environmental catastrophe for the planet. I'm not sure if Trump was a creation of the establishment as the monster (the wolf) to drive us to Hillary (the fox) or he is actually antiestablishment, but either way, he's not the answer. We definitely need a reset on our political system and a huge shakeup and change of leadership and possibly a new constitution, but Trump is not the man to lead us through that While I believe that Hillary is a corrupt war-mongering frackhappy Wall-Sreet-bank-supporting selfish greedy power-hungry viper, at least she says the right things in most of her public opinions. At current juncture it seems she is likely to be our next president. If we can hold her accountable, keep exposing her past misdeeds, and make sure her administration is constantly under heavy scrutiny, I believe perhaps we can FORCE her to stick to her public opinions, many of which actually sound pretty good. Overall, I think the current U.S. presidential election is just a distraction while the world's resources and environment are looted out from under us. Neither major candidate is talking about ending wars and the military industrial complex, decriminalizing drugs and ending mass incarceration, ending world hunger, ending poverty and homelessness, or even MENTIONING the societal and environmental planetary destruction that our current economic system is wreaking on this planet. Automation and technology have allowed fewer people to be more productive than ever and globalization and free trade allows
the multi-national corporations to pit the workers of different nations against each other in a race to the bottom of environmental and worker protections. Instead of creating a higher quality of life for everyone, the wealth is all funnelling to the top 1% and the rest of us are left fighting for the scraps. But it doesn't have to be this way: there are more than enough resources to go around. We have more capability to take care of people and the planet than ever before if we just decide that it is a priority. A fraction of the U.S. military budget could end world hunger and provide clean water for every human being on the planet. Instead of warships, guns, bombs, and tanks we could be building schools, farms, solar panels and electric cars. We can choose to build a technological utopia or continue to go down the path of Mad Max style dystopia, and for some reason we seem to be circling the drain instead of altering course. My vote is going for Jill Stein in 2016 and I urge you to check out her platform at jill2016.com. Of the two major candidates, I'll grant you Hillary might be a better choice than Trump, but she's not the change we need we need to remember that. So let's dedicate ourselves to keeping a magnifying glass on whoever the next president is and the rest of our corrupt politicians from here on out and start lining up our forces for good to sweep the Congress in 2018 and replace her with someone better in 2020. Keep fighting!
KaLĀ • Honolulu Community College, University of Hawai`i
November 2016
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Newsletter is dedicated to Hawaiian affairs By Larry L. Medina
"I'm hoping we can send it out to the entire campus."
Ka Lā staff writer
It was this past summer when talks began in the Hulili Ke Kukui Hawaiian Center about putting out a newsletter regarding HonCC campus and community Hawaiian affairs. "Kalei came to me and started talking about a newsletter," said Jayleen Barino, student assistant at the Hawaiian Center in her third semester at HonCC, majoring to work with special-needs kids. Kalei is Kaleialoha Lum-Ho, Hawaiian Center coordinator. The result? A beautifully laidout 8 ½” x 11” eight-page newsletter in paperless PDF format. The name of the newsletter is ‘Imi ‘ike, which means "to seek knowledge." The newsletter is divided into sections, featuring various program updates within the Hawaiian Center. The newsletter also has a Mo`olelo (story) of the Month section and a Fun Fact section (the inaugaral edition featured an anecdote regarding the historical land use within the boundaries of HonCC). For its inaugural issue, it was sent out to selected staff, faculty and student patrons of the Hawaiian Center to gauge public response. "It's good to finally have one (a Hawaiian newsletter)," said kumu J. Kimo Keaulana, Hawaiian Stud-
Ka LĀ photo by Larry L. Medina Jayleen Barino works on the inaugural issue of ʻImi ʻIke at the Hawaiian Center.
ies instructor. "We need something like this; it's about time." Kumu Keaulana said that as far as he could recall back to the days of himself being a HonCC student, there has never been a campus newsletter dedicated to Hawaiian affairs. "It's very pretty, very colorful, very informative." Feedback "has been positive both ways," said Barino. "Constructive feedback - nothing negative, just tips on how to improve the next issue." Positive comments were on the inclusion of a monthly activities master calendar. For future issues "I'm hoping we can send it out to the entire
campus." It is initially planned to be a quarterly publication, with an October/November issue in the works. Barino hopes that future issues’ reactions “will be one of enlightenment." Barino hopes the newsletter in part will help readers determine what opportunities they want to take advantage of. "Something like this is good, to make people aware of what's going on in the (Hawaiian) community, especially for the people (students) who are going here," said Hemakana Yam-Lum, a Hawaiian Studies major. "The people both in and out of the Hawaiian
community would benefit from something like this." Barino said she didnʻt reference any existing Hawaiian newsletters either published within the UH system or independently. "I kinda just had an idea," said Barino, "and I went with that. That was the initial influence." Barino said it was a team effort by major players of the Hawaiian Center, "a bunch of us, actually... who were able to view it, give their feedback, their comments," including, Greg Kashigi, Academic Support Coordinator for Po`i Nā Nalu, "Auntie Kathy" (Kathleen Ballesteros, Academic Support Specialist Po`i Nā Nalu), Mark Alapaki Luke, Hawaiian Studies instructor, and Kahale Saito, Hulili Ke Kukui counselor. Keahi Kahler, program assistant to Ho`āla Hou, also helped with the layout. Also helping was Kalani Flores, Program Coordinator for Ho`āla Hou, HonCC’s Title III program. “I definitely didn’t do it all by myself,” Barino. I wanted it be a collective of all us at the Center.”
KaLĀ • Honolulu Community College, University of Hawai`i
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November 2016
She'll keep on truckin' until new cafe is ready By Christopher Garcia Ka Lā staff writer
After about three years of waiting, HonCC students will finally be able to experience dining in the school’s remodeled and reimagined cafeteria, which is set to reopen next semester. Students on campus say they are eager to have another place on campus to eat, lounge and study as they wait for their classes to start. Chef and owner Michi Holland of Cooking Fresh is looking forward to getting back to serving meals from the cafeteria, instead of her black food truck, which has been parked on the campus mall this semester. Holland, who ran the cafeteria during its brief open period last year, has worked in the truck for around seven years, gaining experience along the way. The new cafeteria, she says, promises to become a more pleasant, restful addition to HonCC’s places to sit and eat, with diversified food options. Holland’s disposition is very friendly and courteous toward others, as exemplified in her “A
Ka LĀ photo by Tiera Spencer
Michi Holland runs the Cooking Fresh food truck on campus. La Minute” cooking. In most cases, she tries to have her customers’ meals finished and served as quickly as possible. “My attention is to my customers,” Holland says, emphasizing that Cooking Fresh’s selection is a healthy choice. “It’s a different scene out (in the mall),” Holland said. With buildings come limits to space. “We have a smaller set up. The kitchen is in the back...and narrow spacing in the cafeteria.” When waiting at the food truck, people can see
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the chefs at work and can wait in crowds around the side or further from the truck. With the cafeteria, people will be funneled into lines and not be able to see the cooks as the kitchen is further from the line, towards the back. Holland is promising a new menu when the cafeteria reopens “It’ll be a completely different thing on the inside,” she said. With the new design of the cafeteria, Cooking Fresh can serve panini sandwiches, salads, and other dishes, too. She plans on
diversifying the menu with Mediterranean, Southeast Asian, and Mexican food, all of which can be served in the cafeteria. “The redesign will create excitement.” Holland hopes to have the goahead from HonCC Chancellor Erika Lako to keep the food truck operating after the cafeteria is opened. She plans to keep the cafeteria open for breakfast, and have the truck out for later meal times. From her experience, Holland said, most of the afternoon/evening students, most being in apprenticeship programs, usually do not eat at the truck, making it less likely for Cooking Fresh to operate during the later times of the day. In addition, All Kine Grindz, the other food truck on campus and business rival of Cooking Fresh, will still be in commission after the cafeteria’s opening. Some students said they’ll seek out the new cafeteria as a place to rest in the middle of their breaks, and others are looking forward to seeing what new dishes Cooking Fresh can bring to the table. HonCC staff and students, whether recent or ongoing, can look forward to the new food and new atmosphere come January 2017.
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KaLĀ • Honolulu Community College, University of Hawai`i
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November 2016
Football for the first time By Lilla Hargitai
Ka Lā staff writer
In my country, Hungary, just like in other countries in Europe it is very rare that an American football game is broadcast, even more rare if European people can go to watch a game, so I wasn’t familiar with the game until I had the amazing opportunity to go to watch the Rainbow Warriors’ homecoming game last month. When my co-workers at the Student Life and Development Office told me that the UH football team comes home and our office organizes an activity to go there, I immediately wanted to join them, since going to an American football game has always been on my bucket list. Before going to the game I dressed up to support my college’s team: I was wearing a shirt with a huge green-white H. When I arrived, I saw that all the people were dressed up in the schools colors, wearing green or shirts with the big H. It was such an elevating feeling to be part of this incredible cheering crowd. Wearing the team’s logo at the UH homecoming game not only made me proud, but it truly made me feel I am part of the UH system. I felt like a UH Warrior! As I walked around the stadium, I saw all the famous game food, which always shows up in the movies, such as garlic fries, hot dogs, and ice cream. I tried the mini doughnuts with chocolate sauce; I liked them a lot. For me it was surprising that a big variety of food was offered at the stadium because in Hungary you can buy only popcorn and pretzels at sport events. As we walked down to the field, the excitement gradually was growing in me. A dream came true when I was just a step from the players as they ran out to the field. A very special and moving moment was when all the attendees sang the American national anthem and Hawaiʻi Ponoʻi. During the game my coworkers continuously explained what was happening so by the end of the first half I could follow the game and its rules. Before the game, for me, just like for every person who is not familiar with the game, its rules seemed to be very complicated; even on TV the game seems to be very confusing. I was a bit afraid that I wouldn’t be able to understand the rules. I am glad that I made it with the help of my co-workers. When our team scored, the whole stadium was cheering,
Ka Lā photos by Tiera Spencer
Lilla Hargitai, an international student from Hungary, enjoyed her first American football game with fellow HonCC students at the recent UH football Homecoming. She enjoyed the food, the cheering, the halftime show. and a cheerleader ran around the field with a big UH flag. The people were enthusiastic during the whole game. It was nice to see how much they support the team. Another big surprise for me was that a fantastic show was going on during the whole game. In Hungary at sport events I have never experienced something like this.
Dancers performed varied choreographies in colorful dresses. The big show at the halftime amazed me. The whole music band went to the field with the dancers of all ages. My chin dropped at how much effort they took to entertain the viewers. They all were wearing different costumes which symbolized for
me that in Hawai’i they accept and welcome everyone regardless of the differences. As I see it, the show carries a way bigger value than just entertainment. It encourages families and people from all ages to go to football games and have a quality time together. It encourages the viewers to play instruments, go to dance classes, play sport and live a healthy and happy life. I liked a lot that Hawaiian culture played a big role in the show. For example a little boy, who was dressed up like the musicians carried a ti leaf around the field, which has always had a meaning and importance in Hawaiian culture. It is very important that Hawaiian people care about their native culture because it is unique and it has values that no other culture carries. All people from other cultures should be as caring and as proud of their culture as Hawaiian people are of their own culture! It warmed my heart how seriously they take it. The highlight of the event for me was when I could talk to and take pictures with the players after the game. After the game I experienced the most surprising thing. I saw the players walking out of the stadium, and there was absolutely no hustle and fuss around them. They were all modest and friendly. No one was conceited. This evening is definitely unforgettable for me; I felt like I was in a movie. I will always be grateful to my coworkers and college who made my dream come true!