Ka Lā September 2016

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A Student Publication of the University of Hawai`i • Honolulu Community College • September 2016

New HonCC students listen attentively during a campus tour and orientation session days before the Fall Semester starts.

Ka La photo by L. Medina

Students share goals, fears, as year begins

By Chanelle Amoguis

Ka Lā staff writer

Confused students, crowded libraries, large backpacks, and timid hand raisers: another college year has begun. The first day of classes, Aug. 22, was a new beginning for many incoming freshmen at Honolulu Community College.

While enrollment at the school is down around 9% compared to this time last year, many new students said they chose HonCC because of the diverse programs it offers: construction and automotive trades, fashion design, architecture, engineering, music, and cosmetology, to name a few.

Wilfredo Corpuz, a 2016 graduate of Kapolei High School, entered HonCC with plans to major in architectural engineering.

“I’m actually excited,really excited,” he said. “Just the experience. I took the program, the workshop from Aug. 8 to Aug. 12, and I met peer coaches and other students that are gonna come

I’m very excited, but also very nervous."

-- Tristan Fabro

Incoming freshman here, and they’re really welcoming and, yeah, it made me just really excited to be here.”

Entering college can be a tender point in life, a time when fears and expectations can be overwhelming.

“Not having enough money, getting used to the campus, am I wasting my time?” asked June Domingo, a 2016 Farrington graduate, starting at HonCC this semester.

Domingo isn’t the only one with first-time college fears. Class of 2016 Mililiani graduate Haukea Adelstein said, “I think something that I fear about going to college is that it really is gonna be a new

experience. I feel like coming in here with a high schooler’s mind set is kind of going to be a problem. I feel like you can’t approach college the same way that I did in high school; I don’t think it’s going to be as lenient as it used to be.”

Adelstein originally had plans to go to a college in the mainland, but due to cost issues decided to attend HonCC instead.

“I definitely think coming to HonCC is the best option that I have because I really, really, really like that you can get your cosmetologistʻs certification at the same time that you’re getting an associate’s degree. So by coming here I feel like I’m not being kept back at all because I am going to get a degree, and if I do transfer, I’ll be transferring straight into a bachelor’s program and I love that.”

Tristan Fabro, a 2016 St. Francis High graduate, said he is “excited to meet new classmates and all my new teachers. I’m very excited, but

also very nervous because this is my first time going to college and I don’t know what to do and how to respond.”

Thoughts of great accomplishments, however, serve to motivate students to get past these fears.

“I’m not sure, I don’t really know what to expect. I’m kind of expecting, how do I explain it.... a completely different experience from high school. I feel like being in college, especially with being in an actual program, you’ll be around more people who are like minded, who have similar goals to you. I guess so maybe just a lot more dedication and a lot more goal orientated type of people,” Adelstein said.

Gerimi Tongana, former HonCC student life government president, said, “College is a place where students are tested academically; how consistently they can work and how well they get the work done, but they can also expect campus to be fun as well."

KaLā • Honolulu Community College, University of Hawai`i SEPTEMBER 2016 2

Ka Lā, the campus newspaper of Honolulu Community College.

Ka La 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

Chanelle Amoguis Cameron Cole

Larry L. Medina

Steffanie Sobitz

Contact information hcckala@gmail.com

Student Media Board

Building 2, Room 115

Phone: (808) 845-9213 )

Ka Lā invites letters

to the editors, articles,

events, advertising and classified ads. Ka La

reserves the right to re-

fuse or edit submissions.

Student editors and writers are responsible for

content, which does not necessarily reflect the

opinion of Honolulu CC administration, faculty or staff.

Student leaders wanted

By Steffanie Sobitz Ka Lā staff writer

For the second straight year, HonCC is starting off without a working student government. It has been more than two semesters since there has been an active SG, but the good news is there is plenty of opportunity for those who want to get involved.

HonCC currently has all student government positions available for the upcoming school year, and the next group of leaders has a unique opportunity to re-imagine what the future of the school’s student government will look like.

Past student governments have responded to various needs for change on campus. For instance, the filtered water stationson campus are the result of student government coming together, addressing an issue that concerned all students, voting, taking action, and then implementing a solution. Another past student government project was the signage installed on Dillingham Boulevard. A few years ago,there was no sign, and no way for people to know what this campus was as they drove by.

Top concerns of HonCC students * Food Service/ Cafeteria * Quality of Campus Facilities & Buildings * Parking & Transportation * Campus Communication * Job Placement/Career * Financial Aid Resources * Campus Safety * Orientation for New/ Transfer Students * Events & Activities on campus *Transferring to Another school or campus From a 2015 student government survey

Consider the following questions: Are the issues being hotly debated during this election season important to you? Do you have the “itch” to become more involved, or maybe you just want to learn more about how government works? Are you concerned about the upcoming presidential elections?

How would you feel if the candidate who won wanted to change the laws so that students who attended a four-year college for their entire degree qualify for loan forgiveness, but those who spent their first few years at a community college would not receive the same forgiveness for that portion of their student loans?

Do you think that is fair?

Do you want a chance to

make a case for why all student debt should be forgiven? Think about what you see or don’t see on our campus. Do you have fresh ideas about changes that need to be made?

Do you discuss campus issues and inadequacies with your friends? Do you want to be a major voice and decision maker about these campus issues?

If you answered yes to any or all of the above questions, a position in student government may be just what you are looking for.

A recent poll of previous student government participants at HonCC shed light on the reasons why many don’t feel the need to get involved. Some of the issues mentioned included conflicting class schedules,

too much to do in too little time, and a feeling that they were not making a big enough difference.

These issues and others that keep students shying away from student government can be addressed as the new group assembles and begins to write its new constitution.

Student government participants will work together to build a resource that is valuable and necessary for all students’ success. Many of the issues mentioned in the above survey could be addressed, or maybe you have some ideas of your own.

Other benefits of joining and being an active member of student government include meeting new friends and like mindedstudents, leadership skills to add to your resume and college transfer applications, experience with the varied aspects of government, and a sense of accomplishment for all your hard work.

For more information about joining student government at HonCC, contact Student Life and Development in Building 2 (the same place you get your student I.D. card) or email them at hccsld@ hawaii.edu.

KaLĀ • Honolulu Community College, University of Hawai`i

3

September 2016

Summer Bridges transition to college

By Steffanie Sobitz Ka Lā staff writer

While many HonCC students spent their summer working, travelling, spending time with family, or chasing and capturing digitally animated characters around town, several HonCC students took advantage of a unique educational opportunity here on campus called Summer Bridge.

The Summer Bridge is a program at HonCC is unlike any other program the college has to offer; it allows participants to earn college credits during the summer break, as well as prepare them for their next level of coursework.

Summer Bridge helps students get a jump-start on the upcoming school year, and the program, although rigid and intense, is also entertaining and stimulating. The Summer Bridge program is free, and is facilitated by TRiO-SSS; all TRiO participants are eligible to apply for these classes.

This year’s Summer Bridge program was taught using several methods like workshops, writing labs, lectures and more. It included different perspectives and ideas that translated into a more complete learning experience than what one would find in a regular semester’s class. The Bridge program centered on a weeklong Interdisciplinary Studies class (IS103), and English 100 (ENG 100S), which fulfilled students’ 100-level

and Silvan Chung, and included presentations on time management, realistic goal setting, and effective study habits that the bridge students will carry with them into the future. Students were instructed on computer and internet use, as well as some ins and outs of new technologies being used today. Students learned how to write attentiongetting cover letters, setting career goals, and preparKa Lā photo by Steffanie Sobitz ing for an interview Students in the Summer Bridge program get a jump- with a potential employers. They start on the upcoming school year. took personality inventories to learn English requirement in one intenabout themselves, and were given sive six-week course. many on and off-campus resourcIn such a class, with two-hour es they could explore and utilize long instruction periods running throughout the year.

Monday – Friday, there wasn’t a One participant, Tiffany Doyle lot of time to relax or procrastisaid, “When we took the self-evalnate. Marvin Buenafe said, “Being uations, I learned a lot about mya part of Summer Bridge as a self. I hadn’t realized how open I tutor for a few years now, I have was to new ideas and I found out been able to see many students grow exponentially in a very short I enjoy speaking my mind and advocating for others.” amount of time.”

Together, the instructors shared The IS-103 class was co-taught their own individual experiences

by Jolene Suda, Carol Kagimoto,

and expertise pertaining to issues such as professional development, resume building, and career services that all students could benefit from learning more about.

Building a vision board was another one of the highlights of the first week of instruction, in which students cut out photos and words from magazines, and pasted them onto a poster board in order to remind them of their goals and dreams, as well as to keep them inspired and motivated to keep going no matter what curves life throws at them. Some of the tutors shared that they themselves still had their own personal boards they had made years ago, and used them for motivation, inspiration, and reminders of past success.

The English portion of the bridge course began following a week-long break after IS103 this summer, and included grammar exercises, written essays, critical reviews, vocabulary words, quizzes and exams. Students also learned and practiced research for college essays. In addition to Dr. Charlene Gima (instructor), peer tutors and coaches were available throughout to assist the students.

For those interested in enrolling in Summer Bridge, Jolene Suda said, “Students can prepare for Summer Bridge programs by inquiring with various support programs on campus."

T

welve years in show business have made veterans out of the members of the band EMKE. How they succeeded, and what they have had to give up, is not a story they often share.

EMKE members say they had to make sacrifices to get where they are, mentioning that as child performers since 2004, they missed out on time with friends and other activities due to their demanding schedules.

“We gave up things that we thought we needed at the time, but we eventually realized that this is more important,” said Mari Arakawa, one of the four members.

But when asked if they regret losing out on a more standard life, the band assured us they did not. “I don’t know what I would be doing without the band, but I think about it a lot, and I’m glad that I don’t have to worry about it,” Mari said.

The current lineup dates from 2011. Their forte is decidedly late 70s, early-80s guitar rock, right around the time synthesizer riffs started being arranged into tracks.

Frontman Kira Santos, 20, shows off her considerable chops on her Yamaha Pacifica during solos, with a voice with depth and soul of a much older artist. Mari, 21, jams on rhythm guitar, bass and keyboard, as well as vocals, and has a smooth, flowing singing voice, nailing harmonies when trading off lead vocals with Kira. Ezri, the younger of the two Santos sisters at just 16, tears on bass and keyboard, with a pitched voice capable of hitting those hard to reach high notes.

Sporting green hair and torn stockings, she ups the band’s rock look significantly. Payton Sekigawa, 20, rounds out the four-man band with some serious masculine energy on the drums. They rock together like a group that has played for years (and they have).

With multicolored track lights illuminating the stage, speaker amps on high, and mosh pits full of jumping, hopping bellowing cheering fans, all that’s missing from their stage shows are pyrotechnics.

One of their recent high-profile gigs was at the Waikiki Spam Jam block party this past March. Sony and Disney have approached EMKE with offers and projects. In the meantime, they jam at the Hard Rock Cafe in Waikiki on the weekends.

“Every weekend, they really kill it,” said Chris, a server at Hard Rock. “Every show they play, they play with real feeling - not like other (bands) that just play notes.

(EMKE plays with) so much soul; how do they sustain that?”

Grandfather Mel Santos was also at Hard Rock Cafe to watch them play. “All this music, this is not a (career) path, it’s a passion.”

It’s a lot of fun,” Payton said. “It’s been exciting sometimes and it’s been fulfilling at times, but more for me, it’s been a lot of work and a lot of pressure.”

For the majority of their decade-plus careers, EMKE has covered hits from supergroup Boston to heavy-metal Def Leppard.

Recently, however, the band has begun working on their first original studio album.

All four members perform on it, consisting of original compositions and musical style, wanting to break from the “cover band” image. The 11-track album, titled Silence of the Lonely, will be released Sept. 30.

- Cameron Cole

I

A

t the recent Kawai Kon I reported

on some months back, a young local band introduced as EMKE was on the schedule and set to perform as the closing performance.

When I first heard they were a “local band,” I expected teenage performers in slippers and shorts with ukuleles. Instead, I saw one guy and three gals in their teens and tweens dressed all in black, slinging electric guitars and singing classic rock covers. Delighted fans jumped to the music, head-banging as the night went on. I was not expecting this.

I also did not expect at the time that I’d be fangirling with EMKE months later, over K-Pop and Sailor Moon and flavored chips, and interviewing them for this story.

“Do you play Neko Atsume too? Tubbs is so adorable!” Kira cooed one recent Sunday as we were waiting for our table at Ichirikis, where she was donned all in black except for a small pink Sailor Moon bag hanging down her shoulder.

She had earlier complained about not having a bigger bag because she liked to keep snacks and random items around, despite the bagʻs heavy weight.

Our conversation went from Sailor Moon to popular phone games --- at one point, we talked about a game where you can collect cats. Waiting for our table, Kira flashed her phone proudly to show me another game she was engrossed in. “It’s a Sailor Moon game, but it’s like Candy Crush!” Kira explained.

Aside from phone games, I was also surprised

to find out that Kira is a huge fan of Beyonce.

Ezri is Kira’s younger sister, with blunt bangs and long green hair framing a smooth square face. She exudes a certain poise, legs crossed and hands twirling the straps of her zipped-up hoodie, alert and bright as she talks about K-Pop, but she is also active and expressive, a physical storyteller, re-enacting past experiences and scenes.

“Did you see that thing about Jong-kook?

Everyone freaked out because they thought that he had a girlfriend, so he almost got suspended from his tour because he was like seen with a girl,” eagerly gossiping about the K-Pop star.

“I don’t think of Ezri as that much younger than me,” said Mari when I hung out with her at their studio recently. “I think because she grew up with a lot of adults and older people, she’s

not like other 16-year-olds.”

Mari is the oldest of the group. She’s reserved, quiet; moving and acting with a certain grace.

One of Mari’s favorite music genres to listen to is country music and listens to Rascal Flatts.

Peyton is the only guy in the group and, like Mari, keeps to himself but shares when approached.

“I actually wanted to do EMKE instead of marching band,” he said. Peyton is a huge Pokemon Go addict. He originally started out playing snare in a school marching band and played with a few groups before settling as EMKE’s newest member.

t is a Sunday August evening and it’s past 10, and I am sitting with the band in their second-floor music school in Waimalu “(the studio”) and talking not so much of music, not so much their gigs or future projects, but of politics and Pokemon Go; of anime shows and each other’s pet cats, over greasy melting slices of Papa John’s pizza.

Twenty-four hours earlier, I had spent a humid August Waikiki evening watching the four pounding on keyboards and wailing on their Yamaha electrics to their arrangement of a Katy Perry track on a Hard Rock Cafe stage, under the harsh glare of colored stage lights.

Kira now is again dressed as she was that evening in blue denim shorts - not entirely in the all-black get-ups I usually see her and the other band members in (“I’m trying to incorporate more color...trying. My closet is all black black black black black black black black black...white!”).

Kira’s younger sister Ezri, is not only full of color but also full of character, sitting astride me with iridescent hair fully dyed green and purple and blue, black stockings with rips and runs, and heavy black boots made for walkin.’

And rockin.ʻ And rollin.ʻ Between her and Kira, they dominate the evening. Mari, quietly poised throughout the conversation, gets just a few words in here and there, but when she does, it is the room that goes quiet to hear her every thoughtful and nuanced word.

Perhaps it’s the sound of seniority (“hey, I’m not old!” exclaims Mari when I point out sheʻs the eldest of the group). Payton sits absolutely silent behind me, almost an observer the entire evening, and I try a few times to pull him into the conversation.

He was the first to meet us at the studio and gave me a firm handshake, and I immediately cornered him for some words then, and Payton, not at all a shy one, presents an easy and cool demeanor.

Kira reminiscences sweetly of “that awkward phase in middle school” and gets the rest of the band guffawing about their days of colorful Aeropostale clothes and braces. “Those were the days!” says Kira - a surprising remark, considering those younger days were, for them, just a few years back.

Looking toward the presidential elections, who will EMKE vote for? They won’t say, but “Kanye West might run for president!” says Kira, with everyone agreeing that Kim Kardashian would make a great First Lady. “I want (Michelle) Obama to run!” says Ezri, eliciting unanimous cheers. There’s a collective “smh” when a particular candidate is mentioned, and gets the band in an extended WTF-a-thon over that person’s political gaffes.

The evening is almost pau, and it is one of our reporters (Cameron) who calls it a night.

“I have to feed The Commissioner,” he says, referring to his cat, and eliciting oooh’s and aaaah’s and squeals from the band when Cameron shows them pics of his feline.

This prompts another impromptu discussion, with Ezri pulling out pics of THEIR cat (“ugh, our cat is sooo ugly, but the top of his head is nice”). Cat pics, and more laughter.

And now I am saying my goodbyes to them, quietly in an empty shopping mall parking lot, with hugs exchanged all around. The meeting is pau.

- Chanelle Amogu

- Larry L. Medina

KaLĀ • Honolulu Community College, University of Hawai`i

6

September 2016

SUMMER WONDERLAND

By Tiera Spencer Ka La staff writer

The anticipation built as it got close to the day of one of Hawaii’s most epic raves of the summer.

And July 23rd was the day. Thousands of people converged onto Hawaii Country Club in Kunia for the Summer Wonderland rave, dressed up in their favorite rave wear: lights, masks, handkerchiefs, and even flags as accessories.

Ladies came outfitted in crop tops, shorts, and boots;guys arrived shirtless with pants. In spite of the rain and the mud that caused some to slip, fall, and get dirty, this still didn’t stop people from partying the night away, hardstyling to at least six DJs, including Epic Trauma, Modern Romance, DJ Swamp, Team Ezy, Ape Drum, and Ghastly, Audien. Headlining at last was 3LAU. Raves like Summer Wonderland and raves in general are places where people can experience epic music, awesome people, good vibes, and especially "P.L.U.R." (peace, love, unity, respect) - a gesture where ravers exchange bracelets.

The “ravers” (as they self- identify at these concerts) plan for this and other

events like this weeks or sometimes months in advance.

Part of this planning process includes buying the ticket early before it gets sold out, picking out the perfect raver outfit, and making “kandi” masks and “kandi” bracelets. (colorful bead bracelets).

The gates opened at 6 p.m. on a Saturday, in weather that was muggy and raining. The line to go into Summer Wonderland wound down the hill and up another, and continued to wrap around the course. The wait to get in was roughly 45 minutes. Throughout the line, people greeted each other, strangers and friends; taking pictures with their cell phones, and kandied each other.

Ravers love getting and meeting new people at these events, and when meeting someone new who presents good vibes it’s proper to "KANDI" them. To KANDI someone is a tradition to do P.L.U.R. As soon as people got into the gate, the excitement began.

“When I walked through the gates, I felt a lot of adrenaline,” said Ray Kahao, an HonCC student. “A day that I’ve been waiting for was finally here!”

The party began with people jumping

up and down in excitement and dancing to the music, fists thrown in the air, girls sitting on guys shoulders, and the lights from the stage shining through the rain.

It was absolutely a moment to remember.

The music, the lights, and the people are all what created the “good vibes” atmosphere.

“The atmosphere was live! Thousands of people on the same level, experiencing that moment in their own special way,” said Kahao.

The music played was a genre called Electric House, with quite a few “trap” mixed in (another genre). This type of music gets a crowd hyped by building the beat and then suddenly dropping it.

“The most lit part of summer is when your favorite song comes on and your excitement high reaches itʻs climax,” said Kristal Zampaga.

“I loved seeing everyone having a good time!” said HonCC student Alyssa Baligad.

“I was able to enjoy it with good friends, good music, rain falling on me, while I gazed at the lights, and listened to music.”

There will be another rave at the

KaLĀ • Honolulu Community College, University of Hawai`i

7

September 2016

Pokemon has everyone on the Go

By Cameron Cole Ka LĀ staff writer

With over 10 million downloads in the first week of release, Pokemon Go has reached worldwide pop culture status. Even if you have never played Pokemon Go personally, you’ve seen it on social media, on the news, or even on the phones of fellow pedestrians.

HonCC student Kaitlen Daoang found herself unable to resist joining up, telling us “I didn’t think about downloading the app until I saw my two younger brothers playing it. They were talking about who caught the most eevees (a type of Pokemon), and me being the competitive person that I am, I had to download the game so I could catch more Pokemons than they could.”

Pokemon Go is played through compatible phones (Android, Apple) via an app. It involves searching for creatures called Pokemon, which appear in an augmented reality map displayed on the screen. The object of the game is to find and collect these Pokemon by searching oneʻs surroundings.

Based on the extremely popular

Pokemon videogames where players explore a virtual world while capturing, training, and battling Pokemon, Pokemon Go allows fans to take that sense of discovery and excitement out into the real world. Prospective Pokemon masters must physically walk around to find wild Pokemon, which will appear on the map once close enough. Once clicked on, the player will get a chance to flick a “pokeball” to capture and contain the Pokemon. Once caught, Pokemon can be viewed, nicknamed, and powered up to do rudimentary battle at “gyms.” Once a high enough level is reached, players are asked to join one of three teams. These teams have no effect on gameplay besides gyms, which

can be claimed and defended by Pokémon belonging to players of a particular team, netting those players some in game currency if they prevent other teams from capturing it for long enough.

Niantic, the company behind Pokemon Go, previously worked on a game with very similar gameplay called Ingress. The game, while functionally very similar to Pokemon Go, lacked the well loved Pokemon themselves.

This marriage of Western app and Japanese intellectual property was orchestrated by Tsunekazu Ishihara, CEO of the Pokemon Company and tremendous Ingress fan, and led to whirlwind success, with Pokemon Go garnering an impressive 10 million downloads on the Apple app store and Google play store only a week after its July release.

While hunting for pokemon, players see their avatar walking around on a google maps style interface (this is no accident, as Niantic Labs’ CEO and founder John Hanke has previously worked with Google on Google Maps), By placing in game destinations at real world locales such as works

of art, parks, and local businesses, Pokemon Go encourages players to stand up and be mobile, to walk around and visit places which they otherwise might never have.

These very disparate locations were taken from Ingress, which in turn gathered its points of interest from geotagging and player submissions.

Daoang has hunted for pokemon in such locations as Kalihi, Kāneohe, Waikīkī, Kakaʻako, Ewa beach, Pearl City, Waipahu, and Nuʻuanu, and has seen and met with other players out trying to catch them all. Kaka’ako and Waikiki near the Waikiki Aquarium are considered local hotspots, often gathering a dedicated group of pokemon hunters nightly.

Pokemon fans may also note the game only features the original generation of 151 pokemon, a small slice of the current staggering total of 721 distinct pokemon from the six generations of the games, leaving lots of room for Niantic to continue introducing new content to pokemon go, hopefully keeping die-hard and casual fans alike hungry for more.

KaLĀ • Honolulu Community College, University of Hawai`i

8

September 2016

Will rail come to HonCC? The answer depends on $$$, politics

ing with our partners — federal, state, county, public-private partnerships — should additional funding become available, but I think we need to focus for now on how do we get to Middle Street.”

The Honolulu City Council called a meeting on June 16, 2016 with HART to get answers.

At least one Council member, chairman Ernie Martin, agreed with the mayor on stopping rail construction at Middle Street.

“We all want it further. I want it to UH-Manoa, but I think unless there is some immediate funding relief available, whether it be from the state legislature, the mayor has already stated that he will not raise property taxes to pay for the system,” Martin said.

By Larry L. Medina Ka LĀ staff writer

The rail is coming to Honolulu Community College.

Or is it?

"I am totally committed to getting to Ala Moana and ultimately to UH Manoa," Mayor Kirk Caldwell said in a July 2016 news release. But that was just a month after Caldwell suggested at a June City Council meeting that rail construction might have to stop at the 15-mile point, on Middle Street -- and far short of HonCC. The problem is money -- about a $1.5 billion shortfall. It was originally priced at $5.2 billion, and was slated for completion in 2019. The project is now estimated to cost $8 billion, and won't be completed until April 2024 at the earliest. Tax revenues and federal monies currently set aside for rail currently amounts to $6.8 billion. This will pay to build the route to the Kalihi Station on Middle Street, at a cost of $6.22 billion, according to the July cost estimates by the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation (HART). This means thereʻs no money leftover to complete the rail to Ala Moana Center.

At a May 2016 HART community meeting held on the HonCC campus, Brennon Morioka, deputy executive director at HART, briefed the school on work that would be affecting the campus in coming years. The new construction is likely to cause the same kind of headaches and frustration for drivers and others near HonCC that occurred in West Oahu when the work occurred there. In fact, in his campus briefing, Morioka said the work would cause significant disruption around the campus.

The new work is going to include digging up part of Dillingham Boulevard to relocate underground utilities, putting in a median strip, limiting left turns into campus and nearby businesses, and finally building the overhead structures that will eventually carry the automated rail cars that are already being built and delivered to Honolulu, Morioka said.

The federal government has held off on a bulk of payments to the city for rail, pending a revised financial plan by the City that shows it will have enough funds to rail completion.

From top to bottom: an early design for a rail stop near Honolulu Community College, a conceptual drawing of a transit-oriented development at the corner of Dillingham Boulevard and Kokea Street, and a map of the rail line, as originally proposed running from Kapolei to Ala Moana.

Sometime this year and continuing into late 2019, crews will be working on the street and relocating utilities. After that, the actual supports and guidelines for the rail line will be built -- if the funding is found.

The original plans for the rail call for the HonCC station to be built on the corner of Dillingham Boulevard and Kokea Street, where student support service programs once occupied portable classroom space. Up to five years of construction along Dillingham Boulevard in front of HonCC is anticipated.

Regarding the HonCC station, the public expressed concerns about security, parking, access for disabled students, the station

design, and even the name of the station at HonCC, which is currently listed as the Kapalama station on the HART website.

“The city is telling us to move forward (with campus construction), and we’re operating under the assumption that the rail is still coming,” HonCC Chancellor Erica Lacro informed campus faculty and staff in a recent August meeting. “We’re moving forward with our planning as before.”

Caldwell stressed his desire for rail to continue further, including to Ala Moana Center and eventually to the University of Hawaii at Manoa, but as reported by the Star Advertiser, the mayor said “that’s for another day. In my mind, it’s for another day work-

According to a KITV report on the June 16, 2016 meeting with HART, Caldwell said, “You have this funding gap and you need to decide how you’re going to meet that gap and how you’re going to build a fully functional system,” Caldwell said. “6.8 billion (dollars), maybe seven at the high end, where does that get us? I think most people agree it gets us to Middle Street with some money left over, which is important we have some money left over.”

“The whole issue that’s different now than before is the fact that the (Federal Transit Administration) is willing to talk about what will probably end up to be an amendment to the full-funding grant agreement,” said HART board chairwoman Colleen Hanabusa.

“The question is how does HART and the City and County of Honolulu maintain the $1.55 billion and build the system to a point that the FTA is certain that we are at least complying and servicing as many people as we can?" Hanabusa said.

City Councilwoman Kymberly Marcos Pine attended the same meeting. “In the transportation meeting just now, I was presented with different options and I don’t like any of them.”

A Hawaii News Now poll conducted in July revealed that 62% of those asked, wanted the rail to be completed the full route to Ala Moana Center, as originally planned.