BYU–Hawaii News

Elder Russell M. Nelson, an internationally acclaimed heart surgeon who has served as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints since 1984, urged 212 BYU-Hawaii Winter 2003 graduates to guard against spiritual degradation by seeking safety in the circles of family, Saints and the Savior.

"Your experience here at BYU-Hawaii is different from that of students at other institutions," Elder Nelson told the graduates in the Cannon Activities Center on December 13. "In addition to your secular studies, you have also been taught spiritual truths of eternal significance. That difference will become even more evident in the future as the gap between the world and the Church continues to widen."

The descendants of the first doctor to move to the Sandwich Islands still own the family ranch at Kualoa and have significantly diversified its resources over the past 15 years to preserve the unique heritage and scenic beauty of the property.

Millions of tourists are familiar with the breathtaking backdrop of the "long ridge" or kualoa of the Koolau Mountains on the property and the uniquely shaped offshore islet popularly called Chinaman's Hat. Many more millions around the world have seen the far reaches and vistas of the ranch in movies such as Jurassic Park, Godzilla and more recently, Wind Talkers.

"Kaaawa Valley is one of the most filmed places in Hawaii," said John Morgan, president of Kualoa Ranch, which he described as a "magical place. It has a great history and legacy to it."

A self-described "country boy" who grew up on a truck farm in Maui and is now a successful hospital industry consultant, shared insights into his trade with BYU-Hawaii business students during the University's entrepreneurship lecture on November 25.

Ron Watanabe, president and CEO of Ron Watanabe & Associates, Inc., has traveled extensively developing real estate and golf courses, analyzing hospitality industry businesses and brokering hotels. But he got his start working his way through the University of Hawaii as a night auditor at a Waikiki hotel.

"In those days they talked about visitor counts in the thousands," Watanabe recalled. "It took tourists 9-12 hours to fly here, and planes featured sleeper berths. There were fewer hotels, and the tourists stayed longer. Hotel

A Polynesian Cultural Center manager who grew up in Samoa said she thought her early life was heavenly, until she began to notice the things she didn't have.

"Our family didn't own a television set until I was about 8 or 9. We had only one large bedroom in our house and our whole family of seven fit in there quite comfortably for many years. We found our sweets in the yard: in the guava tree, mango tree, vi tree, papaya tree and banana trees," said Delsa Moe, PCC Director of Cultural Presentations, at the November 22 devotional in the Cannon Activities Center.

"Then things began to change as I got older," she continued. " I became increasingly aware of what I didn't have. Unfortunately, I started resenting the simple life in Samoa because my choice of material belongings was

Lurline McGregor, President & CEO of Olelo Community Television for the past six years, told BYU-Hawaii business students that people concerned with values should consider careers in nonprofit organizations.

"There's a fine line between profit and nonprofit organizations," McGregor said at the Nov. 18 School of Business entrepreneurship lecture. "Nonprofits still have basic business values as well as more esoteric ones."

She explained that Olelo, Hawaii's main public access TV broadcasting company, has "no commercials nor are we driven by commercial purposes. We're trying to build communities and make the world a better place to live."

"Core values are the most important thing in any endeavor. I feel very fortunate to have spent my career working in nonprofit organizations," she

The BYU-Hawaii Seasiders basketball team kicked off the new season with the 2nd annual Asia-Pacific Basketball Classic held on Nov. 14-15 at the BYU-Hawaii Cannon Activities Center.

BYU-Hawaii hosted teams from South Korea and Samoa, as well as local rivals Hawaii Pacific University and Chaminade University in this year's tournament which was played in a round-robin format. The Seasiders prevailed in both of their games in a thriller over Song Kyun Kwan University from Seoul, South Korea, 96-89 on Friday, and doubled up Team Samoa 100-50 in the Saturday night match.

The National Collegiate Athletics Association allows each college in the U.S. to host two pre-season basketball games that do not count toward its season record. BYU-Hawaii officials wanted their pre-season games to contribute to what they see as one of the university's main purposes -- building

Noted BYU in Provo, Utah, professor emeritus of philosophy and author Truman Madsen, and his wife Ann, took turns during the Nov. 13 devotional sharing first-hand testimonies and insights into the life and character Joseph Smith, former president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Ann started by remembering she asked her husband why he was studying Joseph Smith one day when he was in graduate school at Harvard. "I remember his reply to this moment: 'Ann, I need to know what Joseph said about the issues I'm studying.' Happily, I understood. He has never stopped," she said.

"Our family feels profound love for the Prophet Joseph Smith because of Truman," she continued, pointing out they have lived with the first-hand accounts ever since. She added she would speak for the women, and her husband for the men.