BYU–Hawaii News
Recent News
Former P.E. Professor Returns on Exchange After 22 Years
A former BYU-Hawaii P.E. professor who left in 1982 to teach elementary physical education at BYU in Provo, Utah, has returned to the Laie campus on a one-year faculty exchange.
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Hawaiian Studies Director Compares the Iosepa Sailing Canoe to Life
The director of Hawaiian Studies at BYU-Hawaii used the experience and images
of building, preparing and sailing the program's traditional double-hulled
canoe, Iosepa, as a metaphor for safely undertaking the voyage through life
during the Nov. 6 campus devotional.
William Kaua'iwiulaokalani Wallace III, Director and Associate Professor of BYU-Hawaii's Jonathan Napela Center for Hawaiian Language & Cultural Studies who everybody calls "Uncle Bill," told the large devotional audience in the Cannon Activities Center that a recent training experience on rough waters reminded him of the hymn refrain: Master the tempest is raging.
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William Kaua'iwiulaokalani Wallace III, Director and Associate Professor of BYU-Hawaii's Jonathan Napela Center for Hawaiian Language & Cultural Studies who everybody calls "Uncle Bill," told the large devotional audience in the Cannon Activities Center that a recent training experience on rough waters reminded him of the hymn refrain: Master the tempest is raging.
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Bank of Hawaii CEO Points to Critical Decisions in Turnaround
The head of Hawaii's largest financial institution explained how appearing in a series of television ads, among other critical decisions, helped the state's largest financial institution turn its performance around over the past three years.
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Choral Professor Doubles As a Creative Arts Entrepreneur
Most BYU-Hawaii students know Merrilee Webb as an outstanding choral music
teacher, so they might be surprised to learn she's also an entrepreneur who has
been running her own successful businesses since the age of 18.
Speaking at the School of Business entrepreneurial lecture series on Oct. 28, Webb told the students she has always been a musician. "I've always loved to practice. That's weird. It's not normal for a child to practice. I loved what it did for me to play the piano," Webb said.
"It would be wonderful in your life if you loved to do something, and nobody made you do it," she said. Webb encouraged the students to "do something that you love, something that lights you up."
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Speaking at the School of Business entrepreneurial lecture series on Oct. 28, Webb told the students she has always been a musician. "I've always loved to practice. That's weird. It's not normal for a child to practice. I loved what it did for me to play the piano," Webb said.
"It would be wonderful in your life if you loved to do something, and nobody made you do it," she said. Webb encouraged the students to "do something that you love, something that lights you up."
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President Hinckley Blesses, Breaks Ground for Hale La'a Blvd., BYU-Hawaii Front Entrance Projects.
Gordon B. Hinckley, President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints who was in Laie last week to attend the Polynesian Cultural Center's 40th
anniversary celebration, also blessed the $5 million-plus project that will
completely revamp Hale La'a Blvd. from the ocean to the Laie Hawaii Temple and
include a new front entrance at BYU-Hawaii.
President Hinckley told the hundreds of community residents, PCC alumni and visitors gathered on Oct. 25 under and around a large tent erected in the traffic circle on Hale La'a Blvd. that, "President Joseph F. Smith looks down upon this group today with gratitude and appreciation for your tremendous interest in being here, for your concern with the causes and people which meant so very, very much to him."
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President Hinckley told the hundreds of community residents, PCC alumni and visitors gathered on Oct. 25 under and around a large tent erected in the traffic circle on Hale La'a Blvd. that, "President Joseph F. Smith looks down upon this group today with gratitude and appreciation for your tremendous interest in being here, for your concern with the causes and people which meant so very, very much to him."
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Alumni, Special Guests, Employees Enjoy PCC 40th Anniversary Celebration
Hundreds of alumni and special guests from as far away as the U.S. east
coast, New Zealand, and points in between, have spent the past week in Laie
enjoying an outstanding array of celebrations marking the Polynesian Cultural
Center's 40th anniversary.
T. David Hannemann, the Center's first official employee, literally kicked off the week of activities from Oct. 20-26 by booting a coconut out of the Samoan village chief's house during a special presentation on the early days of the PCC.
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T. David Hannemann, the Center's first official employee, literally kicked off the week of activities from Oct. 20-26 by booting a coconut out of the Samoan village chief's house during a special presentation on the early days of the PCC.
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Retired BYU Journalism Professor to Write BYU-Hawaii's 50-year History
A week after retiring last summer from teaching nearly 20 years of print
journalism at BYU in Provo, Utah, professor emeritus Alf Pratte started to
tackle writing a history of BYU-Hawaii's first 50 years.
Two months later, Pratte and his wife, June, came back to Hawaii where they previously lived in Honolulu from 1964-81. "We feel like we're back home," said Pratte, who likes to say he's had four careers so far.
Armed with a B.A. degree in journalism from BYU and experience as a stringer for the Salt Lake Tribune and the Deseret News, Pratte first came to Hawaii as a reporter for the Honolulu Star-Bulletin for their first five years in the islands. By 1967 Pratte had completed his master's thesis through BYU on the history of the Star-Bulletin and had also started the Hawaii Record-Bulletin, a statewide LDS newspaper which continued for over 25 years.
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Two months later, Pratte and his wife, June, came back to Hawaii where they previously lived in Honolulu from 1964-81. "We feel like we're back home," said Pratte, who likes to say he's had four careers so far.
Armed with a B.A. degree in journalism from BYU and experience as a stringer for the Salt Lake Tribune and the Deseret News, Pratte first came to Hawaii as a reporter for the Honolulu Star-Bulletin for their first five years in the islands. By 1967 Pratte had completed his master's thesis through BYU on the history of the Star-Bulletin and had also started the Hawaii Record-Bulletin, a statewide LDS newspaper which continued for over 25 years.
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Concierge Service Entrepreneur Lauds Relationship Marketing
The 40-year-old head of a concierge services business has seen his company
grow significantly beyond its start-up client and physical location on the
strength of the "largest marketing system" in the world: Relationship marketing.
Pono Shim had turned down several opportunities to manage various enterprises at Victoria Ward Center in Honolulu before launching concierge services at Ward, a concierge or service assistance business associated with Consolidated Theaters' 16-plex at the center.
Shim, speaking at the BYU-Hawaii school of business entrepreneurship lecture series on Oct. 14, said the initial ideas for his new business came to him in an "incredible dream" in 1998, but he didn't launch it until Consolidated Theaters was nearly ready to open at Ward Center several years later.
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Pono Shim had turned down several opportunities to manage various enterprises at Victoria Ward Center in Honolulu before launching concierge services at Ward, a concierge or service assistance business associated with Consolidated Theaters' 16-plex at the center.
Shim, speaking at the BYU-Hawaii school of business entrepreneurship lecture series on Oct. 14, said the initial ideas for his new business came to him in an "incredible dream" in 1998, but he didn't launch it until Consolidated Theaters was nearly ready to open at Ward Center several years later.
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Mother of Eight Encourages Championing Families
A former Hawaii state young mother of the year encouraged BYU-Hawaii students
and faculty at the Oct. 9 devotional to be champions for their families.
Leilani Auna, a BYU-Hawaii coordinator for students with special needs who was named Hawaii young mother of the year in 1998 by the local chapter of American Mothers Inc., quoted President Gordon B. Hinckley in saying her husband and their eight children are her "greatest assets."
Auna, who was born in the Philippines, explained that she was adopted by a young family in Kona, Hawaii, where she was raised on a coffee farm—something that was common among Latter-day Saints in that place and time. When she was older, she recalled her father taught her, "As long as you are sealed in the temple of the Lord by the holy Priesthood, that is stronger than blood."
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Leilani Auna, a BYU-Hawaii coordinator for students with special needs who was named Hawaii young mother of the year in 1998 by the local chapter of American Mothers Inc., quoted President Gordon B. Hinckley in saying her husband and their eight children are her "greatest assets."
Auna, who was born in the Philippines, explained that she was adopted by a young family in Kona, Hawaii, where she was raised on a coffee farm—something that was common among Latter-day Saints in that place and time. When she was older, she recalled her father taught her, "As long as you are sealed in the temple of the Lord by the holy Priesthood, that is stronger than blood."
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BYU-Hawaii, PCC Participate in Annual Marriott Event
By special invitation, 23 administrators, staff and students representing
BYU-Hawaii and the Polynesian Cultural Center participated in the 12th annual
Western Family Picnic at the Marriott Ranch in Hume, Virginia.
The ranch, owned by Richard Marriott of the Marriott hotel conglomerate, hosted over 200 guests, including world ambassadors, diplomats, and members of the U.S. Congress.
The event was sponsored by the International and Government Affairs Office for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, offering an opportunity for hundreds of dignitaries around the world to come together and learn more about the Church.
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The ranch, owned by Richard Marriott of the Marriott hotel conglomerate, hosted over 200 guests, including world ambassadors, diplomats, and members of the U.S. Congress.
The event was sponsored by the International and Government Affairs Office for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, offering an opportunity for hundreds of dignitaries around the world to come together and learn more about the Church.
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