BYU–Hawaii News

LAIE, Hawaii – Elder Quentin L. Cook (pictured) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints presided over BYU–Hawaii's April 10th Commencement Exercises—notably the largest number (353) to have marched at a BYU–Hawaii commencement—held in the Cannon Activities Center. Read Full Story

Online classes are an option for students who are already attending BYU–Hawaii and live on the island, and students who are preparing to attend. Students can register for online classes in the same way that they register for all their other courses, but should note that the online classes are the 300 and 301 section courses. The online department is located in the back of the Mac Lab to the left of the library entrance on BYU–Hawaii campus. Mike Griffiths, Director of BYU–Hawaii Online, said, "Each semester we are building new classes. Our first priority is to create online general education classes for on-campus students, and online EIL classes to help students prepare to come to campus." Read Full Story

BYU–Hawaii's Social Work curriculum has recently changed, and with the university’s new academic calendar of two semesters and three terms, students in the program can now graduate in three years. Read Full Story

After a year of service to BYU–Hawaii, the 2009-2010 BYUHSA presidency gave their final counsel at a weekly devotional held on March 30, at the Cannon Activities Center. Read Full Story

BYU–Hawaii Food Services has been extensively involved with recycling, and, to reduce overall operating costs, they have begun composting waste vegetable materials. Initial research about the best approach to effectively use latent energy from waste vegetable oil and cooked meat fats was done, which pointed toward a new kind of energy—biodiesel. (pictured: student chef situates himself in the Food Service kitchen) Read Full Story

The BYU–Hawaii Salsa Orchestra (pictured at right at the Honokaa Peoples Theater) and Brass Ensemble added a little flavor and style as they toured the Big Island March 11–14, 2010. The group of students performed their way through five concerts in three different towns including Kona, Honokaa, and Hilo, with a unique teaming of ensembles and combination of Latin jazz, pop, religious, and classical music that offered Big Island audiences a one-of-a-kind experience. Read Full Story

"How can we build a foundation of faith in Christ and His atonement as we undertake our educational and career aspirations in life? Allow me to share four suggestions that I have learned in my life’s journey," said Elder Benson E. Misalucha, Area Seventy, Philippines Area, at a recent devotional address at Brigham Young University–Hawaii. Read Full Story

The musical community of Laie got a rare treat on Saturday, March 6, as well known purveyors of the percussive arts paid a visit to BYU–Hawaii campus to put on a clinic entitled "Day of Percussion." Artists Jay Lawrence and Greg MacDonald taught classes throughout the morning to students and aspiring musicians about percussion essentials like improvisation and drum set technique. In the afternoon, a clinician arrived to organize a drum circle for the clinic participants, and in the evening, the BYU–Hawaii music department faculty and staff had a concert in which they presented their own music group called "Cross Currents." Read Full Story

Louie Kaman is a sophomore in accounting from Papua New Guinea, where he is the chief son of a tribe called Kwika, which has 10,000 people. "We have 800,000 people [in Papua New Guinea] and we speak 860 languages, but I only speak five," said Kaman. His native language is Kuma; he learned English and Motu in school, and picked up Simbu and New Guinea pidgin socially. "New Guinea Pidgin is useful because you can speak it on the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu," Kaman said. Kaman is the fifth of seven biological and three adopted siblings. Kaman will be taking his dad's place as chief, after his father dies, though Kaman is working with him already. "The first thing you have to do is know 10,000 names. I've known them since my early life, so it’s easy," he said. Read Full Story

BYU–Hawaii's biology students discovered and named a new species of burrowing sea anemone, Andvakia discipulorum, from the mudflats of Kaneohe Bay in the summer of 2007. Read Full Story