BYU–Hawaii News
Recent News
Humanitarian Marketing: Selling Desperately Needed Products for People Who Can't Afford to Buy Them
The co-founder and partner in a unique water pasteurization equipment company with widespread potential in developing countries faces the challenge of trying to market a desperately needed product to people who can't afford to buy it.
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Local Church Leader Marks Path to Entrepreneurial Success
Yohei Araki | University Advancement | 16 January 2004
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Keith Pierce, a local entrepreneur and president of the BYU-Hawaii 1st Stake for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, told BYU-Hawaii business students that the success of his contracting company stemmed from his reliance on the Lord and willingness to keep the commandments.
Addressing students and faculty in the first entrepreneurship lecture of 2004 in the McKay Auditorium, Pierce, who operates Pierce Construction throughout the Hawaiian Islands, emphasized specific business principles that have made his name well known locally.
Pierce explained that when he first started out, he wanted to be successful in whatever he decided to do as a career. He returned in 1986 to Laie where his extended family was living, to start his own business in contracting and
President Shumway Urges University Family to Be Worthy of BYU-Hawaii's Prophetic Promise
BYU-Hawaii President Eric B. Shumway urged students, faculty and staff in the first devotional address of 2004 to live so they are worthy of the promises, trust and church membership as they are among the "blessed few who partake of this wonderful enterprise."
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Former Jerusalem Center Director Draws Parallels Between Arab-Israeli and Book of Mormon Conflicts
David B. Galbraith, a BYU in Provo professor emeritus of Middle East studies and conflict management, and a former director of the BYU Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies, recently helped BYU-Hawaii students and community members gain insights into the present Arab-Israeli conflict by drawing parallels to the tense relations between Lamanites and Nephites in the Book of Mormon.
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Elder Nelson to Winter 03 Graduates: Seek Safety in the Family, Saints, Savior
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.
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Elder Nelson Urges Winter 2003 Graduates to Seek Safety in the Circles of Family, the Saints and the Savior
Mike Foley | University Advancement | 15 December 2003
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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."
Family Owners Preserve Kualoa Ranch Heritage Through Diversification
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 Successful Hospitality Industry Consultant Shares Insights Into his Trade
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 PCC Executive Cautions Against Letting Ingratitude Grow
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
Public TV Executive Provides Insights into Values-Driven Organizations
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