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St. George, UT--The third-ranked Brigham Young University Hawaii men’s basketball team clinched the Pacific West Conference championship Friday night with a 92-77 victory over Dixie State College on the road. The Seasiders never trailed against the Red Storm in improving to 20-1 for the season and 10-0 in the PacWest while running their school-record winning streak to 17 games.

Brigham Young University Hawaii's Salsa Orchestra had a lesson not only in music but also in history, culture, humanities, and anthropology as they engaged in an interactive workshop with traveling flamenco fusion group Cerro Negro on Thursday, February 5. Though Cerro Negro originally came to BYU–Hawaii to perform as a part of the university's Performance Series, Dr. Darren Duerden, director of the BYUH Salsa Orchestra and percussion instructor, convinced the very dissimilar group to spend some interactive time with his students in a master class setting, involving teaching of techniques, short performances, and critiques. More than just a simple music lesson, students were engaged in an entire musical and cultural experience as they gleaned from these well-traveled and knowledgeable artists.

Belmont, CA—The third-ranked Brigham Young University Hawaii men’s basketball team clinched at least a tie for the Pacific West Conference championship tonight with a rain-delayed, 86-52 victory over Notre Dame de Namur on the road. The Seasiders blew open a tight game late in the first half to improve to 19-1 for the season and 9-0 in the PacWest with their record-breaking 16th consecutive victory.

BYU-Hawaii was privileged to welcome President Henry J. Eyring, Vice President of Advancement at Brigham Young University Idaho, and, son of LDS Church First Counselor in the First Presidency Henry B. Eyring, as the devotional speaker this past Tuesday, February 10. Brother Eyring's talk, titled, “Where You’re Going,” was inspired by past experiences and a unique question and answer session held entirely on Blackboard, BYUH’s internet classroom system. Brother Eyring commented, “As I read your online messages and look into your faces now, I think of the missionaries with whom Sister Eyring and our children and I served in Japan … . It was a blessing to know them and see them grow.”

In their February 5 Question and Answer Forum in Aloha Center 155/165, members of the Brigham Young University Hawaii President's Council covered topics including housing policy under the new academic calendar, changes in immigration visa practices for international students, the impact of long-range plans on BYUH initiatives, Food Services meal policies, I-Work scholarships, campus security and other subjects.

A prominent Shakespeare scholar who is on campus co-directing the Brigham Young University Hawaii Fine Arts production of Twelth Night, detailed to students in the February 12 Honors Program colloquium in McKay 101 how 18th century-through-modern editors of Shakespeare's plays have removed or altered many intrinsic directions found in the Bard's first folio printings.

A dynamic salesman who overcame a disability and dropped out of school to support his family, explained to Brigham Young University Hawaii students in the February 5 Entrepreneurship Lecture Series how he literally climbed the steps of a ladder to business success.

One does not have to look far to recognize the international diversity at Brigham Young University – Hawaii. Here, multiculturalism reigns. Students from around the world bring their beliefs, traditions, and languages with them when they come to study at BYU-Hawaii, sharing their perspectives with students from every corner of the globe.

Renowned Mormon scholar Terryl Lynn Givens outlined the importance of having passion for the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ during his devotional address at BYU-Hawaii on February 3. He drove this point home by stating that the tragedy for those that leave the gospel "out of apathy, boredom, or indifference … is … the most incomprehensible … [because] they came to the feast, but they never sat down, … never supped, … never tasted the banquet."

...but leaves door open for future amendment

Focusing on the phrase, “Thy will be done” and emphasizing the need to submit to the plans of the Lord, Debbie Hippolite Wright, Vice President of Student Services at BYU-Hawaii, was the devotional speaker January 27 in the Cannon Activities Center.

The importance of the Lord’s temple as a place of refuge and blessings was what Max Purcell, temple recorder at the temporarily-closed Laie temple, and member of the Laie North Stake Presidency, emphasized in his devotional, January 20.

The Brigham Young University Hawaii men’s basketball team climbed another spot in the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division II poll on January 25, moving up to number four (behind Findlay, Ohio; UU-C.W., New York; and Central Oklahoma). The move gives the Seasiders the highest ranking in school history in Division II play, surpassing last week’s number-five ranking. The Seasiders made the jump upwards despite dropping four points in the poll from last week’s record-setting 167.

Leonard Black [pictured at left], Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Brigham Young University Hawaii's Willes Center for International Entrepreneurship, shared some of his wide-ranging experiences with Honors Program students at their January 21 colloquium, including being a fluent Navajo-speaking missionary, NCAA Final-Four basketball player, decorated Viet Nam veteran, university professor, gold miner, serial entrepreneur, and assistant BYUH men's basketball coach.

Dr. William G. Neal, Assistant to the President of Brigham Young University Hawaii, announced that Michael A. Johanson has succeeded Dr. Duane C. Roberts as the school's Director of Communications and Marketing. Dr. Roberts retired at the end of Fall Semester 2008 and he and his wife, Susan, now live in Utah.

With a contagious smile and a passion for her work, Brigham Young University – Hawaii student Carla Rada, a native of Bolivia, works hard to infuse her passion for media and cross-cultural communication with her international cultural studies major focusing on communications. She explains that her interests for television and communication stem deeply from her own personal experiences, long before she set foot on campus. “My father is a journalist so when I was young I had the opportunity to actually have a national teenage-themed television show that brought in music and culture.” This opportunity, Rada says, helped to provide the foundation for her educational goals.

Former Brigham Young University Hawaii adjunct faculty members Robbin [pictured at left] and Nancy Henderson [pictured below] shared a report on their recent experiences as volunteer oral English language teachers for graduate students at Qingtao University in Qingtao, China, during the weekly Honors Program colloquium in McKay 101 on January 14.

Members of the Brigham Young University Hawaii President's Council met with students, faculty and staff on January 13 in Aloha Center 155/165 to answer submitted questions on outreach programs, Security updates, Honor Code provisions, schedules and notices, housing, energy savings, athletics and initiatives.