Campus Community

Elder M. Russell Ballard [pictured at left] of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, emphasized the importance of the generosity of members of the BYU-Hawaii and Polynesian Cultural Center Presidents' Leadership Council (PLC) at their April 7, 2008, meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah, by underscoring the role the Lord would have the sister institutions accomplish, especially in Asia.

The BYU-Hawaii President's Council question and answer forum on June 5 tackled the following:

Change and good solid values seem to be the theme of the dedication given to Brigham Young University Hawaii by Rex Frandsen. As a senior faculty member, staff and alumnus, Frandsen retires this month after spending over 40 years developing a legacy of hard work, humility, flexibility, support, service, and leadership.

Sister Kaye M. Workman, Matron of the Laie Hawaii Temple, drew from the story of the Anti-Nephi-Lehis in the Book of Mormon in her devotional address June 3 to teach BYU-Hawaii students to be true to their covenants.

After being in dry dock for three years behind Hale 5 dormitory, BYU-Hawaii's 57-foot traditional wa'a kaulua or twin-hulled Hawaiian sailing canoe, Iosepa, has spent the past several weeks temporarily moored off Hukilau Beach in Laie. Two co-captains from BYUH's Hawaiian Studies program and 10 student crewmembers have been sailing it along windward Oahu from Kualoa to Kaena Point and preparing for a training voyage to the island of Hawaii. Wind and weather permitting, the canoe and 28-foot escort vessel Nihipora tentatively plan to embark in the coming week.

Timothy W. Richardson, Assistant Professor of International Cultural Studies, used examples from the lives of his eight children during his May 26 devotional address to encourage students “to exercise a little more trust in the Lord.”

BYU-Hawaii Religious Education Professor Aaron Schade encouraged students in his May 20 devotional to “be not afraid,” but to actively “be doing good” and trust in the Lord for strength and guidance during tough times in life.

Within the past couple of years, the BYU-Hawaii Alumni Association and President’s Council have presented a number of alumni with Genuine Gold Awards as a result of their achievements and service after graduation. The Alumni Association believes these special alumni personify the role models President David O. McKay foresaw when he coined the description in 1955.

An Evening to Remember with Barbara Barrington Jones and Musical Truth will highlight how you can Reach Your Potential by achieving your divine destiny at 7:30 p.m. in the Cannon Activities Center, Sunday, evening May 25, 2008 at a fireside hosted by the BYU 3rd Stake.

Ryan Anderson | University Advancement | 19 May 2008

V. Napua Baker, Vice President of University Advancement, used examples from the Church College of New Zealand’s (CCNZ) 50th Anniversary and the BYU-Hawaii Concert Choir trip to China and Mongolia in her devotional address on May 13 to show why the world needs students who are “becoming true followers of Jesus Christ — Genuine Gold!”.

After greeting students in “the mother tongue of 12 of the countries represented on this campus,” she reviewed President David O. McKay’s prophetic vision for such “Genuine Gold” students. “All the world is hungering for them!,” he said.

To help students along that path,” she taught six principles:

From social networks that tout more members than there are people in many countries to iPods™ with greater storage capacity than many desktop hard drives, cyberspace has redefined the global world. High-tech, ultra-sleek cell phones send more text messages daily than there are people in the world, while a mass of blogs brushing every subject known to mankind dominate what Elder M. Russell Ballard declared at the December 2007 BYU-Hawaii Commencement as, “A whole different world.” In an era of fast-paced innovation of technology and thought, the Internet emerges as a vital lifeline that connects culture, commerce, and countries like never before.

A BYU Provo animation professor and a team of his students have been working over the past year to capture a Polynesian legend and share their skills through workshops this week for students at BYU-Hawaii and later in Samoa.

In his first faculty meeting since becoming Vice President of Academic Affairs at BYU-Hawaii, Dr. Max L. Checketts [pictured at left] listed three objectives he would like to work on with the teachers: Admitting more students who are better prepared when they arrive on campus, using more technology to appropriately help those students, and increasing the "traction" for teaching and learning.

Over the course of the summer, around 250 Asian students will take English as a Second Language (ESL) workshop classes offered by the BYU-Hawaii Center for the Improvement of Teaching and Outreach (CITO). The students, ages 12 to 18, come mainly from China, Japan and Korea for one to two weeks to learn English and explore the island of Oahu, including Pearl Harbor and the beach. CITO is currently looking for help from the community to help with the most unique part of the ESL program: host families.

President Steven C. Wheelwright of BYU-Hawaii provided students with the three ingredients that make up the Lord's "Recipe for Success" during his May 6 in devotional the Cannon Activities Center.

As BYU-Hawaii President Steven C. Wheelwright draws near the completion of his first year of service, a faculty member in the May 2008 question-and-answer forum asked what "report card" grade he would give himself for his accomplishments at the university to this point.

In their monthly question-and-answer forum on May 5, BYU-Hawaii President Steven C. Wheelwright [pictured at left] and other members of the President's Council discussed, among other issues, whether budget tightening would affect faculty professional development, the roles of faculty research and scholarship, and the status of reorganizing the administration .

Ryan Anderson | University Advancement | 6 May 2008

Millions of people around the world will gather to participate in the first-ever Pangea Day international film festival broadcast, an event centered on bringing people of all cultures and civilizations into a spirit of peace and brotherhood. BYU-Hawaii will host Oahu’s only public viewing of the event on Saturday, May 10 in the McKay Auditorium at 7:30 a.m.

According to the event’s website, www.PangeaDay.org, the broadcast will include 24 short films — submitted by individuals from over 100 countries, and motivational speakers such as Queen Noor of Jordan, Christiane Amanpour of CNN and Bob Geldof, a musician and activist, as well as an Iranian rock band called Hypernova, among others.