Emily Sinkovic
University Relations
More from this author
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Making a Difference in the Marshall Islands
February 15, 2011 03:02 PM
Kaminaga and Lydia Kaminaga, BYU–Hawaii alumni from the Marshall Islands, made a decision. “We decided that we should be some of those people that make a difference…If we as Marshallese citizens don’t make changes for the better for our people, who will?” And since graduation in 2008, they have spent their time doing just that.
2 Min Read
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Missionary Language Provides Insight
February 08, 2011 02:01 PM
The phenomenon of rapid language acquisition in LDS missionaries has been a topic of study in a small corner of applied linguists worldwide for a number of years. Lynne Hansen, a recently-retired BYU–Hawaii linguistics professor, has been especially interested in the topic for decades. Two of her non-LDS colleagues from the Netherlands took a particular interest in the subject after hearing Hansen present at both the International TESOL and American Association for Applied Linguistics conventions. After attending General Conference of the Church in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 2002 – coincidentally the same weekend as the conventions – her colleagues, one a representative of John Benjamins, a prestigious academic press, suggested that many people believe LDS missionaries to be excellent language learners and that a book on missionary language acquisition would likely be quite popular among such an audience. Hansen agreed and set to work gathering research for the book.
3 Min Read
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Mentored Research Gives Hands-On Experience
December 10, 2010 11:17 AM
For some professors or department chairs, success means seeing their students perform at a concert; for others, it means watching their students teach English in foreign countries. For Roger Goodwill, the chair of the biology department, success means seeing a picture of crab larva on the cover of the 2011 “Microscopic World” calendar, among other things.
2 Min Read
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Outreach Through Community Workshops
November 17, 2010 02:45 PM
From tutoring and peer mediation to rainforest restoration and elementary school gardens, BYU–Hawaii students gain practical experience through a wide variety of service learning projects. In IT 224, practical experience comes in the form of computer repair workshops targeted toward helping community members with their hardware and software challenges. The idea of the workshops came from the combined efforts of Tim Stanley and Paul Lupeitu’u, who now teaches the class. Lupetu’u, Information Security Officer, says that he wanted students to learn in situations “where they will get used to what they will be faced with after they graduate.” The class hosts the workshops two weeks at a time during the semester, and the upcoming workshops will mark the 11th semester for this service learning project. The workshops will take place at BYU–Hawaii by appointment Monday-Wednesday, November 15-17 and November 22-24, 2010. According to Chase Miller, a former IT student, the workshops have been a great help to community members in the past. He relates that at a past workshop, “We were able to recover everything from the hard drive of a community member who assumed that all of her family pictures were lost forever. We extracted all of her data and helped her find an appropriate way to back up her information.”
2 Min Read
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Be the Change
November 09, 2010 03:04 PM
“Talking about peace is not enough. Writing about peace is not enough. We have to go out and do peace,” urges Chad Ford, the director of the David O. McKay Center for Intercultural Understanding. The idea of the McKay Center originated from former BYU–Hawaii President Eric Shumway who felt that peace was something that was frequently discussed on campus, but students lacked the tools to actually make peace a reality. “I look at peace, not as a noun, but as a verb,” Ford explains. He encourages students in the Intercultural Peacebuilding (IPB) program to do the same.
3 Min Read
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iLead: Empowering Tomorrow’s Leaders
November 05, 2010 10:35 AM
“One of the fundamental things for every student to learn while they are on this campus is how to be an effective leader,” says Debbie Hippolite-Wright, vice president for Student Development & Services. “I think every student on the BYU–Hawaii campus needs to leave feeling they have explored that area of study and those [leadership] principles very well, before they return to their home countries.” Hippolite-Wright’s words exemplify a principle on which the BYU–Hawaii administration has placed a renewed focus: student leadership development. The result of that focus is an online leadership resource which has been under construction for the past year. The resource, called iLead and found at ilead.byuh.edu, was launched on November 1 of this year and is now available for use by BYU–Hawaii students and faculty.
2 Min Read
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Depicting a Vision: The Story of the McKay Mosaic
October 04, 2010 11:36 AM
Upon driving around the Flag Circle into the entrance of Brigham Young University – Hawaii, the scene that captures the attention of most visitors is the grand mosaic depiction of President David O. McKay at the flag-raising ceremony of the local elementary school. The scene resonates in the hearts of all who understand the prophetic mission of the University. For Norman Burr, the sight brings back a humbling sense of accomplishment.
2 Min Read
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Teaching Correct Principles
September 22, 2010 10:42 AM
Practical application of classroom learning is often a difficult aspect of teaching. However, David Bybee, assistant professor of biology at BYU–Hawaii, seems to have found the solution: service. For the last two terms, Bybee has brought his subject to life by taking his Conservation Biology and Biology 100 classes to help with native Hawaiian forest restoration projects. The projects are located behind the University along the Ko’olau Summit Trail and near the Kahawaiinui Trail at a site recently burned by forest fire. Bybee calls the fire site “the battlefront” and describes it as a war raging between the native Hawaiian rainforest and the invasive plants that have gained a foothold since the fire.
3 Min Read
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Former Associate VP of Academics Remembered
September 09, 2010 11:28 AM
The BYU–Hawaii Ohana honors the memory of Jack Van Johnson who passed away on Saturday, September 4, 2010, at the age of 69. Johnson is remembered for his service to the University, his family, and the Lord. He was born September 9, 1941, in Preston, Idaho, and came to Hawaii to teach in 1964. He met his eternal companion, Cassandra Hom, in Hawaii and they were married in the Salt Lake Temple on May 31, 1968. During his time at BYU–Hawaii, Johnson served simultaneously as the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and the Associate Vice President of Academics for more than a year. When the College of Arts and Sciences was reorganized in November 1996, Johnson was appointed Dean and had responsibility over the seven divisions the college included.
1 Min Read
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