Hawaii Tokai :: Blog

http://www.hawaiitokai.edu/modules/news/article.php?storyid=60

Student Presentation day took place on June 10, with six of the College's Liberal Arts classes participating.

Jeffrey Mead’s SP 151 students showed a video they had made about the the usefulness of the iPhone.

Doug Fuqua’s HIST 241 class, which studied about civilizations of Asia before 1500, gave two PowerPoint presentations, the first devoted to the Chinese novel "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and the second focusing on Confucianism and its continuing influence.

Deanna Madden’s Creative Writing students read some of their stories and poems that appear in the latest "Hawaii Tokai Review."

Toake Endoh’s POLSCI 220 (International Relations) students gave a PowerPoint presentation about “soft power” in international relations versus “hard power” (force or violence). Examples of “soft power” included the Japanese anime and the concept of mottaimai, Sweden’s welfare system, American jazz, the Fulbright Program, Libya’s rejection of nuclear power and terrorism, and South Korea’s soap operas and movies.

Robert Holliday’s PSY 170 (Psychology of Adjustment) class performed several skits demonstrating concepts they had learned this term, including Freud’s ideas about the Id, Ego, and Super-Ego; positive and negative reinforcement; cognitive-behavior theory; how people get depressed; and Type A and B personalities.

Freshman Experience students from Seleena Harkness’s HUM 100 class concluded the presentations by explaining the theme they focused on this term—Fate, Destiny, and Free Will—and summing up their thoughts after having read and discussed works such as Oedipus the King, Hawthorne’s “The Birthmark,” Amy Tan’s memoir, The Opposite of Fate, and a story from Tan’s The Joy Luck Club. (article contributed by Dean Deanna Madden)

http://www.hawaiitokai.edu/modules/news/article.php?storyid=59

Thirty-four HTIC students participated in a total of ten service learning events in the community during the Spring 2009 term. A few even accumulated more than 20 hours of service this term.

One of these events was the 10th Annual Lantern Floating Festival, for which HTIC students worked on weekends from March until May to help construct over 2,000 of the lanterns that were used in the Memorial Day ceremony held at Ala Moana Beach Park.
(http://www.lanternfloatinghawaii.com/volunteering.html)

Each year HTIC hosts the KZOO Radio Japanese Speech Contest. This year, eleven students helped out by setting up the auditorium, registering the contestants, and making sure everything ran smoothly. HTIC students enjoyed listening to the different experiences that the local high school contestants have had regarding Japanese culture.

When Spring is in the air, Hawaii looks forward to many carnivals and school fairs. HTIC students were involved in two of these, the Iolani Fair and the Friends of Waialae School Earth Day Event, where they either set-up or manned the different booths.

Another event that attracted student interest this spring was the 8th Annual Jamba Banana Man Chase. This 5K race raises funds for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Nineteen of our students helped pass out water and bananas for participants who were trying to outrun a life-sized, Banana-costumed runner around the course.

A week after the Banana Man Chase, students volunteered at the 4th Annual Hawaii Book & Music Festival. At this two-day event, students were asked to pass out surveys, help keep the area clean, provide information for the guests and help out at the performer’s stage. All the students that volunteered for this event had a great time interacting with the local community.
(http://hawaiibookandmusicfestival.org/home.html)

Finally, on Saturday June 13, four students participated in the Waikiki Beach Clean Up. They went to work early cleaning the beaches of Waikiki near the Hilton Hawaiian Village. Later that same day, Student Support Specialist Mr Andrew Fujimoto drove two students to an on-going volunteer opportunity at Kalihi Waena Elementary School where they spent a few hours cleaning and removing litter from the stream bank. The work was tiring but the students enjoyed themselves and had the chance to work with many other local students in the community.
(http://kaupa4kalihi.org/index_files/page0001.html)

Overall, HTIC students had many opportunities to volunteer during this past Spring term. A good number of students took these opportunities to go out into the community, not only to help, but also to improve themselves as global citizens. For more information about how to volunteer, please see Andrew Fujimoto in Student Services.

http://www.hawaiitokai.edu/modules/news/article.php?storyid=61

Yoga was offered for the first time at HTIC this term. Taught by Elizabeth Vitale, a Certified Yoga instructor who has taught Yoga at two YMCA’s and a YWCA, the course was immensely popular with students, with nine Liberal Arts students and nine College Prep students enrolled. Students in the class learned a variety of Hatha Yoga postures and enjoyed the physical workout as well as the relaxing atmosphere.

Another class which made up for the first time in quite some time was IS 105, Career/Life Exploration and Planning, taught by Robert Holliday. Eight students signed up for this one-credit course which allowed them to explore careers and to reflect on what they want to do with their lives. (article contributed by Dean Deanna Madden)

http://www.hawaiitokai.edu/modules/news/article.php?storyid=58

Hawaii Tokai International College is pleased to welcome to our campus the participants in the Japan Studies Association’s 7th Annual Freeman Seminar on Japan. The twenty participants in the program were selected from colleges and universities throughout the United States. The seminar’s purpose is to provide individuals from different disciplines who are non-Asian studies experts with the opportunity to learn more about Japan. The goal of the program is to assist participants so they may integrate elements of Japanese studies into their courses, broadening their students' development as cross-culturally sensitive global citizens.

Participants participate in an intense program of lectures, field trips, workshops, and activities focused on Japanese history, religion, art, theater, music, politics, economics, and literature.

Also joining the HTIC ohana are four students who have been selected as Kapiolani Community College’s Freeman China Scholars. These students are part of a group of ten students who engage in intensive Chinese language studies at KCC, with the opportunity to study in China as the culmination of their program. This year’s Freeman scholars are the “fifth generation” to join our community.

Welcome to everyone – we hope your stay with us is enjoyable and your studies intellectually stimulating and fruitful.

http://www.hawaiitokai.edu/modules/news/article.php?storyid=56

HTIC associate professor TOAKE ENDOH’s book on Japanese emigration Exporting Japan: Politics of Emigration toward Latin America will be published from the University of Illinois Press on April 27, 2009.

Where is the largest Japanese community outside Japan? It’s not Hawai’i or the West Coast of the Continental U.S., but Brazil. The 1.2 million Japanese-Brazilians and other Nikkeijin (people of Japanese descendent) in South America and the Caribbean are the outcome of Japan’s emigration policy that operated from the 1920s-1960s.

In Exporting Japan, Dr. Endoh sheds lights on the little-told history of Japanese emigration to Latin America and examines political implications of the Japanese state’s emigration policy. This is her first book after ten-year-long research in Japan, Brazil, and the United States.

"Toake Endoh presents a very provocative set of arguments to resolve the paradoxes of Japanese emigration to Latin America from the late nineteenth century to the 1960s. A significant contribution to scholarship and a useful overview of Japanese emigration policy toward Latin America."--David L. Howell, author of Geographies of Identity in Nineteenth-Century Japan

“This exceptionally well-researched work adds an important dimension to the study of Japanese immigration policy. It is a welcome addition to the fields of emigration studies, anthropology, and sociology.” –Daniel M. Masterson, coauthor of The Japanese in Latin America.

Dr. Endoh is currently working on the Japanese-language version of the book, which is scheduled to be published in Japan this summer.

http://www.hawaiitokai.edu/modules/news/article.php?storyid=54

On Friday March 20, 2009, Vice Chancellor Douglas Fuqua addressed approximately two dozen reporters at a live TV press conference held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia and televised by Mongol News of Channel TV-25.
This press conference, opened to members of the Mongolian Mass Media in Ulaanbaatar, was arranged by Mr. Ninj Damdindorj, Director of the Foundation for World Education in Mongolia. Vice Chancellor Fuqua was accompanied at this conference by Mr. Ninj and Mr. Ochirkhuu of the Foundation for World Education, Mr. Nam, a graduate of BYU Hawaii who served as interpreter, and Ms. Oyundari, one of two applicants recently accepted to begin their studies at HTIC. Ms. Oyundari is now awaiting her U.S. visa, but will soon begin her Associate of Arts degree studies.

The press conference served as an excellent opportunity for Mongolian students interested obtaining Associate of Arts degrees in the United States to learn about HTIC. Not only was the conference broadcast on live television througout Mongolia, but a number of local newspapers reported on the Vice Chancellor's recruitment visit as well.

The Vice Chancellor's recruitment trip to Mongolia represents part of the College's drive to increase the diversity of HTIC's student body.

http://www.hawaiitokai.edu/modules/news/article.php?storyid=55

On March 20, 2009, Hawaii Tokai International College Vice Chancellor, Dr. Doug Fuqua, visited Ikh Zasag University in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia and met with University President and Professor, Dr. Namsrai Nyam-Osor, as well as with others of the university including Ms. Davaadorj Nomingerel, who serves as Head of the Office of Foreign Relations.

President Nyam-Osor and Vice Chancellor Fuqua noted that HTIC and Ikh Zasag University (named after Chinggis Khaan) are relatively young institutions, established in the early 1990s, that have both experienced a great deal of success in a relatively short period of time, especially with respects to program growth and student body expansion and diversification. President Nyam-Osor and Vice Chancellor Fuqua discussed the possibility of educational exchange projects in the near future between their respective schools.

After meeting with the President, the Vice Chancellor was asked to address well over 150 Ikh Zasag University students to inform them about Hawaii Tokai International College's programs and offerings. He was overwhelmed by the cordial welcome he received from these students. His visit to Ikh Zasag University was topped off with a tour of the university's impressive paleontological museum, which houses rare dinosaur fossil and egg specimens.

Hawaii Tokai International College would like to thank Mr. Ninj Damdindorj, of the Foundation for World Education in Mongolia for his role in arranging the Vice Chancellor's meetings and tour of Ikh Zasag University as well as the staff and faculty of Ikh Zasag for their hospitality.

http://www.hawaiitokai.edu/modules/news/article.php?storyid=53

Hawaii Tokai International College (HTIC) and Minnesota State University (MSU), Mankato recently signed a General Education Articulation Agreement that took effect on April 1, 2009.




This agreement simplifies transfer for HTIC students seeking to continue their baccalaureate studies at Minnesota State University, Mankato. It ensures that HTIC Associate of Arts degree graduates satisfy the Minnesota State University, Mankato general education requirements for the MSU, Mankato Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science Programs. Minnesota State also offers in-state tuition to its international students on F-1 student visas depending on their GPAs. This is an excellent opportunity for qualifying HTIC international students wishing complete baccalaureate degrees.


HTIC students interested in attending MSU should contact the Student Services Office for more information.

http://www.hawaiitokai.edu/modules/news/article.php?storyid=52

On March 12 internationally recognized Kenyan percussionist Mr. Elisha Nakali addressed students of HTIC concerning Global Citizenship and the Power of Education. Mr Nakali was born in the Kiberi slums of Nairobi, Kenya, and has addressed and performed for audiences in South Korea, Japan, Switzerland, England, the US mainland, and South Africa.

In his address to the students, Mr Nakali described education as the process by which a person’s mind and character are developed through teaching, especially formal instruction at school or college. Education gives one power to gain knowledge and look at issues with more positive and intercultural perspective. It improves understanding of certain situations and helps communication with other people globally in business, schools, conferences, etc. Education is the foundation of knowledge and, in Mr Nakali's own words, the "fountain of excellence that shall surely set you free beyond the skies!"

Mr. Nakali tied education to the importance of Global Citizenship. He stated that citizenship alone implies rights, pride, and a role or contribution to one's own country through education and talent. It is one's duty to be vigilant and leave a legacy that inspires and motivates future generations to contribute to their countries. Global Citizenship serves as an extension of this; it is a call to inspire and contribute to the world as a whole. Mr. Nakali ended his discussion by encouraging Global Citizens to look within to find knowledge, power, freedom, patriotism and gentleness.

Mr. Nakali then commenced with his performance, which showcased the sounds and melodies of indigenous rhythmic instruments from Africa. Both his talk and performance were well received by all those in attendance!

http://www.hawaiitokai.edu/modules/news/article.php?storyid=51

HTIC Associate Professor Seleena Harkness is set to star as the lead character in the Hawaii Theatre Center's production of "Sleeping Beauty: The Musical." Professor Harkness, who teaches for HTIC's College Prep and Associate of Arts' degree programs, has performed in a number of other local stage and musical productions in Honolulu. This stage version of Sleeping Beauty is a twist on the classic tale that is appropriate for audiences of all ages. The following is an excerpt from honoluluadvertiser.com:

"Princess Aurora, played by talented musical theatre performer Seleena Harkness, is no helpless maiden in this spellbinding legend of the girl doomed to sleep forever. This wickedly funny musical adventure carries the audience into the princess’s dreams and through a world where dragons eat pizza, fairies are allergic to flowers, and disco reigns supreme."

Several scheduled performances are reserved for private groups, but general admission is available for the shows held on Saturday, March 21 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, March 22 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $15 & $12 (including theatre restoration fee) and can be purchased at the Hawaii Theatre Box Office (528-0506) or at www.hawaiitheatre.com.