The College of Continuing Education and Community Service (CCECS) at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo brings its popular Basic Grant Writing class back to Hilo in April. The one-day workshop will be held on Saturday, April 8, from 9 a.m.- 4 p.m., at UH Hilo’s UCB Room 331. The cost is $85.

Participants will learn the various aspects of the grant writing process, including how to write a compelling statement of need, and what funders are looking for in grant proposals. Various samples and handouts will also be provided. Instructor Jeani Navarro has over 30 years of grant writing experience and has helped various community organizations secure needed funding.

Private and non-government employers/businesses may qualify for a 50% tuition waiver through the State’s Employment & Training Fund (ETF). For details, visit

http://labor.hawaii.gov/wdd/home/employers/etf/micro/ and apply at least 10 business days before the start of class.

For more information or to register, contact CCECS at 932-7830 or email ccecs@hawaii.edu.

Student pharmacists from the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo were “matched” with residency programs in round one of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) Matching Program. More students from the Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy (DKICP) have a chance to be placed when the second group of matches is announced after April 12.

Residencies are highly competitive opportunities for Pharm.D. graduates to build on their education in a clinical setting with an experienced mentor. The ASHP Resident Matching Program (the "Match") places applicants into pharmacy residency training positions in the United States. The Match includes both postgraduate year one (PGY1) and postgraduate year two (PGY2) pharmacy residencies.

About two-thirds of the 5,752 applicants nationwide were successfully placed in round one. Twenty-eight student pharmacists from DKICP participated in round one of the Match, with 13 placed. The remaining 15 students will have to reapply to be eligible for round two.

The Match, which is administered by National Matching Services Inc., is sponsored and supervised by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP).

Successful applicants thus far include:

Class of 2017 - Year One Residencies (PGY1): Trenton Aoki, Providence St. Peter Hospital, Olympia WA; Mark Allen Bibera, University of California Davis Health System, Sacramento, CA; Megan Calderwood, Indian Health Service, Gnome, Alaska; Mari Louise Cid, University Maryland School of Pharmacy, Baltimore, MD; Christopher Diaz, University of Washington Medicine, Seattle, WA; Tiajana Gonzales, Samford University McWhorter School of Pharmacy, Birmingham, AL; David Khan, Indian Health Service, Gallup, NM; Kelsea Mizusawa, University of Hawai’i at Hilo, Hilo HI; Lauryn Mow, Providence Centralia Hospital, Centralia, WA, Nadine So, University of Hawaii at Hilo, Hilo, HI; Zi Zhang, The Queen's Medical Center, Honolulu, HI; and Nick Nguyen, Genentech, Industry Intership, Palo Alto, CA.

Class of 2016 - Year Two Residencies (PGY2): Walter Domingo Stanford Health Care, Stanford, CA. Specialty: Oncology; Alex Guimaraes, Fellowhip Tricore Reference Laboratory Clinical Translational Care Fellow, University of New Mexico College of Pharmacy, New Mexico; Jairus Nathan Mahoe, Palomar Health Escondido, CA. Specialty: Health System Pharmacy Administration; Bert Matsuo, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, CA. Specialty: Cardiology.

Class of 2011: Matthew Kirkland, Gulf Coast Veterans Health Care System, Biloxi, MS. PGY1 with Mental Health Focus

DKICP/QMC – Year Two (PGY2): Christine Luong, The Queen's Medical Center, Honolulu, HI. Specialty: Critical Care.

The public is invited to attend a presentation on the social and political implications of America’s increasingly multiracial landscape by Dr. Lauren Davenport, assistant professor of political science at Stanford University. Beyond Black and White: The Identity Construction and Political Attitudes of Biracial Americans will be held on Friday, April 7, from 5 –7 p.m. at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo Student Services Center Room W-201.

America’s multiple-race population has surged by 106 percent since the 2000 U.S. Census, when Americans were first allowed to self-identify with more than one race. By 2050, an estimated 20 percent of Americans are expected to identify with multiple racial groups. Davenport’s presentation will address several questions, including:

• How do mixed-race Americans see themselves, socially, culturally and politically?

• What determines how someone of mixed-race parentage racially self-identifies?

• What are the repercussions for the broader American political structure?

• How do people of mixed-race approach various racial and social policies?

• What is the impact on resources and benefits intended for minority populations?

The event is sponsored by the Chancellor's Professional Development Fund and organized by the Department of Political Science and the Office of International Student Services and Intercultural Education.

Seating is limited. To reserve a seat, visit http://go.hawaii.edu/jK1. For more information, contact Dr. Su-Mi Lee at sumilee@hawaii.edu. For disability accommodation, contact Disability Services at 932-7623 (V), 932-7002 (TTY), or email uds@hawaii.edu.

The College of Continuing Education and Community Service (CCECS) at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo offers an introductory jazz guitar workshop on Thursday, April 13, from 5 - 7:30 p.m. in UH Hilo’s UCB Room 104. The cost is $35.

Exploring Jazz Guitar will lay the foundation for jazz guitar techniques by teaching participants basic jazz chords to exploring standards. Students must provide their own acoustic guitar with either nylon or steel strings.

Instructor Artin Mardirousi began his musical career with classical training as a violinist, then moved on to guitar, piano and other instruments. Mardirousi has performed live with other artists and has done professional recordings of his original compositions.

For more information and to register, contact CCECS at 932-7830 or visit

http://hilo.hawaii.edu/ccecs/.

The University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo hosts a panel discussion on the ethical and political issues associated with human trafficking on Tuesday, April 18, at 5:15 p.m. in UCB Room 100. The event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be provided.

Human Trafficking: A Global, National & Local Issue will include panel participants Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, First Deputy Prosecuting Attorney for the County of Hawaiʻi Dale Ross, and Dr. Celia Bardwell-Jones, associate professor of philosophy and chair of the Gender & Women’s Studies Program at UH Hilo.

The event is sponsored by the UH Hilo Women's Center, American Association of University Women, UH Hilo Gender & Women's Studies, County of Hawaiʻi Office of the Prosecuting Attorney, and the Office of Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard.

For more information, contact Lehua Haissoun at 932-7380 or email lmcclung@hawaii.edu. For disability accommodation, contact Disability Services at 932-7623 (V) or 932-7002 (TTY).

The public is invited to attend the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo Media Symposium, scheduled for Saturday, April 22, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., in the UH Hilo Campus Center. There is no fee and lunch will be served.

“Ethics and ‘Real News’ in the 21st Century” will include nearly 24 speakers, including members of the Hawaiʻi State Legislature, Hawaiʻi County Council, journalists, radio personalities, and more.

“Anyone with an interest in journalism, writing, photography, art, law, politics, TV, or radio will get the chance to interact with some of Hawai‘i’s top experts in these fields,” noted Ke Kalahea Advisor Tiffany Edwards Hunt.

For additional information, contact Ke Kalahea at uhhkk@hawaii.edu.

The College of Continuing Education and Community Service (CCECS) at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo is offering Plant Propagation FUNdamentals with ecologist, horticulturist and land planner Zach Mermel on Saturday, April 29, from 9 am - noon at the Forest TEAM Greenhouse on the Manono Campus. Tuition is $35.

This hands-on workshop will cover the basics of plant propagation, including varietal selection, propagation tools, rooting-out environment, and other methods for rapidly expanding the plant biodiversity for gardens, homesteads, or farms. Participants are encouraged to bring any seeds that they would like to learn more about.

For more information and to register, contact CCECS at 932-7830 or visit http://hilo.hawaii.edu/ccecs/.

The University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo hosts a public lecture on rural development by Dennis Flemming, executive director of the Hamakua Institute. His talk is scheduled for Wednesday, April 26 at 6 p.m. in University Classroom Building Room 100.

Rural development involves the efforts of diverse institutions and businesses to improve the quality of life for people in rural areas. “Rural Development: The Case for a Holistic Program of Study” will examine the global practice of facilitating rural development and why there is a need to develop a holistic, multi-disciplinary approach to studying this field.

Flemming has spent more than 30 years designing, developing and managing multi-stakeholder development initiatives aimed at reducing poverty and conflict in the rural areas of several countries. The Hamakua Institute and UH Hilo are currently developing a new joint initiative to explore how rural development can more effectively address the significant challenges of sustainably improving livelihoods in rural island communities throughout the Pacific and Southeast Asia.

The talk is sponsored by the College of Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resource Management. For more information, call 932-7038.

Celebrating the release of new album Professor T & The East Side Shredders, the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo Jazz Orchestra will perform at the UH Hilo Performing Arts Center on Thursday, May 4 at 7:30 pm.

The UH Hilo Jazz Orchestra will play original songs from the new album written by musical director Trever Veilleux. The album features Veilleux on guitar and vocals and performances from several members of the UH Hilo Jazz Orchestra.

“When it came time to record the tracks for the album, I chose some of my favorite musicians to work with. It just so happened that many of them were members of the UH Hilo Jazz Orchestra. These young performers play at a professional level beyond their years,” he said.

Several of East Hawaiʻi’s musicians will perform as special guests at the concert, including Wendell Ing on keyboards, Jeff Gaeth on saxophone, Gonzo on bass, RaVani Flood on vocals, and Gardner De Aguiar on guitar and vocals.

The concert will also feature choreography by Dori Yamada.

“I've had the pleasure to work and perform alongside Trever for the past five or six years and this one definitely feels the most personal and special because it originated from his creative genius,” Yamada said.

Advance copies of the new CD will be available for purchase at the concert.

Tickets are open seating and priced at $10 General, $7 Discount, $5 Students w/ Valid ID & Children 17 & under. Advance ticket purchase is recommended.

For more information or to order tickets, contact the UH Hilo Box Office at 932-7490 or artscenter.uhh.hawaii.edu.

For disability accommodation, contact Dori Yamada at 932-7496 (V) or 933-3334 (TTY) at least 10 working days prior to the event.

The University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo Kapili Choir and University Chorus join local vocal ensemble Harmony on Tap, guest soloists, actors and dancers to honor the career of retiring UH Hilo Drama Professor Jackie Pualani Johnson. Showtime for the spring choral concert, We Sing the Spring, is Sunday, May 7 at 2 p.m. in the Performing Arts Center.

The concert, conducted by Amy Horst and accompanied by Walter Greenwood on piano, will feature songs from different periods of Johnson’s multi-faceted career with music from productions ranging from Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd to classics like South Pacific and gems from musicals for children of all ages.

“We are profoundly inspired by the career of Jackie Pualani Johnson,” Horst said. “With her guidance, we have reached into the treasure trove of musicals she has directed and performed in, and outward to the many performers, returning alumni and colleagues who are eager to honor Jackie in songs, scenes and dances choreographed by long-time Dance Instructor Celeste Staton. The program will also feature the insights and humor of Jackie's long-time friend, actor-director Jeri Gertz. ”

Tickets are open seating and priced at $12 General, $10 Discount and $5 UH Hilo/Hawaiʻi CC students (with a valid student ID) and children, up to age 17. Tickets are available by calling the UH Hilo Box Office at 932-7490 or by ordering online at artscenter.uhh.hawaii.edu.

The University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy has received a $7,000 check from retail pharmacy Walgreens to fund a diversity initiative at the University. An additional $5,000 will go toward scholarships to students in the Pharm.D. professional program.

This is the ninth year DKICP has received funding from Walgreens for diversity. The funds have sponsored educational programs such as a tour of health care facilities at Kalaupapa on Molokai.

Walgreens began the diversity program in 2009 to donate $1 million annually toward diversity initiatives at all of the more than 100 accredited pharmacy schools nationwide.

Eleanor Wong, Walgreens Area Healthcare Supervisor for the San Francisco Peninsula/Hawaiʻi region, presented the check to Dean Carolyn Ma at Walgreens specialty store on O`ahu. DKICP alum Quinn Taira from the Class of 2011 and Amy Song, Class of 2012, who both work at the retail store, were in attendance along with Heidi Ho-Muniz, District Manager for Walgreens Pharmacy and Retail Operations.

“We are grateful for this initiative that has helped our student pharmacists through the years and strengthened our own commitment to promoting and embracing diversity,” Ma said.

Grants approved for digital repository of spoken Hawaiian language

The National Science Foundation (NSF) and National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) have collectively awarded grants totaling $448,464 over a three-year period to fund a project involving multiple University of Hawaiʻi campuses to build a digital online repository of spoken Hawaiian language, or ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi.

The NSF grant is for $283,464, while the NEH portion totals $165,000. The awards are effective August 1, 2017 and will be managed by Principal Investigator Keiki Kawai`ae`a, director of Ka Haka ʻUla O Ke`elikōlani (KHUOK) College of Hawaiian Language at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, along with co-Principal Investigators Larry Kimura, associate professor at KHUOK, and Andrea Berez-Kroeker, associate professor in the Department of Linguistics at UH Mānoa.

The project, entitled “Building a Hawaiian Spoken Language Repository,” will create Kani`āina, a digital corpus of recordings and transcripts of Native Hawaiian language. Kani`āina will feature hundreds of hours of audio and video recordings, fully searchable transcripts in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, catalog information in both English and ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, and a unique crowd-sourcing feature for soliciting enhanced transcription and content-tagging of the recordings from the public.

The recordings and transcripts will be accessible online at Ulukau: The Hawaiian Electronic Library, beginning with Phase 1 of the first two collections: Ka Leo Hawaiʻi and Kū i ka Mānaleo, later this year. The content will be archived for long-term preservation in Kaipuleohone, the University of Hawaiʻi Digital Language Archive, which is part of ScholarSpace, the UH institutional repository.

Kawai`ae`a says the awards also include funding for undergraduate research opportunities and for a cross-campus graduate educational exchange in language documentation and revitalization, which is especially timely.

“We are elated that we can now move toward building a larger public repository of audio and visual native speaker collections to support the growing population of Hawaiian speakers,” Kawai`ae`a said. “Kani`āina comes at a crucial time when the number of Hawaiian speakers is increasing as the last of the native speaking elders is rapidly dwindling. We now estimate the number of elder native speakers outside of the Ni`ihau community to total between 20 and 30.”

Data from an April 2016 report by the State Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism on Hawaiʻi’s non-English speaking population found the number of persons aged 5 and older who spoke Hawaiian at home statewide totaled 18,400. Kawai`ae`a also noted that more than 3,000 students are presently enrolled in Hawaiian-immersion schools P-12, while 13,500 are enrolled in Hawaiian language coursework in public and private educational institutions, and 2,000 students are enrolled in similar coursework at UH campuses.

Kawai`ae`a says the broader impacts of Kani`āina will include its integration into immersion-based language education from pre-school to the university level, Hawaiian knowledge in the natural and social sciences, and beyond. The project will also engage underrepresented groups as citizen scientists through its creation of a publicly available corpus of an endangered U.S. language.

The University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo Physics and Astronomy program hosts a talk by Dr. Brittany Kamai, an experimental astrophysicist from the California Institute of Technology, on Monday, April 17 at 7 p.m. in the UH Hilo Science and Technology Building (STB), Room 108.

Kamai will talk about how scientists catch waves from black holes, supernovae and other exotic objects in the universe, and a new way of gaining information by a messenger called gravitational waves.

“We have built very fancy rulers that can measure this new wave, which stretches and squeezes the fabric of space,” Kamai said. “I will discuss how we do that with detectors here on Earth and future plans to measure gravitational waves from outer space.”

For more information, contact John Coney at 932-7187, email uhhpa@hawaii.edu, or visit http://astro.uhh.hawaii.edu/.

Great Leaps, the semester-ending dance concert for all University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo and Hawaiʻi Community College dance programs, presents a Preview Performance on Friday, April 28, and a performance on Saturday, April 29. Both shows begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Performing Arts Center.

Annie Bunker’s choreographic offerings will include a presentation with her son Wrenn Bunker Koesters of the late Aerial Dance Mentor Robert Davidson’s aerial duet “Ave Maria” and a performance by her UH Hilo Modern Dance and Hawaiʻi CC Modern Jazz classes. Guest choreographer Goody Cacal will celebrate his final semester with an urban dance number featuring performers who influenced him at UH Hilo. Instructor Celeste Staton will combine lyrics and ballet techniques with the music of Jason Mraz, and Jazz teacher Kea Kapahua will perform a selection from the musical “Grease.”

The concert also includes senior project presentations by Leilani VisikoKnox-Johnson and Deanna Young. Dance Ensemble alumni Kawai Soares, Scott Wuscher and Lawrence Mano will perform a piece they created for the event, entitled “#CHOiCES.”

Tickets are open seating. Preview tickets on April 28 are $3.00 for all seats. Ticket prices for the April 29 performance are $7.00 General and $5.00 Discount for students with a valid ID and Children 17 years and under. For more information or to order tickets, contact the Box Office at 932-7490 or artscenter.uhh.hawaii.edu.

An English major at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo described as a prolific writer who masters both the rigors of research writing and the originality of creative writing is the recipient of the Matthew Somchai Therrien Memorial Award.

Kylee Sullivan received the $500 annual award that recognizes an outstanding UH Hilo student majoring in English. Sullivan currently serves as student supervisor at UH Hilo’s Edwin H. Mookini Library.

Her publishing credits include a research article entitled “A Grimm Evolution” in Hohonu: A Journal of Academic Writing, and a short story, “The Riveter,” in Kanilehua: Art and Literary Magazine. She presented a paper on “The Causation of Lava: Exploring the Legends Surrounding the Puna Lava Flow” at the Narratives of Place in Literature, Film and Folklore conference held at Kilauea Military Camp in March 2016. In November 2016, Sullivan co-wrote and co-presented a paper with Associate Professor of English Kirsten Mollegaard titled “Intertextual Perspectives on Contemporary Retellings of ‘Cinderella’ and ‘Beauty and the Beast’” at the International Journal of Arts and Sciences’ (IJAS) conference in London, England.

Matthew Somchai Therrien was an aspiring English major at UH Hilo at the time of his death in April 2014. He was a gifted poet and writer with a dream of becoming an English professor.

The Matthew Somchai Therrien Memorial Award was initiated by a generous donation made by Stephen and Gloria Gainsley, longtime friends of the Therrien family.

The Master of Arts (MA) program in Heritage Management at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo will mark a new chapter in its history by awarding its first degrees at spring commencement on Saturday, May 13, at 9 a.m. at Edith Kanaka`ole Stadium.

The program’s first graduates are among students who have petitioned for degrees and/or certificates from the colleges of Arts and Sciences (591), Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resource Management (28), Business and Economics (52), Pharmacy (153), Ka Haka `Ula O Ke`elikōlani College of Hawaiian Language (40), and for various post-graduate honors (25).

President Tommy Esang Remengesau, Jr., the ninth president of the Republic of Palau and the first Palauan to be elected president four times, will deliver the keynote address. In office, he has focused on financial stability, good governance, and amplified Palau’s international leadership while emphasizing the importance of regional and global partnerships. Remengesau highlighted his collective approach to addressing ocean, climate and environmental issues as a keynote speaker at the opening ceremony of the 2016 International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) World Conservation Congress in Honolulu.

His leadership on environmental issues has earned him numerous awards and accolades, which include the International Game Fish Association’s IGFA Conservation Award in 2014 and the 2016 Peter Benchley Ocean Award for Excellence in National Stewardship for leading the historic effort to implement the Palau National Marine Sanctuary. The protected, no-take sanctuary covers 80 percent of Palau’s territorial waters and is the world’s sixth largest, fully protected marine area.

Remengesau has been named one of the heroes of the environment by TIME magazine, received the Pacific Islands Environmental Leadership Awards inaugural Pacific Champion Award, The United Nations’ Champion of the Earth Award, and the Inspiring Conservation Award from the international conservation organization known as Rare.

Three family members, including two of his children, are graduates of UH Hilo.

Karla Kapo`aiola Ahn, a Performing Arts major, will be the student speaker.

Ahn’s major has been an extension of her professional career, which has often placed her in the public spotlight as a former radio broadcaster on Maui and an entertainer. Her address will link the struggles she and her classmates have experienced as students from her perspective as a non-traditional student, a member of the workforce, and the parent of two grown daughters, who are already college graduates.

Ahn served as College of Arts and Sciences Senator for the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo Student Association (UHHSA) during the 2011-2012 academic year, and is involved with the University Chorus and Kapili Choir.

She describes earning her degree as one of her life’s greatest achievements and leaves with immense gratitude for her professors, advisors, administrators and staff she has worked with since arriving on campus seven years ago.

“I am not the same person I was when I came to this University,” Ahn said. “The growth I have experienced I credit to all of my professors and others as well as the students and classmates, some of whom have become lifetime friends.”

The College of Continuing Education and Community Service (CCECS) at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo announces a Summer 2017 Open House event at the UH Hilo Old Gym on Saturday, May 20, from 10 a.m. –1 p.m.

The community is invited to come and learn about summer non-credit classes, meet instructors, and register for classes. Anyone registering at the event will receive a 10 percent discount on tuition for eligible classes. Light refreshments will be provided.

There will be presentations on topics such as mindful eating, Russian culture and Korean culture and language, along with make-and-take art projects, and science and knitting demonstrations. Class demonstrations will include boxing, hip-hop dancing and yoga.

For more information, call CCECS at 932-7830 or email ccecs@hawaii.edu.

The University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo North Hawaiʻi Education and Research Center (NHERC) in Honoka`a announces the Center’s first -time offering of UH Hilo summer courses both at and through NHERC. Both courses are for students and community members interested in continuing their education.

Agriculture 230 – Sustainable Agriculture evaluates conventional and alternative farming methods in the U.S., Polynesia, Southeast Asia, Africa and Latin America from a long-term perspective, and analyzes the effects of those practices on environmental quality, agrosystems and food security. Classes will be held on Mondays and Fridays, June 19-July 28, from 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. in NHERC Room A.

Astronomy 110 – General Astronomy is a survey of modern astronomy, including the structure and evolution of the solar system, stars, stellar systems and the Universe. The course is intended for non- science majors. Sessions are scheduled for Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, June 8 - July 28, from 4:30-6 p.m. at Kanu O Ka Aina Public Charter School in Waimea.

For more information, including tuition, visit the UH Hilo Summer Session website at http://hilo.hawaii.edu/depts/summer/ or contact Stacie Higgins at 775-8890.

The College of Continuing Education and Community Service (CCECS) at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo offers a mini-MERIT education technology training program from the Krause Center for Innovation (KCI) at Foothill College in Los Altos, California. The program is open to state Department of Education teachers and administrators on Hawaiʻi Island. Classes will be held simultaneously Monday-Friday, June 5-9, from 8:30 a.m. –3:30 p.m. at Hale`ōlelo, Lumi Pāhiahia, Ka Haka ʻUla O Ke`elikōlani College of Hawaiian Language at UH Hilo and at a location to be announced at the Hawaiʻi Community College Palamanui Campus in Kona.

The mini-MERIT program is designed and taught by KCI, which is one of the eight global certified Google trainers in the United States. KCI instructors will train participants on the use of digital tools to enhance student learning in the classroom and empower students to become global digital citizens. The training will utilize low and no cost technology tools, including the entire Google Apps for Education suite of applications.

The program is being offered free to approved applicants through a grant from the Hawaiʻi Community Foundation. The registration deadline is May 22 and seating is limited.

To apply, visit http://bit.ly/2oEActq. For more information, contact CCECS at 932-7830.

The English Department at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo has presented six students with seven Spring 2017 Howard and Yoneko Droste Awards for excellence in writing and two students with bookstore vouchers.

Brandon Ikaika Field's paper, “Aquaculture: Sustainable or Disdainful,” won the $250 award for Outstanding 100-Level Composition Paper. Field is an Agriculture: Aquaculture Specialty major with a minor in Marine Science.

English major Kai Gaitley's analytical essay, “Quote Journal 2: Neoptolemus,” received the $250 award for Outstanding 200-Level English Paper.

The $250 award for Writing for the Majors went to Computer Science major Derrick O'Brien for his essay, “The Effects of Radiation that Lead to the Creation of a Natural Utopia.”

The $250 award for Outstanding Work in Fiction went to English major Amanda Canda for her short story, “Good Ol' Dependable Francis.”

Geography major Zoe Whitney, who is minoring in English, was awarded $250 for Outstanding Work in Playwriting. Whitney's one-act play was titled “The Last Journalist.”

English major Martabella Freedman received the $500 award for Outstanding Upper-Division English Paper for her paper, “Graphic Literature: Comics as Advanced Storytelling.” Freedman also won the $250 Droste award for Outstanding Portfolio of Poetry.

In addition, two English majors, Kim Leolani Kalama and Danielle Dodge, received $250 Droste book vouchers to the UH Hilo Bookstore.

The awards are made possible by an endowment donated by the late Howard and Yoneko Droste, longtime faculty members who taught a combined total of 45 years at UH Hilo.