Aloha,

George Applegate, executive director of the Big Island Visitors Bureau, is asking business leaders and residents to write letters to him regarding the need for more flights to Hilo.

Mr. Applegate plans to use these letters to persuade airlines to fly from the mainland to Hilo and Kona. Because of the recent departures of ATA and Aloha Airlines, some 9,500 seats into Hilo will be lost this summer.

Mr. Applegate says local people want to travel off-island for vacations, and to visit friends and family. Besides tourism, businesses that ship products — especially agricultural businesses — would benefit from more flights. He says Hawai‘i really has to set itself apart from other tourist destinations and show airlines they will have support if they fly here.

He says we are up against some really heavy duty competition, but that he’s not worried. The Big Island has a lot to offer like its rich culture and Kilauea volcano.

The Big Island has the fastest growing population in the state and Puna alone is growing at a tremendous rate. He says folks living here want to know they can travel to the mainland once a year to visit family and friends.

Mayor Harry Kim encourages the community to support Mr. Applegate’s efforts and send letters.

Mr. Applegate encourages anyone who wants a mainland-Hilo flight to write him (Applegate) and tell him why at his e-mail address: bivbhilo@hvcb.org .

He says people can also write him at 250 Keawe St., Hilo, HI, 96720, by May 16.

Please direct any questions about the proposal or letters requested to Mr. Applegate.

Mahalo for your attention to this matter,

Rose Tseng

Psychology professor and “local girl” Cheryl Ramos (center) receives the Taniguchi Award for Excellence and Innovation at the 2008 End-of-the Year Celebration. Funding for this award comes from the Koichi and Taniyo Taniguchi Memorial Endowment Fund, which was established in memory of the founders of what is known today as KTA Superstores. The award was presented by Barry Taniguchi (left), president of KTA and the grandson of the endowment founders, and Randy Hirokawa (right), dean of the College of Arts & Sciences and chair of the award selection committee. Photos by John Oshima.

Aloha!

Once again, we celebrate the end of the academic year. This is a special time to recognize our colleagues, and my special time to say thank you to all of you. Your dedication to working together results in a great learning environment we can all be proud of.

This year, we’re also celebrating UH Hilo’s 60th year. We’ve been reviewing how far we’ve come in that time and the obstacles and hardships many people here have had to face as we struggle to advance our university. I want to say that I appreciate more than I can say how we all pull together for the betterment of UH Hilo.

Here are just a few highlights of what you all have achieved this semester.

Our terrific student athletes won the Commissioner’s Cup for the entire Pacific West Conference. This is a wonderful achievement! It means that ours is the top athletic program in the league. Our coaches and student athletes are to be congratulated.

Our faculty passed a new General Education program that had been years in the making. Our Faculty Congress led the way and developed a successful proposal. We’re all looking forward to seeing it implemented.

The hard work of many, many people goes into our budget requests. In this second year of the biennium, we were only allowed to request positions and funds to enhance health, safety and security on campus.

The legislature was generous to UH Hilo. We were given:

• A security director position
• Personnel for health and safety as well as safety education
• Personnel to improve physical and mental health services
• Restoration of a position in the library and five rangers on Mauna Kea

This is a very good showing for the second year of the biennium.

We had a great visit from the WASC site team. Many thanks to April Komenaka and the many people who took the time to meet with the visiting team.

In a few months, we’ll have the grand opening of our Student Life Center. We’ve been waiting for this a long time, and it will be worth it. We’ll finally be able to offer the exercise and recreational activities our students so badly need.

After decades of work, we will break ground on the new China-US Center this summer. This is another long-awaited project, which will double our student housing capacity.

Each and every one of these achievements were made possible by our faculty and staff, and often students, too, pulling together for the betterment of the university.

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Connie Lau (at left), president and chief executive officer of Hawaiian Electric Industries, will deliver the spring commencement keynote.

Timothy Fallis, an English major with minors in religious studies and philosophy, will deliver the student address. Fallis maintained a 3.93 grade point average as a full-time student while also working full time as a machinist for Mauna Kea observatories.

Spring commencement is scheduled for 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, May 17th, at Edith Kanaka‘ole Stadium.

A total of 448 students are candidates for degrees or certificates:

· College of Arts and Sciences (377)

· College of Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resource Management (20)

· Ka Haka ‘Ula O Ke‘elikolani College of Hawaiian Language (21)

· College of Business and Economics (30)

Full press release here.

The university’s cable show, Focus on UH Hilo, wraps up the season tonight with Don Price (at left), Randy Hirokawa and Mark Manuel discussing the integration of culture, science and technology in education and research at the university. The 30-minute show airs live on local cable Channel 55 starting at 8 p.m.

Price is a biology professor who serves as co-project director of Hawai‘i’s Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research. Administrated by UH Hilo, EPSCoR is a federal program funded by the National Science Foundation to strengthen the research capacity of the entire state.

Randy Hirokawa is dean at UH Hilo’s College of Arts and Sciences. Mark Manuel is a graduate student in UH Hilo’s Tropical Conservation Biology & Environmental Science master’s program.

Focus on UH Hilo, hosted by Chancellor Tseng and moderated by Ken Hupp, highlights programs, developments and partnerships with community organizations.

For more info, contact Michelle Araki at University Relations, melander@hawaii.edu.