ON CAMPUS
HPU Students Go Global at UN in New York
Computer Science Students Win ACM Contest By Curt Powley, PhD
Three HPU student teams placed first, third and fifth in the prestigious Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) International Collegiate Programming Contest. On November 5, 2011, HPU’s three person teams competed against top-ranked computer science universities, such as Stanford University and the University of British Columbia. Congratulations to our computer champions: Matt Fry (BS Computer Science ’11), Dongie Agnir (BS Computer Science ’12), and Kevin Goo (first place); Precious Binas, Abe Pineda, and Nathaniel Befus (tied for third); and Aaron Sasaki (BSBA CIS ’11), Asger Lisborg, and Estefania Duterte (fifth place).
Model UN Student Team
For the fifth year in a row, HPU’s United Nations Club participated in the National Model United Nations Conference (NMUN) on April 1–5. The competition, held in New York at the UN headquarters, annually draws some 3,000 college students representing over 200 universities and colleges worldwide. “The conference is the National Model United Nations, but in fact over half of the 200-plus colleges and universities were from outside the U.S.,” says Professor of Political Science and team faculty co-advisor, Carlos Juarez, PhD. He and Assistant Professor of sociology Dana Rasch, PhD, co-advise the team. The HPU delegation was assigned to represent the Republic of Congo. As Congolese diplomats, they engaged in five days of mock UN deliberations presenting their country’s foreign policy positions on 21 issues debated before seven committees. Their preparation also included researching rules of procedure, background and history of the United Nations, as well as refining their skills in speechmaking, caucusing and negotiation. The student delegates gained valuable experience and improved their competencies as global citizens. “Once we arrived in NY and attended the 10
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committee sessions, it became clear that all our hard work paid off. We were not only clearly prepared, but confident,” says HPU student Elizabeth Betts, a nursing and international studies double major from Austin, Texas. Adeline Prayoga, a travel industry management major from Indonesia, adds that she “learned how difficult it is to negotiate between countries. The experience improved my interpersonal and communication skills and also enriched my knowledge of member states of the UN.”
“It was like our own united nations travelling to the United Nations.” Carlos Juarez, Phd
HPU sent 18 students, its largest delegation to date. Similar to the wide range of complex issues they were tackling at the UN Conference, the students themselves reflected diversity: with majors in economics, environmental studies, international relations, nursing, political science, and sociology, among others. The HPU delegation included students from Hawai‘i, California, Massachusetts, Texas, Washington State, Finland, Norway, the Philippines, and Sweden. As Juarez notes, “It was like our own united nations travelling to the United Nations.”
Students Participate at National Advertising Competition By Chris Aguinaldo
HPU’s advertising and public relations team, known as Akamai Advertising, won the American Advertising Federation’s (AAF) Hawai‘i district level contest in April and went on to compete in AAF’s 2012 National Student Advertising Competition on June 2–5 in Austin, Texas. The HPU team developed a 32-page marketing campaign and 20-minute presentation in response to a case study about the Nissan brand as it relates to multicultural audiences aged 18–29. Congratulations to HPU students Meaghan Blackburn, Orion Brutoco, Eun Jung Choi (BS Advertising and Public Relations ’12), Courtney Curran, Joanna Georgiev, Avery Kremer, Kim Kuehnert, Dany Malley (BSBA Marketing ’12), Lei Navasca, Thomas Obungen, Taylor Perry, and Nina Terjesen and Department of Communication Faculty Advisor AnnMarie Manzulli.