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BYUH ohana joins Hauula Relay for Life
Research improved on Harvard lip color experiment
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little bit of lipstick can go a long way. At least this is what a group of BYU-Hawaii psychology students recently discovered when their extensive research qualified them to represent their findings at a national conference in San Francisco,
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JUNE 4, 2009
AARON KNUDSEN
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Teams also set up booths to raise more money. They sold a variety of snacks and beverages. Others gave massages, haircuts and painted faces. All of the proceeds went to the American Cancer Society. Thirteen-year-old Taylor Cook, from Hauula, organized the haircut booth with the help of his mom and aunties who all work for Supercuts. He heard about the Relay for Life event and wanted to do something about it. His mom, Toni, is the regional manager for Supercuts so he ran the idea by her. He talked to his aunties and they were all willing to help. Throughout the evening they gave $10 haircuts. “It’s really cool to help people. We’ve raised a lot of money to help and it feels good,� said Cook. Another touching part of the night is the Luminaria Ceremony. At this time, participants placed decorated bags with the name of someone who has passed on due to cancer. Inside the bag was a candle. All of the lights were turned off on the field and the candle bags were lit and placed around the track. A slideshow was played with pictures submitted by the participants of loved ones who have passed away. “I have a lot of family members that have and have had cancer and past away from it. This event really helps motivate people,� said Venus Aloha, from Kahuku. – Nicole Hamliton
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ABOVE: At the Hauula annual Relay for Life cancer fundraiser, displays taught people about the disease. BELOW: BYU-Hawaii student Charlene Ignacio participated along with other members of the BYUH ohana in the all-night relay to fight cancer. Students helped by raising money for the American Cancer Society, and two clubs on campus also performed.
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YU-Hawaii students joined as one with the community in a fight against cancer with the Relay for Life program. Relay for Life is an activity put on by the American Cancer Society in which, for 12 hours, participants ran or walked the field at the Hauula Community Park from 6 p.m. May 22 to 6 a.m. May 23 in order to promote the fight against cancer. The three main goals of this event included celebrating those who have and are currently fighting cancer, remembering those who have passed from the disease, and fighting against the disease to put an end to it. The participants were broken into groups of 10 to 15 people and one person from each group was required to be walking at all times, making it a unified team effort. “I love seeing the families together and dedicated,� said Spencer Scanlan, junior in psychology from American Samoa. The night began with an opening lap called the Survivors Lap, which was walked by anyone who had survived cancer. “I thank God for making me strong. I felt tearyeyed when I walked because I am still living,� said five-month cancer survivor Vanessa Pie, from Hauula. “The Survivors Lap was very emotional because of the purpose behind it all. We have a survivor in our family and we have also lost one to cancer,� said Kale Kaui from Hauula and member of the team Fonoimoana Ohana. BYUH even had a team to support the cause. Member Irene Lolofi, junior in elementary education from Marsh Valley, Idaho, said, “It makes you feel good to be aware and part of the community.� Along with the walk, there were various activities and events scheduled throughout the night. BYUH’s Latino and Korean Clubs both performed during the night. There was also a scavenger hunt, fire knife performers, a car auction and games of volleyball, musical chairs, and charades.
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Calif., in May. It was the Association for Psychological Science’s 21st annual convention, and the third time that BYUH students were able to attend. The convention, explained Dr. Ronald Miller, assistant professor of Psychology, is where you can find the “future scientists of the world.� And according to its Website, psychologicalscience. org, it “brings together psychological researchers and academics for an exciting program that covers the entire spectrum of innovative research in psychological science.� There were nine students that were able to attend: Thomas Dearden, Kazumi Yasutani, Ofa Hafoka, Sunny Griffin, Lacey Goforth, Shelly Winward, Valeria Jaramillo, Alexa Kiene and Yoko Tsui. Other students who had worked on the projects previously were also credited with the results. Their projects included an examination of a previously done Harvard University experiment that involved the effects of lip color and lipstick on perceptions of attractiveness in women, and showed that there were flaws in the previous experiment, and expanded it further. They also presented projects about personal sacrifice in genetic and social ingroups and outgroups, and Harvard’s Implicit Association Test’s ability to accurately measure prejudice. Miller said, “The question has always been, ‘Can undergraduate students do the kind of research that would qualify them for this?’ and I think the answer is ‘Yeah!’� Miller said he had been working on these projects for some time, allowing students acting as research assistants to get involved.
ABOVE: Psychology students Shelly Winward, Thomas Dearden, Valeria Jaramillo, Dr. Ron Miller, Sunny Griffin, Ofa Hafoka, Lacey Goforth, Kazumi Yasutami, Alexa Kiene and Yoko Tsui pose in front of one of their research presentations at the Association for Psychological Science convention in San Francisco, Calif.
Shelly Winward, junior from California, said, “It was a really good experience to meet experts in the field, top people, and be able to ask them questions in person. There were so many classes to go to, about graduate school, how to get in, how to survive, and what to do after.� Speakers from Massachusetts Institute ofTechnology, Stanford and Oxford universities, and other famous speakers attended the event. Lacey Goforth, senior from Bend, Ore., said, “It was quite an experience to present in the same room or even right next to people from Harvard and Columbia and other Ivy League schools. “Because two of the projects we presented were based on theories of evolutionary psychology, we had opportunities to talk to people about going to school at a church college and show them that Christians,
even Mormons, can be good scientists too.â€? Thomas Dearden, from Cincinnati, Ohio, remarked that the coolest thing that happened to him was while they were presenting their research on the Implicit Association Test, a test that comes out of Harvard. He said, “We developed a criticism argument against it which shows it to be more subjective than most people thought, and a Harvard professor came up and grilled me on the design for about 10 minutes. Then he spent another five to 10 minutes going over every argument that other people have tried to come up with against it‌ Finally, in the end, he just said, ‘Well, keep up the good work,’ and walked away. So it was great that we were able to impress Harvard with a study that went against all of theirs.â€? – April Courtright
Prepare for the perils of paradise:
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Storms & flooding
hough Hawaii has been “I remember walking home with water was ranked No. 1 of the up to my hips. It was sad that it did so safest places to live in much damage, but I was amazed at how Sperling’s Best Places to fast the water drained. By the afterlive, storms and flooding noon, it looked like it was just a really can make living in para- rainy day.� dise difficult - especially out on Oahu’s Hawaii is known for its brief rain secluded North Shore. showers, but as the hours passed on the According to Forbes.com, Sperling’s morning of Dec. 12, 2008, drops kept list of the Top 5 places to live are: pelting down turning puddles into irri1. Honolulu, Hawaii gation canals as drainage systems were 2. Bosie, Idaho overwhelmed and became blocked. 3. Sante Fe, New Mexico Despite the wet circumstances, the 4. Yakima, Washington community came together with a posi5. Spokane, Washington tive attitude, Sarah Beth Stott, junior Sadly, we have learned that Mother in international cultural studies from Nature is no respecter of paradises no Utah, said, “I thought it was awesome matter how highly they are ranked, and because I always wanted to be in a BYU-Hawaii students who were here flood my whole life. But it was sad for trying to take their finals during Fall the people whose houses were flooded.� 2008 saw first-hand what a little water Stott, who helped sand bag, said she can do. thought it was “awesome how everyone Jessica Judy, junior in art education got together to help.� from Arizona, recalls massive flooding. BYU-Hawaii’s emergency specialist,
JUNE 4, 2009
Eugenia Lawrence, is in charge of risk management on campus and said during the flood there were many people who wanted to help but didn’t really know how. Lawrence is in charge of coordinating families at BYUH’s old gym that acted as an emergency shelter. “We need to be prepared as a community because of where we are located. Laie and Kahuku are isolated. We need to be self-sufficient and be able to sustain ourselves,� she said at a preparedness forum held on campus in May. Lawrence, who worked around the clock during the flood, said they need volunteers. “When it comes to a 24-hour shelter, we need people who can help,� she added. When the flooding hit last December in Laie, some residents were highspirited, kayaking, swimming and playing. But many community members were left with thousands of dollars worth of damage. To be a helping hand
in Laie when disaster strikes, contact Lawrence at eugenia.lawrence@byuh. edu. Sze Pui Cheng, coordinator for Oahu Medical Reserve Corps, who was also there at the meeting, said people often freeze when emergencies strike. It was suggested that reading Amanda Ripley’s book “The Unthinkable� would help people to become better prepared and know what to do in emergency situations. The book was also discussed at the forum, and it talks about how it can be deadly to wait for instructions. National Public Radio calls the book a “thinking person’s manual for getting out alive.� After the Virginia Tech massacre two years ago, when a student gunman attacked twice approximately two hours apart and the Virginia school did not take proper measures to notify the students, BYUH got a campus alert system, Lawrence said. The system is programmed to notify students via text messaging in case of an emergency. Students can set sign up for the system on their MYBYUH account. Lawrence encourages all students to do this. – Marni Vail http://kealakai.byuh.edu
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