A Student Publication of the University of Hawai`i • Honolulu Community College • September 2011

By Tyler TakamiyaKa Lā staff writer

There was a somber mood on the Honolulu Community College Sept. 12 as students, faculty, staff and visitors gathered to remem-ber the victims of the terrorist attacks 10 years earlier.

Among the more than 3,000 people killed in the attacks were 343 firefighters. When the twin towers of the World Trade Center collapsed, the firefighters were trapped in the rubble. The faint chirps of their emergency locators, which are activated when they

are lost in an emergency, were a sad reminder of just how many first responders were lost in the attacks.

At the HonCC memorial, fire science students took part in the ceremony, watching from seats near the front of the audience. For them the event had special mean-ing. These students are taking classes so they too can put their lives on the line, just like the fire-fighters who went before them.

The HonCC memorial was held Sept. 12 in remembrance of all those who lost their lives and loved ones in the attacks. The

event was also a rededication of the school’s Sept. 11 memorial, created in 2005 by HonCC sheet metal students.

Since the memorial was first made, extra features have been added. One of the most notable new features is a stainless steel coating. Associate professor of sheet metal Danny Aiu explains: “We added stainless steel because you can look at the monument and see a reflection of yourself. Everyone who looks at the monu-ment sees something different because everyone had a different 9/11 experience.”

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Tuition increase?UH regents are studying a proposal to raise com-munity college tuition rates 32 percent over the next five years.

Pages 3

Phantom returnsWindward Community College scores a stunning success with a new pro-duction of "Phantom of the Opera." Page 4

Going greenA new farmers' market offers fresh produce and homemade jams at Hon-CC. Page 6

Fall sportsIntramural sports and a trip to see the UH wahine volleyball team in action.

Page 8

Honorable mentionStar-Advertiser readers name HonCC the best vocational school in the state

Continued on page 2

KaLā Photo illustration supplied by Matthew Ursua

KaLā - News

KaLĀ • Honolulu Community College, University of Hawai`i September 20112

The ceremony began with a presentation by Farrington High School’s Color Guard team. The colorful display of the flags was followed by Taryn Takebayashi, singing “The Star-Spangled Ban-ner.” Afterwards, Farrington High School’s JROTC presented arms in remembrance of the attack. This was followed by HonCC’s Chancellor Mike Rota opening the ceremony and was followed by a lei decoration by the children of Keiki Hauoli Children’s Cen-ter while Kaysea Buscher sang “Grand Old Flag.” Emcee Ryan Adverderada then told the tale of victims in the Sept. 11 attacks who were from Hawaii.

HonCC graduate Christine Snyder was one of the heroines on Flight 93, the plane that crashed into the western Pennslvania field. After the plane’s pilot was killed, the passengers on Flight 93 de-cided to fight back. They managed to take the plane back from the terrorists, and prevent the plane from being used as a weapon. Unfortunately, they were not able to turn the plane around, and all the passengers were killed. They sacrificed themselves to save oth-ers from being hit by the plane.

Later in the ceremony, HonCC speech professor Barbara Dias, who was an eyewitness to the at-tacks, shared her story.

“It was 80 degrees, and sunny,” Dias explained. “I worked right across the street from the Penta-gon. I worked in avionics.”

But Dias’ story turns. “The TV was on, and we see the attacks. Then we hear a rumbling outside. The Pentagon was hit. We could only see the roof, but moments later, it collapsed.”

Dias went on to talk about the compassion that could be seen on TV and in person as well.

“The metro was down, people commuted to work. People in cars would come and offer rides, even if it was out of the way,” Dias said.

Dias ends by saying, “Freedom is not free. But through resolve, honor those who died, and died for our country.”

Afterward HonCC English instructor Eric Shaffer shared his Sept. 11 poem “Flying Flag.”

Shaffer’s poem touched on ideas of seeking vengeance for the pain dealt to America. But “Fly-

ing Flag” also explained that the terrorists were men with beliefs in god, and their own ideas of free-dom and justice.

Former HonCC student body president Howard Kam told the story of his Sept. 11 morning.

“I woke up early, and I watched the news before work like I always do. When I turned the TV on, I saw one of the towers on fire. I thought it was an accident, but when I saw the second plane coming, I knew it was beyond the scope of an accident,” Kam ex-plained.

“After I left the house, I saw a man on the overpass, waving the American flag,” Kam said.

HonCC Veterans Club President Ryan Yamada, who was a sopho-more in high school at the time of the attacks, told how serving in the military was his dream job as a kid. After he graduated, Yamada joined the armed forces, he looked around at the other recruits; he

knew that each of them under-stood what they were getting themselves into.

“This was not just an attack against America; this was an at-tack on world interest,” Yamada said.

Yamada said he is proud to have been part of the less than 1 percent that answered the call of duty.

A hula was then performed by Harmony Brighter and the hula halau Na Pua Kula Nui O Ke Kai-aulu to the song, “For a Peaceful World.”

The HonCC fire science students followed up the hula by lead-ing the audience in a moment of silence. Flowers and lei were then placed on the memorial by the students and audience members, some of whom had family who were killed in the attacks.

As the flowers and lei were placed, the commemoration ended with Taryn Takebayashi singing “Amazing Grace.”

Ka Lā is the campus newspaper of Honolulu

Community College. Ka Lā publishes 2,000 copies every month during the Spring and

Fall Semesters.

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Publications DirectorJennifer Kakio

Radio/Broadcast DirectorJoel Chasteen

Ka Lā EditorAdina Murakami

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Mike Leidemann

Staff members Ryan Adverderada

Julia Ching Jennifer KakioLeilani Kimura

Adina MurakamiCarlos Quintana Ronald SantosTyler Takamiya Matthew Ursua

September 2011Contact Informationeditor@thekala.net

Student Media Board Building 2, Room 115Phone: (808) 845-9498

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10 years later, we remember

KaLā Photo by Matthew UrsuaAs the ceremony came to a close, students, faculty and others came to the memo-rial to offer flowers, lei and prayers.

Continued from Page 1

KaLā Photo by Ronald Santos HonCC students in the fire science program were in the front row at the remem-brance service to honor the firefighters killed in the 9-11 attacks.

KaLĀ • Honolulu Community College, University of Hawai`i September 2011

KaLā - NEWS

By Ryan AdverderadaKa Lā staff writer

Serving in the military during war time requires a certain type of toughness and self sacrifice. For those who return from their time overseas, transitioning back to civilian life can be difficult. It is with this knowledge that the Honolulu Community College Veterans Club was formed last fall.

Previously, the campus did not have any student organization directed toward military person-nel or veterans. With the urging of English professor Jerry Saviano and Veteran’s Certifying Officer Phillip Akiu, a small group of vets started their own club. The initial club president was Cliff Crenshaw. When Crenshaw decided to move on to the University of Hawaii at

Manoa in the spring of 2011, Ryan Yamada made the choice to step forward and take the lead. Ya-mada, who up until that point had been the club’s vice president, is a veteran of the U.S. Navy.

Yamada took over a fledgling club and has provided direction moving forward. Club partici-pation, which hovers around 10 active members, has been a roller coaster ride. Yamada admits that they struggle to keep an active membership: “It’s tough for our club because we are so specific in what we are doing,” he said.The Veteran’s Club hosts monthly meetings for its members. To maximize participation, the meet-ings are held on both Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The meetings cover the same topics and serve to provide a chance for all club mem-

bers to attend a meeting at their convenience. Yamada went on to say, “the biggest problem we face is that many veterans and military members who attend school here are typically done with classes around mid morning and leave for their jobs or other commitments.”

Yamada receives help from club advisers Scott Parry and Akiu. Re-cruitment is ongoing and the club is exploring possible events.

“We will continue to work with the student government to partici-pate in events as well as meet with incoming students through our Passport to College sessions. We welcome everyone who is con-nected to the military or even sup-ports the military. We are here to make sure our veterans and their families get the education they deserve,” Yamada said.

Club offers support to veterans returning home to college

The fall semester is in full swing, and things are only beginning to heat up. I would first like to thank the students of Honolulu Community Col-lege for coming out to the re-cent Welcome Week and HIV/AIDS testing events put on by your ASUH-HCC student government and Student Life & Development offices. We will continue to put on events that are fun and beneficial for the campus. I would also like to thank faculty members Karen Hastings and Leilani Hinds for their hard work and imagination in putting togeth-er a moving 9/11 ceremony. I was proud to be a part of the commemoration and pleased to see so much support from both the students and admin-istration of Honolulu CC.

In the coming month the ASUH-HCC student gov-ernment will be sponsoring a campus wide food drive to benefit the Hawaii Food Bank. It is my vision to see our campus working together to help the community. Our goal is to raise over 2,000 pounds of food for the Hawaii Food Bank.

We have many events com-ing up over the rest of the school year. Be on the look out and get involved. If any-one would like to volunteer or get involved in any of these events or even get involved with student government, the ASUH-HCC Senate office is located at Building 2, Room 116.

If we are not getting better, we are only getting worse.

Ryan AdverderadaASUH-HCC President(808) 845-9269

9-11 honors,food drive

just the startof fall plans

Regents planning 32 percent increase in CC tuition rates By Carlos QuintanaKa Lā staff writer

Honolulu Community College students could see their tuition go up by as much as 32 percent in the next five years under a proposal being studied by the UH Board of Regents.

Currently all community col-lege students who are residents of Hawaii pay $92 per credit hour. Under the five-year plan being studied by the regents, that could rise to $122 per credit hour by the 2016 school year.

But the increase would come gradually. Next year, for instance, the charge would be an extra $4 per credit hour, or about $60 per semester, for a student who takes an average of 15 credits each se-mester, according to UH officials.

In the following years, the in-creases could add anywhere from $75 to $120 per semester for a full-time resident student. That means students at community colleges in the year 2016 could be paying as about $1,830 per semester in tuition and fees.

UH officials say the increase is

necessary to offset rising costs and declining revenue.

“The modest tuition increases we are proposing are prudent, within the reach of our students, and absolutely critical to our long-term survival,” UH President M.R.C Greenwood said.

Other schools in the UH system will see even bigger increases under the plan.

The top priority for using the

money will be putting more money into financial aid, she said.

A hearing on the increases at Honolulu Community College is scheduled for Sept. 23, 2011 at 2:30 p.m. Please come and voice your opinions and concerns related to the tuition hike.

The UH Board of Regents is expected to take final action on the recommendation to raise tuition rates at a meeting in mid-fall.

University  of  Hawaii  Tui2on  Briefing  

Proposed  Tui2on  Schedule  

$8,765    

$10,262    

$2,981    $3,971    

$0    

$4,000    

$8,000    

$12,000    

2011-­‐12   2012-­‐13   2013-­‐14   2014-­‐15   2015-­‐16   2016-­‐17  

UHCC  NR  

UHCC  Res  

UH  Community  College  Average  Tui2ons  &  Fees  +

Year  One  Dollar  Increase    

Res:  $60/semester(15  cr)                                                                                              NR:  $90/semester  (15  cr)    

KaLā Graphic by YUN Shi LI

3

By Adina MurakamiKa Lā Editor

Originally “Phantom of the Opera” opened in 1986 at the West End in London, England, and won the Olivier Award that same year. It opened on Broadway in 1988 and won a Tony Award for best musical. It has been viewed by more than 100 million people in more than 149 cities in 25 coun-tries over the past 25 years. The show prides itself on being the highest grossing entertainment event of all time. In New York the production grossed $800 million, making it the most financially suc-cessful Broadway show.

Now, “Phantom of the Opera” is playing at the Windward Com-munity College’s Palikū Theater. This show opened Sept. 9 and will have performances through Oct. 16.

Renowned local director Ron Bright noted several challenges in authentically staging the show in the Kaneohe theater. These included the style of the theater itself, as the original stage was set in Paris in 1881, which housed an enormous chandelier, a laby-rinth, a boat and an enormous blue elephant, exquisite costumes and box seats on either side of the stage. All of the issues were not

only expertly addressed in the Windward production but also exceeded expectation.

The set was spectacular, color-

ful and masterfully crafted. It was easy to be immersed in the fantasy of the 1881 Paris Opera House. Skillfully the cast and décor thrust

the audience into the past as the chandelier descended and was elegantly maneuvered over the crowd.

The phantom was played by Miles Wesley, who expressed enough despair to move even the most skeptical critic. His voice radiated a deep sorrowful sound, urging his love, Christina Daaé, played by Lydia E. Pusateri, to surrender to the music and his love. Lydia’s vocal abilities were astonishing and held the audi-ence captive while she vacillated between marrying her child-hood love, Raoul, Vicomte de Chagny, played by Kyle Malis, or yielding to the music and the phantom’sinstruction.

The supporting cast and mu-sic are the heart and soul of this production; without them the performance would be lacking enthusiasm, drama and spirit. The choreography was mesmoriz-ing, and it is easy to see why this performance has been in demand for more than 25 years. It has been 13 years since the last showing the “Phantom of the Opera” in Honolulu, so don’t miss your op-portunity to go see it. Many of the show dates are already sold out, so order your tickets quickly. For more information, go to: http://etickethawaii.com/paliku.html.

KaLā - Features

KaLĀ • Honolulu Community College, University of Hawai`i September 20114

Windward's "Phantom" is a success

The program cover from Windward Community College's "Phantom of the Opera" production.

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KaLā - News

By Jennifer KakioKa Lā staff writer

Honolulu Community College's counselors have always encour-aged students to use STAR, the web-based system that guides students through credit counts and course requirements. This month, counselors campaigned to promote it.

September is Star Month, featur-ing a contest in which students have a chance to not only learn about the STAR tool, but to earn cool prizes like one-semester free campus parking, free auto body car detailing, and gift cards to businesses on campus.

“The purpose of STAR Month is to introduce STAR to students, faculty and staff so that the en-tire HonCC community/ohana supports and encourages use of STAR,” said Marilynn Ito-Won, an HonCC academic counselor.

STAR is an online information system available 24-7 where you can find what courses you have to take next, your GPA, what classes you already took, and most impor-tant of all, how much more you have to do before you graduate.

“Students become self-reliant and empowered as they spend their own time independently

going over their academic journey and plans to com-plete degrees,” said Ito-Won.

STAR has many other features, but the most inter-esting one is the “What If Journey” tool. With this tool, students can figure out the question “what if?” For example, what if a liberal arts student wanted to become an auto body technician? With the “What If Journey” tool, this student could figure out how many of his or her courses would transfer or what kind of classes are needed. This tool gives a sense of direction and time line for the stu-dent’s future. STAR is an essential tool for students to have during their University of Hawaii career, whether they plan on graduating from HonCC or moving on to one of UH’s campuses.

During STAR Month, students

have three ways to qualify to earn some prizes: by seeing a coun-selor during walk-in times at the Native Hawaiian center, appoint-ment, submitting names online (www.honolulu.hawaii.edu/star) for “Name The Stars” contest, or attending the academic planner or scholarship workshops.

The STAR one-on-one sessions can run from 30 minutes to an hour, depending on how much the

student knows. The STAR team recommends to block an hour. If one-on-one is not your thing, there will be two workshops available to all HonCC students that will count toward winning a prize. If you already are a pro at STAR, this would be a great opportunity to learn the new features added on the STAR website.

A new feature that many stu-dents can partake in is the STAR Scholarship tool. Since fall 2010, HonCC has given out $16,650 in scholarships, according to the UH Student Scholarships Awards & Internships website. STAR will even find the best fit scholarship for you. When using the STAR scholarship tab, the STAR team strongly recommends that all students apply for Federal Student Aid (www.FAFSA.gov) before looking for scholarships.

Regardless of whether you are a two-year or four-year student, every student should know how to use STAR. It would be a shame to realize that three of the classes you took last semester don’t count towards your degree. This could all be avoided simply by checking STAR.

College plans are found in the Star KaLĀ • Honolulu Community College, University of Hawai`i September 20115

Hawaiian enrollment climbs; overall total is down By Mathew UrsuaKa Lā staff writer

Honolulu Community College is meeting some of its top goals by getting more Native Hawai-ian students to enroll and hand-ing out more scholarships to all students.

University of Hawaii President M.R.C. Greenwood has said that increasing the number of college graduates by 25 percent by 2015 is one of her top goals and has emphasized the need to include more Native Hawaiian students in that number.

Therefore, HonCC set a goal of having at least 806 of its students being Native Hawaiian by the fall of last year. Instead, more than 1,200 of the students in classes at HonCC that semester identified themselves as Native Hawaiians.

While pleased with that prog-

ress, counselors at the school’s Native Hawaiian Center say that is only half the battle.

“We know that since the [Na-

tive Hawaiian Center] started, Native Hawaiian enrollment went up,” said Native Hawaiian Center counselor Leon Florendo, “but

the number of them graduating hasn’t.”

According to a report from Chancellor Michael Rota in Au-gust, 102 Native Hawaiians were awarded degrees or certificates at the end of 2010. That’s 25 below its goal of 127.

Overall, HonCC’s total enroll-ment decreased slightly (about 2.5 percent) this semester. How-ever, the 4,656 students enrolled at the start of the school year makes us the third largest com-munity college in the system.

Part of the continuing high enrollment at HonCC may be due to the increasing amount of financial assistance available.

In 2009, for instance, 805 students were attending college using Pell Grants. That’s 28 per-cent above the school’s goal, and HonCC hopes to up that number to 1,456 by 2015.

737   743   760   781   806   830   854   880  

950   934  

737   743  

823  

930  

1,222  

500  

600  

700  

800  

900  

1000  

1100  

1200  

1300  

1400  

Fall6   7   8   9   10   11   12   13   14   15  

Goal  

Fall  Enrollment  

HonCC  Na;ve  Hawaiian  Enrollment  

KaLā graphic by YuN Shi LI

By Ronald SantosKa Lā staff writer

Though nothing beats the con-venience of a supermarket when it comes to grocery shopping, there’s something about a farmers’ market that many others prefer. Maybe it’s the closer connection to the produce you buy. Seeing the people who actually grow the fruits and vegetables elicits a feel-ing of comfort, which comes from being able to know your seller and how they get their produce, and learn if they will eventually cut you a deal on some out-of-season mangos.

When you become a regular customer at a supermarket, the clerks may greet you by name. At a farmers’ market, when you be-

come regular, the seller may save you the best of the lot or offer up the occasional freebie.

Along with great service, even-tually you’ll get the sense of a community every morning the farmers’ market operates. That is the goal of the farmers’ market that is held at Honolulu Commu-nity College on Sunday mornings. Its promoters want to make it someday as big as the one at Kapi-olani Community College.

The promoters hope news of this new farmer’s market will spread through the Kalihi area and increase its popularity, bringing more vendors and diversity.

There are already some interest-ing vendors who go there every Sunday. You’ll find unique things from organic honey from Waialua

to homemade smoked meat jerky. These things have become

unique to this market since the vendors operate on such a small scale. The exclusivity of the prod-ucts alone is enough to attract the eye of a potential buyer.

So if you need a place for quality

local produce in the Kalihi area, come down to the front parking lot of Honolulu Community Col-lege. It is open every Sunday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

It is a nice way to stock up on groceries after church or Sunday morning football.

KaLĀ • Honolulu Community College, University of Hawai`i September 2011

KaLā - Activities

6

Announcements

Farmers Market Every Sunday 8 a.m. -1 p.m.

.September is STAR Month. Stop by the Counseling Office or Native Hawaiian Center for more info.

Malama Aina Day: Kahana Val-ley. Fri. Oct. 7, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Oct. 17 is last day to apply for fall graduation.

Oct. 25 is the last day to drop a class with a W grade.

Campus-wide food drive: Oct. 3-21.

Farmers' market comes to campus

KaLā Photo by Jennifer KakioFresh, locally grown fruit and vegetables, homemade jams and drinks are just some of the items available at the new farmers' market on campus.

Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society Alpha Kappa Iota Chapter

Φ Θ Κ

Φ Θ Κ

KaLā - Profiles

By Leilani KimuraKa Lā staff writer

Ever been afraid of public speak-ing? Douglas Raphael sure was until he learned to conquer it. Now, Raphael is a speech profes-sor at Honolulu Community Col-lege helping others overcome their own fears about public speak-ing. And he is co-adviser for the HonCC debate team.

During his college years, Rapha-el took a speech class and was also on a debate team. His personal feeling of the debate team was this: “Being on the debate team in college helped tremendously as far as getting rid of those fears and being more comfortable with expressing different ideas and dif-

ferent points of view.”Raphael,

who is from Long Beach, Calif., came to Hawaii in July 2003 for gradu-ate school. After starting classes at the

University of Ha-waii at Manoa, he

found that majoring in speech was his calling. He also thought that being a speech teacher was a good career path for himself.

After being a teacher’s assistant for a year in the fall of 2004, Ra-phael decided to follow his teach-ing goal completely. His result? He

taught at many different schools such as Kapiolani Community College, Windward Community College, Hawaii Pacific University, University of Hawaii at Manoa, and is now at Honolulu Com-munity College; all in the speech department. He had been teaching at HonCC since the fall of 2005.

Raphael also is the co-adviser for the debate team. After enjoy-ing and learning from his debate years, why wouldn’t he want to go back and teach it to others? The debate team meets up twice a week for practice rounds. In the practice rounds, a topic is given, the debate team is split in two with each side arguing their sup-porting positions, and then the op-posing team has to make a revert.

The debate team also has competi-tions with other schools such as: UH, HPU, WCC and mainland schools who fly to Hawaii for competitions.

Outside of school and debates, Raphael has his own special hob-bies: swimming, surfing, playing tennis, and is currently getting ready to run this year’s Honolulu Marathon.

When asked to give students advice about speaking or just life itself, this is what he said: “Keep at it. Don’t be worried if the first time you try something and it doesn’t go very well. You just gotta keep trying it and keep do-ing it, and it just gets better with time. Almost everything increases with practice.”

KaLĀ • Honolulu Community College, University of Hawai`i September 20117

No debate about it: he helps a lot of students

By Mathew UrsuaKa Lā staff writer

Peter Haliniak’s old job had him wearing a white, double-breasted chef’s uniform and toque. Until December of last year, Haliniak was head chef of Honolulu Com-munity College’s cafeteria.

The university’s budget cuts brought an end to the position Haliniak had held for 3 years, but it didn’t end him. He found work not far away.

Haliniak shows up at 6:30 a.m. wearing a T-shirt and work pants. He’s a janitor in Building 7, and that’s where you’ll find him most days, tidying up on floors three, four and five.

“I’m just thinking about getting my job done,” Haliniak says. That doesn’t mean he’s forgotten what he used to do.

Haliniak was more than a chef. In three years at the cafeteria, he worked with over 100 differ-ent cooks. All of them were high school students at risk of drop-ping out who were recruited by Windward Community College’s Employment Training Center. The culinary program allowed them to earn high school credit. As cooks fed Honolulu Community College, worked toward getting diplomas.

Haliniak first got word that there was a budget problem in late

2009 when the center’s director said ‘things aren’t good,” but he was still “shocked” three months later when it was made official that the Employment Training Center would dissolve. “Everyone was somber that day,” Haliniak said.

“I feel bad for the inner city youth that depend on this,” Halin-

iak said in 2010 “The ones who come here succeed.”

Nearly a year after losing the position, Haliniak still sees former cooks at malls, football games, and on beaches. “The first question I ask them is ‘did you graduate?’” Haliniak said. “And 90 percent of the time, I get a ‘yes, chef.’ ” Haliniak says the best part is that

“they still call me chef.”Unlike his former cooks, Halin-

iak didn’t struggle in high school. “I was an honor student, I had a 3.5 G.P.A., I played four sports,” he said.

College was different. He made it through his junior year at UH-Manoa, but frequent low grades and academic probation, some-thing Haliniak attributes to party-ing too much, made him leave.

Haliniak says he thinks about finishing college, and that the tuition discount afforded him as a UH employee makes it all the more tempting. “My tuition would be really cheap,” he said, “but I have to be here working.”

On Aug. 30, Haliniak auditioned for a chance to host a TV show on Food Network. “I want to share the island flavor with the world,” he said. Haliniak said about 200 others auditioned. He hasn’t got the call yet, but if TV doesn’t work out, Haliniak has a backup plan.

Haliniak says he’s always wanted to open a lunch wagon.

There’s one problem. His janitor’s paycheck doesn’t leave enough to save for the start-up expenses.

Haliniak thinks about his col-lege ambitions often, but there’s one place where he never let him-self do that. “I never think about it when I’m here,” Haliniak said.

Ka La Photo by MATTHEW URSUA

Peter Haliniak works as a HonCC janitor, but still hopes to resume his career as a chef and teacher in Honolulu.

He dreams of cooking, not cleaning

Doug Raphael

By Adina MurakamiKa Lā Editor

It was a hot and balmy after-noon at the end of August. The trade winds hit a lag in the after-noon. Gently, as evening ap-proached, the sun made its jour-ney across the horizon, creating a wake of tangerine, crimson to purple. It was a picturesque view igniting the senses. However, the excitement in the air was gener-ated by the thrilled local fans who support our UH Rainbow Wahine Volleyball team. It was the open-ing night of the season at Stan Sheriff Center on UH-Manoa cam-pus. As a show of support, several different versions of the school’s insignia, in all shapes and sizes, were being sported on a field of dark green by adoring fans.

It was electrifying to watch people mill outside of the Stan Sheriff Center at the will call of-fice, collecting their coveted tickets and discussing the advantages of their seat location. Anxiously wait-ing in line for tickets, fans were discussing the incoming freshmen and what skills they brought to the game. There was quite a bit of talk about Jane Croson, an incoming freshman, No. 11. There was also some discussion of senior Kanani Danielson, No. 5, and her remark-able abilities on the court. Being a novice, I was enthralled with the enthusiasm of the fans and their knowledge of the players.

Ticket in hand, we were escorted to our court-side seats by an usher. Yeah, that’s right. We sat on the court with the team. They were so

close I could al-most imagine my-self in the game. The cheerleaders were within an arm’s length of my seat; exud-ing passion, they reminded me of Energizer bunnies on steroids, shout-ing support and encouragement to the players and the fans. It became apparent that this was a full partici-pation activity. We were not going to be able to sit idly by. We had to actively dodge flying volleyballs during the warm up session, avoid the camera people as they milled about, and watch out for flying Cheerleaders.

Everyone in the building engaged in some portion of the evening. The volleyball players on and off the court played against the other team and also during their time outs, they practiced right in front of us.

The volleyball team was expect-ed to play a flawless game with passion and team spirit, which in turn supported the cheerleaders,

who then in turn, set the fans on fire with games and prizes, throw-ing T-shirts in the air with the Terminator cannon.

Never having experienced a col-lege volleyball game, I was a little hesitant as to how much entertain-

ment this event could yield. I was pleasantly surprised. The Rainbow Wahine created a fan for life. I would strongly encourage you to attend a game or two if you are ever given the opportunity. I know I won’t pass up another chance.

KaLā - Sports

KaLĀ • Honolulu Community College, University of Hawai`i September 20118

By Ronald SantosKa Lā staff writer

When student athletes graduate from high school, they sometimes feel the need to compete again. Sometimes these students want to relive some of the fun they had with friends they graduated with. Some students just want to do something to stay active. Others wish to create new friendships through sports. Whatever the case may be, the UH intramural league

answers the call.Last year Honolulu Community

College sent one team to represent the school in flag football. Word got around, and soon people came flooding into the student life office to get more information on the in-tramural sports. This year, HonCC is offering a full range of sports. from basketball and indoor soccer in the fall to volleyball and softball during the spring semester.

So far, it has been a difficult road putting together a proper system

to get players together and on a roster. However, the students show great enthusiasm towards the fact that they can play in an official league.

“I think it’s a really good ex-perience. My friends from high school were glad to know there were sports available,” said fresh-man Halsein Rioca. Students are signing into www.imleagues.com using their Myuh portal to join premade teams.'

The problem with this is that the

number of teams is limited and people miss the chance to join the intramural league. There is also the problem of not having anyone to send to the team captain’s meet-ing at Manoa, since technically the person who makes the team is the captain.

Ultimately, the goal for this fall intramural season is to introduce students to the Imleagues system, so that they can become familiar with the website and ultimately create their own team at HonCC.

Volleyball fever ignites the fans

Intramural sports catching on in a big way

KaLā Photo by Adina MurakamiThe action on the courts at a UH wahine volleyball game is fast and furious, but there's just as much activity in the stands and sidelines all through the match.