Ka`u News Briefs Friday August 9, 2013

Eight-man football is coming to Ka`u High School. The fast-paced higher scoring game has fewer defensive players. It is popular  in such rural, small-school states as Oklahoma where this photo was taken. Photo from Grand Lake Business Journal

EIGHT-MAN FOOTBALL is the plan for Ka`u High School this year after cancellation of the traditional season of regular Big Island Interscholastic Federation football play. The decision was made after considering the possibility of the Ka`u team joining the Kea`au football team, which would have meant long distance travel just to practice. That idea went nowhere, said Athletic Director Kalei Namohala.

Kalei Namohala

     The eight-man season will bring the opportunity for Trojans to travel off-island to play the eight-man team at Moloka`i High School. Kamehameha High School in Kea`au and Kealakehe High in Kona have also offered to provide some play for  Ka`u with their jayvee teams. Should other small schools like Pahoa and Kohala field eight-man teams next year, for example, there could be an island league which could play other leagues like one already established in Maui County. With three leagues statewide, there could be an official state playoff as there are in a number of other states across the country.
     Eight-man football has fewer defensive players, more running and passing and higher scoring games. It requires exceptional endurance and skills for which the Ka`u High players have been building with their summer of working out, said Namohala. She said that the community and the players can witness exciting eight-man football action on You Tube from such rural, small-school states like Oklahoma where it has become very popular.
     Bringing eight-man football to Ka`u will require fundraising to pay for the team's travel expenses, which supporters attending this week's community meeing on the subject said they could accomplish.
It also requires some new fees for the new sport and other logistics, Namohala said.
     The reason for canceling the regular football season, according to the Athletic Director, is that Ka`u could not come up with the 30 required players to field an 11-man team. Also the risk of injuries, with Ka`u's small number of team members playing both offense and defense, and the risk of a number of players not making academic requirements could lead to forfeiting games - there is a $1,600 fine for each away game and a $100 fine for each home game, which the school can not afford, Namohala said. To comment on or “Like” this story, go to https://www.facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Postdoctoral Fellow Brandy Nalani McDougall, Ph.D. with mentor Chrisina Bacchilega, Ph.D.

FIVE NATIVE HAWAIIAN SCHOLARS recently came to Ka`u to launch a year of academic study and writing through the Kohala Center’s Mellon-Hawai`i Doctoral and Postdoctoral Fellowship Program. The year began with a weekend of presentations and discussions at Pahala Plantation House. The fellows receive scholarly, peer, and financial support for 2013-2014 to produce original research and to advance their academic careers. The research focuses on Hawaiian literary, language, pedagogical, and political topics. Doctoral fellows receive $40,000 each, and postdoctoral fellows receive $50,000 each. Each fellow works with a mentor, who is a leader in the fellow’s field of research. The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and The Kohala Center established the fellowship program with support from Kamehameha Schools.

Doctoral Fellow Iokepa Casumbal-Salazar (r) with mentor Noenoe Silva, Ph.D.

     Since 2008, the Mellon-Hawai‘i Fellowship Program has assisted 25 doctoral and postdoctoral scholars early in their academic careers. “We are delighted and honored to support the work of Hawai‘i’s finest thinkers and writers,” said Dr. Matthews Hamabata, executive director of The Kohala Center and senior support staff to the Mellon-Hawai‘i Fellowship Program. “The Mellon-Hawai‘i Fellows have successfully established themselves as intellectual and educational leaders from Hawai‘i—for Hawai‘i and the world.”
     Eomailani Kukahiko’s dissertation examines the experiences of mathematics teachers working in Hawaiian educational settings who successfully integrate Hawaiian language and culture into their curricula. She is being mentored by Joseph Zilliox, Ph.D., Professor at the Institute for Teacher Education in the College of Education at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa.

Doctoral Fellow Kaiwipuni Lipe (r) with mentor Maenette Ah Nee-Benham, Ed.D

     Bryan Kuwada’s research focuses on the impact that translations had on Hawaiian history and the conveyance of that history today, as well as contemporary translation standards. His mentor is Craig Howes, Ph.D., Director of the Center for Biographical Research and a Professor in the Department of English at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa.
     Kaiwipuni Lipe’s dissertation examines how the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa can achieve its strategic goal of becoming a Hawaiian place of learning. Her mentor is Maenette Ah Nee-Benham, Ed.D., Dean of the Hawai‘inuiākea School of Hawaiian Knowledge at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa.

Doctoral Fellow Eomailani Kukahiko (r) with mentor Joseph Zilliox, Ph.D.

    Iokepa Casumbal-Salazar’s research analyzes the politics of astronomy-related development on Mauna Kea, the debates surrounding the planned eight-acre, eighteen-story Thirty-Meter Telescope (TMT), and the legal opposition to continued development on the mountain. His mentor is Noenoe K. Silva, Ph.D., Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa.
     Postdoctoral Fellow Brandy Nālani McDougall’s monograph examines the continuity of the practice of kaona, a term often translated as “hidden meaning,” within contemporary Native Hawaiian Literature. She is being mentored by Cristina Bacchilega, Ph.D., Professor in the Department of English at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa .
     The panel of senior scholars and kūpuna who assisted The Kohala Center in selecting this year’s cohort are: 

Panel Chair, Robert Lindsey, Jr., member, Board of Directors, The Kohala Center, and Trustee, Office of Hawaiian Affairs; 
Panel Executive Advisor, Dr. Shawn Kana‘iaupuni, director, Public Education Support Division, Kamehameha Schools; 
Dr. Dennis Gonsalves, former executive director, Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Center and

Doctoral Fellow Bryan Kuwada (l) with mentor Craig Howes, Ph.D.

Professor Emeritus, Cornell University; 
Dr. Pualani Kanahele, distinguished professor, Hawai‘i Community College and member, Board of Directors, the Edith Kanaka‘ole Foundation; and 
Dr. James Kauahikaua, scientist-in-charge, U.S. Geological Survey Hawaiian
     The Kohala Center’s Circle of Friends is welcome to attend a public presentation of the fellows’ work on Saturday, November 9, 2013 at the Sheraton Kona Resort & Spa at Keauhou Bay. To RSVP or to learn about membership in The Kohala Center’s Circle of Friends, please contact Cortney Okumura at cokumura@kohalacenter.org or 808-887-6411. See more on The Kohala Center at www.kohalacenter.org. To comment on or “Like” this story, go to https://www.facebook.com/kaucalendar.
EAST KA`U SENATOR JOSH GREEN told panelists and viewers last night that he will support the new Health Care Connector insurance program that goes into effect Oct. 1, through continued backing in the state legislature where he chairs the senate health committee.  The Hawai`i Health Care Connector was formed through state legislation to provide and online health insurance exchange - an online  portal for Hawai`i residents, agencies and small businesses to buy health insurance.  It will work something like on-line shopping sites. Publicity on the new systems is expected to lead up to the launch in October, said Coral Andrews, Executive Director of Hawai`i Health Connector. The first enrollment will be from Oct. 1 through March.

Dr. Josh Green, West Ka`u's state senator, with Dr. Ginny Pressler on Insights on PBS Hawai`i last night.

     Green said the Hawai`i Health Care Connector  exchange is a "living organism" that will make adjustments over the first few years and also announced that a new health care insurer is entering into the health insurance market in Hawai`i. He said there are about 100,000 people who need to be insured in Hawai`i who currently have no insurance. He said that the changes in the health care system include driving care toward prevention and keeping healthy to reduce people being treated when they are very sick in the emergency rooms.
     Green said that Hawai`i has been lucky to have some of the best comprehensive health insurance coverage in the country. He said, however, that some people might want less coverage at lower rates, particularly younger, healthy people who do not make much money yet. See the entire discussion, which aired on Insights on PBS Hawai`i at www.pbshawaii.org/ourproductions/insight.php.  To comment on or “Like” this story, go to https://www.facebook.com/kaucalendar.
MAUNA LOA SOUTHWEST RIFT will be explored on Saturday hike, from 9 a.m.m to 1 p.m. in the Kahuku Unit of Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park.. Travel Upper Palm Trail and see geological features of eruptions of the Southwest Rift Zone. Call 985-6011.