Models wear pieces from the Lock and Key collection by Honolulu Community College student designer Rose Wolfe (photo by Jason Oshiro)

As the spring semester comes to an end, fashion design programs at University of Hawaiʻi campuses across the state are celebrating with fashion shows highlighting the collections by student designers.

The Fashion Technology program at Honolulu Community College and the Apparel Product Design and Merchandising program at UH Mānoa offer their fashion shows the last weekend in April. The Fashion Technology program at UH Maui College held its fashion show on April 21.

The annual events are highly anticipated by industry professionals and showcase the work of students in the academic degree programs that prepare them for careers in apparel and fashion related fields.

Honolulu Community College’s Le Reve (The Dream)

Honolulu Community College’s annual event showcases the designs of the program’s graduating seniors. This year’s show is titled Le Reve (The Dream) and will be held on Saturday, April 28, 7:30 p.m. at the college’s Marine Education and Training Center.

Read more about the show and the designers in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser (subscription required), or see a sneak peek of the fashions in MidWeek.

UH Mānoa’s Revolution

UH Mānoa’s 46th annual fashion show will take place on Sunday, April 29, 6:30 p.m. on the lawn fronting Hawaiʻi Hall on the Mānoa campus.

The show will feature eight senior collections, one junior collection and three collaborative collections, including Goodwill Goes Green garments designed by the students with materials provided by Goodwill Industries of Hawaiʻi, one of the sponsors of this year’s show.

Read more about the show and the designers in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser (subscription required).

UH Maui College’s Muse(ic)…the Sound of Fashion!

With music as the theme for this year’s show, UH Maui College students chose a musical genre for their inspiration, ranging from classical music to classic rock and roll, and even electronic.

See some of the UH Maui College student designs featured in Maui Now or watch a short video clip of the show below.

Some ingredients used in the Hawaiʻi Community College and UH Hilo “Local First” program menus come from the Hawaiʻi Community College garden maintained by students.

Hawaiʻi Community College and the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo have partnered together on Local First, a new initiative that aims to support the development of farms and the agricultural industry on Hawaiʻi Island by maximizing consumption of produce, meats and other locally grown and/or manufactured products.

To showcase the high quality and variety of local products available, the dining facilities at UH Hilo and Hawaiʻi Community College, both in Hilo and Kona, are currently featuring a 100 percent Local First lunch special once a month through April 18.

The Local First specials are available in the Hawaiʻi Community College’s Manono Campus Cafeteria, the college’s culinary arts program restaurant Bamboo Hale, and at the University of Hawaiʻi Center, West Hawaiʻi in Kealakekua.

Currently, 50–60 percent of the products used by the campuses are locally grown, depending on weather and climate. Island grown, grass-fed beef in hamburgers are used daily.

The effort is not only an attempt to support local farmers and providers, but it’s also an educational opportunity for students. The concept is incorporated into the curriculum for Hawaiʻi Community College’s culinary arts program. Students are planning, preparing and delivering a meal with 100 percent locally grown ingredients while also learning the nutritional, sustainable and economic benefits of utilizing local ingredients and products directly as part of their coursework.

Some of the ingredients used also come from right outside the back door of the Manono Campus Cafeteria where students in the college’s Hawaiʻi Life Styles program maintain a beautiful garden of sugar cane, taro, sweet potato and many herbs.

Learn more about the Local First program as highlighted last month in Hawaii Tribune-Herald.

Dates and menus for the Local First lunch specials are posted online for the Manono Campus Cafeteria (PDF), Bamboo Hale (PDF), and UH Center, West Hawaiʻi.

U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor (used with permission)

U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor spent a week in Hawaiʻi as part of the Jurist-in-Residence program at the William S. Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.

During her visit to the law school, she taught classes, judged a Moot Court practice and met with faculty and students.

Founded in 1987 and sponsored since 2000 by the Honolulu law firm of Case Lombardi & Pettit, the Jurist-in-Residence program brings Supreme Court Justices to the law school to meet with students and faculty, as well as members of the Hawaiʻi State Judiciary and the Hawaiʻi State Bar Association.

Read the law school’s news release recapping Sotomayor’s week-long visit and highlights in the law school newsletter, Ke Kula Kānāwai.

News coverage of her visit to Hawaiʻi include Honolulu Civil Beat, Ka Leo and Pacific Business News.

Editor’s note: Photographs associated with this post are the property of the William S. Richardson School of Law and may not be used in association with fundraising or in any way that might suggest endorsement. Permission must be sought for any other use.

Rebecca Cann in 1988

In 1987, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Professor of Cell and Molecular Biology Rebecca Cann and two colleagues gained widespread attention for identifying an ancestral mother of all living humans.

Working then at the University of California, Berkeley, Cann, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology geneticist Mark Stoneking and the late Allan Wilson, found a genetic marker in mitochondrial DNA passed on from a single female ancestor who lived in Africa some 150,000–200,000 years ago.

The report was greeted with some skepticism from the academic as well as religious communities, but it ultimately provided support for the Recent African Origin model of human evolution, which holds that modern humans evolved just once, most likely in East Africa.

Marililneal ancestor tree, from Wikimedia Commons

Previously, anthropologists hypothesized that Homo erectus departed Africa two million years ago and evolved independently in different regions.

Cann and Stoneking recall the challenges of 1980s research and computing methods–and explain why the term “Mitochondrial Eve” is a bit of a misnomer–in a 109.com interview marking the 25th anniversary of the paper.

Read the interview, posted January 27 in 109.com, and an accompanying article about the research by Cann, Stoneking and Wilson.

Also see an earlier article about Cann and her research in PLoS Genetics.

Access the original Nature paper.

Go West! Not only is that what many hope will happen when the University of Hawaiʻi—West Oʻahu opens the doors to its new campus in August 2012, but it’s also the title of West Oʻahu’s first campus magazine.

Launched this month to reach out to the community and encourage alumni to reconnect with the campus, Go West! features gorgeous photography and in-depth articles on West Oʻahu programs and students.

Articles in the January 2012 issue include

• Digging for the Truth—UH West Oʻahu students and faculty uncover important lessons at the Honouliuli Internment and Prisoner of War Camp
• Tale of Two Dans—How UH West Oʻahu connected Rufino “Dan” Magliba with Hawaiʻi’s senior senator
• Give me Shelter—A degree opens doors for a young mother and her daughter on the verge of homelessness
• Field of Dreams—A sneak peek at UH West Oʻahu’s exciting new campus

Published in partnership with PacificBasin Communications, the inaugural issue of the magazine was distributed through the January issues of Hawaii Business and HONOLULU magazines. An additional 4,000-plus copies have been sent directly to UH West Oʻahu alumni.

View the Go West! digital print edition.

Translational Health Science Simulation Center

A new state-of-the-art, $8 million simulation center debuts this month at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa that will put the School of Nursing and Dental Hygiene on the map as a leader in the use of simulation in healthcare education.

The UH Translational Health Science Simulation Center in Webster Hall on the Mānoa campus will serve as a campus hub for interdisciplinary health science research, simulation and research education. Students, educators, practicing healthcare providers and researchers will be able to utilize the simulation and learning laboratory.

Read more about the center in this week’s MidWeek cover story.

Virtual Tour and Interactive Map

The UH Translational Health Science Simulation Center website features a virtual tour and interactive map of the facility. See an introduction of the center in the video below and visit the website for similar videos explaining the different rooms and facilities in the center.

Article updated on January 13, 2012.

It’s been an eventful week in University of Hawaiʻi athletics news. The Rainbow Wahine volleyball team prepares to take on the top-ranked University of Southern California in their quest to reach the Final Four, while the retirement of Greg McMackin leads to a search for a new UH head football coach.

UH in the News for the week of 12/05/11

Dave Shoji

Greg McMackin

In Hawaiʻi, volleyball reigns supreme [espnW.com, 12/08/11] As the Rainbow Wahine get ready to take on USC in the regional semifinals of the NCAA volleyball tournament, espnW.com takes a look at Hawaiʻi’s legendary women’s volleyball program and iconic coach Dave Shoji.

UH search committee formed to find McMackin’s replacement [Hawaiʻi News Now, 12/07/11] With Greg McMackin announcing his retirement earlier this week, a six-member search advisory committee is formed to screen candidates and make recommendations for a new UH head football coach. [Honolulu Star-Advertiser (subscription required) | Pacific Business News]

McMackin remembered as a force for student athletes [KHON 2, 12/05/11] Despite his shortcomings on the gridiron, which included a 29-25 overall record and only one winning season in four years, University of Hawaiʻi head football coach Greg McMackin is being hailed as a game changer when it comes to academic success. [More on McMackin's retirement in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser (subscription required) | KITV 4 | ESPN | USA Today]