Neighbor Island briefs

Advertiser Staff

UH-Hilo 'promoted' by U.S. magazine

HILO, Hawai'i — University of Hawai'i-Hilo has been promoted to a national liberal arts college by "U.S. News and World Report" magazine, which ranks colleges each year.

The change means UHH will be transferred from the category of western regional college to the listing of the 234 premier liberal arts colleges.

"This is definitely a promotion," said James Cromwell, UHH director of admissions.

The top five colleges ranked last year were Amherst of Massachusetts; Swarthmore of Pennsylvania; Williams College and Wellesley College, both of Massachusetts; and Pomona of California.

UHH had been ranked third among 428 regional colleges in 14 western states in each of the last three years.

Officials publicized that recognition widely in paid advertising and promotional materials.

Sam Flanigan, research analyst for the ratings, said: "UH-Hilo is the only school in Hawai'i classified as a national liberal arts college."

UH-Manoa is placed in a different category among research institutions.

Of the 234 national liberal arts colleges, just 17 are public schools, including Minnesota-Morris and University of North Carolina at Asheville.

UHH's ranking in its new category is expected to be announced in September.

Free play staged at Kaua'i theater

KAPA'A, Kaua'i — Misa Tupou and Dorothy Mane will present the play, "Ola's Son," from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the Kaua'i International Theater in the Kaua'i Village Shopping Center.

The play, an interpretation of a poem by Lisa Kana'e about a shooting incident at a Palolo Valley housing project, is presented by the Pacific and Asian Affairs Council. It is free and open to the public.

Lecture to focus on tribal use of plants

KALAHEO, Kaua'i — Ethnobotanist Ghillean Prance will speak on "The Native Peoples of the Amazon and Their Adaptation to the Forest" in a free public lecture at 6 p.m. tomorrow at the education center at the National Tropical Botanical Garden.

Prance, former director of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, has lived in the Amazon and studied the forest plants that native tribes use. He will review tribal differences in the use of medicines, stimulants and narcotics, arrow and fish poisons, and building materials.

For more information, call Lorna Lopes at 332-7324.

UH-Hilo faculty receive honors

HILO, Hawai'i — A. Didrick Castberg, a senior faculty member at the University of Hawai'i-Hilo, has won the 2001 Board of Regents Award for Excellence in Teaching at UHH.

Castberg, a political science teacher with 27 years on the faculty, was cited for presenting multiple sides to issues and "encouraging students to arrive at independent conclusions," according to selection committee chairman Terrence Jalbert.

Castberg also was recognized for constantly updating course materials.

Also receiving an award was Sue Aki, an affiliate professor of anthropology and women's studies, who was honored as the top instructor/lecturer; and Peter Richard Mills, also an anthropologist, was recognized for excellence in teaching by a junior faculty member.