On Campus
High-tech screen plans eerie debut
By Jennifer Hiller
Advertiser Education Writer
It's not exactly a rock concert, but you'd better line up if you want to see this show.
Children and adults can get their first peek at Windward Community College's new Imaginarium tomorrow night at a Halloween Ghost Show.
The $4 million high-tech theater makes its public debut with a dizzying display of ghosts, goblins and creepy music.
Guests can tilt back in their chairs and enjoy a spectacle of technology and creativity. The roller-coaster effects might make you clutch your stomach, but your kids will eat it up.
Other activities include a display of artfully carved jack-o-lanterns, treat bags for keiki, storytelling and costumed characters from the drama department. Luminaries will light the way along the entrance to WCC and the path to the imaginarium.
Tours of the Aerospace
Exploration Lab can teach kids the principles of flight or show them how much they would weigh on the moon, Mars and Jupiter.
The Halloween Ghost Show and the Imaginarium itself is the brainchild of astronomy professor Joe Ciotti, director of the Imaginarium and Halloween fanatic.
"It's a real family night," Ciotti said. "I've been wanting to do this forever. I love Halloween. I'm really excited to see how this is going to be received by the kids."
Designed for both campus and community use, the Imaginarium projects computerized images onto its 40-foot dome. "It can function as a planetarium," Ciotti said.
Tickets go on sale at 5 p.m. tomorrow at the Imaginarium ticket booth. Entrance is $1 for children 12 years and under (the show is suitable for all ages), $2 for general admission.
The 15-minute show starts at 6:40, 7, 7:20, 7:40 and 8 p.m. Youngsters and the young at heart are invited to come in costume.
For more information, call the Aerospace Exploration Lab at 235-7321.
After Halloween, the Imaginarium will be used to teach everything from astronomy and Polynesian voyaging to history and biology. Students can learn how to navigate by the stars or take a trip inside a living cell. "We can take you down to Tahiti," Ciotti said. "We can take you back in time 1,000 years, when the Polynesians sailed."
School groups are welcome to visit on field trips, he said.
In January the Imaginarium will start a series of public shows on topics ranging from flight to oceanography.
• • •
The University of Hawai'i Professional Assembly gave $100,000 to the Hawai'i Foodbank yesterday.
Alex Malahoff, union president, said the group took money from its strategic reserves because it believes the state is facing an unprecedented crisis. Foodbank resources have been stretched as a growing number of residents face emergency needs because of layoffs resulting from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
UHPA is also asking its 3,000 members on the 10 university campuses to donate $100,000 over the next month, Malahoff said.
Dick Grimm, Hawai'i Foodbank president, said each dollar donated provides $20 worth of food to families in need, making UHPA's generosity a gift worth $2 million to the community.
Reach Jennifer Hiller at jhiller@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8084.
