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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Thursday, December 14, 2006

Winners of safety essays announced

Advertiser Staff

Four high school students — three of them from Moanalua High School — have been named winners of the fourth annual safety essay contest sponsored by the Hawai'i Chapter, Honolulu Association of Insurance Professionals. The contest hopes to make students aware of the dangers of speeding or using drugs or alcohol.

The winners include:

  • First place and $150: Lauren Cronin, 12th-grader at Moanalua High, with the essay "Grandpa."

  • Second place and $100: Samantha House, ninth-grader at Campbell High School, with the essay "Just a Sip of Poison."

  • Third place and $75: Sin U Mok, 11th-grader at Moanalua High, with the essay "Racing Lives."

  • Fourth place and $50: Janelle Papin, ninth-grader at Moanalua High, with the essay "To Drink or Not to Drink: That is the question."

    The winners were among a field of 76 entrants. The contest was open to all public school students in grades 9 to 12.

    The insurance group is a nonprofit organization affiliated with the National Association of Insurance Women.

    INDIGENOUS FORUM ON SOCIAL WORK SET

    The University of Hawai'i School of Social Work was awarded a $51,207 grant from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs to assist in the planning and hosting of the 2007 conference, "Indigenous Voices in Social Work: Not Lost in Translation," planned for June 4 to 7, 2007, at the Makaha Resort in Makaha Valley.

    This inaugural conference has attracted the attention of indigenous practitioners, scholars and researchers from North America, Canada and Hawai'i and from Asian and Pacific Island countries such as Aotearoa, Australia, Fiji, Guam, Malaysia and Taiwan.

    Organizers hope the conference will address the importance of indigenous and cultural processes in reshaping the conventional research, education and practice of social work.

    The conference represents the culmination of two years of planning by the School of Social Work's kupuna council, educators and researchers, as well as Hawaiian social workers, cultural practitioners and indigenous social work leaders from around the globe.

    COMMENCEMENT AT UH IS SUNDAY

    Nearly 1,600 undergraduate and graduate students will receive degrees when the University of Hawai'i-Manoa holds its fall semester commencement exercises at 9 a.m. Sunday at the Stan Sheriff Center.

    Albert Wendt, the Citizen's Chair in the UH-Manoa English Department, will be the keynote speaker for the ceremony. Wendt is a distinguished writer in residence through 2008 and has five novels, three collections of short stories and four volumes of poetry to his credit.

    Representing the graduating class as student speaker is Ruthchelle Melchor of Kaua'i.

    Doors open at 8 a.m., and the event is free and open to the public. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. Free parking will be available in the lower campus parking structure.

    STUDENTS TO URGE DRIVER AWARENESS

    Students at 'Aina Haina Elementary School will urge motorists to slow down during a Hot Spots sign-waving event along Hind Drive, in front of the school, today from 7 to 8 a.m.

    School administrators and faculty have been growing increasingly concerned about the safety of their students as they walk to and from school. More than 150 students, parents, teachers and staff will join AIG Hawaii volunteers and the Honolulu Police Department during the event.

    AIG Hawaii Hot Spots is a grassroots speed-awareness program that helps schools remind drivers to slow down and watch for kids, especially in school zones.