Haunani Apoliona, chairperson of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, will receive the National Education Association's Ellison S. Onizuka Memorial Award as part of the Association's 42nd Human and Civil Rights Awards Dinner to be held in July in Washington, D.C.

NEA's Onizuka Memorial Award is presented for distinguished leadership in education and honors an individual whose activities have made significant improvements in educational opportunities and advanced the achievement of equal opportunity for Asians and Pacific islanders.

Apoliona has lobbied extensively for the passage of the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act (also known as the Akaka bill) in Congress. The legislation would recognize Native Hawaiians as an aboriginal, indigenous native people whose ancestors exercised sovereignty over the lands and areas that subsequently became part of the United States.

UH-WEST O'AHU TAKING APPLICANTS THROUGH AUG. 1

The University of Hawai'i- West O'ahu will be accepting applications for the fall 2008 semester through Aug. 1.

Classes for the semester begin Aug. 25. Financial aid and scholarship opportunities are still available, UH-West O'ahu officials said.

For information on financial aid and scholarship opportunities, call 454-4700, visit www.uhwo.hawaii.edu/applyfinancial or www.uhwo.hawaii.edu/scholarship, or e-mail finaid@uhwo.hawaii.edu.

RELIGION-POLITICS TALK AT EAST-WEST

Journalists from around the world will talk about how religion affects politics at a seminar June 27 at the East-West Center in Manoa.

The event will feature journalists from India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan and across the United States. It is sponsored by the East-West Center, the Pacific and Asian Affairs Council, the Honolulu Community-Media Council and others.

The cost is $20 for members of sponsoring organizations or $22 for nonmembers. The conference fee includes lunch.

RSVP by June 24.

The talk will be held in the Hawai'i Imin International Conference Center.

For more information, call 944-7111 or e-mail ewcinfo@eastwestcenter.org. More information is also available at www.eastwestcenter.org.

2 STUDENTS GIVEN NATIONAL AWARDS

The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards recently recognized two Hawai'i students. They are Kamehameha Schools Kapalama senior Jacqueline Ho and Hawai'i Preparatory Academy eighth-grader Megan Nakahara.

Ho was was named Hawai'i's top high school youth volunteer for 2008. For the past seven years, she has dedicated a significant amount of time to the Special Olympics as a volunteer.

Nakahara garnered honors as the state's top middle school volunteer of the year. She played a key role in a monitoring project that collected data on Hawaiian green sea turtles and raised awareness about the plight of the endangered species.

Honorees gathered in Washington, D.C., for a gala awards ceremony at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History.