Behind the Scenes at Kennedy Theatre also A tsunami is coming A plan for Mauna Kea The men behind the H Take a CLOSER Look at Alumni Giving to UH Alumni participation factors heavi- ly in UH’s national rankings. Higher rankings mean attracting more top faculty, obtaining crucial research dollars and making your UH degree more valuable. And most importantly, alumni giving improves the quality of education we offer our students today. Every gift makes a difference – every alumnus can, too. Support your University of Hawai‘i. For more information about how you can make a difference, please contact the UH Foundation at 956-8849 or visit us at www.uhf.hawaii.edu THE LIGHT OF KNOWLEDGE ma¯lamalama Who will be a millionaire? Executive Editor We often hear about the value of education. Joanne E. Clark UH Professor of Economics James Mak has Executive Director, University and Community Relations quantified it. As the graph below illustrates, a Editor typical Hawai‘i resident with a UH bachelor’s Cheryl Ernst degree will earn a million dollars more over his Art Director or her lifetime than a resident with a high school diploma. Complete Rowen Tabusa graduate school and the additional earnings double. It’s not just the Photographer Bob Chinn individual who benefits. Mak’s data illustrates that UH is a major force Copy Editor in Hawai‘i’s economy. For example: Tracy Matsushima ✱ Total UH spending plus spending by students and out-of-state visi- Alumni Editor tors coming to Hawai‘i for University events contributed $1.1 bil- Teri Yanagawa lion in fiscal 1999. UH’s impact on the economy is more than twice that of agriculture; University of Hawai‘i President Earnings by level of educational attainment in Hawai‘i Kenneth P. Mortimer greater than business (projection for an individual age 18 in 1999; adjusted for inflation) Board of Regents services, communi- $70,000 Billy Bergin cations and utilities $60,000 Everett R. Dowling $50,000 UH bachelor’s degree Allan K. Ikawa sectors; and nearly Charles K. Kawakami on par with manu- $40,000 Sat Khalsa $30,000 Donald C. W. Kim facturing. annual earnings high school diploma Bert A. Kobayashi ✱ For every dollar of $20,000 Ah Quon McElrath $10,000 Walter Nunokawa state general funds Nainoa Thompson invested in UH, the $0 UH Economic Impact Study Source: 18 22 26 30 34 38 42 46 50 54 58 62 Sharon R. Weiner age Lily K. Yao University gener- ates another $1.87 of education-related expenditures. Ma¯ lamalama is published twice yearly by the University of Hawai‘i Office of ✱ Tuition pays only a portion of an undergraduate’s education. State University and Community Relations, Bachman Hall 109H, 2444 Dole St., taxpayers kick in more than $58,000 to cover the rest. However, Honolulu, HI 96822. The University of Hawai‘i is an equal opportunity/affir- that student will go on to pay almost $136,000 more in state taxes mative action institution. This publica- than a resident with a high school diploma. tion is available in alternate form for people with print disabilities. ✱ During fiscal 1999, UH expenditures generated $1.6 billion in Change of address? Receiving more business sales, $1.1 billion in household income, $183 million in than one copy? Contact UH Foundation—Ma¯ lamalama, P. O. Box state and local taxes and more than 29,000 jobs. 11270, Honolulu, HI 96828-0270; phone 808 956-8829; or e-mail Mak’s UH Economic Impact Study was commissioned by the Office [email protected]. of Planning and Policy with support from the state Department of Comments or story ideas? Contact Cheryl Ernst, University of Hawai‘i, Business, Economic Development and Tourism. The full report, due Bachman Annex 2, Honolulu, HI 96822; phone 808 956-5941 or e-mail out early this year, is one gauge of the University’s performance. For [email protected]. additional measures, see UH Benchmarks/Performance Indicators Report Want to advertise? Ma¯ lamalama offers competitive rates, with discounts for at www.hawaii.edu/ovppp/assessment/benchmarks. alumni-owned businesses. For informa- tion, call 808 956-8856, fax 808 956- 3441 or e-mail [email protected]. Ma¯ lamalama 1 CONTENTS FEATURES A Tsunami is Coming ........................8 UH scientists work to improve predictions about killer waves Behind the Scenes...........................10 Kennedy Theatre prepares to stage the unstageable Scientists Labor to Prevent Preterm Birth...................................14 UH researchers investigate what causes babies to be born prematurely Astronomy is the Answer ..............16 The Institute for Astronomy director’s world revolves around the stars A Plan for Mauna Kea ....................17 UH Hilo assumes management of an important cultural, natural and scientific resource The Last Best Gift............................18 Participants in the willed body program teach young doctors about healing DEPARTMENTS Front Page .........................................3 Nu¯ hou/news, Launa palapala/correspondence, Po‘e/people, Mo‘o lono/reports Alumni News ...................................20 Class notes, Profiles On the cover: From scale model to actual theatrical sets, students receive hands-on educa- tion at UH Ma¯ noa’s Kennedy Theatre. Stephen Crowell, left, discusses staging for the recent production of La Bête with Professor Joseph D. Dodd. Crowell is working on a master of fine arts in design. Story on page 10. 2 Ma¯ lamalama FRONT PAGE NEWS What would Confucius say? Graduating online hinese language and philosophy ith an overflow crowd expected, UH Ma¯noa’s Cexperts at UH Ma¯noa will team Wspring commencement was the first to be made with computer programmers to make available live via streaming video on the World Wide core classical Chinese texts available Web. If you missed the ceremony or want to order a copy on the Internet. The project, one of of the video, visit www.hawaii.edu/dl/commencement. five nationally funded by the federal Digital Libraries Initiative, will compile Tom Conlon, of the School of Ocean and Earth and digitize 10 Chinese language works, Science and Technology’s Engineering Support Facility, peers through the including sayings of Confucius and Illustration by Billie Ikeda end plate of a drift chamber he Mencius, Daoist writings, folk songs and built in conjunction with physi- poetry, chronicles of 8th–5th century B.C. Chinese sover- cists from UH and Beijing’s eigns and ritual practice and political commentary texts. Institute of High Energy Physics and an O‘ahu engi- A click of the mouse will take users to the dictionary for neering and fabrication meaning and grammar of the terms and to interpretive firm. He also built the literature for an explanation of their philosophical computer-controlled drill press needed to place import, according to project directors and philosophy 24,590 holes in each end- professors Roger Ames and Mary Tiles. plate within a tolerance of .002 inch, about a third Students learn to manage workplace the width of a human conflict hair. In Beijing, the 3,000- pound cylinder will be ommunication strategies for managing on-the-job strung with high-voltage Cconflicts and confrontational situations were the wires, mounted with UH-built focus of a fall course offered by UH’s Spark M. amplifiers, filled with gas and used in a particle collider to gather Matsunaga Institute for Peace. “Violence is more com- data on the fourth quark. Studies of the mon as the stresses of workers and managers interact in subatomic particle may explain why matter pre- both small businesses and large institutions,” notes UHM vailed over antimatter in the early universe. Assistant Professor Bruce Barnes. Hawai‘i is a leader in Honolulu CC one of six Cisco sites establishing mediation practice and workplace dispute resolution systems, and UH is one of only two institutions onolulu CC has been selected as one of only six Cisco in the nation to provide system-wide alternative dispute HTraining Academies in the United States to offer Cisco resolution and mediation services to faculty and staff, he Certified Network Professional training courses. The says. For information on the Matsunaga Institute, visit courses prepare trainees for Cisco career certification to www.hawaii.edu/uhip. meet the growing demand for computer networking experts. Honolulu CC will be responsible for training in A keiki-style atlas the Pacific/Asia region. Cisco Academies in UH ot on the heels of Sonia and Community Colleges train high school teachers in the use HJames Juvik’s popular Atlas and implementation of high technology computer net- of Hawai‘i is a companion vol- working systems. In June, about 75 of their students were ume for children, the Student the first graduates to receive Cisco training in high school. Atlas of Hawai‘i (Bess Press). Thinking globally Edited by the Juviks and fellow UH Hilo geographer Thomas he new Globalization Research Center at Ma¯noa will Paradise (at the urging of Tmap globalization’s impacts, create a related curricu- UHM’s Hawai‘i Geographic lum and study health issues in a global context, says Alliance Coordinator Mary Frances Higuchi), Director Deane Neubauer, professor of political science. the book presents words, pictures, graphs and maps with The center will build a cadre of scholars to conduct re- the help of personable guides ‘Alala¯ the crow and Mo‘o search on topics from strategic, cultural and environ- the gecko. It sells for $8.95, with discounts available for mental issues to human rights, labor and agriculture. classroom sets. Established under a $1 million grant administered by the U.S. Department of Education, the center will take the Ma¯ lamalama 3 lead on the Asia/Pacific region and collaborate with The real story of the 2000 election George Washington University for Europe and West Asia, Editor’s note: With the final outcome of the presidential UCLA for Africa and the University of South Florida for race still undetermined at press time, UH Hilo Professor of the Caribbean and Latin America.