KALEOT H E V O I C E

WEDNESDAY, April 2 to THURSDAY, April 3, 2014VOLUME 109 ISSUE 69 www.kaleo.orgServing the students

of the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa.

H E V O I C E

WEDNWEDNESDAESDAY, AY, Aprilpril 2 t2 to THo THURSDURSDAY,AY, ApriApril 3,l 3, 20120144VOLUME 109 ISSUE 69 www.kaleo.orgServing the students

of the University y of Hawai‘i at Maa ānoa.

$

$

$

$$

$

$5 The university's

price for a greener world

ALOHAN I G H T SAFTER HOURS GUIDE

FLIP TO MIDDLE

NewsPage 2 | Ka Leo | Wednesday, April 2 2014 Twitter @kaleoohawaii | news@kaleo.org | Noelle Fujii Editor | Fadi Youkhana Associate

NOELLE FUJII

News Editor

If students want a fee that will fund their green initia-tives to be implemented by fall 2015, the Board of Regents needs to pass the proposal by fall 2014. The student sustainability fund seeks to create a fi nan-cial means for supporting sustainable education, student initiatives, programs, research and engagement. Antonia Agbannawag, member of the Student Sustainabil-ity Coalition of Hawai‘i/Hui Haumāna Mālama Hawai‘i, said the fee would occur like a student health fee and athletic fee. “We envision the (student sustainability fund) to be stu-dent controlled – a fund that students have access to and a fund that a committee of students and carefully selected faculty will preside over,” she said. Agbannawag is the chairwoman of the SSCH’s policy and advocacy committee, which is spearheading the initiative. Each campus would manage their own fees, but cur-rently, the committee is researching and determining what the structure and process of that committee and funding process might be. “We want to make sure it’s done right, and we want to make sure that it’s inclusive of everyone else because it’s the system,” Agbannawag said. “We’re still one UH.”

A ʻMINIMALʼ FEE According to Agbannawag, the committee is think-ing of $5 as the initial cost. “That’s pretty minimal, but with everyone putting that fee forward, that’s a lot,” Agbannawag said. “That’s a big pot of money.” She said that with the Board of Regents’ adoption of the sus-tainability policy, sustainability is now an institutional goal. “As the University of Hawai‘i system faces revenue shortfalls and budget cuts, funding for sustainability ef-forts is diffi cult to secure,” she said. Student Regent Jeffrey Acido thinks the spirit of the fee is to be able to implement the vision of a sustainable system and campus. “I hope students are able to see this not as an added fee but an incentive to create a greener campus,” he said. The fee would save a lot of money for the university, accord-ing to Agbannawag, as it doesn’t have a lot of money at hand to work on many of the sustainability issues.

“We’ve been researching a lot into that, and we’ve found that there’s about a 20 to 50 percent return on investment and mitigating those costs for the universities because there’s so much good progress that comes of this invest-ment,” Agbannawag said. According to Interim Associate Vice President for Stu-dent Affairs Jan Javinar, the process of getting a student fee implemented includes “proof of a need, preliminary budget plans, preliminary operational plans and proof of

consultation of students, including discussions with the two student governments, ASUH and GSO.” He said a proposal in the form of an Action Memo to the Board of Regents would also be required, along with a consulta-tion with the Mānoa Fee Advisory committee for this campus. He said other campuses may or may not have this step.

STUDENTS HAVE CONTROL The fee would be applied toward all students in the system, and all members, groups and departments can apply for funds. According to Agbannawag, proposals must meet the requirement that use of funds benefi ts students and facili-tates student leadership. The SSCH committee has begun to develop criteria for proj-ects applying for funding. A student-fi lled committee at each campus will meet and see if applications pass the initial criteria. If the applications pass the criteria, they move on to the deciding board. Agbannawag said the Associated Students of the Univer-sity of Hawai‘i and the Graduate Student Organization of each campus that has one will appoint a graduate and undergraduate representative, who are not members of these governing bodies, to be on a decision-making board. That board of delegates would have the fi nal say in what’s funded and how much funding is given by identifying which, of all projects that meet the criteria, are most important. “This is because the fee is across the board, and it reinforces

that our sustainability efforts are all connected and working to-ward the same goals,” Agbannawag said. “It fosters coordination and cooperation across all campuses and brings multiple per-spectives to a decision.” Acido said he is supportive of fees that are student-led and managed. Richard Mizusawa, president of ASUH, thinks it makes sense for students to play a major role in the implementation and decision-making of where funds go that will help UH move toward being a sustainable place for students. But, he thinks it would require some administrative or advisory oversight to en-sure the SSCH is held accountable for the actions it takes while being in charge of student fee monies. “I would recommend having staff or advisers be a part of the board, to serve as advisers on best practices, liaisons to the university administration and to provide a different per-spective on decisions,” he said. Mizusawa said ASUH is not currently active in the fee’s im-plementation and has not yet taken a stance on the matter, but he is open to seeing what ASUH can do to help address the needs of its constituency by working with the SSCH on their next steps in going into the future. According to Thomas Robinson, president of GSO, the grad-uate student government also hasn’t taken a position on the fee, as GSO has yet to hear of it. But he thinks the university and state should be working on greening projects. “The students shouldn’t have to fund environmentally friendly improvements to the campus,” he said. “That is the job of the university. It makes no sense for us to fund campus im-provements. I think it’s more important for students to lobby the Board of Regents and the chancellors on each campus to encour-age them to do the right thing instead of charging students for campus improvements.”

RECE IVING STUDENT INPUT The SSCH will be sending out a survey in the near future to see what students think about a student sustainability fund. “The ultimate goal of the survey in the big picture is just to be able to say, ‘Yes this many students support and they support this specifi cally and they want this out of it specifi cally,’ so we can also curtail our plan to exactly what students are asking for,” Agbannawag said. Students will also be able to give input on the amount of the fee.

I hope students are able to see this not as an added fee but an incentive to create a greener campus. JEFFREY ACIDO

Student coalition strives to implement sustainability fee

$ $$JIAJIA LI / KA LEO O HAWAI‘I

Ka Leo O Hawai‘iUniversity of Hawai‘i at Mānoa

2445 Campus RoadHemenway Hall 107Honolulu, HI 96822

Newsroom (808) 956-7043Advertising (808) 956-7043Facsimile (808) 956-9962E-mail kaleo@kaleo.orgWebsite www.kaleo.org

EDITORIAL STAFFEditor in Chief Bianca Bystrom Pino Managing Editor Joseph Han Chief Copy Editor Kim ClarkAssoc Chief Copy Editor Wesley BabcockDesign Editor Roselle JulianAssociate Design Editor Lilian ChengNews Editor Noelle FujiiAssoc News Editor Fadi YoukhanaCity Editor Alex BitterFeatures Editor Brad DellAssoc Features Editor Nicolyn CharlotOpinions Editor Doorae Shin Assoc Opinions Editor Kristen BonifacioSports Editor Joey RamirezAssoc Sports Editor Hayley MusashiComics Editor Nicholas SmithPhoto Editor Jessica HomrichAssoc Photo Editor Shane GraceWeb Specialist Blake Tolentino Web Editor Joanne HayagWeb Editor Robert Chang

Ka Leo O Hawai‘i is the campus newspa-per of the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. It is published by the Board of Publications three times a week except on holidays and during exam periods. Circulation is 10,000. Ka Leo is also published once a week dur-ing summer sessions with a circulation of 5,000. Ka Leo is funded by student fees and advertising. Its editorial content reflects only the views of its writers, reporters, columnists and editors, who are solely responsible for its content. No material that appears in Ka Leo may be reprinted or republished in any medium without permission. The first news-stand copy is free; for additional copies, please visit Ka Leo. Subscription rates are $50 for one semester and $85 for one year. ©2012 Board of Publications.

ADMINISTRATIONThe Board of Publications, a student organization chartered by the Uni-versity of Hawai‘i Board of Regents, publishes Ka Leo O Hawai‘i. Issues or concerns can be reported to the board (Rebekah Carroll, chair; Nicho-las Pope, vice chair; or Mechelins Kora Iechad, treasurer) via bop@hawaii.edu.

Visit www.kaleo.org/board_of_publications

ADVERTISINGE-mail

advertising@kaleo.org

Ad Manager Gabrielle PangilinanPR Coordinator Tianna Barbier

T H E V O I C E

Page 3 | Ka Leo | Wednesday, April 2 2014Advertising@kaleo.org | Gabrielle Pangilinan Student Ad Manager

Starting pay $9.00 per hour; returning DPR Summer Recreation Aides $10.50 per hour.

www.honoluluparks.com

If you complete at least one year of college (24 credits) by June 2014 and intend to continue to-

wards a degree in the Fall, apply online at:manoamaniacs

UH Men’s baseballv s . U C I R V I N E

APRIL

4 - 56:35 pm

LET’S GO BOWS!!!

l e s murakami stadium

APRIL 6

1:05 pm

KALEO

FeaturesPage 4 | Ka Leo | Wednesday, April 2 2014 Twitter @kaleofeatures | features@kaleo.org |Brad Dell Editor |Nicolyn Charlot Associate

ALEX BITTER

City Editor

The Pokémon you knew as a kid has changed. Fear not, though: The game and the culture that surrounds the 1990s card game and television show are going through a renaissance, according to mem-bers of University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa’s Pokémon club, “Pokémon Club 2 at Hawai‘i.”

THE CREATION The club, founded in 2012 by marine biology doc-toral student Nin Gan, is one of dozens founded in re-cent years at universities around the world. It ’s also the second that Gan has founded — the fi rst he created at the University of California Berkeley two years earlier. “College kids are remembering the game from their childhood,” Vice President Colin Seifer said. “It ’s going through a retro phase now.”

THE INTEREST Part of that fresh interest has been fueled by new ways of enjoying the game, including online friend exchanges that allow players to fi nd new battle opponents and “Twitch Plays Pokémon,” a crowd-sourced, Internet version of Pokémon Blue that alloed players to play the classic game collec-tively by typing commands into chat on a website. All of these new spins on the classic game have made it more of an individual experience and decreased incentive for players to meet in person, Gan said. “It’s made meeting obsolete,” he said. “With wire-less systems, there are a lot more closet players.” Many players will enjoy the game anonymous-

ly without ever knowing the people they battle personally, Seifer said. “They’ll never talk to the person, but they’ll trade with them,” he said.

THE MEETINGS Still, the club’s head offi cers said they’re work-ing to connect those who play the game in person. When enough members are able to meet, they said the club breaks members into small groups for tourna-ments. They are hoping for more members so they can play bigger tournaments and meet more often. The club primarily plays the video games now rather than using the cards. Gan and Seifer said that they predict new versions of the game will con-tinue to be released in the near future, so the gam-ing never gets old. The club is also considering joining activities with other campus clubs as a way to drum up inter-est in Pokémon. When members can’t fi gure out a time to meet, the club members still interact. Gan said the club shares information, from memes to news about up-coming game releases, with a group of followers on their Facebook page. Gan and Seifer hope Pokémon will remain popu-lar so the club will live on.

Meetings are every two weeks or as deter-mined by club membership. Contact Nin Gan at uhpokemon@gmail.com or the “Pokémon

Club 2 at Hawai‘i” page on Facebook.

If you are interested in joining

Pokémon club catching interestPokémon club catching interest

DAVID JORDAN / KA LEO O HAWAI‘I

SPRING 2014ASUH Scholarship Awards

SCAN QR CODES OR GO TO ASUH.HAWAII.EDU FOR APPLICATIONS

ASUH Scholarship Award

ASUH research award

This opportunity is available to all undergraduate students of UH Mānoa. This award was designed to assist students fi nancially and offset the cost of tuition.

This opportunity was created to assist undergraduate students financially for

graduate test costs and/or prep courses. Depending on your application, you may

be awarded up to $750.

This opportunity is available to all undergraduate students pursuing research projects and attending conferences. Depending on your application, you may be awarded up to $1,000.

CAMPUS CENTER 211A | 808-956-4822

ASUH GRAD TEST PREP AWARD

ComicsPage 5 | Ka Leo | Wednesday, April 2 2014Comics@kaleo.org | Nicholas Smith Editor

Fuel Your Body Well

5-9 pm

At a market cooperatively owned by

over 4,000 of your fellow students,

faculty and community members

Avocado Looking for a high quality fuel to help you

finish the Semester strong? The avocado or “Alligator Pear” not only fits the bill

nutritionally, local avocados fulfill our sustainability mission and are friendly to

your budget. One cup raw avocado has just 240 calories with a whopping 40.2% DV fiber

and a very low glycemic index. Research has also shown that when adding avocado to an average salad, its heart friendly fats

help absorption of two key carotenoid antioxidants - lycopene and beta carotene by

200-400%. And, lets talk budget and the need for quick easy fuel. 1lb of potato chips will probably set you back over $14 plus its

packaging adds to this Island’s environmental waste. 1lb local avocado can

cost as little as $2.39, and it’s “packaging” is 100% compostable.

To spark your avocado taste buds, To spark your avocado taste buds, To spark your avocado taste buds, To spark your avocado taste buds, stop by Friday Fest and check out stop by Friday Fest and check out stop by Friday Fest and check out stop by Friday Fest and check out

Kokua Deli’s guacamole plus enjoy Kokua Deli’s guacamole plus enjoy Kokua Deli’s guacamole plus enjoy Kokua Deli’s guacamole plus enjoy music by Jonathan Kema & Billy Sagemusic by Jonathan Kema & Billy Sagemusic by Jonathan Kema & Billy Sagemusic by Jonathan Kema & Billy Sage

Hawai‘i

Caramel Macchiato

OR CCAARR--MMMELLLEither way, it ’s good.

Manoa Marketplace2754 Woodlawn Dr., Unit 7-106 Open Daily: 5:30 a.m.–9:30 p.m.

GamesPage 6 | Ka Leo | Wednesday, April 2 2014 advertising@kaleo.org | Gabrielle Pangilinan Student Ad Manager

JOIN OUR PUBLIC RELATIONS

TEAM!

Full of glee?

APPLY TODAY!2445 Campus Rd. Hemenway Hall 107

808-956-7043 // www.kaleo.org/jobs

A2445 Cam s Rdmpus R

808-95662444545 Campmpus

Kaeo

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Lewis

ACROSS1 “That’s enough from you!”4 City whose tower’s construction

began in 11738 Pops out of the cockpit

14 Seoul-based automaker15 Bulky boats16 Hit one’s limit, in slang17 How poets write?19 Like a classic French soup20 Tree of Knowledge locale21 How moonshine is made?23 Quick summary26 Learned27 Actress Thurman28 Bath bathroom29 Go to the bottom33 How parts of a whole can be

written?38 Middling grade39 “Doctor Who” actress Gillan40 Taylor of fashion41 Strong glue43 Lyrical preposition44 How a priest preaches?47 Electrically flexible49 Lyrical preposition50 Feel crummy51 World power until 1991: Abbr.53 Spirits brand with a Peppar

variety57 How kangaroos travel?60 Former Cubs slugger61 Meadow lows62 How some paper is packaged?65 Land on two continents66 Squeaker in Stuttgart67 Big fan68 1987 Beatty flop69 Freelancer’s detail70 Big primate

DOWN1 One going downhill fast

2 __ Kush mountains3 Port in a storm, so to speak4 Score to shoot for5 Taxing initials6 Knitter’s coil7 Part of LPGA: Abbr.8 What the cold-blooded don’t feel9 She performed between

Creedence & Sly at Woodstock10 Sends away11 Aloof12 Napa vessels13 Piggery18 Last22 Needs a fainting couch24 Saudi neighbor25 WWII female28 Hard-hit ball30 Clickable image31 Coming up32 Florida __33 Blue-and-yellow megastore34 Stash finder35 Willard of “Best in Show”36 Brewpub37 Pre-final rounds42 Speaker between Hastert and

Boehner45 Coffee order46 Pickup at a

36-Down48 Picasso, for one52 Justice Sotomayor53 “Easy-peasy!”54 Fictional Doone55 Go through entirely56 Small bite57 Short notes?58 Small bite59 Lowers, as lights61 X-ray kin63 Ont. neighbor64 L.A. campus

OpinionsPage 7 | Ka Leo | Wednesday, April 2 2014Twitter @kaleoopinions | opinions@kaleo.org | Doorae Shin Editor| Kristen Bonifacio Associate

KEN REYES

Senior Staff Writer

Benedict Cumberbatch’s portrayal of Sherlock Holmes in the hit BBC series “Sherlock” became the face of the modern-day sociopath. With his cynical wit, rela-tively clear lack of empathy and antisocial behavior, Sher-lock dubbed himself as a “high-functioning sociopath.” But as eccentric and antagonistic as his character is portrayed in television, sociopathic tendencies in real life are more common than you believe. And individuals who are diagnosed with this disorder are often margin-alized and struggle against the stereotype that they are mentally insane and dangerous.

WHAT MAKES A SOCIOPATH? The American Psychiatric Association’s “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual on Mental Disorders, Fourth Edi-tion” defi nes sociopathy, also known as antisocial person-ality disorder, as “a pervasive pattern of disregard for and violation of the rights of others that begins in childhood, or early adolescence and continues into adulthood.” The pattern is characterized by the inability to fi t into social norms in regards to lawful behavior, continu-ous and habitual lying, impulsivity and irresponsibility, heightened aggression, disregard for others and an ab-sence of remorse. However, the most prominent traits are often lack of conscience, guilt and empathy. According to Harvard psychologist and author of “The Sociopath Next Door” Martha Stout, one in 25 people in America are undetected sociopaths. Re-searchers at the University of Leiden and the Max Planck Institute for Human Development conducted a study regarding incarcerated adolescents between the ages of 15 and 21 in the Netherlands who have been diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder. Wouter van den Bos, lead author for the study, found that sociopathy is linked to underdeveloped brain regions that are responsible for controlling impulses and process-ing social information. He also mentioned that the disor-der can be traced back to a person’s teenage years, when the brain is nearing its physical development process. “Adolescence is a time of multiple physical, neurologi-cal and social changes,” van den Bos said in an article on the Max Planck website. “This study with adolescents offers us a better understanding of what happens during this sensitive phase and how things can go astray, result-ing in the development of antisocial behaviors.”

US AGAINST THEM? THINK AGAIN The study explained why sociopaths think, feel and behave the way they do. In an interview with Interview Magazine, Stout recanted that sociopaths are all about “controlling things … manipulating people.” She also mentioned that those people tend to be charming and scheming, which makes them diffi cult to spot. Despite the fact that sociopaths possess a personality disorder that many of us may have a diffi cult time relat-ing to, she seemed to regard that these people are purely indifferent and incapable of social adequacy and affection. But that may not be true in every case. M.E. Thomas, a self-confessed sociopath, challenged those views in her memoir, “Confessions of a Socio-path: A Life Spent Hiding in Plain Sight.” “I think a complex emotion like love is made up of all sorts of little emotions,” she said in an interview on NPR.org. “And our particular cocktail of love is going to look or feel different to us, but it’s still there.” She also expressed her concerns in regards to the way people view sociopaths like herself. “Most people interact with sociopaths in posi-tive ways and don’t realize it,” she said. “It ’s only when we catch them, and they are in prison, and we have gone through this lengthy trial to point out all the bad things that they’ve done, that we start thinking that sociopaths are bad.” Thomas made a point in noting that society tends to associate sociopaths with criminals, social outcasts and high-IQ intellectuals. The media is also scattered with re-ports on criminals who are diagnosed with the disorder, further fueling the stereotype that all of them are heinous people with malicious dispositions and intentions. And the matter extends far beyond those who are la-beled as sociopath. Individuals who are diagnosed with other mental disorders face similar prejudice associated with their “illness.” They lose their individuality, as peo-ple perceive them for only their illness. In Hawai‘i, more than 32,000 adults live with se-rious mental illness and around 12,000 children live with serious mental health conditions. They are ev-eryday people you see in classrooms, on campus, in supermarkets, at work and maybe even at home. So, before we start pointing our fi ngers at all the “evil” around us, we need to re-evaluate our quick impulse to negatively judge those with mental illness because they are often not that different from the rest of soci-ety, struggling to live their lives.

Sociopaths: malicious or misunderstood?

na Aleka Lyman

Aloha pumehana mai kākou e nā pua mae ‘ole mai ka hikina a ka lā i Kumukahi, a i ka napo‘o ‘ana a ka lā i Lehua. ʻO kaʻu ‘ōlelo noʻeau punahele ka inoa o kēia wahi ‘aki-kala. Aia nō ia i loko o ka puke ‘o ʻŌlelo Noʻeau na Mary Kawena Pu-kui . Piha ua puke nei i 2942 mau ʻōlelo noʻeau a Pukui i ʻohiʻohi ai, i unuhi ai, a i hōʻakāka ai hoʻi.

ʻAʻole i kana mai ka nani o ka manaʻo kahiko, a nui ʻino nā manaʻo naʻauao mai nā kūpuna mai e pili ana i kēia mau ‘ikena; ka lani i luna a me ka honua i lalo, ka moana a me ka mauna, ka mahina a me ka lā, ka iʻa a me ka lāʻau a pēlā aku. Eia kekahi mea hoihoi iaʻu, hoʻohālikelike ‘ia ia mau manaʻo me ka nohona kānaka. Ma ka ʻōlelo noʻeau #1261: “I ulu nō ka lālā i ke kumu.” ‘Aʻole e ulu ka lālā me ka ‘ole o ke kumu. Pēlā nō me nā kānaka. ‘Aʻole hiki iā kākou ke ulu me ka ‘ole o nā kūpuna, ‘o ia ho‘i, ‘o ko kākou kumu paʻa. ʻO nā aʻa hoʻi o ia kumulāʻau, ʻo ia nō ke kumu, ʻo nā kūpuna kuakahi a kualua a pēlā aku, i ulu ai nā kūpuna a me nā mākua e noho nei me kākou. Hoʻokahi nō kumulāʻau o ka ʻohana.

Eia ka mea ʻāpiki, i kēia mau lā, ʻaʻole paha hoʻomaopopo pono ka hapa nui o nā kānaka i ke ‘ano a me ka nohona o nā kūpuna. ‘Aʻole ho‘i i maopopo leʻa iaʻu iho. Eia nō au, kekahi wahi lālā, ke ulu nei mai ke kumulāʻau o koʻu mau kūpuna, akā, ‘aʻole au e pili pono me ke kumu e ulu ai. I kuʻu wā e

ulu aʻe ana, ʻaʻole au i aʻo mai i nā mea a koʻu mau kūpuna a me koʻumoʻomeheu Hawaiʻi. Nāwaliwali paha koʻu hoʻopili ‘ana i koʻu kumuma muli o kēia aʻo kakaʻikahi.

Kamaʻāina hoʻi ‘oukou i kēia‘ike ‘ole? ʻAʻole kēia he moʻolelo i malihini iā kākou, ʻeā? ‘Aʻole pahanui ke kahe ‘ana aʻe o nā māhuaolemai nā aʻa o ko kākou mau kūpunaa hiki i ko kākou lālā. He minamina kēia kahe liʻiliʻi. ̒ O ka māhuaole, ̒ o ka ʻike hoʻi i nā lālā.

He kuleana ko kākou i ka hoʻonui ‘ana i ke kahe ‘ana o ka ‘ike mai ka ‘āina o ka wā kahiko.He mea pono nā māhuaole i meae ulu ai a e paʻa ai ko kākou lālā. Inā e ʻike pono kākou i ke ʻano o ke kumulāʻau a kākou i ulu maiai, hiki iā kākou ke hoʻomaopopopono i nā kuleana ponoʻī i mea ekūkulu ai i ke kahua paʻa no nā lālā aʻe—kā kākou mau keiki.

ʻO kēia nō ka manawa ponoi ka mālama ‘ana a me ke kaʻana ʻana i ka ̒ ike mai ka wā kahiko mai! ʻO kēia nō ka manawa koʻikoʻi enīnauele ai i ko kākou mau kūpuna a me ko kākou mau mākua i nā mea a lākou i hoʻomanaʻo ai mai kolākou wā ‘ōpio mai a me nā moʻolelo mai ka wā kahiko mai. Pēlā nō e ho‘ohanohano ai i nā kumu a me nā aʻa. E pili pono aku kākou i ko kākou kumu paʻa e ola ai.

Ua paʻa ke kumu, e ulu kākou, nā lālā.

The following article is about the characteristic and lifestyle of ones ancestors. Read the translation online at kaleo.org/opinions/hch.

JESSICA HOMRICH / KA LEO O HAWAI‘I

I Ulu Nō ka Lālā i ke Kumu ATIKALA KII ALEKA/ KA LEO O HAWAI‘I

SportsPage 8 | Ka Leo | Wednesday, April 2 2014 Twitter @kaleosports | sports@kaleo.org | Joey Ramirez Editor | Hayley Musashi Associate

UPCOMING GAMESHawai’i vs. Cal State Fullerton

Friday, 6 p.m. Saturday (Doubleheader), 2 p.m.

Wahine turning season around in Big West playWahine turning season around in Big West playJEREMY NITTA

Senior Staff Writer @Nitta_Jeremy

After several key members of the Rainbow Wahine softball team were lost to graduation last season, conventional wisdom suggested that it was only natu-ral that Hawai‘i would take a step back from the previous year’s 45-13 mark. But not many expected the team to struggle the way it has so far this season. The ‘Bows failed to win any of the fi ve preseason tournaments they participated in and held a losing record at 13-14 after the tournaments concluded, their worst start since the 2009 squad also opened with 13 wins.

A QUICK F IX Hawai‘i seemed to right the ship during its past road trip, when it went 5-0 to push its record back above the .500 mark. The wins have also done wonders for a young team struggling to fi nd any kind of consistency. “We’re playing with more of a conviction now,” senior catcher Sharla Kliebenstein said. “We realize we’re in conference play now, and we spent the preseason trying to fi gure out where we were as a team. But now that we’re fi nally putting it all togeth-er, I think that it’s causing everyone to play with more of a drive.” That conviction proved to be es-sential in all of Hawai‘i’s wins last

weekend, as the ‘Bows trailed in each game before coming back to win. “We were starting to come up with more clutch hits during the trip,” junior designated player Kayla Wartner said. “When we had run-ners on base, we were coming up with hits to move them around and score them. But early in the year we weren’t, and sometimes we weren’t getting runners on at all.” Wartner and Kliebenstein com-bined to hit .428 during the road trip, with fi ve home runs. The suc-cess by the pair is especially en-couraging considering that both players were struggling offensively heading into the trip. “For Kayla, we needed her to wake up,” head coach Bob Coolen said. “She’d been our number two hitter for two years now and had been thriving. But in the preseason tournaments, she struggled, and her production was not where she wanted it to be. But now, she’s starting to hit for power again. And Sharla’s always had the ability to hit for power. And in her career she’s always gotten off to a slow start in the preseason, then comes on strong in conference play. It’s always taken her a while to get started, and right now she’s got it.”

A HARSH REALITY The ‘Bows’ fi ve-game winning streak is their longest of the season.

Despite the recent run of success, Coolen is trying to keep the wins in perspective. “We’re beating the teams we’re supposed to beat,” he said. “If you look at the teams we played in this road trip, on paper we were supposed to beat them. Now, we’re about to face the teams that on paper are better than us, and that’s going to be huge for us.” Coming up on the schedule for the ‘Bows are Cal State Fuller-ton, Long Beach State, Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara. Each team boasts at least 20 wins, more than the 18 Hawai‘i has earned at this point of the season. “In the conference, a lot of the teams played tough preseason schedules, and it made them better,” Coolen said. “Along the way, they beat some good teams, and it gave them confi dence. You look at us, and our only good win is over Cali-fornia, and they’re in a down year. If we don’t pull it all together now and beat these teams, then we aren’t go-ing anywhere. We’re going to have to do some magical things if we want to do well again in the Big West.”

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE Coolen’s players, while pleased with their recent success, are not blind to this reality and know what lies before them if they hope to de-fend their Big West title. Coolen’s

concerns have been heeded by his team, and they hope to prove doubters wrong. “He keeps telling us that we needed to fi nd that conviction and play with some chemistry, but I don’t think everyone understood what he wanted us to do,” Kliebenstein said. “But I think that during this road trip, we started fi guring out what it was that he was talking about. Ev-erything he’s been saying to us is starting to make sense to us.” Wartner agreed, pointing to the improved bonding among team-mates, as well as the team’s recent development as signs of better things to come. “I’m not going to lie; it’s gotten pretty frustrating,” Wartner said. “This year, I think we’ve already passed our loss total for the last two years. It’s been diffi cult because I’ve been a part of teams that were well established and talented, and this year it’s been a lot different. But at the same time, we have to be patient and understand that this is a young team.” And for Coolen, all he can do is keep pushing his young squad and hope that it comes through for him. “The wins showed the girls that we are talented enough to beat the teams that we’re supposed to beat,” Coolen said. “Now, it’s a matter of us going out and beating the teams that everyone else thinks is better than us.”

SHANE GRACE / KA LEO O HAWAI‘I

Junior designated player Kayla Wartner smacked two home runs in three games against UC Riverside last weekend.

FOR SEASON SCHEDULESVISIT HAWAIIATHLETICS.COMVISIT HAWAIIATHLETICS.COM

AND FOLLOW US ON @HAWAIIATHLETICS

ADMISS ION W ITH VAL ID UH MANOA ID

SIGN-UP FOR THE MANOA MANIACS REWARDS PROGRAM AT UHMANIACREWARDS.COM

RAINBOW WARRIOR BASEBALL - HAWAI‘I VS. UC IRVINE�Apr. 4 @ 6:35PM�Apr. 5 @ 6:35PM

RAINBOW WARRIOR VOLLEYBALL - HAWAI‘I VS. #2 BYU�Apr. 4 @ 7:00PM *�Apr. 5 @ 7:00PM (Senior Night) *

RAINBOW WAHINE SOFTBALL - HAWAI‘I VS. CS FULLERTON�Apr. 4 @ 6:00PM�Apr. 5 (DH) @ 2:00PM & 4:00PM

�Apr. 6 @ 1:05PM

* = Manoa Maniacs will distribute promotional items at Gate B while supplies last