Imua Iolania voice for students

since

1923

May 29, 2009 Vol. 84, Issue 9 Honolulu, HawaII

‘

By Katherine Lum

The economics teams did ‘Io-lani proud at the National Eco-nomics Challenge. After state and regional victories earlier this spring, both teams competed in New York City from May 14-18.

In the Adam Smith Division, (AP level), and the David Ricardo Division (non-AP level), the ‘Io-lani teams took second place out of the 8,000 teams that competed from across the nation.

Both ‘Iolani teams placed first nationally in 2008, and the school has won the regional title in all but one competition.

This year, four teams from each division flew to New York for the big competition. In both divisions, the top two teams competed in a buzzer round. In the Adam Smith division, the team made it to the buzzer round, which went into overtime. ‘Iolani came in second to Philips Academy, a boarding school in Andover, Mass.

In the David Ricardo division, it came down to the last question. ‘Iolani came second to a team from Little Falls High School from Little Falls, Minn.

“The competition was keen, but

Iolani’s One Team was right there trying as hard as they could until the very end,” said Colonel Rich-ard Rankin, the team coach of the Adam Smith division since 1998, on ‘Iolani’s website at www.io-lani.org. “We coaches will do our best to make these students under-stand that we are all proud of them and they have excelled.”

Rankin said that he and Mr. Richie Kibota, coach of the Da-vid Ricardo division, extended the weekend and tried to plan activi-ties for the students.

The teams from both divisions went to a Yankees baseball game against the Minnesota Twins, Wall Street to visit ‘Iolani alumni, and the Broadway musical South Pa-cific where they visited Loretta Ables Sayre, an actress from Ha-waii who plays Bloody Mary in the musical.

Seniors Rayfe Gaspar-Asaoka, David Martorana, Uyanga Tsedev and Truong Vu were on the ‘Io-lani team for the Adam Smith Division.

Sophomores Mark Grozen-Smith, Bobby Huang, Matthew Lum, and Andrew Wu represent-ed ‘Iolani, Hawaii, and the West-ern region in the David Ricardo

Division.Senior Uyanga Tsedev said that

the most exciting part about going to the national competition was getting to meet other economics teams and actually going to New York. It was her first time visiting the city.

Sophomore Mark Grozen-Smith said that the best part was getting a free trip to New York and representing ‘Iolani in a national competition.

Kibota added that “seeing the students having a good time and being rewarded for their hard work” is the most gratifying as-pect of these competitions.

Sophomore Matthew Lum said that his team is a group of “hard-working students with a desire to win.”

Grozen-Smith said that the team “melds well because [his teammates] are all sort of the same.”

Senior David Martorana said that his team was “dynamic, cohe-sive, and highly determined.”

Colonel Rankin said that this year’s team in the Adam Smith Division “worked as hard as the two national teams did.”

Econ team takes second in national competition

Mr. Richie Kibota | Imua ‘Iolani

The economics team shows off their medals in Los Angeles.

Tamai receives national honor

By ameLia LinsKy

Senior Robert Tamai has been named one of two Presidential Scholars from Hawaii. The other is Lucia Mocz of Mililani High School. The proconsul, cross country captain, and tennis player has maintained 4 AP courses and two electives throughout the past year with a 4.31 GPA.

The eminently qualified Tamai professed surprise at first, but con-ceded, “Yeah, I’m really excited to meet all of those fascinating people [at the awards ceremony]. I get to shake the President’s hand so that’s pretty cool.”

The ceremony will be held in Washington, D.C., in June. Ta-mai named Chemistry teacher and 2009 class adviser Mrs. Gail Tuthill as the teacher who most influenced him, and she will ac-company him to the nation’s capital.

There are 176 Presidential Scholars throughout the USA and its territories. They have demon-strated “outstanding academic achievement, artistic excellence, leadership, citizenship, and com-munity service” as determined by a 29-member Commission on Presidential Scholars appointed by the President.

Tamai will attend Harvard College in the fall.

Inside:Moving Up (right) - 5Honors Day Awards - 8 - 9College Bound - 10 - 11‘Iolani Writes Winners - 15 - 19

Index Editorials--2-3Sports--4-5, 20A&E--6-7Lighter Side--14Lower School--13Features--12

Weinberg fixture gets a new look

Amelia Linsky | Imua ‘IolaniThe fountain donated by local artist Satoru Abe has undergone several chemical color changes since its installation in 2003, but the latest has stained the basin purple. Story on page 12.

Courtney Ochi | Imua Iolani

Page 2 Editorials Imua ‘Iolani

Senior reflections: What we’ve learned from our time at ‘Iolani

By Emily Saka

4. Friends are priceless but cliques are dumb. With sports practice, music lessons, and endless hours of homework, no one should have time for high school drama.

3. Never think the words, “That’s so lame.” The pointless things usually turn out being the most memorable.

2. You will survive being a senior in fourth quarter PE – I know from experience. I just really would not recommend it.

1. The experience is really about what you put into it. Go out there, get involved, and make friends. It really does make a difference.

By amElia linSky

During times of stress, it’s difficult to achieve a calm acceptance of life and the universe. As a result, most students do not attain enlightenment during their years at ‘Iolani School.

As an ‘Iolani senior, like a monk undergoing vigil, I have prepared to leave the life I knew for a higher state of existence.

Some claim ‘Iolani is Death and some call it Purgatory, but I believe that ‘Iolani, which I often resented for completely subsuming my world, is actually a microcosm of life.

I complained that I only saw my home dur-ing the light of day on weekends due to extra-curriculars and the long commute, but ‘Iolani became a second home. The constant tests and homework were merely preparation for the im-portant actual work that I hope to do in the fu-ture, which, if shirked, would yield far worse consequences than a docked grade.

‘Iolani instilled a sense of responsibility, ob-sessively accurate time management, painfully-learned social skills, and the grudging accep-tance of sleep deprivation. Those will be even more useful than my knowledge of Schwann cells, completing the square, and the three partitions of Poland. Probably.

‘Iolani has prepared me well, and I look forward to what comes next.

By Emily ShimkuS

If I knew when I began school at ‘Iolani what I know now as a graduating senior, I would not have worked so hard.

I know a lot of you are think-ing that it’s just the “senioritis” talking, but seriously, I worked really hard during my three years at ‘Iolani, sacrificed a lot for my academics, and found that it’s just not worth it.

High school is more than good grades and getting into college. People here are too focused on their futures and do not concen-trate enough on the present. It’s good to do well in school—don’t get me wrong—but it’s better to be a centered and grounded indi-vidual. ‘Iolani should not be pre-paring students

for lives as workaholics.My best advice to combat

academic takeover is to get in-volved in non-scholastic activi-ties at school. Being on-stage and belting out songs from Pippin, laying out pages in the Imua room after school with my friends, and watching Disney movies in Dr. Webb’s room during lunch are the parts of high school I’ll remem-ber most fondly, not which grade I got on the Pre-Calc test I took last week or my GPA during the first semester of my sophomore year.

Academics and grades won’t have the final say in life, though people tend to forget that at ‘Io-lani. Keep things in perspective, and you’ll be much happier.

By mariSSa Sakoda

Hard work pays off and stressing over the little things in life is much less important than having faith that every-thing will work out in the end. Although it sounds like a cli-ché, I’ve learned that when something goes wrong it’s never the end of the world; things will resolve themselves in an unexpected way. It is im-portant to be flexible and open to unforeseen twists along the

way.Another cliché, to make the

most of every moment, has also resonated throughout my time at ‘Iolani. Being a senior forced me to reflect on what I remember as the best and worst times over the last thirteen years. It is often hard to dis-tinguish many of the memories from one another. The time has raced by. At times I’ve gotten into the habit of focusing on the future and what is coming up next, but in those moments,

I’d forget to experience the present. That makes time seem to pass by even faster.

From everything to assign-ments to other activities, the more you give in terms of hard work and effort, the more you tend to get out of it. My best experiences have often come from trying out new things and approaching them with an open mind, so my advice is to not be afraid to take risks and never allow fear of what others may think to hold you back.

By ayESha Cooray

After six years of English papers written at midnight, hastily memorized vocabulary words and math equations, and carefully recorded history notes, my tenure here at ‘Io-lani has come to a close.

I spent five of my six years attempting to

be the “perfect” student, the one who always did her homework, did well on her

tests, and al-ways maintained

a positive attitude. My intentions were

g o o d , my execution flawed. When it came to making the choice between going out on weekends or starting my projects, I chose to go out. When I had the option of either listening to my iPod or starting an English paper, I chose to listen to music.

And yet, I still strove to be that student, a student that my parents and teachers could be proud to know.

‘Iolani, for me, ended up being the proverbial gem-cutter, smashing down on all my flaws and chip-

ping away the imperfections of my writing, time-management skills, fact recall, and

critical thinking by virtue of force. By junior year, instead of

learning the subject matter, I learned how to exploit

loopholes and manipulate deadlines. With the feroc-ity of a clown juggling raw eggs, knives, and weighted bowling pins, I learned how to get by in this Christian school of learning and truth.

‘Iolani taught me how to be goal-oriented,

concentrate my efforts and above all focus on

the task at hand. By giving students these skills, ‘Iolani

puts them on the straight path to success. But in my effort to adapt, to sur-

vive, and ultimately to succeed, my vision of what lay ahead narrowed. Because though

straight paths are the fastest routes, they aren’t al-ways the most fulfilling. Success, that fickle, often materialistic state of being, is

different from happiness. And that is what you won’t learn in class.

By Brandon kumaBE

Don’t lose yourself to the machine. An ‘Iolani history teacher once told me about a student who gave up his dream of being an astronaut to appease his parents desire to turn him into him into a doctor. There is no doubt that the path to becoming a

doc-tor is a

respectable and difficult one,

b u t for this boy, it was devoid of genuine personal passion and drive. Becoming a doctor guar-anteed this boy financial and domestic security but forced him to give up his dreams and a part of himself.

Too often at ‘Iolani, I have felt like this boy. I’ve felt like we have to give up our genuine talents and creativity to satisfy these rigorous academic de-mands that may not be conducive to helping us function and make progress in the real world.

At the end of five years, I feel like an oak tree that’s been whittled down to a very pretty splinter. I haven’t really had the chance to develop any of what I feel are my real talents and I just feel mediocre at everything. Don’t lose yourself to the machine.

By anniE rian

I’ve often heard the end of high school described as bittersweet. For me, though, the future is nothing but pure sugar.

At the end of six years, my greatest disappointment is that I will graduate with most of my potential unrealized.

An ideal education inspires passion for learning rather than for the highest GPA and fosters genuine interest in cultural and global issues rather than a robotic drive to achieve.

In my experience, ‘Iolani’s success in fulfilling these criteria has been minimal. The achievement of high GPAs, not necessarily the only evi-

dence of intelligence and potential, is rewarded and exalted, while the lack thereof often discourages those with different learning patterns. Those who, like me, can’t memorize and spit out facts and equations, come to think of themselves as unintelligent and inadequate, their potential virtually ignored. Those unwilling to submit themselves to be molded by ‘Iolani’s guiding hand are crushed. The result: a collective intellectual, individual, and cultural bankruptcy.

Thank you to the teachers who have recognized my potential and taken it more seriously than I have myself. You know who you are.

I

Don’t lose yourself to the machine.”

“I still strove to be

that student, a student that my parents and teach-

ers could be proud to know.”

Imua `Iolani Senior Editors (left to right): Emily Shimkus, Emily Saka, Brandon Kumabe, Ka-trina Karl, Marissa Sakoda, Amelia Linsky.

May 29, 2009 Editorials Page 3

Prefect elections less than perfectBy Ashlyn KogA

As you probably know, the senior prefects for the Class of 2010 have been elected. In one of the closest elections in history, 24 students have been chosen to represent the senior class, but not everyone is thrilled. Are these individuals really the leaders of the class? How does the election process work? This article will hopefully clear things up and an-swer all your questions about the senior prefects.

The election is purely a stu-dent election. There are eight de-fault prefects (proconsuls, student body treasurer, class president, and yearbook and Imua editors-in-chief) who are listed on the ballot and are automatically guar-anteed a position. From the rest of their class, students nominate five people, the votes are tallied and the 14 people who get the most votes are prefects (more if there are ties).

Students are advised to nomi-nate their peers based on two cri-teria: one is that they are the face of the student body, so the group needs to show diversity and ma-turity. Second, they have to take the initiative to make the school a better place.

But is that the best way? We probably all agree that the stu-dent voice is very important. So should teachers/counselors be in-volved in appointing/approving the prefects?

Although it sounds like a good idea, don’t the students know their classmates best? A student can suck up in the classroom, but

their true colors show when they are with their peers. Favoritism is always an issue, and should not be brought into the prefect elec-tions. No matter what the selec-tion process, people will be angry because there are only a few slots for many qualified people.

Because there are so few slots, there is concern whether it is nec-essary that people be a prefect by default.

“I think there should be de-faults,” said Mr. Kirk Uejio,

Director of Student Activities. “When people run for proconsul and SBT they know they are go-ing to work hard. The class presi-dent knows what’s going on with the class. The Imua editor knows what’s going on with the school. The yearbook editors have a dif-ferent outlook of ‘Iolani.”

I agree that these people are

qualified, but I think the “default” issue is problematic. Why aren’t the class VP, secretary and trea-surer also guaranteed slots? This group collectively with the class president makes decisions for the class. I think there should be no defaults and everyone should be nominated. If the current defaults were true leaders, then the student body would recognize that and nominate them.

Juniors, this particular year, I know that a lot of you may have

voted for one person, and were surprised to find he or she wasn’t elected. Usually, the top person gets around 30 votes, but this year, everything was close.

There needs to be trust within our community. You have to be able to trust Mr. U. He keeps the ballots for a year, so there is evi-dence that the elections are fair.

This year seemed to be revolu-tionary, as many candidates used Facebook, AIM and texting to ask for nominations for senior pre-fect. I’m not going to lie; I set my Facebook status asking people to vote for me. I think its okay to get the word out that you’re inter-ested in running, and Facebook is a great way. However, spamming people’s inboxes may have gotten a little annoying, which may have hurt some candidates.

Senior prefects are supposed to make a difference at ‘Iolani. It’s up to the students to nominate the right people. To future classes: If everyone nominates their friends, you’ll get a close election, like we had this year. Try to break out of your clique and think about who will represent your class well. If you nominate wisely, then this way of voting will be the most ef-fective way.

By KAtrinA KArl

I’m about to graduate from ‘Iolani after thirteen years here. So naturally, I’m going to write about mountain climbing.

Nothing I have ever read has shown me has ever changed me like an excerpt from Robert M. Pirsig’s Zen and the Art of Motor-cycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values. In chapter 17, Pirsig makes the distinction be-tween “ego-climbing” and “selfless climbing,” comparing a mountain climber on a pilgrim-age using the experience and mountain itself for selfish purposes to one who realizes the true purpose of the endeavor: the ego climber “wants to be farther up the trail when he gets there will be just as unhappy because then it will be ‘here.’ What he’s looking for, what he wants, is all around him, but he doesn’t want that because it is all around him. Every step’s an effort, both physically and spiritually, be-cause he imagines his goal to be external and distant.”

Some might draw the comparison between ego-climbing and the ‘Iolani upper school ex-perience. Some students rush through count-less assignments and finals, wanting to escape all of the work at ‘Iolani. There’s no telling whether or not they will greet their experi-ences in college and in their careers the same way, perpetually dissatisfied, or learn to em-brace these experiences for what they are rath-er than representations of endless busywork to be rushed through.

The way I have ego-climbed applies much more to individual courses themselves rather than the entirety of my experience at ‘Iolani.

I ego-climbed my way through AP Studio Art this year. After one particularly good work or two, I would burn out completely for the rest of the quarter and the quality of my works

reflected it, no matter how hard I kept work-ing on them. As I did things this way, my per-sonal attachment to my artwork disintegrated. I didn’t feel like I had even done several of the pieces that felt more like painful excercises to me after looking back at them, yet I kept turn-ing such pieces out. I was frustrated by my countless Breadth pieces that felt like they were going nowhere and did more and more of them until I fell behind on my entire portfolio. At that point, the majority of my pieces meant very little to me. And for what? For my own pride as an artist and as a person, pride that fueled my desperate, futile, and detrimentally persistent efforts to complete my portfolio at an ideal rate. I wasn’t about to complete 24 art pieces as inspiration came to me, because I have always known that it might never come to me with that quota. I worked the way I did, doing one work per week, for my ego, and (I suppose) for the College Board.

I would go through it again, though. Knowing what I do now about working for the purpose of my own learning and interests rather than that of my already-sizeable ego or some compulsion to compete with myself, I feel like whatever areas of study I take on from now on will have more meaning. I defi-nitely grew and figured out who I am as an artist this year, but because of my own failure rather than success.

I was ego-climbing through a subject that once allowed me to be “here,” that allowed me to control wherever “here” was with each assignment I had weeks to work on. But as the rate at which I had to complete assignments took a jump, “here” was never good enough. Having four pieces completed, eight pieces completed, all twenty-four pieces completed felt the same to me--they were always “here,” and I was never satisfied with “here” to be-

gin with. My goal--a successfully completed portfolio--was just what it wasn’t supposed to be up until the end of the course: “external and distant.”

Throughout the years, I’ve probably lacked ego for other subjects due to my own long-standing failure or disinterest in them. It felt as if there was no point for me to develop a desire to advance my learning in subjects that seemed more and more like lost causes as I progressed, especially as I took higher-level courses purely due to the influence of others’ motivations for my own learning.

Maybe ego-climbing could have done me some good in those courses I struggled with. If I had just feigned some sort of passion for those subjects, perhaps some sort of interest would have developed and served as my main motivating factor to succeed in them instead of my grades in the courses. I’ll never know, but then again, I’ll never have to take a course in a subject I’m not truly passionate about again.

It may not feel like it, but time passes quickly during each school day. We rush through eight periods, giving each area of study fleeting attention before quickly mov-ing on to the next. Sometimes it seems like ego-climbing is encouraged or necessitated by our scheduling for the sake of prioritization and successfully getting through the days and weeks rather than for our own pride. It can be utterly detrimental to us, but it can possibly serve as a motivating force when we lose hope in other ways.

At times ego-climbing becomes a neces-sity, but it can interfere with schoolwork serv-ing its purpose: in the development of learn-ing. We are here to learn, after all. I certainly have.

Illustration by Jackie McMillan ‘09

Imua ‘Iolani is published by the students of ‘Iolani School, 563 Kamoku St., Honolulu, HI 96826. Established 1923, printed at Hawai’i Hochi. Imua ‘Iolani accepts advertising on a space available basis. Rates are $100 for 1/2 page, $60 for 1/4 page, and $35 for 1/8 page ads. Please e-mail iolaniimua@gmail.com for more information. Include “advertising” in the subject line.

Editor-in-Chief:Katrina Karl

Design Editor:Marissa Sakoda

Copy Editor:Annie Rian

Photo Editor:Courtney Ochi

Features Editors:Amelia Linsky

Emily SakaOpinion Editors:Emily ShimkusTiana Bohner

Sports Editors:Bianca Bystrom

Kelia CowanArts & Entertainment

Editors:Akari Hatanaka

Kaela ShiigiLighter Side Editor:

Stephen StackLower School Editors:

Kyle Kim

Adviser:Mrs. Karin Swanson

Imua ‘Iolani is distributed free of charge to students of ‘Iolani School. Mail subscriptions are $15 per year. Imua ‘Iolani is online at www.imuaonline.org or as pdfs at www.iolani.org under the “Student Activities” menu. Some material courtesy of American Society of Newspaper Editors/MCT Campus High School Newspaper Service. The opinions herein expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of the administration, faculty, staff of ‘Iolani School or Imua ‘Iolani.

A Voice for S

tudentS Since 1923

•

On the ups and downs of ego-climbing

Page 4 SportS Imua ‘Iolani

Ms. and Mr. Picture- Perfect PinKeiko Akamine

Thanh Vu

Mr. Raider Fanatical Robert Tamai

Ms. and Mr. Sky High Emily Shiraki Taylor Donavan

Mr. Grand Slam JR Bunda

Ms. and Mr. Gun ShowOlivia Fatongia Chase Weber

Iolani’s Finest ...

Ms. and Mr. Power swing Nikki Castel Spencer Choy

all photos by Bianca Bystrom | Imua ‘Iolani

May 29, 2009 SportS Page 5

Boy’s golf wins first state title in 18 yearsBy RoBeRt tamai

Eighteen.   The  number  of holes  on  a  golf  course,  and also the number of years that ‘Iolani  has  gone  without  a golf state title.  

In  a  sport  that  focuses  on individual  performances, teamwork was the key to suc-cess for the ‘Iolani boys’ golf team at the Royal Ka’anapali Golf Course on Maui on May 13.  

Relying on experience and consistency, Lorens Chan ‘12 shot a 2-over to win the indi-vidual golf  state  title;  edging out teammate David Fink ’09 by two strokes  in a back and forth battle. Led by the strong play of Chan and Fink, ‘Iolani won the 2009 HHSAA Boys’ Golf  Championship  with  a team  score  of  601  strokes, 18  more  than  the  runners-up Moanalua.

At the end of the first day,

freshman  Lorens  Chan,  who shot a 69,  led by two strokes over the rest of the field. However,  on  the  second  and final day, senior David Fink surged ahead in the first 14 holes  to  become  the  leader, one stroke ahead of Chan. 

Entering  the 15th hole,  the afternoon  trade  winds  along with the hot sun made course play more difficult and chal-lenging as the day progressed.  Running into some problems, Fink bogeyed the 15th, 16th, and 17th holes to drop two strokes behind his fellow Raider, Lo-rens Chan.  The freshman was able  to  hold  on  to  the  lead with his steady hitting, secur-ing ‘Iolani’s first individual golf title since 1994.

The first and second place finishes by Chan and Fink along  with  excellent  play from  fellow  Raiders  Corey Kozuma  ’10,  Reo  Saito  ’11, Elliot Le  ’11, and Kelly Ma-suda ’09 guided the Raiders to a team title.  

“It was a team goal (to win the state  title)  throughout  the entire  season,  and  I’m  glad we were able to pull through,” explained team captain David Fink.  “They’re a great bunch of  guys  who  know  all  about teamwork.”

Throughout  the  regular season,  the  boys’  golf  team hardly  played  with  all  six players.  Fink, a starter on the varsity volleyball team, often skipped  golf  because  of  vol-leyball  games,  while  Chan was unable to make it to some tournaments because of other golf commitments.  

However,  junior  Corey Kozuma noted that “the team really molded together during the  state  tournament  experi-ence.   It  really  helped  us  to work  together,  support  each other,  and  achieve  our  team goal.” 

Mr. and Ms. SpeedsterGeramiah SimoesGiulia Anderson

Mr. Golden Arm Kellen Imada

(Continued from page 4)

Photo Courtesy of Richard and Linda ChanPerfecting his swing, Lorens Chan ‘12 watches his ball sail through the air during practice.

We’ll miss you Mr. Hotoke!

Page 6 Arts And EntErtAinmEnt Imua ‘Iolani

By Kaitrin toBin

During the week of April 27, Iolani students were treated to the performance of Mr. Frank Brigug-lio and Mr. Chuck Nakoa during chapel. They sang several songs to students conveying the theme of “Everyone Makes Mistakes.”

Mr. Briguglio tries to perform in Chapel every year. The tradition began with him and former teacher Mr. Harrison performing in Chapel usually before AP exams, and first performed in 1985.

Not only do Mr. Briguglio and Mr. Nakoa enjoy performing, the students enjoy their performance.ll.

“I was told an important value while listening to some music that I found enjoyable.” sophomore Aus-tin Strong said. Several other stu-dents echoed this idea.

Andrew Zhou ‘10 said, “I thought that the performance some-what related to our school lives, and that they had good intentions on steering us in the ‘right’ direction. It was good music.”

Mr. Briguglio says that the most rewarding part of performing is the audience response. “The best part is when students I don’t even know come up to me and tell me that they enjoyed the performance.”

Life lessons in song

By Serena Li

Mr. Richard Hotoke has

dedicated 22 years of teach-ing band here at Iolani School. He had previously taught in New York for four years and at Maunalani High School for nine. In total, he has spent 35 years of his life teaching band.

This year, at age 57, he has made the decision to retire. “It just feels like the right time,” says Mr. Hotoke. He laughs and says, “I have far outlived the national school band teacher’s life, which is four years every switch.”

Hotoke feels confident in the ability of his successor,

Mr. Manny Dayao, to continue the ‘Iolani band l e g a c y . “ M a n n y came here to substi-tute me a few y e a r s a g o , and the s t u -dents

loved him,” Mr. Hotoke re-flected. “He was also my student here at ‘Iolani. He was one of the best drum majors.”

Mr. Hotoke’s most memo-rable moments working with Iolani were the 1997 Roos-evelt Parade and the 2005 Concert Performance in Ja-pan. He also wants to thank this year’s seniors for making his last year unforgettable.

In the upcoming years, Mr. Hotoke plans to find another job. He is quite certain that he will stay in Hawaii, and even promised Mrs. Patricia Liu to help read admissions folders. Mr. Hotoke is also a passionate football fan, and proudly said that for 33 years, he never missed a single foot-

ball game.Many of Mr. Hotoke’s

students have been deeply at-tached to him, especially the juniors who feel greatly dis-appointed that he must leave before their senior year. Band student Michelle Ky ’10 said, “Everyone will miss Mr. Ho-toke. He is a really great band teacher.”

Photos by Alyssa Muraoka and Courtney Ochi

New York grooveBy Bridget toBin

In the past month, two bake sales have been organized to raise money for the endan-gered Pernambuco tree, which produces a wood used to make bows for stringed instruments. The tree is near extinction, caus-ing problems for the bow-mak-ing industry and musicians.

Mrs. Joan Wehrman dis-tributed handouts to students concerning the issue. A group of students and Mrs. Wehrman organized bake sales at two or-chestra concerts to support the cause. The first bake sale took

place at the Orchestra 4 and 5 concerts on April 25. Over $300 was raised and donated to the

International Pernambuco Con-servation Initiative. The sec-

ond bake sale was held at the Orchestra’s 1-3 concert on May 16.

“In essence, the wood of the Pernambuco adds to the very essence of musicianship. With-out this incredibly valuable re-source, music and all it stands for will be adversely affected,” sophomore Andrew Zhou ex-plained. The Save the Music Tree project will continue next year, with more fundraisers at orchestra concerts and hopefully around campus. If anyone is in-terested in supporting the cause, please contact Mrs. Wehrman.

Page 7 Arts And EntErtAinmEnt Imua ‘Iolani

By Jana dagdagan and Kaela Shiigi

‘Iolani was well represented in the Hawaii High School Se-lect Jazz Band, which performed on May 2 at the McKinley Auditorium.

Five out of the 18 students cho-sen to be in the band were from ‘Iolani: juniors Daniel Barr on trumpet, Garrett Bodley on alto saxophone, Anders Lee on guitar, and Jason Preble on bass along with sophomore Tayler Mori on trombone.

The full band rehearsed from April 27 through May 1.

Nathan Tanouye, a trombon-ist, composer, and director of the UNLV band, conducted the 2009 High School Select Jazz Band. Aside from directing bands and working with small ensembles, Tanouye has also performed with Bette Midler, Natalie Cole, and other well known musicians. .

He wrote some of the songs that the band performed such as “Reid’s Blues” which was written for his younger brother. During some songs, Tanouye even per-formed along with the band.

The jazz band also played with well-known local trumpet player DeShannon Higa, husband of

singer Rocky Brown, and mem-ber of the band gr00ve.imProV.arTiSts. Higa also performed dur-ing the Jazz Intersection concert held in February at Seto Hall.

Both Tanouye and Higa added an interesting flare to the Select Jazz Band.

Tayler Mori said, “It was a great experience to play with mu-sicians who were all really into the music,” he said.

Being a member of the High School Select Jazz Band is a great honor, and hopefully many ‘Io-lani jazz musicians will be a part of it in years to come.

Students jazz with style

Protecting the PernambucoBy Jana dagdagan

On May 24 at Hawaii The-atre, the ‘Iolani Stage Bands performed their final concert. The performance consisted of Stage Bands 1-3, the Tam Young Jazz Combo, and special guests Arturo O’Farrill & The Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra. Tickets cost $10, pre-sale, and at the door. This event was sponsored in part by the Tam and Young Arts Chair at ‘Iolani School and the Resort Quest Waikiki Beach Hotel.

Arturo O’Farill & The Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra from New York City featured Arturo O’Farill on piano, Vince Che-rico on drums, Tony Rosa on congas, Dean Taba on bass, Jim Seeley and Valery Ponomalev on trumpet, Ivan Renta on tenor sax, and Luis Bonilla on trom-bone. O’Farill, also the music director of the Jazz Orchestra was the winner of the Latin

Jazz Outstanding Achievement Award in 2003. He attended the Manhattan School of Music, Brooklyn College Conserva-tory, and the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College. O’Farill’s love for Latin music has influenced many musicians worldwide and has inspired musicians in both the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra and in ‘Iolani’s very own Stage Bands.

Each of ‘Iolani’s respected stage bands performed a few pieces of different genres, impressing the audience with diversity and skill featuring various soloists in each piece performed.

Many tickets to the concert were sold weeks before the concert date, and with special guests Arturo O’Farill & The Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, the concert was a memorable event.

Alyssa Muraoka | Imua IolaniTop: Arturo O’Farill instructs the rythmn section of Stage Band 1 during an in class clinic. Bottom: Ivan Renta gives words of wisdom to the saxaphone players.

Dance Showcase: Picture perfect in paradiseBianca Bystrom | Imua Iolani

American University Washington, D.C.

Ayesha Cooray

Amherst CollegeAmherst, Mass.

Alexa HettwerAmy KoCelia Ou

Arizona State UniversityTempe, Ariz.

Nikki CastelNicholas Christman

Babson CollegeBabson Park, Mass.

Kendall HuangMathew Shimoko

Boston CollegeChestnut Hill, Mass.

Stephanie Dote

Boston UniversityBoston, Mass.

Hedee KimEmily SakaLani Walker

Brigham Young UniversityProvo, Utah

Jordan ChangCraig Yugawa

Brown UniversityProvidence, R.I.

Sean Yancey

Bryn Mawr CollegeBryn Mawr, Penn.

Grace McLane

California Polytechnic State UniversitySan Luis Obispo, Calif.

Chelsea Hardin

California State Polytechnic UniversityPomona, Calif.

Buen HatanakaChristopher Otani

Carnegie Mellon UniversityPittsburgh, Penn.

Adeline LiLea Masatsugu

Case Western Reserve UniversityCleveland, Ohio

Kahti Hughes

Chapman UniversityOrange, Calif.

Leyna EsakiMathew Brady Angelica RaquelChaz Silva

Colorado School of MinesGolden, Colo.

Kelly Masuda

Colorado State UniversityFort Collins, Colo.

Alana Calhoun

Creighton UniversityOmaha, Neb.

Rance FujiwaraBrandon KanetaniLeslie KinoshitaSamuel KorDylan LeeRyan Yamada

Duke UniversityDurham, N.C.

David Martorana

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - AZPrescott, Ariz.

Kevin Chun

Emerson CollegeBoston, Mass.

Misha Han

Emmanuel CollegeBoston, Mass.

Alton Choy

Emory UniversityAtlanta, Geor.

Katie Lee

Gonzaga UniversitySpokane, Wash.

Megan JacksonMegan OshiroTaylor Yamashita

Harvard UniversityCambridge, Mass.

Robert TamaiUyanga Tsedev

Hofstra UniversityHempstead, N.Y.

Maile Scarpino

Illinois Institute of TechnologyChicago, Ill.

Jonathan Taketa

Indiana University at BloomingtonBloomington, Ind.

Richard Yu

Johns Hopkins UniversityBaltimore, Mary.

Julia Zhang

Kenyon CollegeKenyon, OhioLaurel Ota

Kapiolani Community CollegeHonolulu, HawaiiLindsey McGinn

Leeward Community CollegeKaneohe, HawaiiKasai Naiwi

Lehigh UniversityBethlehem, Penn.

Keiko AkamineYasmin Kheradpey

Lewis & Clark CollegePortland, Ore.

Elysia Gabe

Loyola Marymount UniversityLos Angeles, Calif.

Andrew AtkinsonJustin HoVincent LimKevin SeraiMarisa TakiguchiSteven WallRoy Yamaguchi

Macalester CollegeSt. Paul, Minn.

Annie Rian

Marist CollegePoughkeepsie, N.Y.

Melissa LeeMatthew MurayamaBridget SchowalterAllison Turgeon

Maryland Institute College of ArtBaltimore, Mary.

Karli Wade

Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyCambridge, Mass.

Grant Iwamoto

Middlebury CollegeMiddlebury, Ver.

Amelia Linsky

Musicians InstituteHollywood, Calif.

Christopher Llarenas

New York UniversityNew York, N.Y.

Kai ChenTaylor DonovanSachiko Pettit

Northeastern UniversityBoston, Mass.

Sean Scott

Northern Arizona UniversityFlagstaff, Ariz.

Joshua Schretenthaler

Occidental CollegeLos Angeles, Calif.

Lauren BabaSpencer ChoyKellen ImadaDrew LimmKeri NakamaLaurie NittaReid SakamotoPablo WarnerBrenton Yuen

Oregon State UniversityCorvallis, Ore.

David FinkMarcus JoyMatthew KagawaJared LumHannah Smith

Pacific Lutheran UniversityTacoma, Wash.

Matthew Koyama

Pacific UniversityForest Grove, Calif.

Niklas Streng

Pepperdine UniversityMalibu, Calif.

Kyle Shiroma

Pitzer CollegePomona, Calif.

Travis Muraoka

Princeton UniversityPrinceton, N.J.

Melody LindsayJessi Saylors

Reed CollegePortland, Ore.

Stephen Stack

Saint Mary’s College of CaliforniaMoraga, Calif.

Kirsten Adams

Santa Clara UniversitySanta Clara, Calif.

Ho Joon ChaNicole EndoAlex GaoErika KimReyn KimuraTamlyn MaruyamaPresley PawnElyse ShimomuraSamantha Tasaki

Seattle Pacific UniversitySeattle, Wash.

Brandi Hayashi

Seattle UniversitySeattle, Wash.

Ashley FurutaSamantha Robyn TotokiMaxx Toyama

Southern Oregon UniversityAshland, Ore.

Jordan Tacon

St. Olaf CollegeNorthfield, Minn.

Emily Shimkus

Texas Christian UniversityFort Worth, Texas

Joridan Sele

The Ohio State UniversityColumbus, Ohio

Carolyn McGinnis

The University of ArizonaTucson, Ariz.

Kevin Duong

The University of Montana, WesternDillon, Mont.

Keenan Hoohuli

The University of Texas, AustinAustin, Texas

Jonathan Wong

Towson UniversityTowson, Mary.

I’ishah Keliikoa

Trinity UniversitySan Antonio, Texas

Abigal GearyEmily Shiraki

Trinity CollegeHartford, Conn.

Tarah Sullivan

Tufts UniversityMedford, Mass.

Lianne Ho

University of ColoradoColorado Springs, Colo.

Peter Kagawa

United States Air Force AcademyUSAF Academy, Colo.

Keith LumTrenton MansonMark Rulona

United States Military AcademyWest Point, N.Y.

Brandon BallJoey Durso

United States Naval AcademyAnnapolis, Mary.

Tyler MulloyGeramiah Simoes

University of California at BerkeleyBerkeley, Calif.

Marissa SakodaKevin Tanaka

University of California at Los AngelesLos Angeles, Calif.

Julia HorieAlyssa OchiaiEve Tang

University of ChicagoChicago, Ill.

Zoe Petticord

University of Colorado at BoulderBoulder, Colo.

Matthew MartinesDaniel Mitchell

University of DenverDenver, Colo.

Steven Van Lier Ribbink

University of Hawaii at ManoaHonolulu, Hawaii

Breland AlmadovaJenna ArnoldZipporah BaleteEmma ChingAlice ChowAndy ChungAlexis FairlyRoyce FurukawaMatthew HirokaneBrandon KumabeJeffery KwockJackie McMillan Benjamin MenorErika Nana

Kaci OnouyeElizabeth RobinsonKelly SakudaTravis SatoSky TakemotoTodd TashimaBlaire TolentinoBlake TolentinoChelsea TomitaPamela ToshiJohn TsujiNicole Yakuma

University of British ColumbiaVancouver, B.C., Canada

Jon CarlileErin Nakashima

University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignUrbana, Ill.

Mark Teramoto

University of MiamiCoral Gables, Fla.

Thanh Vu

University of Nevada, Las VegasLas Vegas, Nev.

Brock Granger

University of Northern ColoradoGreeley, Colo.

Tyler Yamamoto

University of OregonEugene, Ore.

Samantha Sotomura

University of PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia, Penn.

Emily KuoDiana Lu

University of PortlandPortland, Ore.

JR BundaNicholas ChunBrittney GuroRebecca KagamiKelli Ann LumRachelle NiloAndrew Takahashi

University of Puget SoundTacoma, Wash.

Janice BiernackeChase HuTrent MiyashiroPaul NakamotoHiroki Tokuyama

University of RedlandsRedlands, Calif.

Amber Chun

University of RichmondRichmond, Va.

Mitsuo Kinoshita

University of Southern CaliforniaLos Angeles, Calif.

Shantel AsadaMarie CalvetSarah FangRayfe Gaspar-AsaokaWinston HuangJu Eun JangKatrina KarlCarolyn LiSean MaekawaErin ManagoKelsey NaPierNina ParkJeffrey SakamotoJana TokuhamaChase WeberEmily YamamuraMonika Young

University of San DiegoSan Diego, Calif.

Dana AdachiReyn Nagamine

University of San FranciscoSan Francisco, Calif.

Asha AllenStephanie Chun

University of the PacificStockton, Calif.

Gigi ChanMitchell NagataShanna TashiroKeli UmedaGavin Yorimoto

University of WashingtonSeattle, Wash.

Giulia AndersonMaya KrekElysse TomCara Tseng

Vanderbilt UniversityNashville, Tenn.

Samuel Weschsler

Villanova UniversityVillanova, Penn.

Chad KuwanaShantha McKinlay

Washington University in St. LouisSt. Louis, Mo.

Kristelle AisakaAnya LiaoKelly PangAndrew Yu

Weber State UniversityOgden, Utah

Kela Marciel

Wesleyan UniversityMiddletown, Conn.

Lindsay Kosasa

Westmont CollegeSanta Barbara, Calif.

Kelli Ching

Wheaton CollegeWheaton, Ill.

Hanna Pang

Whitman CollegeWalla Walla, Wash.

Stephen ToyofukuDanielle Wilson

Willamette UniversitySalem, Ore.

Carl GibsonChristopher Tokeshi

Yale UniversityNew Haven, Conn.

Zachary Simao

UH-Manoa or BYU-HawaiiOli Fatongia

Chaminade or UH-ManoaTami Konishi

Oh, the places you’ll go!Class of 2009 heads for colleges near and far

Page 11Page 10

Page 12 Features Imua ‘Iolani

Aesthetics, Academics, and Athletics:Scores and saves in athletic spending

By Emily Saka

This year, the ‘Iolani econom-ics team took second place at the National Economics competition while the softball and baseball teams became ILH champions. These accomplishments are just some of the many diverse success-es that ‘Iolani prides itself on and strives to continue achieving.

However, various concerns have arisen around campus about the ways in which the school bal-ances funding for its academic and athletic programs as well as the in-

dividual attention it gives to each sport.

Headmaster Dr. Val Iwashita tried to tackle some of the more sensitive issues.

“We’re trying to attract students with diverse interests and talents,” Dr. Iwashita said in regards to the school’s admission goals. There-fore, as ‘Iolani would do for promising scholars and artists, the school tries its best to provide for athletes in need of financial aid.

Dr. Iwashita said that ILH rules dictate that participating athletes are disqualified from league ac-

tivities if they receive an athletic scholarship.

The operational costs of ‘Iolani’s athletic programs take up approxi-mately 1 percent of the school’s annual budget. Included in these costs is the money spent for things like uniforms and equipment.

This does not include the sala-ries for the athletic directors and coaches. Dr. Iwashita says that no matter the success of ‘Iolani’s ath-letic teams in a given year, this to-tal operational cost doesn’t tend to greatly fluctuate from year to year. He also said that every time ILH

teams utilize ‘Iolani facilities, the school receives monetary credit. This helps to lessen the operational cost.

However, Dr. Iwashita admits, “There is a disparity in the total amount of money spent for each sport.” Football, for example, is an expensive sport that requires uniforms and equipment for a large number of athletes. In order to make things fairer amongst the sports teams, a team that requires less monetary expenditures, like the wrestling team, is given exclu-sive use of a large room.

There is also an athletics-wide rule that no team is allowed to go on an out-of-state trip for two con-secutive years. Because ‘Iolani doesn’t help students fund any of these trips, the policy helps to keep costs lower for parents. When asked why the school doesn’t cover the costs of these trips, Dr. Iwashi-ta said that the total travel costs would raise the amount of money coming out of the pockets of ev-ery ‘Iolani family, most of whom wouldn’t benefit from a trip.

Many student athletes, like those surveyed from track, base-ball, and tennis teams, are gener-ally satisfied with the amount of money given to their sport.

However, Keiko Akamine ’09 and other wrestlers are less than pleased with what their team is given.

“We’re basically using the same

uniforms our coaches used in high school,” Akamine said. “We don’t even have our own sweats. We have to use track sweats.”

And some activities that de-mand athletic ability don’t fall un-der the definition of sports.

Angelica Raquel ’09, who was sporting a large bruise at the time of the interview from an intense dance practice said, “Because we aren’t considered a sport, we don’t get funding.”

Amber Chun ’09 added, “We have to pay for our own costumes, which can be about $70 each.”

It seems as though conflicts with athletic spending will take a while to be resolved. There are obvious disparities and policies that need revising in order for all student athletes to receive the best experi-ences possible. While the program strives to be as fair as possible to all students, as ‘Iolani’s teams con-tinue to reach new athletic heights, it is clear that there is room for im-provements in the program.

This article is the final piece in a three-part feature investigat-ing the financial decisions made in our school‘s community. “Ath-letics” sheds light on the various uses of resources for athletic im-provement from the perspectives of both the administration and ‘Iolani students.

What happened to Mrs. Au Hoy?

By kirStEn PEtErSon

Mrs. Maria Au Hoy, an ener-getic Chinese teacher, was walk-ing with two students to the Reli-gion Room in Lower School when she was struck with a soccer ball.

“It had hit me hard enough to send me airborne and I landed on the hard cement that made me im-mobile,” she says.

She fell on her right side, breaking her humeral head bone, her sacrum, and her pelvis in two places.

Thankfully, Mrs. Au Hoy is recovering.

“I am very grateful for the ex-tremely quick response from our school nurse, Mrs. Shannon Yo-namine, and many Lower School teachers and staff,” says Mrs. Au Hoy. “I have made good progress since the accident and am now walking with a walker but have not quite graduated to a cane. I

am thankful that I have always been very active and healthy. My regular exercise routines, yoga and marathon training, have en-sured my good reflexes and strong muscles. I am optimistic and look forward to a full recovery.”

Mrs. Au Hoy will definitely be back next year. She hopes to be able to pursue her regular activi-ties. She’s thankful for the banner and cards that students and teach-ers have made for her, as well as the “One Team” spirit that sup-ported her through recovery.

“‘Don’t worry, be happy!’ might sound cheesy but that’s how I see myself in this inci-dent,” says Mrs. Au Hoy. “I want to give my most sincere thanks to all of you for your prayers and get well wishes. I miss school very much. I think this is the most dif-ficult part of my recovery period that I am not able to carry out my daily commitment as a classroom teacher. I miss each and every one of you—my Chinese students, my homeroom kids, and all the faces that I greet each day. As this school year is coming to closure soon, I wish you all a very suc-cessful ending of the school year and very happy summer. You earned it!”

Cordelia Xie | Imua IolaniStudents have been urged to take precautions to avoid catching H1N1 virus, called “swine flu.”

Amelia Linsky | Imua IolaniOne percent of the annual school budget goes to athletic expenses, but different sports receive different amounts.

By amElia linSky

“Autumn Leaves,” a sculpture donated by local artist Satoru Abe, has undergone several color changes during its tenure as the Weinberg fountain. When it was installed upon the building’s com-pletion in 2003, the fountain aged, as intended, from bright copper to a mature green patina. According to the ‘Iolani web site, the leaves comprise more than 500 copper pieces, and the fountain wall is composed of Philippine coral.

The latest color change to a distinctive purple has stained the

water’s edge in the basin of the fountain and the inner wall encas-ing the copper leaves.

Several juniors who frequent the area had noticed the staining.

The purple, said Jackie Mo-steller ’10, is “pretty.”

Amy Lee ‘10 agreed, but said, “I’m not sure about the ring around the water.”

Jaimie Fong ’10 preferred the purple color of the leaves, but commented, “I heard someone put purple dye in the fountain.”

Mrs. Pamela Fujinaka’s AP Chemistry class devoted a class period to testing the fountain to discover the reason for the color

change. “We were just inter-ested,” said Mrs. Fujinaka. “We harvested samples and ran solu-bility tests. We were trying to de-termine if it was some complex ion.” However, without knowing the composition of the sculpture, she said, “We didn’t find anything conclusive. It is some sort of cop-per compound.”

Mr. Glenn Ching, Director of Finance, said the school had been unaware of the purple staining but said there may be mainte-nance work in the future, at least for the non-copper portions of the fountain.

“I am optimistic and look for-ward to a full

recovery.”~ Mrs. Au Hoy

Weinberg fountain goes purple

Page 13 Lower and MiddLe SchooL Imua ‘Iolani

Mr. O’s retirement plansThoughts on an old campus mixup

Photo courtesy of Mr. Peter OkumuraMr. Okumura (right) pictured in a Christmas card taken with for-mer ‘Iolani chemistry teacher Mr. John Kim (left), and Dr. Carey Inouye (middle).

By Kyle Kim

After 39 years as the Dean of Lower School, Mr. Frederick Okumura is retiring after next year.

Mr. Okumura is a son of ‘Io-lani who has always been part of the Iolani community.

When he first began to work as an Iolani counselor, there were only two counselors in the entire upper school.

He was the Dean of Lower School for many years, and over the years he has earned the ear-nest respect of parents, faculty members, and students.

Eigth grade counselor Mr. Peter Okumura is Mr. Frederick Okumura’s younger brother.

He shared his thoughts on his brother and his upcoming retirement:

How was Mr. Okumura as an older brother?

“He was a nice brother…most of the time.”

What is he going to after his retirement?

“Probably knit sweaters for me.”

Really?“Nah.”Are you going to miss your

brother?“I will miss him because we

always talk. It’s nice working to-gether with your brother.”

An old campus mixupMr. Peter Okumura speaks of

his brother’s being mistaken for Dr. Iwashita and ‘Iolani physics teacher Dr. Carey Inouye:

Would you say your brother looks a lot like Dr. Iwashita?

“No, no, no. My brother looks like Dr. Inouye. He was always confused for Dr. Inouye. When I went to school here, even I con-fused Dr. Inouye for my brother. Dr. Inouye was at autoline, but I thought he was my brother so I waved at him and said hi but I later found out that he wasn’t my brother. People have actually sat down next to my brother and started talking to him thinking he was Dr. Inouye. He told me he

just nods and smiles when that happens.”

Dr. Inouye speaks about the mixup:

Are you often mistaken for Mr. Okumura?

“It happens a lot. Here not only students confuse us, but parents, alumni, and new faculty [do]. It happens frequently, so we don’t bother correcting. I guess we have a common face. Similar age. He is a year older than I am. I have more gray hair.”

Any fun mixup stories?“I correct people and they

don’t believe me; after a couple times I stopped correcting.”

What are your thoughts on Mr. Okumura’s retirement?

“Well, I envy him. It’s well deserved. He spent almost his entire working career here at ‘Io-lani. He has earned the respect of the children and the respect of the parents and faculty. He is going to be one of those faculty mem-bers who is hard to replace, but I still envy him.”

What do you think about entering the first grade?“It’s like different from kindergarten, so I think it might be fun.”Kyoishi Ariyoshi ‘21

How is first grade different from kindergarten?“Oh well…yeah…You could do more special things like art and swimming in PE. I will miss first

grade. But I am really excited for second grade.”Mia Watanabe ‘20

Are you ready for first grade?“I don’t want to go to first grade because they have lots of homework. I am scared of homework. I want to play.” Jacob Seto ‘21

Are you sad because your class is moving on?“I am always sad, it always go too fast because just when you get to known them really well they

move on. They will always be our kids. It’s been a great year.”Mrs. Gravelle

Kindergartners prepare for next year

Kyle Kim | Imua IolaniMrs. Gravelle reads a story to her kindergarten class.

Photos by Courtney Ochi and Joey FalaSixth graders take the seniors’ pews in chapel in the symbolic Moving Up Ceremony on May 21; seniors look on outside (top). Seventh and eighth graders gathered to recognize peers for their character and making ‘Iolani a better place earlier in April (above).

Rising seventh graders, middle school students recognized in

chapel services

Page 14 Lighter Side Imua ‘Iolani

CONGRATULATIONS SENIORS!! SIX YEARS OF HARD WORK HAS PAID OFF ~ THE FIRST EVER ‘IOLANI LACROSSE CLUB! BEST WISHES: Brandon, Craig, Joey, Jonathan, Jordan, Kevin, Matthew, Nick, and Stephen.

Underclassmen ~ Keep the tradition alive and never give up! Guthrie, Kendall, Sean, John, Joey, Kyle and Drew, thanks for “taking a chance” and being the change!

Advice from a hopeful and unfunny personBy Stephen Stack

I’ve learned a lot from my years at ‘Iolani, which is a wretch-edly boring way to start, but it’s true and the opposite would just be disheartening. As a senior, it is my duty to pass on what I’ve learned to the underclassmen and to my fellow seniors. I must apologize, as the editor of lighter side, for not writing anything ter-ribly funny, but I’m executing my prerogative as editor to do more or less whatever I please and shifting my tone to one of “very serious business.”

Listen:I can offer little advice on what

you should know for your remain-ing time at ‘Iolani and for the re-mainder of your life. I have too many thoughts, intertwined with emotions and doubts, than I can find words for. I have six free periods with my AP classes over, and the excessive free time makes me too apathetic to think straight.

With that said, the only thing I can tell you that would be of any use is to avoid overgeneraliza-tions. This is the part where I tell you to dismiss racial and clique-related stereotypes, as you have no doubt heard countless times from after school specials, school assemblies, and every media facet

that society has to offer.However, let me touch on an-

other point. Do not ever general-ize yourself. Do not deposit your-self into a slot you will not be able to climb out of, but rather embrace your individualism. Do not sac-rifice the ability to mold yourself for the ease of handing off your personal formation to others, who can only carve you into a one-di-mensional entity. Shield yourself from these attempts to conform you to a certain way of thinking.

I don’t mean practice noncon-formity as a general rule; recog-nize that whatever group you find yourself in—a school, a country, a small circle of friends—gen-eralizations will be attempted on you, and you must recognize and debunk them. Question all labels; make sure all actions and ratio-nales are valid for any statement made. Conforming to a standard because it is logical and uncom-promising is not blind orthodoxy, but rational thinking, and in the same way you must trust only your own reason.

Above all you are an individ-ual. You are responsible for your actions and you are the one who determines your future. Others will lay out paths for you, and they will lay out paths for others. What you must keep in mind is not sim-

ply to choose the most commonly trod path or the one less traveled, but rather to choose the path the most appeals to your own per-sonal convictions and rationale. I won’t pretend to know what your personal path should be; I won’t pretend that finding it and staying on it will be by any means easy; and I certainly won’t pretend that you are guaranteed happiness at

the end of it. All I can promise is that finding that path will lead you closest to fulfillment, and al-though you must follow it as an individual, you may find others to help you along, and in turn it is your duty to help them.

I’ve barely touched on every-thing I want to get across to you, on all that I wish I could make you all understand. Even what

I’ve conveyed is not nearly spe-cific enough to be terribly useful, but I’ve got to keep trying. What I keep coming back to is a quota-tion; it goes like this: Kurt Von-negut once asked his son, Mark Vonnegut, what he thought the meaning of life was, to which he replied something like, “We’re here to help each other through this thing, whatever it is.”

Comic by Cordelia Xie

Page 20 SportS Imua ‘Iolani

Coach Dean’s legacy: An ILH title By IrIs Kuo

This year’s varsity baseball ILH title puts an exclamation point on the tenure of coach Dean Yonamine, who has an-nounced he will step down after this season.

The last time ‘Iolani won the title was in 1997, the first year Mr. Yonamine was head coach of the varsity baseball team.

Mr. Yonamine, a sixth grade teacher, comes from a baseball family. His father, cousins, and uncles were baseball coaches or players. His main influence came from his uncle Wally Yonamine, who is in Japan’s professional Baseball Hall of Fame and whose foundation is the title sponsor for the state tournament.

Mr. Yonamine’s coaching career began in 1984 when he started coaching summer base-ball at ‘Iolani while playing for UH. He decided to pursue the coaching route instead of con-tinuing to play baseball.

Mr. Yonamine first became a coach at ‘Iolani while attend-

ing UH. When he finished his degree in economics and mar-keting in 1988, he realized that he wouldn’t have enough time to coach if he continued in that direction.

He said he told Mr. Eddie Hamada, “I want to come back to ‘Iolani to teach and coach.” Mr. Hamada told him he would have to go back to college to earn his teaching degree, which Mr. Yonamine said was the best advice he’s ever gotten.

Mr. Yonamine had to plan his classes in the morning so that he’d be able to coach in the af-ternoon. When he received his degree in 1990, his first teaching job was at Radford High School, where he coached their junior varsity team. Radford’s admin-istrators wanted

Mr. Fred Okumura offered him the sixth grade social stud-ies position in 1991, and Mr. Yonamine took over from Mr. Tate Brown, current Dean of Students.

After all his years of coach-ing, Mr. Yonamine has decided

“it’s a good year to go out.” He says he’s gotten to know about six of the players pretty well after coaching them for three or four years. Now that they’re all graduating, it’s time to move on. He’s not leaving ‘Iolani, though; Mr. Yonamine will still be a sixth grade Social Stud-ies teacher here, but instead of

coaching, he’s looking forward to traveling to see some of the seniors play in college. Mr. Ja-son Arakaki (‘87) will be taking his place, and Mr. Yonamine is glad that he’s leaving his team in such good hands.

“I always tell the players, ‘if baseball were that easy, every-one would make $250,000 like

the pros,” Mr. Yonamine said. “Baseball is 75 percent hard work, dedication, and mental toughness. You don’t necessarily have to be the greatest athlete.”

He admires who the upper-classmen have become as peo-ple and looks forward to visiting them in college to watch them play.

Tennis doubles takes states

By roBert tamaI

For senior Kyle Shiroma and junior Brent Hashiba, anything is possible with a tennis racket in hand. After a two and half hour match, Shi-roma and Hashiba claimed the 2009 HHSAA Boys’ Doubles Tennis State Title, upsetting the ILH Champion and top seeded team from Punahou in three sets: 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Shiroma and Hashiba began the varsity season as the 3rd doubles team for ‘Io-lani. Despite a disappointing straight sets lost to Punahou in the regular season, the duo continued to work hard and improve their games; even taking private lessons on the weekend to supplement their weekday team practices.

“Kyle kept me motivated throughout the season and forced me to work harder on my tennis,” explained Hashiba.

However, everything seemed to click for Shiroma and Hashiba as the tennis post-season neared. Enter-ing the ILH Post-Season as the eighth seed, the tandem first upset the top seeded and fellow teammates Devin An-derson ’10 and Spencer Choy ‘09 in the quarterfinals, and then steam rolled their way

onto the ILH finals until they were stopped by Punahou’s Erik Pang and Hiroshi Hikida in a close three set match.

Two weeks later, Shiroma and Hashiba faced the same Punahou team in the state finals. This time, they looked to avenge their loss and fin-ish the season on top. After stumbling early and losing the first set 4-6, the Raiders quickly stepped up their game and never looked back; win-ning the second and third sets in commanding fashion.

Kyle Shiroma credited his teammates, especially his partner, for the win saying, “throughout the whole season, my teammates were very supportive, and we all worked hard up until the very end.”

Shiroma and Hashiba won Iolani’s first boys’ doubles state tennis title in 39 years. Their win added eight team points to give ‘Iolani a total of 17 and a runner-up finish in the 2009 Tennis State team title.

Meanwhile, Nikki Castel ’09 and Bobbi Oshiro ’12 finished as runners-up in the Girls’ Doubles bracket to lead the ‘Iolani Girls’ tennis team to a third place finish with six team points.

Landmark lacrosse team finishes successfully

By GuthrIe anGeles

For the first time ever, mem-bers of the `Iolani Lacrosse Club were able to put together a team made up of entirely `Iolani stu-dents to represent the Raiders in the Aloha Youth Lacrosse As-sociation (AYLA), Oahu’s top youth lacrosse club. The `Iolani Raiders Lacrosse Team, six years in the making, was able, in its first year, and with the least num-ber of players, to come in second in the AYLA.

The `Iolani Lacrosse Team plays for AYLA, a non-profit club lacrosse organization for girls and boys from 1st to 12th grade. Since its start in 2003, ALYA has grown from 60 play-ers to 300. When AYLA first started out, only five boys from `Iolani played: Michael Muraya-ma ’07 (who has since graduated and gone on to Notre Dame), Matthew Murayama ‘09, Craig Yugawa ‘09, Stephen Toyofuku ‘09, and Kevin Tanaka ‘09.

“It was the dream of these boys in 2003 to see an all-Iolani lacrosse team by their senior year,” says Norma Murayama, Michael and Matthew’s mother. Her daughter Sarah also plays for the girls’ team.

This season has definitely been a memorable one. As a member the team, I was able to experience firsthand the fast and exciting game of lacrosse. I can definitely say it is a tough one: we had several injuries during the

season, including a concussion, pulled muscles, and sprained ankles. Many of the players have walked around school with bruises the size of baseballs.

“It is definitely not a sport for the faint of heart,” says Aunty Norma, who has witnessed the injuries her sons have accumu-lated over the years.

The lacrosse team went 7-2 this season, finishing second in the AYLA. Of the sixteen play-ers from grades 9-12 who are on the team, four had never played before, leaving the team the least experienced in the league.

But even as the smallest, the team was still able to overcome all odds. “Even with so few play-ers and a bunch of them being new to lacrosse, I still thought at the start of the season that we’d do well,” says senior goalie Ste-phen Toyofuku.

The future of `Iolani la-crosse remains uncertain. Of the 16 players on the team, 9 are seniors.

“The pressure is on the under-classmen to recruit new players for lacrosse and to continue on as an `Iolani Raiders team,” says head coach Tom Durso. The re-maining members of the team also say that they feel it is their duty to continue the legacy of this 1st ever `Iolani team.

Girls’ lacrosse is growing, too. Five `Iolani girls (from both Upper and Lower School) play for teams in their respective age

groups. “Girls’ lacrosse has grown so

much and it’s great for meeting new people,” says freshman Sar-ah Murayama. “Lacrosse is just an all-around fun sport.”

The chance for `Iolani la-crosse to become an actual ILH sport may come sooner than later. In order for a sport to qual-ify as ILH, three teams made up entirely of students from ILH schools must compete. Currently Punahou and ‘Iolani, combined with the Wolfpac team (made up mostly of players from Midpac, but also from other ILH and OIA schools) participate. With the popularity of lacrosse growing, all hope that it will become wide-spread as a high school sport.

Congratulations to all the la-crosse players for all their hard work and especially to the se-niors who, after six years have finally seen their dream of an `Iolani lacrosse team come true.

The `Iolani Lacrosse Team

would like to express their grati-tude to their coaches, Tom Durso, Dean Child, and Mark Toguchi (aka “Guch”) for their guidance and mentoring. Also, a special thanks to Mrs. Norma Muraya-ma, their very own “lacrosse mom,” for her hard work and her loving support of the team, and to the countless parents and volunteers without whom they would never have been able to have such an amazing season.

Bianca Bystrom | Imua ‘IolaniSenior Reyn Nagamine slams one in a game against Punahou. This year’s baseball team was led to great success by retiring coach Mr. Dean Yonamine.