Ka`u News Briefs Feb. 14, 2013

Halau Na Pua Ha`aheo O Kona performs at Volcano Art Center Saturday. Photo by Ken Kuroshima

IMMIGRATION REFORM was the topic of Sen. Mazie Hirono’s testimony yesterday during the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee’s first hearing on the subject. She argued that reform should refrain from shifting the purpose of immigration away from a family focus. While Hirono acknowledged that increasing immigration among those trained in science and technology sectors is important, she warned that Congress should not get tunnel vision and forget that immigration reform should be rooted in a set of guiding principles to ensure that the U.S. immigration system addresses critical needs of the economy, while maintaining the nearly 50-year tradition of bringing families together.
       “There is a huge backlog in our legal immigration system. These backlogs have prevented Filipino veterans of World War II, men who fought for our country, from reuniting with their children for decades,” she told the committee.
       “We now consider how to address the numerous problems in a large and complicated system; to bring the millions of undocumented out of the shadows so that they can contribute to our society fully; to reduce and eliminate the backlogs in family-based immigration; and to reunite the Filipino veterans of World War II with their children.

Sen. Mazie Hirono

       “I know many of my colleagues have highlighted the importance of providing green cards to STEM graduates of U.S. universities. I agree that we should not educate foreign students and then send them away to work for foreign competitors of American companies. It only makes sense to keep that talent here. However, we should not shift the purpose of immigration to the United States away from a family focus toward an employment focus. In advocating for more employment-based immigration, we should not get tunnel vision and forget the human element of immigration. We should be looking to expand the opportunities for families to be reunited and kept together – and this should include LGBT families.
       “The needs of employers are important in this debate, but I believe that family-based immigration is essential to ensuring the continued vitality of the American economy. The success of immigrants in this country is often the success of immigrants with their families. Families provide American workers with a support network and social safety net.
      “I am also concerned about how women and children are treated, both in our current immigration system and under any reforms we put in place. Female immigrants and unaccompanied minors face unique circumstances that are often lost in this debate that focuses on enforcement and the job market. For example, a woman who stays at home as a domestic worker could fall through the cracks and be denied legal status if she suffers the loss of her husband or becomes a victim of domestic abuse.
       “Our immigration policies should allow for discretion in dealing with vulnerable populations. This should include how we treat families and children in our enforcement and detention system, but it should also include how we design an earned legalization program to be inclusive of women and children under immigration reform,” Hirono testified.

Bobby Jean Leithead-Todd

GREATER COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT in consideration of proposed Planned Unit Development projects is proposed by Hawai`i County Planning director Bobby Jean Leithead-Todd. She proposes an amendment to the Hawai`i County Code that would, among other changes, require a community meeting before submittal of an application for a P.U.D. The measure comes up before the Leeward Planning Commission during its meeting at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 21. 

      One thousand acres zoned for 20-acre agriculture lots, for example, could be subdivided into 50 ag lots. However, a Project Unit Development is sometimes used by developers to obtain smaller, more desirable lots for estates and houses. The procedure is to place unbuildable land, such as steep hillsides and gulches, in one large parcel, leaving other lots smaller than the 20 acres for which the property is zoned. For example a 1,000-acre parcel zoned Ag-20 could possibly be subdivided into one 500-acre lot with cliffs and streams, and 49 other flat lots 10.2 acres each. The intent of the P.U.D. was to make for better planning by avoiding simple cookie cutter developments. However, its use by developers has often been to maximize the number of small lots that can be obtained out of a large agricultural parcel. Some proposals have attempted to maximize beachfront lots for estates by making one large lot in the most mauka section of the property and putting the smaller, often skinny, long houselots under 20 acres near the shoreline.

THE KOHALA CENTER INVITES high school students to apply for scholarships to residential engineering and environmental science summer programs. These opportunities are offered in partnership with Cornell University, Brown University, and the University of California, San Diego.
The programs are:

• Brown Environmental Leadership Lab at Brown University, Sustainable Development, June 24–July 5, July 8–July 19, and July 22–August 2. Application deadline is March 29. The Kohala Center and Brown University are offering full-tuition scholarships for two Hawai`i Island students. Scholarship recipients must cover their own travel costs. For two-week sessions, students will live at Brown University’s Haffenreffer estate, a 372-acre historic farm adjacent to Narrangansett Bay in Rhode Island, and learn how human demands on the environment often compromise long-term ecosystem health. Students will also learn about policies, practices, and emerging technologies that can help reduce humankind’s ecological impact. Mentoring is provided by Brown faculty, graduate, and undergraduate students.
• CURIE and CATALYST engineering academies at Cornell University, July 14–20. Application deadline is February 18. The Kohala Center is offering two full-tuition scholarships to qualified high school students to attend either the CURIE Academy or the CATALYST Academy, both hosted by the Diversity Programs in Engineering at Cornell. Qualified applicants may apply for one or both of the programs. 
• The CURIE Academy is a one-week residential engineering program for high school girls who excel in math and science and want to learn more about opportunities in engineering in an interactive atmosphere. Cornell University’s faculty and graduate students will lead CURIE participants in classes, lab sessions, and project research. Rising sophomore, junior, or senior girls with a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale are eligible to apply.
• The CATALYST Academy for rising high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors is a one-week summer residential engineering program, during which the university’s faculty and graduate students lead participants in classes, lab sessions, and project research. The mission of the CATALYST Academy is to advance diversity in engineering and its related disciplines. Scholarship applicants must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.

• University of California, San Diego Academic Connections—San Diego, July 7-27. Application deadline is March 29. UCSD and The Kohala Center are offering one full-tuition scholarship to a qualified high school student to attend an Academic Connections program of their choosing in San Diego. Scholarship recipient must cover his/her own travel costs. Academic Connections at UCSD is a three-week pre-college summer academic and residential experience targeted to college-bound high school students, grades 9–12. Students will experience courses taught by UCSD graduate students or work side-by-side with UCSD researchers in their labs on specific projects.
• UCSD Academic Connections—Hawai`i, August 10–17. Application deadline is March 29. UCSD is offering one full-tuition scholarship to a qualified high school student to attend the Academic Connections program on Hawai`i Island. The Alaka`i i ka Malama Honua, “A Leader in Caring for the Earth,” course is made possible by a partnership between UCSD and The Kohala Center. This one-week pre-college summer academic experience for college-bound high school students in grades 9–12 examines the diverse ecosystem and climate zones of Hawai`i Island. Traveling around the island, students will study geology, volcanology, marine science and Hawaiian history.

      For more information and application forms for all programs, go tohttp://www.kohalacenter.org/scholarships/about.html, call 887-6411, or e-mail Erica Perez at eperez@kohalacenter.org.

Have Lunch with a Ranger at Kahuku
Sunday at 11:30 a.m.

VOLCANO ART CENTER GALLERY in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park presents a Na Mea Hawai`i hula kahiko performance featuring Halau Na Pua Ha`aheo O Kona with kumu hula Roy Palacat Saturday at 10:30 a.m. Established in 1985, this halau is dedicated to caring for, maintaining and perpetuating the art of hula with particular attention to ancient dances. Kumu Palacat said, “Today in Hawai`i, mele and hula form a link to the past and provide an important means for Hawaiians to celebrate their rich and proud musical heritage.” Hands-on cultural demonstrations take place from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on the gallery lanai. Call 967-8222 or email julie@volcanoartcenter.org for more information. 

LUNCH WITH A RANGER takes place Sunday at 11:30 a.m. at Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park’s Kahuku Unit. Rangers choose varied topics and guide an open discussion with visitors over a bring-your-own-bag lunch. Check Activities boards at Kahuku Visitor Greeting Area for the day’s topic and location. Free. For more information, call 985-6011.

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