Halfway through its 2013 campaign, the BYUH women’s volleyball team continues to impress with a No. 5 national ranking and a record of 13-1. The Seasiders only loss of the season was back on Sept. 26 at Hawaii Pacific University. That match went back and forth with the HPU Sea Warriors finally coming out on top, three games to two. After the thrilling match against HPU, the Seasiders wasted no time to once again find their winning ways. Since that defeat, the team has won its last six matches while only dropping two sets along the way. BYUH visited the road to compete in four games against California opponents. Although the team was playing without home court advantage, only Fresno Pacific was able to take a set from the Seasiders in a match they ultimately won 3-1.Now ranked No. 5 in the nation, BYUH looks to continue in its winning ways. Three time Pac West Player of the Week Stella Chen, a junior outside hitter from Taiwan, said, “Competition, of course, is going to have someone win and someone lose, but the important thing is how you learn from the mistakes in the match and move on. We have been able to move on from our one loss and be very successful.” Chen leads the Seasiders with nearly 200 kills on the season. Redshirt Freshman Janelle Fink reflected on the only loss of the season saying, “Honestly [the loss] brought us together…we needed it. We played with emotion and our team bonded and pulled together right after the game.” The Seasiders have not looked back since dominating their opponents and proving they are ready to be a national championship contender. Erica Willes, a junior from Oregon, added, “We always try to focus on the here and now. If we have a night where things don't go our way, we shake it off and tomorrow is a new day. The same goes for those nights that we play really well—we can't coast into the next game thinking that everything will come easily to us.”

When they received the call to serve as the new Laie Hawaii Temple Visitors’ Center Director, Elder Steven King, and his wife, Sister Michelle King, from Bountiful, Utah, both agreed it was unexpected but inspired.

Viral on the internet since they were young, the Tonga sisters said their passion for music started because of their parents’ musical backgrounds and their innate love for music.

Odgerel Ganbaatar said he found his passion for fire knife dancing while studying at BYU–Hawaii. He shared how he worked hard to become a fire knife dancer at the Polynesian Culture Center, and after his graduation, he returned home and later created his own crew, which has performed in many different events, including the Mongolian National Holiday Parade.

Having traveled around Mongolia and the United States, Lkhagvajargal Dalaichuluun said her experiences have helped her overcome challenges. Her passion for traveling, she said, has led her to make new friends, explore new places, and create new memories. According to Dalaichuluun, you don’t have to be wealthy or wait for the perfect timing to travel, all you need to do is set goals, pick a date and just do it.

New York City shut down on the advice of meteorologists for a blizzard that never showed, but BYU-Hawaii students said, regardless, they think it is good to be prepared. At the end of January, New York remained unscathed despite National Weather Service predictions, while the Midwest and New England took a hit of “actual historic amounts of snowfall with considerably less hype,” wrote the Huffington Post. “Though the storm didn’t hit as hard in New York, it’s always better to be over-prepared than not,” said Dom Lacroix, a junior majoring in psychology. Lacroix, who is from Connecticut, said her home on the coast was flooded and they were snowed in. Residents of the Northeastern United States got ready for the storm by stocking up a few days worth of necessities to prepare for what the National Weather Service said could be a “raging blizzard,” said CNN.Melanie Hynes, a sophomore from Arizona majoring in international cultural studies, said, “This is why we, as members of the church, are advised to have 72-hour kits and ample food storage. It’s harder here in Hawaii because of the humidity, but I am sure those members in the East who had the resources were feeling blessed that they listened.” Those who live on Oahu know false weather warnings well. “We prepared for Hurricane Ana just as those on the East Coast prepared for the blizzard. Sometimes all we can do is pray that we dodged the storm,” commented accounting major Ana Portugal, a junior from Houston, Texas. Atmospheric scientist Adam Sobel wrote on CNN’s website, “Good weather forecasts and well-informed, proactive emergency preparation and management save lives and property. Those are great benefits to society…but it's also important to understand that the unavoidable cost of enjoying these benefits is that sometimes, the problem won't be as bad as forecast, and so some decisions might seem unnecessary after the fact.”Tune into http://www.prh.noaa.gov/hnl/ for extreme Oahu’s weather reports. Uploaded Feb. 5, 2015

At a beach in Haleiwa, endangered green sea turtles bask under the watchful eye of volunteers from Malama na Honu, an organization whose name in Hawaiian means, “Protect the Turtles.”

The smell of pine tar and freshly cut grass signals the beginning of the Major League Baseball season. Here’s what has happened around the league three weeks into the 2013 season.American LeagueThe Oakland A’s are off to a hot start. According to ESPN.com, after a nine game winning streak, the A’s lead the American league in wins (12) and the entire MLB in runs scored (100). Boston leads the East Division, with Kansas City and Minnesota battling for the number one slot in the AL Central with a 10-7 and 8-7 record respectively.The slow start of the L.A. Angels may be the biggest surprise in the American League thus far. The team boasting the 6th largest payroll in the MLB at $127 million has struggled to score with their All-Star lineup featuring Albert Pujols, Josh Hamilton, and rookie of the year, Mike Trout. The Angels look to battle their way back as hopeful fans like Mike Miller, a recent graduate in supply chain management from California, hopes they can recover from their 7-10 start. He said, “I am super stoked to watch the Angels win a World Series ring this year. They will win a ring. That is a fact.”National LeagueIn the National League, the Atlanta Braves and Colorado Rockies lead the way with 13 wins each. Lauren Bergaust, a senior in ICS from Georgia said, “So far this season is looking great for the Braves and I know they’re going to do really good. It’s sad to not watch Chipper Jones anymore, but with players like the Upton brothers, Chris Johnson, and my favorite player, Jason Heyward, I know this season will have a lot of great things in store for the Braves.” San Francisco looks to knock off the Rockies from the top spot in the West as they are a half a game back. Barry Zito got off to a hot start extending his scoreless inning streak to 21 dating back to last season. He is currently 3-1 with a 3.42 ERA (Earned Run Average). The team to watch for is the Washington Nationals with MVP caliber players in Bryce Harper and Stephen Strasburg.

The United States of America is the largest receiver of immigrants in the world, reported the German science magazine geo.de. People of different ethnicities have become neighbors and members of the same country ever since, but in this era of migration, it happens at a speed and intensity that has not been known before.