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Honolulu police investigated a stabbing of two children and a woman at a Kalihi housing project. Emergency medic responders said a 7-year-old boy, 8-year-old girl and their 28-year-old mother, Megan Isomura, were apparently stabbed multiple times at Kalihi Valley Homes, also known as Kamehameha IV housing on Monday, Feb 23. All three victims were transported in serious but stable conditions to a hospital nearby. Isomura’s on-again, off-again boyfriend, 34-year-old Brandon Lorenz, turned himself in that same afternoon, but has been released from police custody on Feb. 25, Hawaii News Now reported.“These kinds of stories are what I grew up hearing on the news. This is not new for Kalihi. Though I do hope the mother and her children get the medical and emotional help they need, it’s time we look at the bigger picture of reckless violence on the island,” said Malia Jonston, a recent Farrington graduate. The Honolulu Star Advertiser reports that Kalihi Elementary School, just a few blocks away, was under lockdown for about and hour when someone matching the description of the alleged suspect was reported on campus. Lorenz has a criminal history that includes counts of family violence, assault, and multiple temporary restraining order violations. The couple also has a history of violence together.“My father had problems with his own anger. It’s always the same story. To hear about this is so tragic. That could’ve been me,” commented a BYU- Hawaii student. Isomura and her two children were reportedly attacked in their sleep. Isomura reported she has another child who was fortunately staying with a relative at the time. Medical officials reported Isomura and her children are stable and recovering in the hospital. “When you have to call the cops, call the cops. We can deal with the emotional trauma after that,” said Troy Lea, professor and psychologist in the BYUH counseling services. Campus security can be reached at (808) 675-3911 and will assist in further measures after initial reports of violence. Counseling services on campus also provides therapeutic assistance for victims and perpetrators of domestic violence. For more information of reporting cases of domestic violence, and or options for recovery and therapy, the National Domestic Violence Hotline is 1 (800) 799-7233 and their website can be found at http://www.thehotline.org. The hotline and website alike offers free, anonymous support. Uploaded March 4, 2015

Students’ deadline to submit proposals for this year’s Conference on Undergraduate Achievement is this coming Friday, March 6. The College of Math and Sciences andCollege of Language, Culture, and Arts are partnering for the Empower Your Dreams event taking place on March 19.The event’s flyer said, “We invite proposals for papers, posters, performances, creative writing readings, art displays, and exhibitions. Students from all disciplines will have the opportunity to share their scholarly and creative accomplishments with the entire university community.”Phillip McArthur, dean of the College of Language, Culture, and Arts, said, “The purpose of the conference is to give students an opportunity to present their original work. It could be anything from textual analysis of literary text to scientific research. They get the opportunity to present their research - to organize and present it, and have that experience of going before an audience and being asked questions about it from their peers.”When asked what advice he would give students writing their abstracts, McArthur said, “My recommendation is to be as concise and clear as possible. In the 150 words they have, state the title, what it’s about, what are the most interesting findings that are compelling and of interest to others, and any conclusions they can make from that. It’s an exercise on being pithy, concise, and articulate. It’s a good practice for future careers. It’s not just about getting your paper admitted to the conference. It’s about learning how to even render what you’ve done and sum it up really tightly.”Rose Ram, the associate Academic vice president for Assessment and Accreditation, said she prepares students in her research class to present at the conference. She advised students to, “Look at what is required in your proposal, definitely work with your faculty mentor, have peers read it, and be very creative about your abstract that makes people excited and draws people in. An abstract that is well written will leave the person reading it very intrigued and wanting to come hear it.”Rae Robinson, a junior studying painting from Texas, said she is preparing to submit her proposal. “I’m just excited to show my art in any way I can, especially to a different audience that doesn’t normally view it. I think it’s really nice that they open it to visual arts. It’s fun to combine and come together with many of the same ideas and views, but just in a different way of portraying it.” Robinson said she is going to submit a collection of her pen and ink drawings, a couple portraits, and a collage of the Pacific Island temples.McArthur said he was excited for this year because the winner of the music presentations will be able to play with the Honolulu Symphony. He said, “We have a whole day where students move towards becoming professionals.” In regards to the presentations, he said. “They have not only used them for their resume, but also some of them have reworked them and submitted them for publication and were able to get them in a publication in a smaller journal before grad school. Those are really good moments in reflecting over the conferences the past 15 years.”Ram said she looks forward to every Winter Semester for this event. “For me, the most thrilling part of being able to mentor students to get to this conference is to be able to see that confidence in the student grow. That’s the richness. If I can do that for them here, it will set them up for greater success in the future.”Uploaded March 3, 2015

For some BYU-Hawaii students, their phones or computers do not turn off until seconds before they drift off to sleep. Doctors have confirmed bright screens are disrupting people’s sleeping patterns, reports WebMD, and both tired and well-rested BYUH students and Laie community members alike agreed with the medical professionals conclusions. “Every night I turn the TV off and any other electronic at least one hour before my kids’ bed time,” said Laie community member Rebecca Miller. She continued, “Not every night am I able to get the electronics off right before bed, and on those nights the kids wake up cranky.” Miller also said due to implementing a no electronics rule before bedtime, she and her husband have also followed the rule and have noticed an improvement in the quality of their sleep as well. The National Sleep Foundation advises people should turn off bright screens at least 45 minutes before going to bed to be able to fall asleep quicker and sleep more soundly. Trinity Waddell, a biology junior from Texas, said, “Even if I did turn off my laptop and phone an hour before I went to bed, I still couldn’t avoid the bright screens from my roommates.”Published this year in the BMJ journal, a 2012 study done by a team of doctors in western Norway did an investigation of 10,000 teenagers from age 16-19 and found out using an electronic device in the hour before bedtime badly affects both onset of sleep and its duration. Yahoo reported Mari Hysing, a researcher who is part of the study, said teenagers are going to bed later because screen time eats into sleep time.Researchers found, “In particular, teens who used a computer or mobile phone in the last hour were 52% and 48% likelier to take more than 60 minutes to fall asleep. They were also 53% and 35% likelier to lose out on two or more hours of sleep.“Somewhat smaller risks of delayed or shortened sleep were observed among youngsters who used an MP3 player, tablet, game console or TV in the final hour before bedtime,” says study results published in The Guardian.In 2011, the Nation Sleep Foundation reported, “Artificial light exposure between dusk and the time we go to bed at night suppresses release of the sleep-promoting hormone melatonin, enhances alertness and shifts circadian rhythms to a later hour – making it more difficult to fall asleep,” says Charles Czeisler, PhD., Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, who was a part of the National Sleep Foundation. “This study reveals that light-emitting screens are in heavy use within the pivotal hour before sleep. Invasion of such alerting technologies into the bedroom may contribute to the high proportion of respondents who reported that they routinely get less sleep than they need.” Nobu Suzuki, an operations and supply chain junior from Japan, said, “Every night it depends what I am doing on how long it is from when I have no electronics on to going to sleep. If I have homework, I go right to bed after I turn of my computer.” However, Suzuki added if turning of electronics an hour before going to bed improved his grades in school, he would do it. Business Insider reported from Gigaom Research that the blue light--which is full light on the spectrum that people are exposed to every day in the sun--from electronics has been linked to physical and mental problems. At night, the exposure to blue light damages your vision and suppresses the production of the melatonin hormone. This throws off the natural sleeping cues from the body. Business Insider says when melatonin levels and sleep cycles are disrupted, there is a higher risk of getting health problems like depression or even cancer.

Due to a diagnosis of short-term memory loss, Michael Gambon, the actor who played Albus Dumbledore in the Harry Potter movies and Shakespeare’s King Lear, has announced his career has come to an end, reported The Sunday Times on Feb. 9.Hearing about the retirement of the 74-year-old Gambon, BYU-Hawaii Harry Potter fan said they are sad to hear the great actor is no longer pursuing his career while Harry Potter actors continue on in their careers. “Knowing that the actor of my favorite character from Harry Potter is getting old is kinda sad,” said Willow Bernal, a social work sophomore from Waianae. Agreeing with Bernal, Erik Adams, a biology senior from Oregon, said, “In connection to hearing that an actor has to retire, I feel the same way about the death of the great Robin Williams. These actors have great influence on our lives. It is never happy news to see a great actor leave the limelight like Michael Gambon is.”Gambon told the Sunday Times, “It’s a horrible thing to admit, but I can’t do it. It breaks my heart. It’s when the script is in front of me and it takes forever to learn. It’s frightening.”Huffington post reports Gabon said he realized that he could no longer continue acting in front of a live audience about six months ago while auditioning for a West End play and found he needed to have his lines fed to him via ear piece. Gambon explained to the Sundays Times, “There was a girl in the wings, and I had a plug in my ear so she could read me the lines. After about an hour I thought, ‘This can’t work.’” He said he couldn’t be “free on stage” when he did not know his lines word for word. According to the BBC, Gambon had a panic attack in 2009 from forgetting his lines during a play rehearsal at the National Theater. Another sad Harry Potter fan with a more positive attitude about Gambon’s retirement, Young Chae Han, an ICS sophomore from Korea, said “I think that [Gambon] is probably happy to be able to have privacy in his own life.”BBC News reported Gambon’s last appearance on the stage was in 2012 in a London production of Samuel Beckett’s play “All That Fall.” Gambon told the Sunday Times he is not going to quit his acting career altogether. Huffington Post reported that Gambon has two last adues to Hollywood; he “will next be seen in the BBC adaptation of J.K. Rowling’s ‘The Causal Vacancy’ and in a movie remake of the classic sitcom ‘Dad’s Army’,” says the Huffington Post article.

The Great Skate Escape activity started spirit week rolling under the lights of the Little Circle. Students, faculty and community members showed up with their skates, skateboards, bikes, and rollerblades to enjoy this new and interactive start to spirit week. Student Events prepared a roller rink, tug-of-war, and many other games to get the students involved and excited. “We’ve never done anything like this, where you can skate or play on the roadway,” said Eddie Coronado, a Student Events team member. “The Student Events staff is trying to do more than just dances. We wanted to do some more structured games so people can talk and get to know each other, meet others, and do something outside of the box.”The Little Circle was transformed into a roller rink with skaters and bikers doing laps and dancing all night. It was a unique experience to not have any cars in the little circle and just skate as much as possible, said Dee-Kei Waddell, a music major from Okinawa, Japan. “For me as a skater, I just want to skate and it is so fun to get together with other skaters. It is so fun to have all your friends here skating together.”Elizabeth Fong, a graphic design student from Japan said, “This is the first time I am really skating. Its good practice and there is no pressure. It is more fun than just dancing. There are more options; games, music, and skating.”Student Leadership Coordinator Michael Maile said, “We just want to appeal to as many students as possible. Bring a variety of games that everyone can enjoy doing. We just wanted to bring the students something different.” Coronado said skating is a big part of the BYUH experience as people have long boards or skateboards and use it to get to class or work. “This was one of the best activities I’ve been to,” said Waddell, “But it could be because skating is my thing,” he joked.Seth Schellenberg, a Student Activities team member from Utah, said, “This activity was received really well. We want to make it a tradition. Student Activities is working to improve; improve numbers, improve activities, and improve the future. Its pivotal to have people here, that is what makes these kinds of activities so much fun.”“Keep a look out for more and better student events in the future,” said Schellenburg. Uploaded March 2, 2015

On Monday, February 9, 2015 I woke up in a panic. Why? Because a man was screaming from my nightstand about “standing on the edge of an overpass screaming at myself, ‘Hey, I wanna get better.’”Trust me- it’s one of the worst ways to wake up, because at least for me, I immediately internalize the scene and open my eyes as imagined cars, concrete overpasses, and falling to my death flashes through my mind. However, in reality it’s only 6:30 a.m.I was worried about setting my favorite song, “I Wanna Get Better,” by Bleachers as my alarm clock tone because I didn’t want my deep-seeded hatred of waking up in the morning to imprint on the tune. As I found out on the first morning of the new alarm, I was at more risk of never waking up again. Instead I opened my eyes, shaking in bed, refusing to take a step out of it because death, and death is too big to face first thing in the morning. I never heard the Bleachers hit as anything but inspiring, perhaps with some strange lyrics or images mixed into the song, but overall just a class-act pump up jam. “I Wanna Get Better” is my favorite song because of its inspirational message. Unlike the Kanye’s of the day with self-centered, money-hording lyrics filled with diamonds, women and booze, the lyrics in “I Wanna Get Better” talk of progression. It talks about a man who “didn’t know [he] was broken until [he] wanted to change,” and the woman “trying to show [him] how a life can move from the darkness.” The bright, punchy beat and inspiring chorus of “I wanna get better,” repetitive though the song it may be, are a perfect combination for any good alarm, in theory. In practice, I awoke with a jolt of adrenaline and fear, shaking in an early-morning mini panic attack that rendered me twitchy, angry, and then snoozey. The problem was not the lyrics, but the 30 second sound bite iTunes chose to use for the song. Really, iTunes? Really Apple? You call your employees geniuses but who can you think of that really wants to wake up thinking about the edge of an overpass? There was an overpass near my high school and my geology classes often walked over to it observe basalt erosion. That was boring. The overpass in “I Wanna Get Better” is terrifying.With this in mind, I woke every morning prepared to snooze. On Tuesday I woke up before my alarm because of screeching chickens. As I sat on my bed cursing the fowl outside the window I heard my alarm start and smacked it snoozed. Monday had not been a good day. I blamed it on Bleachers.Wednesday I did the same thing, waking up and smacking my phone quiet, but was surprised when I jumped in the shower, not because I was actually showering, but because I couldn’t help humming the song. Could the strength of my love for this song conquer my bad morning vibes, could love conquer fear and death?I got my answer on Friday morning. Instead of overpasses, interstates, screaming, “hearses and caskets,” I woke up to mental confetti. My brain had a party as happy vibes, hope, and the promise of a new day gave me the feeling of boundless potential. Throwing off my covers I yelled, “Hey, I wanna get better!” Instead of letting the ringtone run, I turned on the full song off iTunes and began to dance. If given enough time, love of a song, a pure, inspired, hopeful love, can win over the hatred of morning, chickens, and the fear of death.Uploaded March 2, 2015

After years of waiting, a genetically engineered brand of apple, called Arctic apples, has been U.S approved for commercial planting, The New York Times reported. The developer, Neal Carter, of the company Okanagan Specialty Fruits, says because it will make sliced apples more appealing and beautiful without the brown color, he believes this GMO apple will be popular and welcome with both consumers and food services companies. This non-browning feature also can decrease the wasteful discarding of apples because of their bruising. The modified apple will be called "Arctic." Carter said that so far there are four growers who would like to plant about 20,000 of these apple trees. By the fall of 2016, there will be about 5,000 to 10,000 pounds of apples that will be available to food services companies and other potential buyers. Seini Vamanrav, a freshman from Tonga majoring in business finance said, “From my own perspective, I think that what they are trying to promote is really good and would be great for business. Their target will be achieved and they will get many customers, because customers would prefer apples that will not turn brown than those that will turn brown from slicing. This GMO apple slicer will be effective now and in many more years to come.”This GMO apple joins the ranks of genetically modified papaya and sweet corn, which are the few examples of GMO fresh produce so far. The purpose behind developing this GMO apple is one of the few meant to cater to consumers instead of farmers. The major difference between this GMO apple with other GMO crops is the non-browning effect is not created by adding genes from another species into apple’s DNA. In other words, it hasn’t changed the apple’s DNA. Instead, the apple’s lack of browning is totally reliant on the apple’s own modified genes. However, some consumer and environmental groups oppose these GMO apples, as there are not enough valid tests to insure the safety of genetically modified crops in general. These groups also advocate for genetically modified foods to be labeled accordingly. Food companies like McDonald’s and Gerber said they have no plans to use the apples, according to the New York Times. Bethany James, a freshman from New Zealand seems to not care about the GMO controversy too much. She said, even though she knows GMO food may not be very healthy, she will not have any problems with eating them. Consumer groups fear that cutting off the genes that cause browning in the Arctic apples could have unknown effects. However, the Agriculture Department said that GMO apples seem to have the nutritional value equal to unmodified apples. Savanna Jane Gregory, a senior in EXS from Utah agreed with this: “As much as I dislike brown apples, I don’t like the idea of continuing to modify our foods. The way we are genetically modifying food is starting to have negative effects on our population. The human body doesn’t always know how to digest processed foods, causing some people to be allergic or intolerant to them as a result.” “That clear identification of the Arctic brand will help consumers make clear, informed choices if Okanagan apples do become available in stores in a few years,” said Wendy Brannen, director of consumer health and public relations for the U.S. Apple Association, in an email.Uploaded March 2, 2015