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The Association of Surfing Professionals world tour was kicked off in Australia at Snapper Rocks at the beginning of March. Gabriel Medina won the competition by a mere 0.06 points difference against Joel Parkinson in the finals (16.33, 16.27). “It’s an honor to win this event,” said Medina, as he talked about the difficulty of the competition. Medina is the first Brazilian to ever win the event, and second goofy footer to win.Medina’s victory was not the only landmark in the ASP world tour this year. Now, the ASP is taking on a new style of funding by being fully backed by Samsung Mobile, which is not a surfing brand. The new CEO of the ASP tour, Paul Speaker, said on the organization’s website, “Our goal has been to elevate the platform of this tremendous sport through top-of-class media and sponsor partners.” Speaker said since Samsung is a global leader in technology, surfing’s reputation will be enhanced. Even though the sponsors are new to the tour, 11-time world champion Kelly Slater said, “I think [the sponsors] are doing okay so far.” The ASP tour is gaining momentum as a more professional and competitive sports organization with new sponsors and new regulations. Personal bodyguards kept surfers safe from the booth to the water and back at the competition at Snappers, a new rule in the ASP. The changes in competition also include intertwining the women’s and men’s heats at Snapper and a new website for fans to access all events.The ASP also updated the rules and regulations book. It has also been edited and formatted to present-day standards for a professional sport organization. All athletes will be randomly drug tested throughout the tour, and any found to abuse drugs will face serious consequences, Speaker said. Atalie Isaacson, a junior studying exercise sports science, from Arizona, said, “I’m all for it. It’s good to see surfing become as official and regulated as other professional sports.”The next competition will be held in Western Australia at wave break Margaret River on April 2 to 13.

As part of the Communication 321 class, BYU-Hawaii students spent Winter Semester working and preparing to compete in the Hawaii District National Student Advertising Competition (NSAC) on April 18. They competed against colleges that are veterans to the competition, like Chaminade University of Honolulu and Hawaii Pacific University, and HPU took the win. Daniel Stout, professor of International Cultural Studies and teacher for the Comm 321 class, said it was a great learning experience for the students. Stout said he believed in the team and that it was a unique experience for the students about the advertising industry. Stout remarked, “The NSAC is a demanding and broadening educational activity. It requires critical thinking and simulates a professional-level media campaign to a an actual client. The BYUH team did very well in its first-ever appearance in the competition. Its “Click, Click, Yum” strategy and sophisticated mobile app for Pizza Hut were usable ideas. Our students learned a great deal about campaigns this semester. They represented the university very well.” Linda Ceballos, international communications and psychology senior from Mexico, said it was a long and tough road to get ready for the competition because “no one we knew had ever been in one recent competition. We weren’t really sure what to expect!”Ceballos, who also graduated the same day as the competition and made it to Honolulu just minutes before presenting, said she loved competing in a real life situation. She commented, “It wasn’t the usual get ready to present in class or presenting for the research conference thing at school. It was more like getting ready to score a job.”Christopher Patenaude, a junior ICS major from Washington D.C., said a lot of time went into the preparations. “The researching ideas, testing and revising, and assembling the final product goes beyond the five who presented,” Patenaude said. “I just want to give a huge shout-out to the team for all the hours spent, sleep sacrificed, and determination given to see all the tasks to completion.”Stout added, "Team members fielded tough questions from professional judges just like an actual agency pitch. This is part of the learning process. While our team members presented a solid campaign, students competing next year will be even stronger. Although HPU won, I don't think we were far off. While their research plan was impressive, our creative concept was stronger, in my view."Sonja Klev, a junior business major from Utah, said the competition was fun. She shared, “It was great experience. I’m excited for next year and what we’ll bring to the table.” Comm 321 will be offered again during Winter Semester 2016.Uploaded May 21, 2015

A Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777 went missing during a flight from Kuala Lampur to Beijing on March 8. There were 239 passengers missing on Flight MH370 and the search has continued to intensify and broaden each day. An hour into the flight to Beijing, flight MH370 was diverted off course and started back over Malaysia towards the Indian Ocean. The plane had up to seven hours of fuel left in its tanks. Flight MH370 was allegedly diverted through a computer system within the cockpit of the plane. Brooke Butler, a senior in social work from California, said, “I really hope they are found alive and well.” With family members anxiously awaiting news, the Malaysian Prime Minister can only continue pushing forward in the search. With hundreds of speculations from several different sources, the anticipation to know what happened to flight MH370 is in the back of the minds of students and others around the world. Hannah Doty, a freshman in elementary education from California, said, “I hope they find the plane. I’m really curious to see what happened and concerned for the relatives of the missing passengers and crew.”The last words from the pilot were, “All right, good night.” The Malaysian government is now reporting that those words came moments after the plane had changed its course west. Ben Johnson, a senior in accounting from California, said, “I think the plane landed because if it had crashed, they would have found it by now.”Thailand announced on March 18 officials have radar images that detected flight MH370 after it’s communication had been shutdown. This adds to the speculation and hope the crew and passengers are still alive and landed somewhere west of Malaysia. Several countries including the United States, Australia, and New Zealand have now joined the search for the missing Malaysian Airlines flight. Background checks have come up empty with terrorist connections on board flight MH370. Hishammuddin Hussien, the Malaysian Defense minister, reminded the media in a press conference the airline pilots are considered innocent until proven guilty and their families are cooperating.

As tensions in Ukraine rose with riots and protests, Russia invaded the Crimea peninsula with military troops. Crimea is located in eastern Ukraine on the Black Sea. It is a strategic piece of land that Russia has long coveted. Eastern Ukraine is notoriously pro-Russian and has now elected a pro-Russian prime minister, Sergey Aksyonov. According to Aksyonov, Russia currently has 11,000 troops on the Crimea peninsula. Chris Pineda, a junior in peace building from Utah, said, “There are better ways to resolve conflicts other than fighting.” Russian President Vladimir Putin continues denying sending any Russian troops to Crimea. Putin has also said Crimea will be an “equal subject” of Russia if it votes to leave Ukraine in a vote planned for March 16. Ukraine has been in an uprising to overthrow the current government after deals were in the works with the west and not with Russia. President Barack Obama has been in unsuccessful talks with President Vladimir Putin on backing out of Ukraine. There is still no word on who will replace former President of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych after being removed from office by the Ukrainian Parliament in February of this year. Troops have successfully taken over at least one Ukrainian military base by crashing a truck through the gates and a hospital. There were no casualties or shots fired in the takeovers. Coney Pulla, a recent graduate in political science from India, said, “Everyone needs to let Ukraine deal with their own internal problems, including Russia. Ukraine started this uprising and Ukraine needs to work out their own political issues. Russia doesn’t need to get involved.” Vladimir Tropnikov, a sophomore in ICS and peace building from Moscow, Russia, said, “We can’t trust what we see and read in the media because we aren’t seeing the core of the problem in Ukraine. Half of Ukraine speaks Ukrainian and the other half speaks Russian. Crimea falls in the Russian-speaking half and they feel like the pro-western Ukrainian speaking government is misrepresenting them. They feel like they would be better off under Russia.”

Two BYUH alumnae set off to serve refugees in Europe this past summer after being inspired by a talk given in General Conference about the current refugee crisis. “These people are vulnerable,” recent ICS grad Rebecca Sabalones said, “They have no nation and no government to back them up. They have very few people on their side who can help them.” Sabalones, who is from Indiana, spent four days serving with her friend Victoria Jaques, an English major graduate from England, in two secluded refugee camps in the forests of France. While there, the two distributed food and clothing donated by local businesses and grocery stores, cleaned up trash around the camps, and met refugees from all over Africa and the Middle East. Jaques said, “The most important thing I would want people to know about the refugee situation in France is the negative portrayals of refugees in the media is not a fair representation. While we were there we heard a lot of negativity from various sources about refugees being violent; but it’s important that people stay open minded. “Everyone we encountered was seeking peace, and we were always treated with respect and kindness by all of the refugees. We also witnessed that, although they were essentially stuck, they were still incredibly resourceful and wanting to progress.” According to Sabalones, the exact locations of the camps are being kept hidden from the public because the refugees have been targeted in the past by French citizens who don’t want them in their country. Sabalones described the process of getting to the first camp in Dunkerque as: “We got off at a stop our friends had gotten off at the day before, and then they told us to go wait for this old white van near the stop. “We go to the location they told us to go and there are like 15 people waiting; a couple of volunteers, but most of them refugees. It was pretty sketchy, but we were just going on faith, you know? Then the white van comes and it’s old and beat up, but it’s driven by a friendly white woman. We just got on without really knowing where we were going and not really knowing French or anything else. Bada-bing, we’re there.” Sabalones then spoke about getting to the other camp in Calais, “Once we get to the Calais camp, it was like stepping into a third-world country.” Sabalones described “the Calais Jungle” after her time there. “The entire thing is laid with rocks, dirt and mud. It’s cold there even in the summer, but many were only wearing slippers, T-shirts, and shorts,” she said. She continued, “There are no proper houses; most live in tents while the nicest dwellings there are made of thin wood boards and tarps. Some of the refugees have been there long enough that they have made small shops and restaurants. Those are the biggest ‘buildings’ there, but they are still made of the same [materials].” She also mentioned the refugees can only use port-a-potties for latrines. The Calais Jungle is home to 7,300 refugees as of July, according to BBC. Dunkerque sits about 25 miles east of the Calais Jungle and is home to about 3,000 refugees, according to Al Jazeera. Jaques added, “The mood in the camps were pretty oppressive because litter was everywhere and the fences make you feel somewhat contained. However, I think there was a feeling of resilience there too; many people try to focus on where they want to go next.” Sabalones said some of the refugees have been in the camps for several months, with a select few who have been there for longer than a year. She explained the refugees are waiting for a chance to either get their papers to enter the United Kingdom or to sneak out and try to enter England illegally. Many who try the latter option leave the camps on trucks almost every night, Sabalones added. Sabalones said it is also fairly common practice for western women to visit the camps, where refugee men will pay 6,000-8,000 pounds for her hand in marriage so he can apply for his immigration papers. The organizations that got Sabalones and Jaques into the camps are Utopia 56 and L’Auberge des Migrants. Utopia 56’s website says, “Our goal is to mobilize and manage volunteers to help refugees concentrated in northern France. We work in cooperation with all the organizations working on this territory for a while and willing to collaborate. We organize about 2,700 volunteer work days a month and count 3,000 members.” To volunteer at either of these organization, visit www.utopia56.com/en or the L’Auberge des Migrants Facebook page. The LDS Church’s website, iwasastranger.lds.org, is dedicated to helping people get involved with offering aid in the refugee effort. Sabalones offered a word of advice, “Don’t believe everything you’re told [about refugees] and find out for yourself. If we had listened to the some of the bigger voices in our lives, we wouldn’t have had these opportunities or have met these people.....There is a plan and design for our lives and it is up to you to take it. Live without regret and allow love and understanding to take over fearful thoughts. Reach out!” In Elder Patrick Kearon’s general conference talk, “Refuge from the Storm,” he promised, “Meeting refugee families and hearing their stories with your own ears, and not from a screen or newspaper, will change you. Real friendships will develop and will foster compassion and successful integration.”