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The Polynesian Cultural Center welcomed Queen Nanasipau‘u Tuku‘aho of Tonga on Friday, March 28. The visit to the PCC was her first as queen since her husband King ‘Aho‘eitu ‘Unuaki‘otonga Tuku‘aho Tupou VI ascended to the throne in 2012. Queen Tuku‘aho was greeted by PCC President Alfred Grace and presented with a special ‘oli (chant) from PCC Cultural Director Cy Bridges. Hawai‘i village dancers also performed a hula kahiko, an ancient style of hula, to welcome the queen. Fijian warriors then escorted Queen Tuku‘aho on a canoe to the Tongan Village for a special cultural protocol from each of the six managers representing the island nations at the PCC. Every village presented gifts to the Queen along with their performances, signifying the unity in Polynesia, said Tade Karrati, a senior studying elementary education from Utah who served a mission in Tonga.“I am grateful to see a culture I grew to love being persevered and honored,” Karrati said.As customary in Tongan culture, the queen prepared a statement that was read by her talking chiefs, according to Karrati. She thanked the people for doing their duty to the throne and for representing Tonga throughout the United States, he said. Matt Duffus, a senior studying social work from Australia, was one of the performers honoring the queen in the Tongan village. “This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to not only be in the presence of the queen, but to also perform for her.” Duffus, who also served a two-year LDS mission in Tonga, continued, “I was a little nervous, but I wanted to make sure I took advantage of this opportunity because I know one day it will be a story I can share with my children.” Guests in attendance consisted of Queen Salote College alumni, Tongan community members from throughout the island, PCC employees and performers, and media covering the event. Mele Ongoongotau, a retired Tongan professor at BYU-Hawaii, paid respects to the queen on behalf of the Tongans on the North Shore of Oahu. Nania Maka, a Queen Salote College alumna now living in Salt Lake City, Utah, said, “This is an exciting time. Every year we have this reunion and it is so fun. This is our third time seeing the new queen.” Maka noted the event was also a celebration of the all-girl school’s 80th anniversary. For those in attendance, the Queen’s visit meant more than just a celebration. With tears filling her eyes, Olivia Avea, a resident of Laie, said, “It’s so special. It’s a real blessing. For the Queen to come to Laie and for those of us Tongans who grew up in America to see her, it is amazing.” Avea added, “Laie truly is a gathering place.”Following the conclusion of the cultural ceremonies, the Queen attended a private lunch hosted by the Queen Salote College Alumni in the newly renovated Gateway Restaurant.

Under mounting pressure, President Barack Obama on May 15 released a trove of documents related to the Benghazi attack and forced out the top official at the Internal Revenue Service following revelations that the agency targeted conservative political groups. “Americans have a right to be angry about it, and I am angry about it,” Obama said of the IRS actions. “I will not tolerate this kind of behavior at any agency, but especially at the IRS given the power that it has and the reach that it has into all of our lives.” The president said Acting IRS Commissioner, Steven Miller, had resigned and vowed that more steps would be taken to hold those responsible accountable. Obama had addressed the IRS matter on May 13. He also repeatedly asserted he was waiting to find out if the reports were accurate, even though top IRS officials had already acknowledged the controversial actions. The White House asked Congress to revive a media shield law that would protect journalists from having to reveal information, a step seen as a response to the Justice Department’s widely criticized subpoenas of phone records from reporters and editors at The Associated Press. Adding to narrative of a passive president were White House efforts to distance Obama from the IRS scandal, as well as the revelations that the Justice Department had secretly obtained work and personal phone records of journalists. “If Obama really learned about the latest IRS and AP secret subpoena scandals in the news, who exactly is running the ship at the White House?” said Republican National Committee spokesman Kirsten Kukowski. The White House has publicly defended its handling of the controversies. Obama spokesman Jay Carney has insisted it would be “wholly inappropriate” for the president, in the case of the Justice Department matter, to weigh in on an active investigation, and in the case of the IRS controversy, to insert himself in the actions of an independent agency. David Axelrod, Obama’s longtime adviser, acknowledged the White House could have acted more aggressively and said in defense of Obama: “One virtue he has is that he takes a long-range view,” he said. “It’s easy to get whipped up by the frenzy, but it’s responsible to react to the facts. It has short-term liabilities, but in the long-run, it’s a quality you want in a president.”

Life Organized on Your PhoneUsing these 5 apps can increase productivity and efficiencyTechnology has come so far that today our personal devices are keeping track of our lives. Applications (apps) can help you manage deadlines, email inboxes, birthdays and even help you take notes for classes. If you are in need of some organization help for those pesky test dates, work schedules and chapter notes, just keep in mind that there is an app for that. Here are five applications that help keep you in control of your busy days.1. EasilyDo Smart AssistantAvailable on iOS and AndroidPrice: FreeEasilyDo allows you to organize events and reminders with ease. TechGYD, an online technology blog, ranked EasilyDo as the third best app in regards to personal assistance and organization/productivity. EasilyDo incorporates social media, like Facebook, to remind you about birthdays. It also offers event alerts, traffic reports, and weather, and even tracks your packages. Everything you need to stay organized is in this one streamlined application.2. EvernoteAvailable on iOS, Android, Windows Phone, Mac and PCPrice: FreeEvernote is ranked as one of the best apps to stay organized by Business News Daily. Times are changing and paper notebooks just are not cutting it anymore. Evernote is the ideal note-taking platform for all devices and allows you to enter notes either by voice or manually by hand. You can also take photos or draw in notes using a stylus and since Evernote is available on almost every operating system all of your notes are synced across all devices. With that, you can always find your notes in a single place and keep organized.3. TimefulAvailable on iOS onlyPrice: FreeCNet suggests Timeful as a replacement for the default iOS calendar. The minimalist app is part calendar, part to-do list manager and part habit tracker, and combines events that are already on your device’s calendar with specific tasks that you can input along with habits you would like to start. The more you use the app the more it gets a sense of your schedule and what keeps you busy. The versatility of this application makes it one that you must try.4. StudiousAvailable on iOS and AndroidPrice: $0.99 on iOS, free on AndroidNervous about forgetting the time and date of your test? Lifehack ranked Studious as number 10 on their list of best apps for college students. Studious allows you to list the deadlines of your homework, the time of your lectures, where they’re located and what subject is coming up next. The only thing you need to do is enter your information about your class, time, teacher and location. This application will remind you about all your classes and deadlines just in time, and allow your mind to focus on more important things.5. Canvas by InstructureAvailable on iOS and AndroidPrice: FreeThe canvas app allows you to keep up with your education. The app allows you to keep in touch with instructors, view course syllabus on the go and take online quizzes and exams while on the go. Canvas by Instructure also includes a mail section where you can communicate with professors.The Canvas app allows you to keep up with education and keep in touch with your instructors along with viewing course materials and deadlines on the go. The app also allows you to take exams or quizzes that are published online. There is also a mail section that allows you to communicate with your instructors, classmates, or groups that you are involved with. The ease of access in this app makes it one that you do not want to skip out on.

Original songs produced by the BYU-Hawaii Student Music Association will be featured at a free concert in the McKay Auditorium on Saturday, Nov. 29. Braden Wiscombe, a sophomore from California studying business administration, is president of the Music Club and said a lot of work has been put into the album. Wiscombe said, “We start off with finding musicians, people who are ready, and then doing auditions. After that we take every single musician and do a rough take of their song that only takes around 30 minutes. I take it home and adjust the levels so the audio is listenable. Then we add in all the extra instruments and harmonies. Finally we re-record the main instrument and vocals. Once all that’s done, I take it and mix each part and master the song so that it sounds good on an iPhone, computer or car radio. Each song takes a couple of hours each depending on coordinating schedules and how fast people can record.” Kalima Watson, a junior studying business management from Honolulu, is one of the students performing an original song on the album. “I think the coolest thing about it is all the people recording songs are students. I’m just a random guy from Honolulu recording a song. I’ve never recorded anything before. I’ve always played in venues and stuff but never sat down in front of a mic so I thought it’d be a good opportunity,” said Watson. Wiscombe said the album will feature a variety of music. “There’s some that are slow and laid back while others are pure instrumental and heavy guitar. We have country songs and uke songs too. It should be a full-sounding album with a bit of variety,” said Wiscombe. Dr. David Kammerer, associate professor of Music and the faculty advisor for the Music Club, said recording songs is a experience for aspiring musicians. “It’s a real world experience we have been lacking...I’m happy to see that through the club avenue students are taking advantage of the opportunity. We also have some new management in the Media Production Center who are more open to making the use of these facilities available to students for their projects,” said Kammerer. The physical album will only be available at FoodFest, according to Wiscombe. “People can only buy tickets there because of the school’s policies on clubs and fundraising. The albums will be distributed at the concert and everyone who is a member of the club will receive a free copy of the album. We’re trying to keep it really cheap for the general public so we hope to sell it for around $3.” Wiscombe said his passion for the project comes from wanting to give students the opportunity to record. “I think it’s something that is just naturally a good idea because there are a lot of people who are talented with writing music. To give someone the opportunity to record it is a great thing because if you go to a professional studio, it’s going to be extremely expensive. We thought if we could provide something for the students to get their foot in the door of trying this out that it would be really cool for them. I think anybody who hears about it gets interested because it’s something new.” The album’s quality is solid, said Wiscombe. “Lots of time you’ll walk around campus and see people without realizing they’re so musically talented. I hope that as people find out more about this album that the interest in being part of future projects will increase so we can get more variety. When we have students from all around the world, we definitely get some cool stuff going on,” he said.