Changing Hawaii

By Diane Yukihiro Chang

Monday, April 8, 1996

The making of a scientist in a mad world

EAST and west, night and day, yin and yang. This is a world of eye-opening polarities, including the way Easter was celebrated in Hawaii. This past weekend, most kiddies quietly colored eggs, bonded with chocolate bunnies, and spent a serene Sunday with family and friends. Other youngsters headed for Honolulu Zoo, where some took part in a Saturday stampede over a 22-year-old pregnant woman, who got in the way of an adrenaline-powered egg hunt.

How about some other "good" and "could-be-better" examples to ponder?

Hot: The University of Hawaii men's volleyball team.
Not: The UH Rainbow baseball team.

Smile: Lucile Abreu, honored for her efforts to end gender discrimination in the Honolulu Police Department.
Frown: Two California sheriff's deputies, "honored" with international notoriety for clubbing two Mexicans in Riverside County.

End: Commerce Secretary Ron Brown and a planeload of American business leaders, going down in Croatia.
Beginning: Somebody, somewhere, being reminded by that tragedy to live each day to the fullest.

But what about the depressing news that the 50th State ranked okole-last in the percentage of government money spent on public-school students? What could possibly be the upside spin of something that appalling?

Guess you didn't attend last week's Hawaii State Science and Engineering Fair at the Neal Blaisdell Exhibition Hall.

Imagine a cavernous room filled with more than 300 student projects from 67 secondary schools, 43 of them public. There are young scholars everywhere. The adults are either proud parents, curious onlookers or members of the sponsoring organizations - the Hawaiian Academy of Science, the state DOE and the UH College of Education.

Some of the winning works touted tongue-twisting titles, like "Dependency of Sorghum on Vesicular-Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungus for Phosphorus Uptake and Grown" by Lauren Okamoto of Leilehua.

One young scientist created a voice-controlled robot; an enterprising trio designed a multiple-use, cost-efficient kayak; another bright young mind explored whether the toxic venom of the wana (sea urchin) could lead to a cure for cancerous tumors. Talk about inspiring.

All of these projects and others are now headed for international competition in Tucson, Ariz. Two students there will win the grand prize - attendance at the awarding of the coveted Nobel prizes in Stockholm, Sweden. Wanna bet that, one day, that Nobel winner could be from Hawaii?

PERHAPS she'll be Erin Yoshino of Castle High, who won this year's top honor in best public school senior research. Her haul of goodies included a $500 savings bond, a mammoth trophy and an extremely cool "starbulletin.com" T-shirt.

The 18-year-old microbiologist studied the wilt fungus (ugghh), which affects koa, melons, cucumbers, basic, cactus and banana. When a patient Erin tried to explain it in layman's terms - something about determining the pathogenicity and eventual control of the yucky plant disease - she was often met with a glassy stare.

Ironically, one thing was perfectly clear. Despite Hawaii's light-headed lawmakers historically spending less money on education than any other state, its public-school pupils keep transcending that impediment to rank among the smartest in the universe.

It must be true: Opposites DO attract.


Diane Yukihiro Chang's column runs Monday and Friday. She can be reached by phone at 525-8607, via e-mail at DianeChang@aol.com, or by fax at 523-7863.



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