TheBuzz
TheBuzz
PHOTO COURTESY JOHN DAILEY
Hawaii Pacific University's Students in Free Enterprise took second runner-up in national business competition. Top, left to right, James Yung Chien Yang, Heather Manning, Katje Silvera, Saw Ghee Hong; Middle row, Etienne Kostroun, Benedikt Goetz, Laura Windell, Ken Schoolland, Fran Lowell; bottom, Julia Filatova, Nga Nguyen, Ying Li, Carrie Ginnane.
They didn't win first place, but the Students in Free Enterprise organization at Hawaii Pacific University returned home with a host of achievements. Enterprising HPU
students win in bizThe so-called "SIFE" team had been awarded a regional championship in April, as was the team from BYU-Hawaii.
Both went to the national competition in Kansas City, Mo., May 14 where HPU took second runner-up in its league and was selected one of the "Sensational 16" for the second consecutive year, according to associate economics professor, author and student adviser Ken Schoolland.
It is the highest level of award attained to any Hawaii SIFE group. Honolulu's Heald College competes in a separate two-year division.
The group presented a range of its activities for consideration in the competition, including teaching business concepts to sixth graders at Queen Liliuokalani Elementary School, creating a motivational CD following Sept. 11 which is available in stores, developing a cookbook of international recipes for sale on campus and creating the "First Global SIFE Project," an Internet-based resource helping to connect SIFE students in schools around the world.
The group also helped to edit and promote "An American in Tokyo," an autobiography of Loy Weston, who is credited with founding more companies and creating "more millionaires in Asia than any other American," Schoolland said.
Some of Schoolland's experience with publishing comes from his own "The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible, a Free Market Odyssey," which has been translated into 24 languages.
"Our school has used it in the classroom and internationally as part of our project portfolio," he said.
Entries were judged according to how well the teams' projects were executed.
"We've done extremely well against some big players," Schoolland said. "We were told by the judges there were people coming in from all around just to view our presentation."
"They found our international mix impressive," he said, with team members from Russia, Malaysia, Austria, Singapore, Taiwan, Italy, Sweden and Hawaii in various fields of study including business, communication, and international relations.
One audience member was Jack Shewmaker, former chief executive and president of Wal-Mart. "Our presentation brought him to tears," Schoolland said.
Shewmaker presented the HPU team with the Spirit Award and the Most Supportive University President of the Year award to HPU President Chatt Wright.
Shewmaker told Schoolland that the HPU team showed a "strong sincere spirit that he hadn't seen in other teams."
When it was announced that the SIFE team from La Sierra University, of Riverside, Calif., was the overall winner, "our team went up and presented them with our leis. It took people by surprise," Schoolland said..
Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Bulletin.
Call 529-4302, fax 529-4750 or write to Erika Engle,
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210,
Honolulu, HI 96813. She can also be reached
at: eengle@starbulletin.com
