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[Hawaii Inc.]

Promotions

>> Kenneth L. Miller has been promoted to senior vice president and Bishop Street Capital Management director of equity at First Hawaiian Bank. He joined Bishop Street in 2002 as vice president and senior equity analyst. Two promotions to assistant vice president are Mero V. Giasolli, trust investments department manager; and Martha A. Lee, University Branch business banking officer. Giasolli joined the company in 1995 as portfolio manager and was promoted to investment officer in 1998. Lee joined the company in 1985 as a management trainee and was promoted to assistant branch manager in 1986, branch manager in 1993 and business banking officer in 1999. Julie L. Hara and Linda E. Kaita were appointed to officer positions. Hara is now consumer service center consumer loan officer and Kaita is trust financial management department manager and investment officer.

>> Outrigger Hotels & Resorts has promoted Robert "Mick" Minicola to general manager of its Ohana Keauhou Beach Resort on the Big Island. He has been with the company for 14 years, most recently as general manager of the Ohana Maui Islander.

On the board

>> The American Heart Association appointed Marilyn Gagen of Waimanalo as chair-elect of the newly formed Pacific/Mountain Affiliate, which serves Hawaii and nine other states. It also appointed Joana Magno and Anne Wright of Honolulu as members of the board.

The group oversees all functions of the American Heart Association within the 10-state region of Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming. Gagen is an accountant and a retired partner at Deloitte & Touche LLP. Magno is a cardiologist with the Queen's Medical Center. Wright is a nurse at the cardiovascular intensive care unit at Queen's.

>> The University of Hawaii at Manoa School of Travel Industry Management interim dean Pauline Sheldon and professor Juanita Liu were named members in the International Academy for the Study of Tourism. They were recognized for their life-long contributions to the field of knowledge in tourism and their research accomplishments. The academy is an international organization created to enhance theoretical and practical research in the field of tourism.

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US Airways places $4.3 billion jet order

NEW YORK >> US Airways Group Inc., which recently emerged from bankruptcy, kick-started expansion of its regional jet fleet today by splitting a $4.3 billion order for at least 170 regional jets between Canada's Bombardier Inc. and Brazil's Embraer SA.

The deal, which also includes options to purchase another 380 aircraft, is part of US Airways' post-Chapter 11 strategy to expand its network by using smaller regional jets to develop short- and medium-range routes, US Airways chief executive David Siegel said in a written statement.

Arlington, Va.-based US Airways, the nation's seventh largest air carrier, emerged from bankruptcy protection at the end of March. It plans to boost its regional jet fleet, which now holds 84 planes, up to as many as 465 aircraft, and will replace its turboprop airplanes with the new jets.

Kodak to turn film digital

ROCHESTER, N.Y.>> Eastman Kodak Co. said today it is acquiring rapid film processing technology to enable its retail-based photo kiosks to convert a roll of film into a digital CD in seven minutes.

In a move aimed at plugging a gap between photography's old and new ways of capturing images, Kodak is buying the assets of Applied Science Fiction Inc., of Austin, Texas, including a patented system called Digital Processing and Image Capture.

Kodak said it will install the system in its 18,000 U.S. kiosks, which are mainly in pharmacies, supermarkets and photo-specialty stores. It declined to specify a target date or divulge plans for its 22,000 kiosks abroad.

The terms of the deal, which is subject to regulatory approval, were not disclosed. But an industry source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Kodak is paying less than $50 million.

The world's biggest photography company is seeking ways to shore up its traditional film and photofinishing business, a cash cow for much of the 20th century that is being steadily eroded by the rise of digital photography.

Hartford to eliminate 1,500 jobs

HARTFORD, Conn. >> The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. is eliminating 1,500 jobs, or 5.2 percent of its work force, is exiting the property-casualty reinsurance business and is charging $1.7 billion against earnings as it boosts its reserves against asbestos claims.

The financial services company said today that the job cuts will mean 850 people will lose their jobs by the end of the quarter and another 650 vacant positions will be eliminated.

An additional 100 employees in the reinsurance division are at risk, officials said, as the company tries to sell the unit. Nearly all of the job cuts will come in Connecticut, company officials said.

The company said its cost-cutting program should increase earnings by $50 million in 2003 and $130 million in 2004.

SARS closes four Shanghai hotels

BEIJING >> Four major hotels in Shanghai, China's biggest city, are closing for up to three months due to lack of guests amid the SARS outbreak, employees said today.

The closures of the Peace Hotel, the Shanghai Hotel, the Jinjiang Tower and the Donghu Hotel follow a steep decline in travel and add to the economic devastation of SARS, which has killed at least 252 people on China's mainland.

Blatant workplace discrimination fading

GENEVA >> The most blatant discrimination in the workplace has faded in many nations, but prejudice continues to stop most women, ethnic minorities and other groups realizing their potential, the U.N. labor agency said today.

Releasing a report titled "Time for Equality at Work," the International Labor Organization said most governments worldwide have recognized that discrimination -- especially on grounds of race and gender -- is a problem that creates barriers to employment.

"Formal condemnation of discrimination is virtually universal, and action to stop discrimination at work has been taken in many places," said ILO chief Juan Somavia.

The 136-page study cites decades of lawmaking in North America and Europe and more recent anti-discrimination rules in developing countries.

ILO said that many individual members of minority groups -- black Americans, Australian Aborigines, Gypsies in Europe or people at the bottom of the caste system in India and Nepal -- have benefited from anti-discrimination measures.

Still, when such rules exist, the ILO study says most minority members work in lower-skilled or lower-paid jobs than their majority counterparts -- even when both groups have the same level of education.

Men and women assess jobs differently

Men and women differ markedly when it comes to their assessments of working conditions and career advancement opportunities, according to a survey by an Internet job search site.

Nearly a third of women, 31 percent, said they were paid less than men with similar experience and qualifications, while only 9 percent of men felt they were paid less than women.

Work stress weighed heavier on women, with 59 percent saying they worked under a great deal of stress. Only half the men said the same. And only 31 percent of women were satisfied with opportunities for career advancement while 40 percent of men were satisfied.

The findings are from a survey of 640 men and 665 women conducted March 21-27 by CareerBuilder.com.

Pau hana is OK, but sports are not

We've all heard the office-dating gossip, but on a platonic level, how social are your colleagues?

In a recent poll, about 24 percent of workers said they do "happy hour" a few times per month and 47 percent said a few times per year. But only 13 percent saying they had ever played a sport with a co-worker.