by Alia Wong | Mar 7, 2013 | education, hawaii, higher education, k-12 education, language & culture, public schools, uncategorized
In his “Da State of Pidgin Address,” Hawaii author and former University of Hawaii professor Lee Tonouchi includes a 63-line poem entitled “Dey Say if You Talk Pidgin You No Can …” The poem’s lines complete the sentence. Some examples: be one doctor . . . go mainland...
by Alia Wong | Mar 2, 2013 | education, hawaii, higher education, k-12 education, language & culture, public schools, uncategorized
“Dear Teacha,” the letter reads. “Wedda yo one native Pidgin speaka or one curious teacha of Pidgin speakaz, dis teacha’z guide, da website an all da adda stuff dat goes with it was put tugedda fo you.” So begins the preface to a packet of Pidgin education materials...
by Alia Wong | Feb 22, 2013 | education, hawaii, health care, k-12 education, uncategorized
When 21-year-old Jamie Higa got her fourth and most recent concussion in late 2011, her coach told her to man up. Higa, then a guard on Chaminade University’s women’s basketball team, was dribbling across the court in a practice set when a spiteful teammate came from...
by Alia Wong | Feb 19, 2013 | education, hawaii, health care, k-12 education, uncategorized
Cathy Todd draws a single sheet of paper from her purse and slides it across the table, pointing to a diagram. It’s a detailed picture of the human brain, courtesy of WebMD, along with a bullet-point list describing the brain’s parts. “You see this?,” she asks,...
by Alia Wong | Oct 15, 2012 | government, hawaii, lifestyle, miscellaneous, oahu, uncategorized
Creighton Mattoon remembers when Turtle Bay Resort was nothing but a blueprint. That was back in the 1970s, when the initial proposal to develop five hotels on the site prompted Mattoon and other North Shore residents to band together and stop the project. “This was a...
by Alia Wong | Jul 20, 2011 | government, hawaii, language & culture, lifestyle, miscellaneous, neighbor islands, uncategorized
As she sits in her kitchen, Lindamae Maldonado flips through a photo album. The snapshots show an elderly woman with short, silver hair and round glasses, usually wearing a muumuu and always with a wide grin on her face. She has Maldonado’s swarthy skin, her dark...