ContentsOahu MOP Spring Graduation . . . . . . . . . . 1Jessica’s Semester at Sea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Coming up in the next issues...The Marine Technology Society dinner and thePACON Conference.

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SeawordsVolume XVIII, Number 6, June, 2004

Editor: Brian RichardsonSeawords - Marine Option Program

University of Hawai‘i, College of Natural Sciences2525 Correa Road, HIG 214Honolulu, HI 96822-2219

Telephone: (808) 956-8433, Fax: (808) 956-2417E-mail: <seawords@hawaii.edu>

Web site: <http://www.hawaii.edu/mop/>

Seawords is a monthly newsletter of the Marine Option Programat the University of Hawai‘i. Opinions expressed herein are notnecessarily those of the Marine Option Program or of theUniversity of Hawai‘i.

Suggestions and submissions are welcome. Submissionscan include articles, photographs, art work, or pretty muchanything that would be of interest to the marine communityin Hawai‘i and around the world.

The Seawords staff are: Brian Richardson (Editor), DoreenSeaton (Associate Editor), Matt Thompson (Assistant Editor),and Dr. Sherwood Maynard (éminence gris).

Highlights from the WebsiteSelected MOP and Hawai‘i Events

June 19th, Exploring the Reef by Day at theWaikiki Aquarium

June 25th, Aquarium After Dark at theWaikiki Aquarium

July 9th, Overnight with the Sharks at theWaikiki Aquarium

August 2nd to 13th, Coral Molecular BiologyTechniques Workshop, to be held atCoconut Island. Contact Dr. Teresa Lewisat email: <tdlewis@hawaii.edu> for moreinformation.

More events can be accessed through MOP’s page<http://www2.hawaii.edu/mop>. Marine-relatedjobs can be accessed at <http://www2.hawaii.edu/mop/career.html>

The Mänoa MOP Aquarium needs yourhelp!!! If you can volunteer some timeto keep the aquarium healthy, con-tact Andi at 956-8433 or stop bythe MOP Office.

SeawordsThe monthly newsletter of the Marine Option Program at the University of Hawai‘i

June, 2004 • Volume XVIII • Number 6

SeawordsUniversity of Hawai‘i at Mänoa

Seawords • Marine Option ProgramCollege of Natural Sciences2525 Correa Road, HIG 214Honolulu, HI 96822-2219

Address Service Requested

Friday, May 16th, marked the end of anothersemester for MOPers, and the 66th graduationceremony marking the completion of MOPcertificates for Oahu MOP students.

The ceremony this semester was held at thenewly-renovated Hawaii‘i Hall at the MänoaCampus. Hawai‘i Hall is the oldest building oncampus, and, after being attacked by termites andobsolescence, it was completely renovated. In fact,the only thing left from the original building is theoutside shell and the foundation.

The group was welcomed by Dr. SherwoodMaynard, who noted how this semester was a“bumper crop” of aspiring alumni. MOP is alive andwell at most campuses around the state, and islooking towards an ever-expanding future.

Oahu MOP GraduationSpring, 2004by Brian Richardson

Chuck Hayes, the Interim Dean of theCollege of Natural Sciences, also offered some briefremarks on MOP, noting how important theprogram is to the State of Hawai‘i, to the Universityof Hawai‘i, and also to all of the individuals that areimpacted by those who have gone through theprogram.

The keynote speaker for this graduationceremony was Dr. Andrew Rossiter, the newDirector of the Waikiki Aquarium. Rossiter wasborn in Wales and most recently was a seniorresearch scientist and in the Exhibits Section at theLake Biwa Museum, Japan, where he was thedeputy chief of the aquarium. He has been theDirector of the UH Waikiki Aquarium Aquarium forless than two weeks.

From dodging a very startled adult brownbear, to surviving a storm in a sinking trawler byduct taping the leaks, Rossiter's stories moved fromrivers in Hokkaido, the northernmost island ofJapan, to Lake Tanganyika in central Africa, to LakeBaikal in Siberia, which is the oldest and deepestlake in the world.

Rossiter has studied the aquatic life in allthese habitats, but has paid special attention to thediversity of life found in ancient lakes — thosemore than 100,000 years old. The stories werefunny, each carried some important messages forgraduating students, and reminded everyone howimportant it is to carry duct tape.

There were seventeen MOP certificatesawarded this semester. In fact, two of the new MOPgraduates are children of MOP alumni: Gavin Iwaiis the son of the first MOP graduate: Tom Iwai, May1972. Also, Carolyn Choy is the daughter of Joan(Matsuzaki) Choy, who received her MOPcertificate at the December 1974 graduation.

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Dr. Andrew Rossiter, the new Director of the WaikikiAquarium, presented the keynote address at the Spring2004 MOP Graduation. Duct tape was on hand....

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Semester at Sea:The Trip of a LifetimeBy Matt Thompson & Jessica Brayton

What type of program can offer studentsopportunities to visit the Taj Mahal in India, hear FidelCastro speak about communism in Cuba, observe theAtlantic and Indian Oceans meeting at the Cape of GoodHope, and stand at the hypocenter of where the atomicbomb was dropped in Hiroshima, Japan?

Unique in countless ways, the Semester at Sea(SAS) program provides an educational setting thatgives undergraduate students the opportunity to sailcompletely around the world, stopping in many exoticports along the way. Over the course of the trip, studentsearn 12 transferable college credits for attending classestaught by a world-class staff of accomplished professors.

This University of Pittsburgh-accredited programhas provided more than 37,000 students the uniqueeducational opportunity to travel internationally onboardthe S.S. Universe Explorer since it first began in 1977.

On March 31st, Jessica Brayton gave aninformational presentation about her experience with theSAS program aboard the S.S. Universe Explorer, the23,500-ton American-built steamship that is equipped asa floating university. The fully air-conditioned ocean liner has beentransformed into a vessel with many of thefacilities and amenities found on atraditional land-based college campus,including: eight classrooms, two buffet-style dining rooms, coffee and snack bar,campus store, library, computer lab, Internetcafé, theater, basketball and volleyballcourts, swimming pool, fitness center,darkroom, and health clinic, along withdormitory-style sleeping accommodations.

During the spring semester of 2003,Jessica departed from the Bahamas, withabout 700 other students from manydifferent colleges and universities aroundthe U.S. and abroad, on a voyage oflearning and discovery that would take themto 10 different countries around the world.The 106 days spent traveling across theworld’s oceans, visiting many of the world’swonders, gave Jessica a cross-cultural,global perspective of the modern world andits unique people and cultures.

The on-ship classroom learning experience wasreinforced with in-port field trips, led by faculty, thatdirectly related to course topics. Arranged so thatstudents attend classes every day while at sea, the SASschedule grants students complete freedom to roam asthey please while the ship is in port. It is common forstudents and staff to lose track of days of the week sincethere is no weekend per se; the time at sea is justclassified as “A days or B days,” which are used toalternate classes.

The ship follows a new itinerary each semester,providing students the unique opportunity to visit someof the most interesting places around the world. TheInstitute for Shipboard Education (ISE) is a non-profit,tax-exempt organization that is committed to providingan international educational experience forundergraduates. Managing the daily operations of theship, the ISE works in cooperation with the University ofPittsburgh to provide the academic components of thesemester.

The SAS program is rather costly, especially whenconsidering all of the expenditures involved with travel.Visas, immunizations, travel to the first port of call,travel from the port of debarkation and the side trips ateach port of call, all involve expenses.

There are a limited amount of scholarships and somefinancial aid available through the program’s alumni

Jessica describing the joys and wonders of a Semester at Sea at aninformal presention held at the Mänoa MOP Student Center. SigneOpheim and Gabriel Austin are to her right.

association and the University of Pittsburgh.However, in most cases, financial aid istransferred from a students’ home institution.

Each semester, there are 25 studentschosen for the highly competitive workgrant, which is awarded based on financialneed and merit. The work grant is a credittowards a students’ tuition that issignificantly reduces the cost of the program,in exchange for working 3 hours a day whilethe ship is at sea.

“I was very fortunate to have beenchosen to receive the work grant whichessentially enabled me to attendthe program,” explains Jessica. “Iwas assigned to work in the FieldOffice, which is basically an on-board travel agency; it was greatbecause the position counted asone of my required internshipsfor my major, Travel IndustryManagement.”

Consequently, the trip hasinspired Jessica to pursue a jobthat requires international travel,and she will eventually apply tothe program for the facultyposition as Field OfficeCoordinator, in the hopes ofagain having the chance to go ona voyage that can truly be called,a trip of a lifetime.

For more information aboutthe Semester at Sea program, visit:<http://www.semesteratsea.com>.

A group photo of the Fall 2004 Oahu MOP graduating class. The back row, fromleft to right: WCC MOP Coordinator Dave Krupp, Beth Hendrix, Patricia Perry,Gavin Iwai, Alexander Garcia, Mary Miura, Cody Hoover, and Signe Opheim. Thefront row, from left to right: HCC MOP Coordinator Gopal, Ophelia Ongalibang,Andy Schluker, Mänoa MOP Coordinator, Evette Mendiha, and MOP DirectorSherwood Maynard.

MOP Graduates & Their ProjectsHonolulu Community CollegeAlexander Garcia, Biometric and Digital MicroscopyEvette Mendiha, Water Quality Monitoring

University of Hawai‘i at MänoaCarolyn Choy, Marine PhotojournalismWilliam Edwards, Underwater Video DocumentationCody Hooven, Sea Turtle ResearchGavin Iwai, Aquaculture DevelopmentMary Miura, Development of Web-based Science CurriculumOphelia Ongalibang, Marine Mammal Health and DiseasePatricia Perry, Community Marine Education and

ConservationLauren Ku‘ulei Vickery, Marine Field Ecology

Windward Community CollegeBeth Hendrix, Marine Science Education

University of Hawai‘i at HiloStephen Barnes, Sea Surface Temperature AnomaliesSara McCutcheon, Sea Turtle Diet AnalysisKara Osada, Zooplankton StudiesChelsie Settlemier, Ecological Effects on Benthic

DinoflagellatesAnnke Scout, Pollution at Kapoho Tide PoolsKosta Stamoulis, Juvenile Fish at Kapoho Tide Pools

At one of the ports of call, Jessica issurrounded by penguins at Boulders Beach,near the Cape of Good Hope, in South Africa.