No legalized gambling in Hawai'i for at least another year

The following is an article from yesterday's Honolulu Star Bulletin: Lawmakers fold; poker bill fails to advance

A couple points facts I didn't know before:

• Hawai'i and Utah are the only two states without legalized forms of gambling
• All Internet poker sites are currently located outside of the country

I do not have a strong opinion for or against legalizing poker and/or gambling in Hawai'i. To be honest, I do not know too much about the topic, so I am not sure what effect it would have on the state/island. I can see both sides of the argument (for: would bring in much-needed money to the state and could attract more tourism to help the economy; against: would introduce an undesirable element to our islands and have a detrimental effect on the tourist industry).

Many people in Hawai'i like to gamble - so many people from Hawai'i travel to Las Vegas to gamble that Hawaiian Airlines and the California Hotel have special deals for Hawai'i residents. Therefore, I wonder if legalizing gambling would really help to bring in enough revenue to offset detrimental effects... A World Series of Poker in Hawai'i might have a positive impact, but what if the majority of people playing poker in the islands were island locals? In order to inject money into the Hawai'i economy, people from outside Hawai'i would need to travel to the islands to play poker. Are enough people willing to travel all the way to Hawai'i to play poker when they can play in other locations closer to, more convenient, and less expensive for them?

As I said before, I probably need to gain more knowledge on this issue in order to make a better evaluation, but these are just some of my thoughts as of right now.

USC-UH Men's Volleyball

Source: Daily Trojan

Source: Hawaii Athletics

The USC men's volleyball team traveled to Hawai'i to play the University of Hawai'i (UH) Warriors this weekend. On Friday, No. 8 UH handed No. 1 USC just their second loss of the season and snapped their 12-match winning-streak, but on Saturday, USC avenged their loss by sweeping the Warriors.

Read more in the Daily Trojan article "USC splits weekend set with Hawai'i" or on the USC Trojans website - "Hawaii Upsets No. 1 USC Men's Volleyball" and "No. 1 USC Men's Volleyball Sweeps Hawaii"

Housing Prices

Recent article from KITV.com: Oahu Home Median Price Drops

One factor to consider when deciding where to live - especially as a young adult just graduating from college - is the average home price in the area you hope to live. Housing on Oahu has always been significantly more expensive than housing on the mainland, and this is one of the reasons many young people from Hawai'i decide to stay on the mainland. The above article mentions that Oahu's median home price has dropped below $600,000 to $548,500 for March 2011. However, in January 2011, the median home price in the West was still significantly lower, at about $193,200, according to RealEstateABC.com (source: National Association of Realtors), and California's median home price was also significantly lower than Oahu's, at $239,000, according to the LA Times.

Of course, you would expect to pay a lot more to live in a place as nice as Hawai'i... But many young adults (and older adults, too, for that matter) just can't afford it.

State plans spending on construction projects

On a more positive note, I also just came across the following article:

State plans $300 million on airport, school and other projects

These are definitely worthy projects and issues that need to be addressed - modernizing airports, repairing schools, fixing roads, and a few other undertakings.

Ever since I visited other airports while traveling, such as Singapore's Changi International Airport and Taipei's Taoyuan International Airport, I have thought that the Honolulu International Airport needed some serious renovation. The airport is visitors' first impression of Hawai'i, and it is definitely not the paradise they are expecting.

The public school facilities need repair (in my opinion, in general, more attention needs to be paid and more funding needs to be allocated to public schools), and it would be nice to drive on the roads without having to dodge the potholes.

Hopefully this funding is used efficiently and actually results in the much-needed improvements to the state!

Oahu's Never-Ending Rail Project

I came across this article while browsing the news on the Honolulu Star Bulletin website:

New developments show rail project way off track

I am not surprised, but it is still disappointing. I am not exactly sure when this rail project was first started, but I know that talk about it began a LONG time ago. Of course, not much progress has been made over the decades. Sadly, this is pretty typical of Hawai'i. My relatives say that Honolulu looks the same as it did the last time they visited, which was about 20 years ago. Compare this to places I have traveled to recently - Singapore and Shanghai - and it is quite disheartening to realize just how stagnant our state is.

I question if the rail project will ever be completed...

Fickle Weather in LA

Southern California weather is generally pretty good, but it has been so strange lately! Coming back to LA from Hawai'i at the end of spring break, we were greeted by a storm - cold, wet weather after a week of beautiful sunshine and warmth... Then it got really warm (high 80's/low 90's), but only for a couple of days. Then back down to the 60's. And then came the wind, which makes the weather seem unbearably freezing - at least to many people from Hawai'i!

Weather like this makes me appreciate Hawai'i's "perfect" weather a lot more. I really do think that it is perfect - or at least as close to perfect as you can get! Growing up in Hawai'i, I think that most of us take it for granted. It is almost always between 70's and low 80's, the rain is warm (and clean!), and the breeze is pleasant and cool. Best of all, we get to enjoy this weather all year - it never gets too hot or too cold.

But LA's weather is not bad. The summers can be too hot, and the winter is usually a little too cold for my liking, but I know that I am spoiled; it is usually pleasant enough, and I can definitely handle it.

In any case, I know that living away from the islands has given me a much greater appreciation of the weather at home!

Hula - more than a dance

Hula

Tonight, a few of our USC Hawai'i Club members performed three hula dances at the Asian Pacific Islander Social Work Caucus's Annual Scholarship Reception. Because this hula performance was the educational piece of the event, we were asked to provide information about hula to include in the script so that the audience could learn more about hula. The following is some general information about hula, written by one of our choreographers: 

Hula is more than the dance of the Hawaiian culture; it is the soul of Hawai'i expressed in motion. Every hula movement has a specific meaning. Different gestures symbolize nature, emotion, even conflict and war. Traditional hula narratives tell a story, and every motion made by the dancer's hands or feet are significant in telling this specific story of Hawai'i. Hula is a way for stories and myths of Hawai'i to be passed down through generations.


In the Hawaiian culture, it is believed that hula was first performed by ancient gods and goddesses, giving hula much cultural significance to the ancient Hawaiian people.  Thus, hula was performed primarily during religious ceremonies, as an offering to the Hawaiian gods and goddesses. This old style of hula is called Hula kahiko which is performed in traditional costume, accompanied by traditional chants and percussion. However, after Western contact, hula gradually evolved into a form of entertainment. This modern style of hula is called Hula auana which is accompanied by songs, ukuleles, guitars, and other instruments.


Today, several hundred halau hula (hula schools) and less formal hula groups are active on every island and the mainland, teaching hula to thousands of students and keeping the old ways and traditional Hawaiian culture alive.

I hope that the audience tonight enjoyed the hula performances and learned more about hula because I definitely did!