Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 26, Number 12, 1 December 2009 — McGregor wins $10K for essay [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

McGregor wins $10K for essay

ByT. Ilihia Gionson Publications Editor / I here was onee * * I enough for I everyone. That I was before I Captain Cook 'discovered' our Hawaiian islands on his way to find a northwest passage, before the missionaries eame to save our heathen ancestors and before the American businessmen called in the U.S. Navy to protect their land investments. For centuries before western contact, the

Hawaiian people flourished. There was no disease, no hunger, no homelessness, no eeonomie recession. That was then." Thus begins Lurline Wailana McGregor's $10,000 prizewinning essay, "Eeonomie Recovery — Hawaiian Style." Her essay was among the seven winners of Native Insight: Thoughts on Recession, Recovery and Opportunity, a writing contest to promote the thoughts and traditional knowledge of natives in the area of eeonomie recovery. Entries were collected from Native Americans, Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians.

In her essay, McGregor proposes that through curbing overzealous consumption - in the same way that our kūpuna only took what was needed and left some for the next person - in time, the economy will stabilize. "In the short term, increasing consumption will pump money back into the economy and get us out of recession, but in the long term, it only sets us up for another fall," McGregor said in an interview. "We will continue to be at the mercy of the corporate greed See MCGREG0R on pagE 17

Ludine Wailana McGregor was among the winners of the Native lnsight essay competition. - Photo: CourtesyofMonte Costa

GREENWOOD Continued from page 05 economy, in whieh the university is trying to deal with a $154 million budget shortfall, she said she supports the approximately $30 million funding request because it is aligned with UH's strategic priority to make UH one of the top indigenous-serving universities in the world. Greenwood told the board that given state budget concerns, Gov. Linda Lingle and the state Legislature "may or may not be willing to go forward with building projects," but it was still possible to fund it through revenue bonds. "This is a very high priority for us," Greenwood said. "We'd like to get this building done this year." The Oct. 29 meeting marked Greenwood's first visit to the OHA board, whieh also welcomed Linda Johnsrud, UH vice president for academic planning and policy, and Rockne Freitas, chancellor of Hawai'i Community College. Freitas told the OHA Trustees that Greenwood is the first UH leader to

ask to be introduced to Mauna Kea via Hawaiian protocol. "It's a first for us," said Freitas, a former OHA Trustee. "It's reflective of her sensitivity for things Hawaiian." The protocol is being arranged for January, he said. The meeting had more of a feeling of a conversational exchange, in whieh the Trustees shared their personal experiences as students at UH and their priority issues. Asked to talk about herself, Greenwood discussed her personal struggle undertaking college as a young single mother after her marriage failed and her family disowned her. She was able to attend Vassar College in New York largely through the kindness of an anonymous stranger who had promised to pay her way through three years of school as long as she remained on the dean's list. "It shaped my attitude toward my life and toward other people who are trying to get an education under adverse situations," she said, adding that the donor's identity remains a mystery. Moloka'i and Lāna'i Trustee Colette Machado talked about how UH gave her a second ehanee at higher education through the College Opportunities

Program even though she had dropped out of high school. Hawai'i Island Trustee Robert Lindsey called UH the greatest university there is, estimating that Native Hawaiians make up about 10 percent of the student population at UH-Mānoa, an increase from the about 1.5 percent when he was a student in the 1960s. The percentage of Native Hawaiian students are mueh higher for the other campuses, Greenwood said: more than 30 percent at the community eolleges and more than 20 percent at the four-year campuses of UH-Hilo and UH-West O'ahu. OHA Chairperson Haunani Apoliona said OHA could brief Greenwood on its new strategic plan at a future date. "That might offer some real bright spots," where both sides could work together, Apoliona said. Greenwood, who succeeded UH President David McClain, was named the university's president in June. After the meeting, OHA hosted a luneheon for Greenwood attended by representatives of Hawaiian civic clubs, royal orders and Native Hawaiians in business, medicine and the community colleges, among others. ■

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From left, Trustee Robert Lindsey, Trustee John Waihe'e IV, Trustee Walter Heen, Trustee Rowena Akana, Trustee Oswald Stender, University of Hawai'i President M.R.C. Greenwood, Trustee Boyd Mossman, Chairperson Haunani Apoliona, and Trustee Colette Machado pose for a photo in the Office of Hawaiian Affairs boardroom. - Photo: Elaine Fergerstrom