University of Â鶹´«Ã½ at Mānoa (HIMB) doctoral student Jacob Snyder explored the intersection of science and policy at the in Washington D.C. in June. Snyder shared their experience with the UH community.

Snyder, who is also a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow, was one of 40 early to mid-career earth and atmospheric scientists and professionals from academia, government and the private sector selected to participate.

Why did you apply for the 2024 AMS Summer Policy Colloquium?

At Penn State, I collaborated with fellow LGBTQIA+ students to translate our community’s needs into institutional change. These experiences inspired me to seek out opportunities to also translate my science into widespread change, like that achievable through policy.

Can you describe your experience at the colloquium?

My experience at the AMS Summer Policy Colloquium was eye-opening. We heard from speakers working at the science-policy interface about the structure of the U.S. government and how to integrate science into the legislative process effectively. While learning alongside my peers and collaborating with them for a mock legislative exercise, I was inspired by their stories and look forward to keeping up with their work!

What were some of the biggest takeaways?

Bring your most authentic self into your work. As a queer scientist, I aim to harness my new policy training to implement my enthusiasm for LGBTQIA+ advocacy and science into the political realm. The broader the diversity of life and thought actively engaged in decision-making processes, the more widely applicable solutions will be. Diverse national leadership is required to tackle the problems of the future.

.

The first Native Hawaiian woman to serve as chief of staff for a United States Senator is a 2007 graduate of the University of Â鶹´«Ã½ at Mānoa William S. Richardson School of Law. Born and raised in Â鶹´«Ã½, Coti Haia grew up splitting her time between Mililani and Waimānalo and spending summers on Lānaʻi. She has served in her current role for Sen. Mazie Hirono since 2022.

“There would be days when you walk in the Capitol, it would become mundane, and then one day you’d stop and be like, ‘My gosh, I’m in the Senate, this is crazy,’” said Haia. “I’ve been able to work for Â鶹´«Ã½ the entire time, and that’s really important to me.”

Haia graduated from Punahou School and Gonzaga University and worked as deputy prosecuting attorney for the City and County of Honolulu after earning her law degree. She moved to Washington D.C. in 2010 to work for the late U.S Sen. Dan Inouye before moving to Hirono’s office in 2013 after her election to the Senate.

After a two-year stint as the D.C. Bureau Chief for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, she returned to Hirono’s office in 2018 as the deputy chief of staff, and was promoted four years later to chief of staff.

Paddling in the same direction

“Every day is something different. Some would say that your responsibility is to put out the biggest fire of the day,” said Haia. “Sometimes the fires can be as big as, ‘Do we have enough copies of a bill to file down on the Senate floor?’ And sometimes they can be significantly more challenging. I like to think of it as helping everyone paddle the canoe in the same direction. And sometimes that means going around an obstacle or through one.”

She does not dwell on her trailblazer status as the first Native Hawaiian woman chief of staff, and possibly the first ever Indigenous woman in that position in the history of the U.S. Senate.

“I think the way it plays out in our office is ensuring a level of diversity,” said Haia. “Senator [Hirono] has the most diverse staff in the Senate, and that’s because we have the opportunity to work with, and represent, such a diverse state. There are colleagues of mine who are from Â鶹´«Ã½ Island, Maui, Kauaʻi, all over Â鶹´«Ã½ to help us inform the work we do.”

Introduction to D.C. via UH

Her first exposure to Washington D.C. was while she was at UH through an internship with Sen. Dan Inouye offered through the law school’s Center for Excellence in Native Hawaiian Law.

“It’s not as if I ever planned to come to D.C. to work on policy, but it was through UH that I was able to do that,” said Haia. “Â鶹´«Ã½ has many unique laws specific to our state because of the Native Hawaiian community. The Center for Excellence in Native Hawaiian Law helped put an emphasis on parts of the federal government’s relationship with the native community that you would not learn at other law schools.”

Haia is still in touch with many of her professors, which has been useful with Hirono serving on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

“I can email them whether they are retired or not and ask them for their thoughts,” said Haia, who said it would take all day to list the professors who have had a positive impact on her. “I especially want to shout out Melody MacKenzie, Eric Yamamoto and Hazel Beh. We have a lot of aspiring law students who come to work here and those that are from Â鶹´«Ã½, I strongly encourage them to go to Richardson.”

Encouraging the next generation

She said January 6, 2021, was her worst day since moving to D.C. more than a dozen years ago. On the flip side, there have been victories.

“I’m really a policy person, that’s what I came to the Senate to do, and we’ve had some really big policy wins,” said Haia, who adds that she is also proud of how outspoken Hirono has become in recent years. “She definitely began to use her voice during the Trump administration. Whether you agree with his policies or not, it was very clear that Sen. Hirono was a diametric opposite on pretty much every policy he had.”

Despite being in the seat of power of one of the most powerful countries in the world, one of Haia’s favorite parts of her job is lunch with the office interns.

“What I try to say to them is to not sell yourself short and to know what is important to you,” said Haia. “Be prepared to take an opportunity and to trust that you’ll succeed at it. I never in a million years would have guessed that I would be working in the U.S. Senate and certainly not in this position.”

The University of Â鶹´«Ã½ has established a new UH Rural Health Research & Policy Center (RHRPC) with a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration. This funding was championed by U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz and U.S. Rep. Ed Case in the FY22 federal appropriations process.

Launched in September, the new center is focused on improving rural health care challenges in Â鶹´«Ã½ through policy-relevant research and actionable, evidence-based strategies and recommendations, specifically on health workforce and health equity.

“Â鶹´«Ã½ faces unique challenges as a non-contiguous state with multiple islands, such as problems with accessing health care for residents especially on neighbor islands, provider shortages and underrepresentation of Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders in the health care workforce,” said Principal Investigator Aimee Grace, director of the . “While many of these issues impacting rural health in Â鶹´«Ã½ are well-known, a critical gap has been translating these challenges into specific policy solutions that are actionable and evidence-based.”

In the short term, UH RHRPC plans to focus on areas of priority to the rural health community and related challenges to Â鶹´«Ã½â€™s health workforce, including improving Medicare payments and making federal designations, such as the Health Professional Shortage Area scoring system, to be more reflective of Â鶹´«Ã½â€™s unique needs.

“The need for far more focused action to close Â鶹´«Ã½â€™s rural health divide has never been so acute,” said Congressman Ed Case (HI-01). “The University of Â鶹´«Ã½â€™s new Rural Health Research and Policy Center will play a critical role to address the specific and unique health care needs of Â鶹´«Ã½â€™s rural communities. I am very pleased that Congress approved my funding request to support the creation of this center and look forward to continuing to work with UH and other key rural health stakeholders in Â鶹´«Ã½ to further these efforts.”

New initiative to collaborate with health partners

The center will collaborate with key rural health partners, including the Â鶹´«Ã½ State Rural Health Association, the State of Â鶹´«Ã½ Office of Primary Care and Rural Health, the and the . Focus groups and site visits to impacted regions across the state and with key stakeholders will provide the Center with critical information to support its research and policy efforts.

The need for far more focused action to close Â鶹´«Ã½â€™s rural health divide has never been so acute.
—U.S. Rep. Ed Case

“We want to ensure that RHRPC’s work is aligned overall with the needs of our rural communities and encompasses the concerns and potential solutions from rural health stakeholders from across Â鶹´«Ã½,” said Kelley Withy, co-investigator and director of the Â鶹´«Ã½/Pacific Basin Area Health Education Center at the .

The grant will fund RHRPC for one year with core staff, a partnership award with the Â鶹´«Ã½ State Rural Health Association for outreach and stakeholder engagement, and subcontracting services as needed to fulfill key research needs. RHRPC also plans to pursue grants and additional funding opportunities to ensure ongoing sustainability of the center.

“As Â鶹´«Ã½â€™s only public institution of higher education, UH and its health sciences programs play an essential role in educating the health care workforce of the state and region and addressing health challenges. RHRPC has a critical role in advancing research and policy solutions to improve health for rural communities in Â鶹´«Ã½, and we sincerely thank Sen. Schatz and Rep. Case for their support of the establishment of this Center,” said Grace.

The Â鶹´«Ã½ Medical Service Association (HMSA) donated $1 million to establish the HMSA Distinguished Endowed Professorship in Health Economics at the (UHERO) in UH ²ÑÄå²Ô´Ç²¹â€™s . The endowment will support UHERO’s research in the area of health economics.

“This is a key part of a larger health policy initiative at the College of Social Sciences focused on improving the health care of Â鶹´«Ã½â€™s people and economy,” said Dean Denise Eby Konan, professor of economics and UHERO research fellow. “This endowment will enable the university to attract and retain the highest-caliber health economics faculty and advance research in the area of health economics. We’re grateful to HMSA for recognizing the critical importance of health care to Â鶹´«Ã½â€™s economy.”

UHERO Executive Director Carl Bonham has worked closely with HMSA President and CEO Mark M. Mugiishi on Â鶹´«Ã½â€™s response to the COVID-19 pandemic over the past two years.

“UHERO has been a key player in our economic development recovery efforts as we emerge from the damaging effects of COVID-19 across the state,” said Mugiishi. “HMSA remains committed to creating a healthier Â鶹´«Ã½, especially in our efforts to improve the overall economic health in our local community.”

Bonham said HMSA and UHERO share a common vision, where data, research and analysis drive policy to improve the lives of Â鶹´«Ã½â€™s people.

“We already have several projects underway that will benefit from a close collaboration with HMSA, including the development of a new linked housing and health database, and a new longitudinal health survey in Â鶹´«Ã½,” Bonham said. “Both efforts are designed to study systemic health disparities exacerbated by COVID-19 and inform the design and execution of public health programs in Â鶹´«Ã½.”

HMSA and its philanthropic arm, the HMSA Foundation, have a long history of giving to major health care initiatives at UH. In 2021, the HMSA Foundation gave $6 million in support of various initiatives at the and .

“HMSA’s support over the years has been crucial to the work being done at the University of Â鶹´«Ã½,” said Tim Dolan, CEO of and UH vice president of advancement. “This gift builds upon HMSA’s support and strengthens UHERO’s research in such an important sector. Mahalo to HMSA and Dr. Mugiishi for recognizing UHERO’s role in advancing Â鶹´«Ã½â€™s economic health.”

This work is an example of UH ²ÑÄå²Ô´Ç²¹â€™s goal of (PDF), one of four goals identified in the (PDF), updated in December 2020.

A majority of Â鶹´«Ã½ residents prefer limiting the number of visitors to the islands and support charging entry fees for visitors at parks or other “hot spots” during peak times. These are some of the results from a new survey about the visitor industry conducted by the University of Â鶹´«Ã½ at ²ÑÄå²Ô´Ç²¹â€™s .

• Read the entire report.

Other findings include residents supporting the state regulating tourism more than other businesses, using rental car surcharges to pay for addressing tourism impacts and creating a “permanent tourism advisory council system” to include resident and industry stakeholders.

“This is an important topic for our state right now as the tourism industry re-emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Colin Moore, director of the Public Policy Center. “I hope these results will lead to thoughtful conversations about how we can restructure tourism governance.”

A total of 700 Â鶹´«Ã½ residents completed the survey, which was administered online from April 16 to May 3, 2021. The Public Policy Center is housed in the .

Size of Â鶹´«Ã½â€™s tourism market

Fifty-two percent of the respondents prefer limiting the number of visitors, with even stronger support among neighbor island and Native Hawaiian residents. Residents also prefer to see tourists charged and/or required to make advance reservations at parks or other “hot spots,” with 78% strongly favoring or somewhat favoring charging visitors an entry fee to use them during peak times.

Government actions

A strong consensus of residents feel the state should play a role in managing the tourism industry. Residents by a 2-to-1 margin said the state should control or regulate tourism more than other businesses. Support for regulating vacation rentals outside resort areas was almost 75%. A majority (52%) opposed allowing casino gambling in the state.

Tourism and COVID-19

Fifty-one percent of respondents rated the state’s performance to limit COVID-19 threats from travel as “fairly bad” and another 6% just “bad.” A plurality of 45% want both vaccination and testing requirements for travelers to and from Â鶹´«Ã½ and 67% want the quarantine requirements the same for all counties.

Given a choice on whether the state should focus on tourism recovery or economic diversification this year, residents want the state to focus on both equally (49%), but those choosing just one went strongly with diversification (37%) over tourism recovery (10%).

Values and principles

Respondents were most supportive of a visitor industry that improves rather than depletes natural and cultural resources (46% selection as “most important” in list); markets to respectful visitors (43%); and assures jobs that provide a living wage (43%). Also on the list were generating the most possible tax dollars (22%); growing tourist dollars rather than tourist numbers (21%); and avoiding actions that negatively affect Â鶹´«Ã½â€™s image (19%).

Destination management

Many residents support using rental car surcharges to pay to address tourism impacts and favor green fees, which are visitor taxes specifically for natural resource protection. Results also showed that residents have diverse opinions about the Â鶹´«Ã½ Tourism Authority (HTA). A plurality of 35% would both keep the HTA and also increase its authority in destination management. A “permanent tourism advisory council system” including both resident and industry stakeholders won more than 2-to-1 approval among those with clear opinions (34% yes, 15% no), but a plurality of 45% said, “depends how it’s done.”

This work is an example of UH ²ÑÄå²Ô´Ç²¹â€™s goal of (PDF), one of four goals identified in the (PDF), updated in December 2020.

The University of Â鶹´«Ã½ is the target of a “fake news” article making rounds on social media, and UH experts say there are many lessons to learn.

The article, which was first posted in 2015 and recently went viral, claims that UH astrophysicists discovered Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) on a meteorite found in the Nevada desert in 2010. THC is a chemical found in marijuana. The article includes false quotes by a made up astrophysicist who never worked at UH.

After the story was shared thousands of times on social media, USA Today reached out to UH to confirm if the astrophysicist actually worked at the university, and .

Growing problem of ‘fake news’

Associate Professor Colin Moore, UH ²ÑÄå²Ô´Ç²¹ director and chair in the , said the proliferation of “fake news” carries two major problems.

“The first and most dangerous is that it reduces trust in all information sources, which can lead people to consume less news overall,” Moore said. “This leads to the second problem. As people are less willing to consume news from a wide variety of sources, they may only pay attention to sources that confirm their preexisting beliefs, which contributes to further political polarization.”

School of Communications Assistant Professor Julien Gorbach published an article in American Journalism in 2018 called “.” In it, he recalls how the term “fake news” gained traction during the 2016 presidential election. Gorbach, however, said that “fake news” has been around for several decades, with different motivations behind creating these stories.

“There’s fake stories or false stories that are done for fun or satirical reasons. There’s often a strong motivation for profit—if you can introduce the right kind of ‘fake news’ story, it goes viral. Even before the internet, it can still go viral—you just have everybody rushing to the newsstands,” Gorbach said. “There’s stuff that’s done for profit that’s deliberately deceptive and then there are other agendas including political agendas or ideological agendas.”

Responsibility of filtering out false stories

Moore said that while technology companies such as Facebook bear much of the responsibility when it comes to filtering out “fake news,” readers also have a responsibility of deciphering credible information.

What the internet did was put the responsibility of doing that gatekeeping on every individual consumer.
—Julien Gorbach, UH ²ÑÄå²Ô´Ç²¹ assistant professor

“There are ways to automate this process and flag stories that are known to be false. Crowdsourcing the detection of fake stories can also help. Ultimately, more and more companies and educational institutions will need to devote resources to finding and removing these stories,” Moore said. “People should not be shy about calling out fake news on their social media feeds. We also need to find more ways to support real journalism. One of the best ways to defeat fake news is to build bigger audiences for high-quality news outlets.”

Gorbach added, “With stories like this, what a lot of them do highlight is the idea that with the internet, the gatekeepers went away. Before the internet, most people got their information through newspapers, books or through the broadcast networks so there were all of these gatekeepers of editors, book publishers and broadcast producers who would filter out what they thought was legitimate information. What the internet did was put the responsibility of doing that gatekeeping on every individual consumer.”

News literacy at UH ²ÑÄå²Ô´Ç²¹

Gorbach teaches JOUR 150: Journalism and Society at UH ²ÑÄå²Ô´Ç²¹, which focuses on news literacy.

“It’s very challenging because as the technology advances and as our politics has become increasingly divisive and toxic, the tactics for disinformation are advancing faster than our ability to teach how to dismantle them,” Gorbach said.

Gorbach said the faculty emphasize two methods for checking facts. The first is a checklist of criteria that news consumers can use to evaluate sources within a given story. These criteria are abbreviated by the acronym “IM VAIN.“ The questions include: are the sources in the story independent? multiple? verified? authoritative? informed? and named? The second is “reading laterally,” which is described by Moore.

“The easiest way to avoid this is by cross-checking your sources,” Moore said. “If there are no other credible news sites reporting a similar story, then you should be skeptical. Readers can also investigate the news outlet and author. It’s important to know who’s funding the news website and what other articles the author has written. Even the layout of the news website can provide clues. If it’s full of sensationalist headlines, grammatical errors, and generic images, then I would be very cautious.”

This work is an example of UH ²ÑÄå²Ô´Ç²¹â€™s goal of (PDF), one of four goals identified in the (PDF), updated in December 2020.

More than half of Â鶹´«Ã½â€™s restaurants will be forced to permanently close by April 2021, if tourism does not significantly increase, according to a survey by the , which is housed in the at the University of Â鶹´«Ã½ at ²ÑÄå²Ô´Ç²¹. In addition, 87% of those restaurateurs believe that if their restaurant fails, they will not be able to secure financing to start over.

The report explained, “If these assessments come to pass, not only will a vibrant portion of our state’s culture be silenced, but those members of our community with the skill and experience to resurrect the restaurant industry in a post-COVID environment will be locked out of doing so due to lack of ability to gain capital to restart.”

Results also indicated a strong perception statewide that government contact tracing has been ineffective, with less than 4% of restaurants seeing tangible results of the contact tracing efforts they have been directed to undertake. Also, a majority of restaurateurs have expressed “little” to “no” confidence in government decision making in regards to COVID-19. Restaurant owners and managers, however, are not opposed to taking additional safety procedures if these would lead to a loosening of restrictions. The survey received 184 responses with slightly more than 50% of respondents operating restaurants solely on Oʻahu.

This is the Public Policy Center’s third report on Â鶹´«Ã½â€™s restaurant industry during COVID-19, which is aimed to stimulate discussions and inspire a renewed partnership between the restaurant industry and government officials.

.

Four University of Â鶹´«Ã½ at Mānoa experts covering the areas of law, social science and political science, will discuss “The Legal Impacts of Election 2020” in a public Zoom forum on November 18, 4–5:15 p.m. Participants can . The password will be emailed to individuals after they register for the event.

This is the second panel discussion organized by the UH Mānoa involving the impact of the 2020 election. The first was held before the election to discuss implications of what was at stake and the legal issues possibly impacted. This panel will explore actions in the wake of the election, including President Trump’s position with respect to the outcome.

The four panelists include: UH law school Professors Linda Krieger and Mari Matsuda; Professor Kathleen Sands from the ; and Associate Professor Colin Moore, director of the .

The panel will be moderated by UH law school’s Assistant Professor Troy Andrade, director of the .

A PhD candidate at the University of Â鶹´«Ã½ at ²ÑÄå²Ô´Ç²¹ has been selected for a prestigious international fellowship. Cambodian native Soksamphoas Im, in the College of Social Sciences’ D, was selected for the during the 2019–2020 year. The fellowship provides a $20,000 award towards her dissertation on the emergence of Cambodia’s new national aging policy, which focuses on elderly rights and economic opportunities.

“Being selected as an AAUW award recipient is an honor and privilege as the fellowship allows me not only to continue my PhD program but also help me to accomplish my dissertation project in a timely manner. I hope to inspire other female graduate students at UH ²ÑÄå²Ô´Ç²¹ to apply for AAUW distinguish fellowship,” said Im.

In the future, Im hopes to work towards policies that protect the needs of all vulnerable populations, such as older persons, disabled persons, children and low-income families.

“This award will allow Im to do important and unprecedented fieldwork such as interviewing local and global policy makers and activists that are working to improve rights and protections for Cambodia’s aging population,” said Katharina Heyer, associate professor in UH ²ÑÄå²Ô´Ç²¹â€™s department of political science.

More information about AAUW‘s educational funding and awards can be found . Deadlines to apply for AAUW‘s funding are between November to December 1.

The at the has selected state and as the 2016 Legislators in Residence (LIR). Established in 2002, is designed to provide opportunities for dialogue and collaboration between policymakers and the academic community.

“We are honored to have Senator Wakai and Representative Belatti as part of the 2016 Legislators in Residence program, and appreciate the time they are dedicating to our students and faculty as part of this effort,” said Sharon Moriwaki, LIR coordinator. “Their participation in LIR is a tremendous opportunity to expand upon the college’s dynamic learning environment. It allows our students, faculty and staff to work alongside Â鶹´«Ã½’s policymakers, explore significant issues facing our community, and examine ways to develop policies in response to these issues.”

Both legislators are eager to work with faculty and students to explore areas of mutual interest. Representative Belatti has already begun work with the to implement the healthcare analytics project. The college’s will facilitate the legislative oversight committee’s dialog on medical marijuana dispensaries. Senator Wakai is interested in various topics relating to innovation, technology, agriculture and economic development. If interested and projects emerge, both legislators are also open to continuing to work with faculty and students in the spring semester, developing policy and legislation for the 2017 Legislature.

Past LIR participants have explored a range of topics, such as the effectiveness and usefulness of tax credits, urban mobility alternatives, bi-partisan clean campaign, health insurance for Â鶹´«Ã½; Sustainable Saunders project, Â鶹´«Ã½ 2050 Sustainability plan, long-term care, clean energy, new civic engagement models, history and outlook on civil unions and same-sex marriage and sustainable agriculture.