Page 2 - MidWeek Kauai - August 3, 2022

4 COLUMN
2 KAUA‘I MIDWEEK AUGUST 3, 2022
IFuture’s Past
t’s all spelled out in the article. An incredible opportuni-
T his past December, 12-year-old Kapa‘a resident Alyssiya, who has brain cancer, had a simple wish of finding a way to visit her grand- mother who lives nearby. Make-A-Wish Hawai‘i granted her wish by turning a drawing Alyssiya had done of her dream cart, into a customized golf cart, complete with pink and blue seats and her favorite
salmon fishing in Alaska; Atlas, 8, from Līhu‘e, who has brain cancer and visited Disney World and Galaxy’s Edge; and Kawehionalani, 6, of Hanalei, who has a genetic heart condition and wished to visit Disney World.
ty for the state and University of Hawai‘i to become an
Join us in celebrating 40 years of life-changing wishes at a free event from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Aug. 6 at Kukui Grove Center, featuring live entertainment, keiki activities and fun for the whole family.
integral part in the burgeoning world of semiconductors, optics, alternative energy and computer science. A grand opportunity to plant our flag in development (alongside Sil- icon Valley and other choice locations) of a lucrative, clean, forward-looking, vital industry.
characters.
Alyssiya is just one of more than 1,500
With the support of our community, donors, medical professionals, partners, volunteers and dedicated staff, we look forward to the next 40 years of transform- ing lives, one wish at a time, beginning with our goal of granting 40 more wishes by the end of the year.
The article mentions Motorola, Intel, and others looking at UH labs for the best and brightest students along with sharing ideas from top scientists (aka professors) at our world-class university up in the Mānoa hills. The article proffers that UH’s physical electronics labs are superior to those at Cal and Stanford. It sounds so grand, within reach and real! So what happened? Good question. That article by Ray Tsuchiyama, a consultant/adviser/entrepreneur and a Farrington High School graduate, appeared in the Hawai‘i High Tech Journal in the summer of ... 1984.
keiki from across the state, including hun- dreds from Kaua‘i, to have their wishes granted by MAWH since its founding in September 1982 by Honolulu business- man Jack Stanford. MAWH also has hosted more than 17,000 wish kids from across the country.
Janelle Sanqui, wish granter, with Kapa‘a resident Alyssiya, whose wish to have a cart to visit her grandmother came true in December.
PHOTO COURTESY MAKEAWISH HAWAI‘I
Was there a lack of political will? A lack of financing or grant opportunities? Were we too fixated on tourism, agri- culture and the military as our big three economic pillars to push the incredible potential of these teaching visionaries and their students? Computer science was already a pretty big deal then, so where was our homegrown Big Brother in 1984 to nurture and push this alternative economic engine forward? Surely people realized the goal to keep our best and brightest home back then, I assume. As an aside, Arkansas is now a leading state in computer science, because it pushed.
Other Kaua‘i keiki who have had their wishes granted this year include Aiden, 13, from Hanapēpē, who has a neurological condition and dreamed of
Over the past 40 years, MAWH has seen the power that granting wishes has to transform lives, engage communities in life-changing moments and give chil- dren and their families hope and strength to fight harder against their critical illness.
The majority of wish kids go on to live healthy lives and reflect on their wish as a turning point in their journey.
To make a gift or learn more, visit hawaii.wish.org, call 808-537-3118 or email info@hawaii.wish.org. All funds raised for MAWH stay in Hawai‘i to bring keiki with critical illnesses one step closer to brighter days ahead.
Celebrating 40 Years Of Wishes
By Trini Kaopuiki Clark, president and CEO, Make-A-Wish Hawai‘i
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Fill in the blank cells using numbers 1 to 9. Each number can appear only once in each row, column, and 3x3 block. Use logic and process of elimination to solve the puzzle. The difficulty level ranges from Bronze (easiest) to Silver to Gold (hardest). Answers are on page 11
RATING: GOLD
Can we push harder to bring computer science further along at UH and in our high schools? Perhaps a public-pri- vate partnership? Equitably, pushing merit-based programs. Too much humbug? Robotics have become a big deal in Hawai‘i in this century, true, and maybe the tech boat hasn’t sailed away on microchip design, lab work, electrical en- gineering as a trade, or Hawai‘i in general as a computer sciences center.
It might not be worth much, but U.S. News & World Re- port ranks UH-Mānoa tied at No. 135 among colleges/uni- versities in the nation for computer science offerings. Again, this opportunity gone awry is much more complicated than any current numbers, missed opportunities, or even original hopes and realities expressed in a 1984 article. But it is a concrete example where we weren’t just hypothesizing, but were actually succeeding in an area that held great promise for economic diversity and providing well-paying jobs for our own, until it wasn’t.
Think about it ...
john@thinkaboutithawaii.com