THE SENATE                           S.C.R. NO.            201
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                    SENATE  CONCURRENT
                        RESOLUTION

  URGING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A RESEARCH INSTITUTE AND A MASTER
    OF ARTS PROGRAM AT THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII AT MANOA
    CENTER FOR HAWAIIAN STUDIES. 


 1        WHEREAS, the University of Hawaii's system, as the only
 2   State institution of higher education, has the explicit
 3   responsibility to carry out the State of Hawaii constitutional
 4   mandate which states that "the State shall provide for a
 5   Hawaiian education program consisting of language, culture, and
 6   history in the public schools" as a suitable and essential
 7   means in furtherance of the Hawaiian education program; and
 8   
 9        WHEREAS, the University of Hawaii (UH) should take the
10   lead in researching, developing, and promoting a comprehensive
11   and integrated Hawaiian Studies program of instruction,
12   research, curriculum development, and community service shared
13   throughout the UH system by the Center for Hawaiian Studies at
14   UH Manoa; and
15   
16        WHEREAS, the UH cites Hawaiian Studies as a foremost
17   component of its strategic plan and supports an expanded role
18   for Hawaiian Studies; and
19   
20        WHEREAS, the UH, in its strategic plan, also proposes that
21   the UH should take advantage of those programs which have
22   achieved or have potential to achieve national or international
23   prominence; and
24   
25        WHEREAS, the UH is the only place in the world where one
26   can study things Hawaiian; and
27   
28        WHEREAS, this fact alone establishes why Hawaiian Studies
29   will make the UH unique among all other universities and
30   colleges in the world; and
31   
32        WHEREAS, the UH should strive to strengthen its position
33   as one of the leading research institutions in the nation,
34   Asia, and the Pacific Basin; and
35   

 
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 1        WHEREAS, the UH as the only public institution of higher
 2   learning should take the lead in the perpetuation of Hawaiian
 3   culture, language, and history through research, instruction,
 4   curriculum development in Hawaiian and English in order to
 5   better serve the community; and
 6   
 7        WHEREAS, the Ka'o:  Hawaiian Studies Task Force Report of
 8   1986, recommended the establishment of a research institute,
 9   with a director of research, an associate director, institute
10   staff, research projects, library center repository, and
11   publications at the Center for Hawaiian Studies; and
12   
13        WHEREAS, the UH at Manoa is a class one research
14   university and is the appropriate campus for graduate study and
15   research; and
16   
17        WHEREAS, the majority of primary source Hawaiian research
18   materials available for translation into English exist in
19   Honolulu in the Bishop Museum, Hawaii State Archives, Mission
20   Houses Museum, and the Department of Land and Natural
21   Resources; and
22   
23        WHEREAS, in the past thirteen years the UH at Manoa Center
24   for Hawaiian Studies has created 19 new courses, never taught
25   before at any university in the world, including the first ever
26   two-semester course in traditional navigation and non-
27   instrument voyaging; and
28   
29        WHEREAS, curriculum development at a research institute
30   within the Center for Hawaiian Studies would focus on the
31   creation of bilingual curriculum materials in English and
32   Hawaiian for the teaching of the Hawaiian language, and
33   culture; and
34   
35        WHEREAS, Hawaiian Studies research would include, but not
36   be limited to the following, multidisciplinary research in
37   subjects such as navigation, religion, geography, land tenure,
38   resource management, visual and performing arts, oral
39   traditions, science, biomedicine, astronomy, contemporary
40   Hawaiian issues, ceded lands, reconciliation, and law; and
41   
42        WHEREAS, a majority of Hawaiians live on Oahu and could be
43   serviced by bilingual curriculum development at the Center for
44   Hawaiian Studies at the UH Manoa; and 
45   

 
 
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 1        WHEREAS, a majority of the 48,000 English speaking
 2   Hawaiian children in the DOE public school system who have been
 3   identified as at risk youth could greatly benefit from identity
 4   empowerment, resulting from bilingual curriculum development at
 5   the Center for Hawaiian Studies at the UH Manoa; and
 6   
 7        WHEREAS, the DOE Kupuna Program and Social Studies
 8   components statewide continually lacks adequate curriculum in
 9   English for the teaching of things Hawaiian to the 187,302
10   English speaking children in the DOE public schools; and
11   
12        WHEREAS, a research institute within the Center for
13   Hawaiian Studies would provide training for students, pre-
14   service teachers, and current teachers in the use of innovative
15   new bilingual Hawaiian Studies curriculum materials; and
16   
17        WHEREAS, graduate students in Hawaiian Studies at the
18   Center for Hawaiian Studies will assist in curriculum
19   development as part of their graduate studies; and
20   
21        WHEREAS, there is a demand from alumni of the Center for
22   Hawaiian Studies students throughout the UH system, and the
23   community for a Master of Arts program at the UH at Manoa
24   Center for Hawaiian Studies; and
25   
26        WHEREAS, there is a growing need to expand the Center for
27   Hawaiian Studies in all aspects of research and post-graduate
28   levels; and
29   
30        WHEREAS, there is an opportunity to receive federal
31   funding to support a research institute and a graduate program
32   at the Center of Hawaiian Studies at UH Manoa; now, therefore,
33   
34        BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twentieth Legislature
35   of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2000, the House of
36   Representatives concurring, that the Legislature urges the
37   University of Hawaii to establish a research institute and a
38   Master of Arts program at the Center for Hawaiian Studies at
39   the University of Hawaii at Manoa; and
40   

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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                                  S.C.R. NO.            201
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this
 2   Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor,
 3   University Board of Regents, and to the President of the
 4   University of Hawaii at Manoa.
 5 
 6 
 7 
 8                         OFFERED BY:  ____________________________