Kevin Bennett: our #HeroProf detecting kidney disease

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Diabetes is the No. 1 cause of kidney disease in Hawaii, primarily because of poor diets and lack of exercise. A disproportionate number of Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders are affected by the disease.

It is not surprising that Hawaii has the one of the highest rates of diabetic kidney failure in the nation. Nationally, 45 percent of kidney failure is a result of diabetes. Hawaii exceeds this: 63 percent of kidney failure in Hawaii is attributed to the disease, according to recent studies.

The disease affects nearly one in seven adults in America, and according to the latest research, CKD-related deaths have doubled in the past two decades.

The trend is troubling and the future also looks bleak for the nation. The number of adults older than 30 years with kidney disease is projected to reach 28 million in 2020, and nearly 38 million in 2030, according to a national study.

What is Chronic Kidney Disease?

The two main causes of chronic kidney disease are diabetes and high blood pressure, which are responsible for up to two-thirds of the cases. Diabetes occurs when your blood sugar is too high, causing damage to many organs in your body, including the kidneys and heart, as well as blood vessels, nerves and eyes.

Chronic kidney disease damages kidneys. Wastes build to high levels in the blood and make people sick. Complications include high blood pressure, anemia (low blood count), weak bones, poor nutritional health and nerve damage. Kidney disease also increases the risk of heart and blood vessel disease.

Kidney disease can go on for years without being diagnosed. There may not be any symptoms, but the disease can progress to kidney failure, eventually requiring dialysis or a kidney transplant to live.

Hawaii: A Dialysis Capital

Hawaii has the dubious distinction of being one of the top 10 states in the nation for new dialysis patients. Nephrologists, or kidney specialists, estimate there is an average of one new person that starts dialysis each day in Hawaii.

Spaces once occupied by retail stores are being replaced by dialysis centers at an alarming rate.  At last count, there are 25 renal dialysis centers in the state, 18 of which have opened within the past decade. These dialysis centers operate three shifts a day to meet the needs of the community.

While kidney transplants can be a solution, hundreds of people are on the waiting list, and more than 90 percent of these are for kidneys transplants.

In addition to the toll on people’s health, the disease can wreak havoc on wallets. Most patients typically need treatment three times a week, with copayments that can run as high as $1,000 per treatment. In 2010, the cost to Medicare for treatment of early and end-stage renal disease totaled more than $80 million nationally, according to the study in the American Journal of Kidney Diseases.

Sharing His Expertise to Benefit the Islands

Dr. Kevin Bennett, Associate Professor of Biology at the University of Hawaii-Mānoa, is breaking new ground. He is inventing new ways to detect the disease at an early stage, and his work will have an immediate, positive impact for Hawaii.

“Hawaii has a large population at risk for or are suffering from chronic kidney disease, with a significant fraction of the population on dialysis or awaiting transplant. Because we are such a small community, addressing the problem here can have a very direct impact very quickly,” Dr. Bennett said.

He relocated from Arizona State University and accepted a position at the UH-Mānoa with the promise of equipment that would help further his research.

“It was really the interesting research opportunities at UH that attracted me to Hawaii,” Dr. Bennett said. “First was the opportunity to work on a problem that is critical to this state population. Second, I was asked and funded to develop the first preclinical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) center in the state, which is an opportunity to support other scientists at UH. There are many faculty working on important problems in fields like ecology, marine biology, environmental sciences, cancer research, neuroscience, physiology, materials sciences, and others. Just in my own department of Biology, for example, our faculty work on critically important issues in a wide range of fields, and we all also teach students at the undergraduate and graduate level. It’s an exciting place to be for faculty and students.“

Breakthrough Research in Early Detection

Blood and urine tests, and working with a primary care physician to promote healthier lifestyles are important intervention steps to help monitor and manage the disease. Dr. Bennett is finding new ways to aid in early detection through state-of-the-art imaging.

From his lab in the Biomedical Sciences Building on the UH-Mānoa campus, Dr. Bennett is taking early detection to an entirely new level. By looking at changes in tissues at a molecular or cellular level, he is making new discoveries that potentially will change way medicine is practiced.

“My lab develops new technologies to aid in early detection of a range of diseases. We try to add precision to medical diagnostics through imaging. We have recently been heavily focused on early detection of risk of both cardiovascular and renal disease,” he said. “In particular, we have been trying to find ways to help patients who don’t know they have chronic kidney disease, patients who have kidney disease, or patients waiting for kidney transplants. These individuals include patients with diabetes or hypertension, or premature infants. We develop tools for doctors to detect these diseases early so they can be more effectively managed.”

Collaborating with Experts in Other States

Dr. Bennett is facilitating collaboration across the country. While he concentrates on technology and biophysical issues, Dr. Jennifer Charlton of the University of Virginia provides the clinical perspective and insight as a pediatric nephrologist and Dr. Teresa Wu of Arizona State University, an engineer, focuses on image analysis and algorithm development.

“We design and build new things, and along the way we make discoveries. The new technology allows us to ask new scientific questions. My long-term goal is to locate individual molecules and cells inside the living human, but there are a lot of new things that have to be done to make that happen,” Dr. Bennett said. “Right now, as an example, we have made some new magnetic contrast agents that let us see microscopic changes in tissue structure in the kidney using MRI.”

The Benefits of MRI: “Virtual Hisotopathology”

“MRI is a fantastic tool because it is inherently three dimensional, does not use any ionizing radiation like x-rays, and can give you a nice view of soft tissue, bone, and pretty much anything else,” Dr. Bennett said. “We work on increasing the sensitivity of MRI to let us do something that we’re calling ‘virtual histopathology,’ which provides full, three-dimensional microscopic analysis of the tissue without having to cut anything. Making this work is a real partnership between our different labs. Our field is generally called ‘molecular imaging,’ because we try to detect individual molecules or cells in tissue with very high specificity.”

Turning Research into Clinical Applications

“Through this new technique, we are starting to ask about the link between hypertension and kidney damage, something that has been poorly understood. This line of research has led to many other questions, which my collaborators and I will pursue in time. We are also working on a standalone transplant evaluation system, trying to better match transplant organs to recipients and actually get our technology into the clinic to help patients.”

Attracting Out-of-State Funding

This valuable work been continuously funded by extramural grants since 2009. Dr. Bennett’s team has received grants from the Army Research Office, American Heart Association, the Hawaii Community Foundation, and the National Institutes of Health.
He currently has two round-one projects funded by the National Institutes of Health totaling nearly $3 million, roughly half of which goes to UH-Mānoa. He is now planning to submit a proposal for additional funding for a fast-track tech-transfer grant from the National Institutes of Health among other grant proposals.

Knowledge Transfer to Next-Generation Researchers

In addition to the benefits Hawaii derives from the research, many have the opportunity to work alongside Dr. Bennett.  He currently collaborates with about 20 other people working on these projects, including faculty, technicians, PhD students, and undergraduates. The research project will eventually need to hire a manager and a technologist to run the MRI center once it is fully operational.

Dr. Bennett is a giving person, and finds it professionally rewarding to share his knowledge with his students.

“I’m currently hiring several new graduate students at UH-Mānoa. I really enjoy mentoring PhD students so that’s my focus. My current graduate student in particular, Edwin Baldelomar, has been a real creative force in our work. In fact, none of this work would have been possible without students partnering with us to push them forward. The students at UH-Mānoa have incredible potential. It’s always exciting to see them grow into professionals.”

UH Faculty #HeroProf Protects Hawaii’s Future: Kevin Bennett

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UHPA Faculty Heroes Campaign Continues

UHPA is continuing its “Heroes” campaign to promote the role and value of UH faculty. Our core message is a simple but powerful reminder: investing in Hawaii’s future starts with investing in faculty. We shared this message on broadcast television and in social media at the start of the legislative session, and will now continue our campaign with a newly produced spot.

 

Broken Promises

Kevin Bennett, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Biology at UH-Manoa and a UHPA member, is featured in the new spot. You may recall that UHPA shared last year that Dr. Bennett was recruited from Arizona State University in 2013 with an offer letter promising him a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to carry on his molecular medicine research and to establish an MRI research center in Hawaii.

A Hero with Tenacity

After relocating, however the UH reneged on its promise. UHPA stepped in to defend Dr. Bennett, filing a prohibited practice complaint with the Hawaii Labor Relations Board and was willing to pursue litigation. After months of negotiation with UH administration, justice prevailed and Dr. Bennett finally obtained his promised MRI equipment.

Making Hawaii Healthier

Today, we are proud to showcase Dr. Bennett and his work on diagnostic research for the early detection of kidney disease, which is a major problem because of our prevalence of both diagnosed an undiagnosed diabetes in our islands.

Share This with Others

Please share this story of victory with your friends and family as a reminder that faculty need to be treated with dignity and respect because investing in faculty is truly an investment in Hawaii’s future and a vitally component for us to move forward as a state.

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Dr. Jennifer Griswold: A #HeroProf Showing Us the Sky’s the Limit

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Heroes face adversity with aplomb and always seem to find a way to overcome whatever life tosses in front of them. They are fearless, capable of maintaining a buoyant, confident spirit, no matter what happens.

This is the depth of heroism that resides in Assistant Professor Jennifer Griswold, faculty member of the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology in the Department of Meteorology at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

 

In the late 70s, Jennifer’s mother’s husband got a job as a computer scientist at IBM and her family relocated from New York City to Chicago. On the surface, it seemed all would be well, but his post-traumatic stress disorder after serving in the Korean War brought out another side of him that sent up a big red flag. Jennifer’s mom was brave enough to leave her husband, pack up Jennifer and her older brother, and head back to New York without giving it a second thought to protect her children.

An Inner Vow to Succeed

With no job to support the family, Jennifer’s family initially lived in their grandmother’s small apartment, but eventually moved to a small project, a 100-year-old building on Surf Avenue on Staten Island. It was slated for demolition, but a hurricane tore up the road and development plans for the area were permanently halted. It was the weather that allowed the family to continue living in the same rent-controlled home for $300 a month over the next 20 years.

“My mother struggled so much to support me and my brother,” Jennifer said, noting that her mother gave up her job as a statistician for an insurance company in Chicago, and took a job as a machinist at a local shop in New York for an annual salary of $18,000. Her mom later became a fish market salesperson at a local grocery and eventually a school aide at Jennifer’s high school, where she still works to this day.

Witnessing all of the stress left an indelible impression on Jennifer, and she resolved that when she grew up, she would not live that way nor be dependent on someone else.

For Jennifer, education was her ticket out of that life, her salvation, her path to freedom.  She would break out and escape, but always cherish her mom’s example of sacrificial dedication.

Weather In Her Bones

Just as the weather played a fateful role in where Jennifer’s family lived, the weather would eventually be a driving force in Jennifer’s career choice. It started when she was young.

Jennifer recalls that she could predict when it would rain because she had sensitive ears and could feel the pressure change associated with a passing cold or warm front.  Although her mother thought she was crazy, Jennifer would would wake up 10 minutes in advance of a wall of water coming down and got a bucket to collect the rain that poured in from their leaking roof – with consistent, amazing accuracy.

Jennifer said having this “super-power” allowed her to readily grasp concepts such as adiabatic temperature change that came in handy when she was a 12- or 13-year-old taking a boating license class in a sailing club. (An adiabatic temperature change is the change in temperature a parcel of air undergoes when it rises or sinks without a transfer of heat between the system.) Others in the class were “crusty, 60-year-old Popeyes” who could not understand these things as easily.

It’s no wonder that college was a natural fit for Jennifer. She was accepted into Cornell University but decided not to go there to avoid the cold temperatures. Instead, she chose Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, a 30-minute commute from her home. Best of all, the school offered Jennifer scholarships for tuition, but she had to take out loans to pay for housing on campus, which she is still paying off.

The Sky’s the Limit

Jennifer sailed through school, earning two bachelor of science degrees in meteorology and environmental science from Rutgers. She then received a Ph.D. in earth and planetary science from the University of California – Santa Cruz. Doors began to swing wide open for her when she applied for post-doctoral research with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Jennifer said she cried when she found out she was selected to work at this prestigious NASA project.

“It was an opportunity to be with the smartest people in the world who think on a different plane,” Jennifer said. “I wanted to expand the types of research I could do. I no longer had to wait for data for a thesis. With satellite-related meteorology, I could have access to many different data sets dating back 30 years. I taught them about clouds; they taught me about satellites.”

Laser Beams and Global Climate Change

Her work can seem intimidating. Using a Dual-Range Flight Probe phase Doppler interferometer (PDI) for local, mainland and international field projects, Jennifer studies cloud microphysics and precipitation processes. In simple layman’s terms, Jennifer explained that the equipment’s hang from a plane’s wings. The “phase” component has to do with the different angles from which the droplet is viewed. The “Doppler” component comes from the shift observed between these different viewing angles.

This data may seem esoteric but provides telling information on the size of the droplets and density of the clouds. Smoke from pollution affects the size of the droplets. When clouds are polluted there are more, but smaller droplets. This makes it harder for rain drops to form.

This means less rain and ultimately translates into drought. Areas that rely on cloud evaporation or fog are put at risk.

Off to Namibia, Africa

Continuous research and learning is a part of Jennifer’s life.  She is part of research group from the University of Hawaii that was chosen to participate in another major NASA project. Using state-of-the-art equipment, her research team is finishing the first year of research using the NASA P-3 Research Aircraft for the ORACLES project that is investigating marine stratocumulus along the coast of Namibia in Africa. The five-year project involves a year of planning, three years of summer missions, and one final year for post-mission data analysis.

More than 60 people are involved with this project and a total of six UH faculty who have cloud aerosol expertise are working on one facet of data collection. There were as many as 10 proposals on measurement alone that were submitted two years ago, and the UH team was selected.

The same group is also preparing for another possible NASA project in the Philippines to assess the effects of slash and burn agriculture on cloud particles, and its connection to climate change.

A Passion for Teaching

Jennifer, or Dr. Griswold as she is known by her students, is the newest faculty in the atmospheric sciences at the UH, and enjoys teaching Meteorology 101. Despite her experience with NASA research projects, she has not forgotten her roots and has not lost her love for teaching.

In fact, she volunteered to developed a new course over a nine-month period called “Pacific Climates and Cultures,” which won a stamp of approval from the Hawaiian Studies department. The course covers how weather and climate influenced the culture of the islands and was taught for the first time last year, and will be offered again this fall.

Inspiring Young Scientists

In heroic fashion, Jennifer also began a new program called “Expanding Your Horizons – Hawaii,” the only event in Hawaii that is part of the larger Expanding Your Horizons Network which has conferences all over the country. The event is aimed at middle school students from the sixth to eighth grades – a critical time when girls begin to lose interest in science. Through a National Science Foundation grant, the program is held every April and just completed its third consecutive conference.

Jennifer first became involved with the program while she was at the University of California at Santa Cruz as a volunteer, and has successfully imported this Science Technology, Engineering and Math conference and networking event for Hawaii’s young students.

The Tango: A Form of Science

As impressive as her science and academic career may be, there’s another side to Jennifer. She is also a teacher specializing in Argentine tango, with her husband, Brett.

She started taking ballet classes in New York City, but soon realized that she was too tall and curvy to compete effectively with the other ballet dancers. She can still do the split, which she happily demonstrated at a recent career day that made her an instant hero for another reason for the amazed students. However, she now prefers to focus on Argentine tango.

She met Brett at a tango class being offered at $2 or $3 a session while in Santa Cruz. Brett tagged along with a friend, who was trying to get credit for another class that required a cultural activity.  The teacher noticed that Brett was eyeing Jennifer, who was dancing and dating someone else at the time. The teacher whispered to Brett that he could make him a better, more impressive dancer than Jennifer’s dance partner. Brett took him up on the offer and it worked, eventually winning Jennifer’s attention.

Jennifer’s students range from ages 12 to 93. She sees life-changing results as a result of her classes. For example, one student lost 30 pounds and is no longer depressed. An 82-year-old women who lives in California flies in for private lessons once in while.

Jennifer says she has taught salsa and swing, but Argentine tango is “more me.” And rather than seeing dancing as separate and distinct from her academic life, Jennifer sees Argentine tango as a seamless extension. “There is science in the stochastic moves with infinite possibilities, like modeling.”

Harold Fujii: A Home-Grown #HeroProf

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Real-life heroes have a way of gaining the respect and admiration of others without any fanfare.  Harold Fujii, a professor with the Automotive Mechanics Technology (AMT) program at Hawaii Community College in Hilo, fits that bill perfectly.

Over the course of his career, Harold has prepared men and women to be ready to take on auto mechanic jobs after graduating from the program. Virtually all of those employed at car dealers and mechanic shops on Hawaii Island are his students — a clear measure of his success.

Harold also estimates 90% of the employers of auto mechanics on the island are his students. This attests to the solid foundation on which his students have built and furthered their careers, thanks to the education they received from Harold.

Harold’s Secret to an Outstanding Track Record

“I take a student at face value. Others may say, ‘no way this person can do it,’ but these students become leaders in the industry and in the community. That’s rewarding to me.”

Harold creates an environment for continuous learning. “I tell my students, ‘When you think you know it all, you’ve stopped learning,’” Harold said. That’s especially true in the automotive industry in which the technology is constantly evolving and continuous learning is critical. “You do it or you get obsolete.”

Harold also points out the importance of mutual learning. “I tell my students, “I learn from them; it’s not only you learning from me.’”

A Punk with a Love for Teaching

Perhaps the reason Harold can relate to students so well is that he was a graduate of the program himself. He admits that as a student he was not really into auto mechanics and did not consider himself a “gearhead.” “I had to work hard because there were others in the class who were more advanced than me,” he recalled.

“I was a young punk, and now I’m an old punk,” he laughed, noting that one of his current students is older than him.

Harold says he spends more time with his students than with his family. He spends six hours a day with them, five days a week, so they get to know each other very well.  Yet, for some of students that is not enough time together. “I love teaching one-to-one, but I literally have to tell them, ‘I have to go home.’”

An Experienced Teacher

A minimum qualification for teaching at Hawaii Community College is actual private-sector experience. Harold easily met that requirement. After graduating from Hawaii Community College, he went to work at the Ford dealer on the island, and eventually was promoted to First Class Technician, before finally being named manager and was running the shop. That all happened within a span of about 10 years.

As with most heroes, Harold is quick to acknowledge support from another professor, Kenneth Shimizu, another graduate of the Hawaii Community College’s program. “I am blessed to have him,” Harold said.

The two of them are the program’s only faculty, teaching a total of 40 students each semester about auto transmission, engines, fuel systems, electronic systems, emissions, brake systems, suspension and steering, and more. Students can earn either a Certificate of Achievement or an Associate in Applied Science degree.

A Win-Win for Students and the Community

The Automotive Mechanics Technology program at Hawaii Community College services about 20 vehicles each week.  The program creates a win for both students and the community. The students are able to work on real-world vehicles, based on their skill level, under the watchful eye of their instructors. They receive college credit, while those who bring their cars in for service receive quality service at affordable prices because they are charged only for parts, not labor.

In addition, Harold says the program also services a number of state government vehicles, providing a cost-effective way for other state agencies to receive to service they need for their fleet of vehicles.

Norman Arancon: a Sustainable Agriculture #HeroProf

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Most of us do give a second thought about where our food comes from or how it got to our plate, but we should. The majority of our food is imported into our state, making us vulnerable to forces outside Hawaii. And with limited space for landfills on our islands, there is a great need to recycle as much as possible. Lack of awareness of these issues hinders demand for more local food products to drive local agriculture.

 

It takes a hero who can see things that do not yet exist and to help us connect the food dots to create positive change – even our food preferences — no matter how challenging it may be. Norman Arancon, professor at the College of Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resource Management at the University of Hawaii at Hilo for the past seven years, is one of those visionaries.

Norman is using his expertise and extensive knowledge of composting, soil ecology, tropical fruit production and organic farming to address these issues in practical, concrete ways. His ultimate goal is to help Hawaii move toward more sustainable agricultural practices so that the state can become more self-sufficient.

Growing more of our own food allows more consumers to “buy local” and reap the benefits of fresher, more nutritious produce without the carbon footprint for transportation. Norman’s research focuses on vermicomposting — the use of earthworms to create a nutrient-rich fertilizer for soil. This reduces the need to import fertilizer for farming, which is an important but often overlooked component of sustainable agricultural practices.

Helping Farmers in the Philippines and Hawaii

Norman became interested in agriculture when he saw small farmers in his native Philippines struggling to make a living for their families. He graduated from Xavier University – Ateneo de Cagayan, a private university in Northern Mindanao, Philippines, with a bachelor of science degree in agriculture.

Many of his professors at Xavier were graduates of Ohio State University, and Norman decided to follow in their footsteps. He received both a master’s degree and Ph.D. in environmental science from Ohio State University.

After receiving his PhD, Norman was able to travel throughout the Philippines to share his expertise, with support from a USDA grant. He held a nationwide symposium in 2006 on vermicomposting at the University of the Philippines at Los Baňos, Luzon. He also held workshops at the two other major island groups in the Philippines: Visayas and at his alma mater, Xavier University in Mindanao.

Norman eventually made his way to Hawaii because there was a need for someone with expertise in sustainable agriculture and his experience in crop production made him a natural choice, especially since the tropical climate of the Philippines is similar to that of Hawaii.

Today, in addition to teaching at UH-Hilo, Norman is a regular teacher for The Kohala Center, which provides training for beginning farmers. He also reaches out to provide farming advice to churches in the Hilo area.

Recycling Organic Wastes

Norman said he is able to take the “number one waste” product on the UH-Hilo campus – paper – and convert that into food for his earthworms.

He started the program in 2009 as part of the Zero Waste Initiative. It is now a campus-wide effort, but Norman supervises the composting process and incorporates as a major activity of his sustainable agriculture class. Students involved with the UH Hilo Student Association pick up and collect post-consumer waste – leftover food from meals — from the dining halls to add to the compost. The program receives funding from UH Hilo’s Student Activities Center.

Everyone benefits. He is able to use the compost for the organic garden on the UH-Hilo grounds and the eventual goal is to grow enough produce the campus dining hall needs for a day or two each week.

He also uses the liquid extracted from the compost enriched by the earthworms for the school’s hydroponic system on the campus. The compost is brewed into a “compost tea” and is used to replace half of the recommended chemical fertilizers used in the hydroponic system.

The Campus Farm: A New Ivory Tower

Norman and his students cultivate pockets of small land areas totaling less than an acre throughout the Hilo campus. They grow tomatoes, zucchini, squashes, peanuts, ipu (gourds) and herbs such as basil. Norman said he also tried growing corn, but stopped because corn has a voracious appetite for nutrient fertilizers.

In addition, the students grow “sacrificial plants” such as leafy vegetables to attract bugs that are natural predators of other pests. Using these organic methods instead of resorting to synthetic chemicals strengthens the health of the plants.

While synthetic chemicals destroy harmful pathogenic organisms in the soil, they also destroy beneficial microbial organisms. Organic methods help to maintain the long-term health of the soil and plants.

A Growing Interest in Sustainable Agriculture

Norman teaches three courses each semester, reaching 50 to 70 students each semester. One of the course requirements is a two and a half-hour lab spent in the garden, but Norman says many students say they wish they could spend even more time gardening.

Not all of the students are majoring in agriculture. Some are majoring in communications, business, kinesiology, or nursing and are taking courses in sustainable agriculture to fulfill general education requirements, but Norman noted there has definitely been an increase in interest in the subject over the years.

In the fall of 2017, a new course will be added on vermiculture, which will add to the knowledge for the next generation of prospective farmers.

Generous Naalehu Neighbor

About two years ago, a Naalehu resident asked Norman and his students to help redesign his two-acre backyard. They seized the win-win opportunity. The resident would get a beautifully landscaped backyard garden, and the students would gain valuable experience in selected and designing a tropical orchard. They studied tree characteristics and plotted out where each of the 300 trees on the property. Norman and his students continue to make this another real-world classroom.

Entertaining Education

Besides sustainable agriculture, Norman also has a passion for music theater. He has performed in a number of musical productions at the Performing Arts Center of UH-Hilo, the Hilo Palace Theater, and the Kilauea Drama Network. His acting and singing credits include roles in Miss Saigon, Jesus Christ Superstar, La Cage Aux Folles, Mary Poppins, and the King and I. Norman has demonstrated his acting and singing talents by playing the role of the sleazy, slithering Engineer in Miss Saigon and the King in the King and I, with a relentless drive to modernize Siam.

Norman seamlessly merges the two worlds together and seeks to excel in both science and singing. “If I’m not entertaining my students, then I have no business teaching in the classroom,” he said, noting that he has occasionally broke out in song during the classroom when it is appropriate to drive home a particular lesson.

This is the kind of creativity, courage, and boundless energy required to make Hawaii a better place to live. And the multi-talented Norman is just the kind of hero we need to lead the way.