(BASED ON A PRESS RELEASE) — The Stars of Oceania was inaugurated in 2006 with the intention to help with tuition costs for Pacific Island students who are attending and those interested in enrolling at the University of Hawaii.

Its creation was in response to the University of Hawaii Board of Regents’ decision to change the in-state tuition eligibility status of students from the U.S. Pacific Territories to out-of-state status.

The tuition increase differential has been very challenging for students from the region and has necessitated the redirection of their energies to seek ever fewer avenues of support for their higher education aspirations.

The Stars of Oceania scholarship is available primarily for Pacific Island students and graduate students who are conducting research or project development in the Pacific region.

The theme for the Stars of Oceania Traditional Wisdom/Pasifika Energy Summit is “Engaging the Synergy of Traditional Wisdom and Modern Knowledge Toward a Sustainable Future”.

The theme draws attention to the importance of enduring wisdoms of indigenous Pacific cultures that are seldom included in the dialogue of near collapsing eco-systems of the earth, excessive consumerism and the power of culture to influence, change or transform behaviors that are the root causes of the global threat to the health of the planet.

Indigenous core values of balance, harmony and reciprocal sustenance of giving back in full measure what one takes for example, has become the core basis for the modern term of sustainability. 

The Stars of Oceania recognition awards honors traditional wisdom and recognizes its importance in being part any dialogue concerning the health of the earth.

To that effect, distinguished and paramount traditional leaders who are representative of the  ancient Pacific cultures of Polynesia, Melanesia and Micronesia have been invited:

•    His Highness, Tui Atua Tupua Tamasese Taisi Efi will represent the many lines of Polynesia;

•    Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi, paramount chief and former Vice President of Fiji brings the kinship ties of Melanesia; and

•    Iroij Lotak Loeak of the Council of Iroij and Chair of the Micronesian Traditional Leaders Conference completes the Pacific family.

The key note address will be delivered by His Highness, Tui Atua Tupua Tamasese Taisi Efi, Head of State of the Independent State of Samoa. A recent publication by His Highness, “Su’esu’e Manogi” In Search of Fragrance, A Samoan Indigenous Reference, will also be featured and can serve as an excellent resource on traditional wisdom and modern knowledge.

It is through story telling that much of indigenous wisdom is imparted. Representing that essential part of wisdom, A Star of Oceania award for the Arts will be presented to Witi Tame Ihimaera, distinguished Maori author of Whale Rider among other outstanding literary works.

Witi is of Te Aitanga-a-Mahaki descent, with close affiliations to T¸Hoe, Te Whanau-a-Apanui, Ngati Kahungunu, and Ngai Tamanuhiri, and links to Rongowhakaata, Ngati Porou, and Te Whakatohea.

Public officials to be recognized and honored as Stars of Oceania for their leadership, support and advocacy of greater social, cultural, environmental, economic, political and educational collaboration with Oceania will be announced at the luncheon event.

Various U.S. Pacific governments will be recognized for their support of students as well as projects facilitated and initiated by the University of Hawaii.

The University of Hawaii Pacific Business Center Program has attained national recognition through projects supported by Pacific governments along with graduate student interns from their jurisdictions.

The Pasifika Energy Summit, organized around the Stars of Oceania recognition and scholarship fund raiser, will feature a morning and afternoon session that will include a key note distinguished speaker at each session. 

A single panel in the morning session will feature prominent Pacific Island traditional leaders who will share insights through a moderator regarding their perspectives on renewable energy, reduction of dependence on oil, economic, cultural and environmental impact on their island homes.

According to physicists and climate experts, we are depleting all of our natural stocks, including water, hydrocarbons, forests, rivers, fish and arable land. The islands of the Pacific will be the first to be impacted, the least able to cope and most vulnerable to related contingencies. Nobel Prize winner, Professor Stephen Schneider will address global concern in his morning session key note address.

The afternoon key note address, delivered by Dr. David Korten, will focus upon a related topic with an emphasis on the economic dimensions, the need to rethink a failed system that has not generated real wealth and is destroying a livable climate. Dr. Korten will convey a provocative challenge and road map for a new economy where people, the planet, and communities come first. 

A mini panel will follow consisting only of Professor Stephen Schneider and Dr. David Korten for a question and answer session that engages the audience as it relates to information and shared insights.

The final session will be the return of the panel of traditional leaders. They will respond to the information shared throughout the presentations.

At the conclusion of the event, a secretariat will be convened to draft a final series of recommendations, action plans and future actions as a follow up to the Stars of Oceania/2009 Pasifika Energy Summit.

The secretariat will be comprised of scientists, traditional leaders, experts, energy entrepreneurs, business persons, communities of interest and other invited individuals and groups

As stated earlier, this event is twofold. In addition to being an energy summit, it is also a fund raising effort to provide much needed scholarship assistance to our students from Pacific Islands.

To highlight the importance of scholarships such as this, the following statement was made by Dr. Tusi Avegalio, Director of the University of Hawaii Pacific Business Center Program:

“A recent report published in USA Today on the death rates for each state, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories since the start of the Iraq war shows that U.S. Pacific Islanders continue to have the highest rate of deaths per 1-million populations in all of the United States. I am poignantly reminded of a young American Samoan high school graduate who was the president of the high school National Honor Society and who hoped to get a scholarship for further education. Not getting one, the student joined the United States Army Reserve to help pay for tuition at a junior college where, as a third semester student, the student maintained a 4.0 GPA. The unit, however, was activated to the Middle East. Two months before completing the one year tour of duty, this budding flower of American  Samoa prematurely fell from its branch. She was the first female casualty from American Samoa in the service of our country. I cannot help but think how a scholarship could have, in some way, saved this young life. I am convinced that education and the opportunity to pursue it to its highest levels will make the difference in creating a better and healthier world. I am committed to that goal through our Stars of Oceania/Pasifika Energy Summit event.”

For more information and to register go to: http://pbcphawaii.com/Default.asp

The event begins on April 9 — it’s a one-day event.