Students seek funds to fuel D.C. trip

Several upcoming fundraisers are in the works to help provide some hard-working students with the opportunity of a lifetime. The proceeds are to pay for the logistics of bringing several UH Hilo students to Washington D.C. to present at the 23rd Annual Convention for the Association for Psychological Science.

UH Hilo undergraduate students Krista Marten, No`ele Hall, Ryan Akeuchi, Mariana Romo, and Meghan Christopher will be presenting their work at the convention. Graduate student Sweet Mensoff and UH Hilo graduate Elizabeth Askren will also be presenting findings resulting from their work in the psychology department.

"There are a lot of really great things about going to Stanford or Brown. The amazing thing about UH Hilo is opportunities like this," said Elizabeth Askren of the impending trip.

The opportunity to present original work at a national convention like this is usually not available to undergraduate students.

Everyone in the group is named as an author on at least one of the works being presented. Several students are listed as first author on a work, an extremely rare achievement for undergraduates. Student Krista Marten was very excited about her upcoming presentation

"I think that this is the perfect way to wrap up a degree, like the icing on the cake,"said Marten.

Also attending the convention will be Professors Susan Brown and Errol Yudko of UH Hilo and Professor Jenni Rygh of Hawai`i Community College. They will be presenting their recent research on oxytocin.

 Oxytocin is a human hormone which has recently seen a lot of attention in research and literature. It has been implicated as being intimately linked to interpersonal intimacy, trust, and addiction.

While the honor of being accepted to present at such a prestigious event is great, it isn't free. Both students and teachers are having to dig deep into their own pockets to foot the bill for their trip.

The works that were submitted for presentation were accepted after the allotted time in which the university's chapter of Psi Chi, the national honor society for psychology, disperses its grant money for such purposes.

To help provide the funds to grease the logistic wheels of the trip, the group has been engaged in a flurry of fundraisers.

There will be a party at the Hilo Town Tavern on April 22 to help pay for the trip, with all door proceeds going directly to the travel fund. All proceeds from drinks sold at the exterior bar, in the new enclosed area that used to be a parking lot, will also go directly to the travel fund.

For those who are not yet of age, but who still want to show their support, upcoming fundraisers will be more keiki friendly.

The group will be selling food at the upcoming Earth Day Fair, held at the UH College of Agriculture farm in Pana`ewa from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, April 24. There will be free shuttles to and from the UH Hilo Campus Center.

The group will also be selling food at the Family Funday Fair, which will be Saturday, April 16 at Kea`au High School.