The University of Hawai'i-Manoa is one of 14 institutions in North America chosen to compete in Student Focus, the Sony World Photography Awards university program.

Sixty institutions across six continents will be competing in the awards and the University of Hawai'i-Manoa is one of the select few to have been chosen to take part in this prestigious international awards program.

Institutions will select 120 images — two from each institution — for the World Photography Awards. A short-list of two students from one institution from each continent will then be selected by a prestigious judging panel from the photographic community.

The 12 short-listed students, along with their tutors, win an expenses-paid trip to Cannes in April 2009. As part of the Festival at The Sony World Photography Awards, finalists will conduct their final assignment from which an overall winner will be decided.

For more information, contact Gaye Chan of the Department of Art and Art History at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa at 956-8251.

DELAMPING WILL SAVE UH $15,000

A project by the Sustainable Saunders Initiative to save energy by "delamping" or reducing building lighting, will save Saunders Hall at University of Hawai'i-Manoa about $15,000 a year.

The savings were accomplished at no cost — simply by removing more than 2,000 bulbs from Saunders Hall light fixtures, as a way to cut energy use and improve workplace conditions.

Sustainable Saunders is an initiative in the Social Science Public Policy Center at UH, comprised of students and faculty, that conducts research on sustainable practices and promotes successful projects for adoption elsewhere.

The completion of the project follows a successful pilot test conducted among 30 offices earlier this summer. Following the pilot tests, virtually every test subject reported better satisfaction with their office lighting, and there were substantial drops in the number of people reporting stress, eyestrain, and headaches.

WORMS WILL EAT SCHOOL'S SCRAPS

Mayor Mufi Hannemann recently announced the installation of Hawai'i's first on-site school food recycling facility: the Pipeline Worm System at Hokulani Elementary School.

The project will use earthworms to recycle food scraps, and could potentially process all food waste from the school's campus and cafeteria.

The worm bin installation is the culmination of two years of worm programs in fourth grade classes, sponsored by the City's Recycling Teaching Partners program. Hokulani Elementary was selected as a demonstration site because students there are experienced with such "vermicomposting" projects, already had numerous smaller worm bins around their campus, and are ready to take the next step and operate a larger bin.

Fourth graders will manage the entire recycling operation, including feeding, watering, covering the worms, collecting data, and cleaning up.

HARRIS BELL CHOIR IN LIBRARY SHOW

The Hawai'i State Library will host "Ringing in the Holidays," featuring the Harris United Methodist Church Bell Choirs, at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday in the main lobby.

Christmas music will be performed by The Heavenly Handbells and The Halle Halle Ringers bell choirs of Harris United Methodist Church.

The Hawai'i State Library is located at 478 South King Street. For more information, call 586-3477.