By VALERIE METREJEAN

Staff Writer

Aloha. And welcome to the 50th state to join the fine country of the U.S. of A. It is that tropical island of Hawaii that leads many to picture white sands and crystal waters.

Now for many who have never traveled to the distant shores of Honolulu or Waikiki, "knowing" about Hawaii was all thanks to the movie, "Lilo and Stitch," or the "Brady Bunch Hawaiian Vacation."

"It is exactly what I thought it to be," Dusty Bastion, a Tech baseball player and a junior civil engineering major, said.

Last year Bastion and the baseball team traveled to Hawaii to play University of Hawaii-Manoa and were given a few days before game day to enjoy the sites.

Ben Tabor, a Tech baseball player and a junior business management major, said the sand is brown and coarse rather than what most expect to be white.

Tabor said visiting Honolulu and the Waikiki beach was more tropical than any state he has been to.

"You are always hearing Hawaiian music, and the people there are all very friendly," Bastion said. Tech's baseball team was able to visit Pearl Harbor and enjoy some snorkeling. "I have never seen so many different colors of fish," Bastion said.

Bastion called Hawaii a paradise with its sunny skies and ideal weather.

"It rains everyday at least a little, but there are no clouds," Tabor said.

This near perfect weather was a distraction to what the team was there for.

"It is so hard to keep your focus, but you just have to remember that you are there to represent your university," Bastion said.

The culture was new and not very much like a typical visit to another state.

"It is a completely different world," Bastion said.

The Sandwich Islands, as Captain Cook named them, consist of eights islands. Because Hawaii was the largest island, the natives refer to them as the Hawaiian Islands.

Polynesians are the native people who trace origins back to those from Eastern Pacific Islands from New Zealand to Hawaii.

Derek Lowe, an assistant professor of English said today "it is a true minority culture" with no ethnic group having 50 percent or more of the population.

"Most white people are shocked to be a minority when coming here from the mainland (which is what natives call America)," Lowe said.

Lowe said he lived in Hawaii from 1977 to 1987 and goes back every summer to visit.

"The Hawaiian language is almost dead, though some still speak Pidgeon," Lowe said. Lowe said Pidgeon is a mix of Hawaiian, English, Philippine, Japanese and Chinese.

As a resident of Oahu and Honolulu, Lowe was able to debunk some misconceptions about the "Big Island" which is what natives call Hawaii.

"Only in tourist areas do you see hula dancers," Lowe said. Hula dancing was originally done to honor the gods or chiefs.

"One thing travelers do not really get to see are Hawaii's best beaches, because they are usually not where tourist visit," Lowe said.

Strangely enough, Lowe said that Louisiana and Hawaii did share some similarities.

"The pace of life [for both states] is really laid back," Lowe said. This was evident, Lowe said, in how Northerners who tend to be fast paced find themselves restless or impatient in the islands.

The way "tourists picture all of Louisiana as Cajun cuisine and Bourbon Street," Lowe said is the same way misconceptions about Hawaii are made.

Hawaii is the only state that has had its own monarchy complete with kings and queens and the only royal palaces in the United States.

The Kamehameha dynasty reigned the Hawaiian Islands for 60 years in the 1800s. However, they were conceded by a new monarch until finally becoming the 50th state to join America in 1959.

"There is still a monarchy movement today but not strong enough to bring it back," Lowe said.

For now, those of us who do not get to see Hawaii for ourselves, will have to settle for watching those families on television.

Lowe said, "You just cannot beat its natural beauty."