Elevate Miss Hawaii through online voting

Help Miss Hawaii USA 2012 Brandie Cazimero guarantee a spot in the semifinals of the Miss USA pageant by voting for her in an online poll.

Visit www.missusa.com, and click on the Contestant tab to participate. Voting is available to anyone with a registered email address and ends on June 2 at 6 a.m. One may vote up to 10 times per day, per email address.

Voting is also available via Twitter and Facebook.

The results will be broadcast on NBC during the 2012 Miss USA Pageant at 8 p.m. June 3 and will be posted on www.missusa.com after the show.

Seagull Schools gets nod for food program

Seagull Schools, an early childhood education and preschool program that operates six child care centers on Oahu, has been recognized by first lady Michelle Obama’s "Let’s Move!" child care initiative for its work to promote children’s health.

The school was cited for using creative strategies to prevent childhood obesity efforts, getting children moving and serving healthful meals. It was one of only 20 programs nationwide selected for recognition.

The program serves about 900 children ages 18 months to 5 years with facilities in Honolulu, Kailua, Ewa Beach, Ko Olina and two in Kapolei.

Its food service program prepares about 2,500 meals daily for children and staff that include brown rice, whole-wheat breads, fresh fruits and vegetables. A vegetarian meal is also offered one day a week. No sweets or television are allowed at any campus.

The program was cited at a luncheon on May 9 in Washington, D.C., where Sam Kass, White House assistant chef and senior policy adviser for healthy food initiatives, highlighted Seagull Schools’ efforts.

Physics Nobel winner to give speech at UH

Nobel laureate Brian Schmidt will give a talk at 7:30 p.m. June 7 to kick off the Sheraton Waikiki Explorers of the Universe series. Presented by the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy, Schmidt will speak on "The Accelerating Universe."

Schmidt received the Nobel Prize in physics in 2011, jointly with Adam Reiss and Saul Perlmutter, for the discovery that more than 70 percent of the cosmos is contained in a previously unknown form of mass/energy called "dark energy."

Schmidt is also leading the effort by Australian National University’s Mount Stromlo Observatory to build the SkyMapper telescope, which will provide a comprehensive digital map of the southern sky.

The June 7 talk at UH-Manoa’s Kennedy Theatre is free to the public, but tickets are required. They are available at http://goo.gl/3w4Qk.