The primary job of a Web editor is to update the web pages of an online site after new information is released. The Web genius for Kalamalama is Web editor Mark Smith.

Smith’s work begins when everyone else is finished with the paper. After a new issue of Kalamalama is printed and distributed, Smith reformats the stories and photographs to produce the informative web news and events page found under the Kalamalama link on HPU’s Web site.

His early Web works were difficult because software had to be upgraded. Smith, who had learned Dreamweaver 3, had to learn Dreamweaver MX (DWMX). The upgrade is the current version used by many newspaper agencies around the nation. Smith worked through the entire summer of 2003 evaluating and mastering the upgraded software. “I read the hands-on guide for the Dreamweaver MX and basically learned everything necessary on my own,” he said. The learning experiences have proven valuable both in knowledge and skill, and it secured him a scholarship that pays half of his tuition.

Smith was born and raised in Michigan and came to Hawai‘i after completing a four-year term in the Army in 1999. His friends convinced him to stay and after 2 years of odd jobs he returned to school. Smith enjoys Hawai‘i and its beautiful weather so much that he recently purchased a home in Kane‘ohe with a friend. He plans to remain in Hawai‘i until his dream job of becoming a script writer for an Entertainment business sweeps him away to the “big time.” Smith enjoys being the Web master for Kalamalama and he is considering applying for the Web master position again next year.