Unless you’re working for Google or something, if you’re in your twenties, you’re bound to run into this basic question of etiquette during your first years in the workplace:

When is it OK to call someone older than you by his or her first name?

I ponder this question regularly at my job. I’m calling and emailing numerous people every day, the majority of whom are at least 10 years older than I am, and some of whom hold are recognized leaders in the community. The last thing I want to do is offend someone I need to get on the phone, so I usually err on the side of being too polite. That doesn’t stop me from worrying about coming off as too formal and weird, though.

As is probably evident to anyone who reads this blog, the idea that I am an adult (not a young’un or student), or may quickly be reaching that point, is simultaneously amusing and dismaying to me. So, the idea of meeting anyone significantly older and better established than I am and calling that person by his or her first name has taken some getting used to.

Growing up, I was always taught “Mr.” and “Mrs.” None of this new-age calling-parents-by-their-first-names stuff. In high school, it was inexcusable to call a teacher anything less than “Mr.”, “Mrs.” and “Ms.” and you were supposed to stand up, even in the middle of class, whenever any adult entered the room. (Incidentally, a class of students at my high school did this recently for me when I entered their classroom and it seriously freaked me out.)

In college, titles were always “Prof.” or “Professor” — I never had an instructor who encouraged anything more casual. Even though I consider many college professors friends in addition to teachers and mentors, I still address them as “Prof.” in emails.

Flash forward several years. “Classmates” have been replaced by “colleagues,” college socials with upscale social functions, and networking. Help! Where’s my rule book?

There are some basics, I guess. People in certain positions of power, regardless of how well you know them, are always “Director,” “Judge,” “Senator,” “Representative,” etc. I’m sure neither of our U.S. Senators would appreciate it if a 24-year-old reporter walked up to either of them, stuck out her hand and said “Howzit Dan?”

I’m wondering what other guidelines you think young professionals should follow in addressing older colleagues in the workplace. Is there a rule book somewhere I can borrow?

On Monday, I read this article in the NYT about a “sustainability house” at Oberlin College with interest.

The house, called SEED (Student Experiment in Ecological Design) represents a growing effort on college campuses — including the University of Hawaii — to consume less energy, reduce carbon emissions and recycle.

Although it seems they’re still trying to nail down exactly what it means to have a “sustainable house,” the eight housemates in the Oberlin house mastered such skills as worm composting, staying warm with the thermostat set at 60 degrees (a feat — Ohio winters can be COLD), living without TV, and taking shorter showers by sticking a photo of Sen. John Edwards on the ceiling above the showerhead.

They even consolidated all their food into one fridge (there are two kitchens) and unplugged all the appliances in one kitchen.

My college held a contest with similar goals. The different houses competed to see who could lower their electricity bill the most from the previous year’s. The month-long competition was called “Do It In The Dark.”

Some students went to great lengths to compete, pushing each other to turn off lights whenever they left a room, unplug lap tops and take quick showers. Unfortunately, our house, which had eight girls, did not win the contest. But the campus did save $10,000 in electricity bills during spring 2006, my senior year.

(AND we earned a nod from Thomas Friedman.)

The University of Hawaii at Manoa is working on its own sustainable building project, Sustainable Saunders, a student and faculty-led effort to make 7-story Saunders Hall a model for sustainability on the UH campus (see photo). UH is the second-largest consumer of electricity on Oahu, after military services, and according to the Sustainable Saunders web site, about $1.5 million in student tuition goes to pay the university’s electricity bill each month.

“Sustainability” has become a buzz-word that’s often easy to brush off as a vague and unreachable idea. But it has to be a very real idea in Hawai‘i, which remains the most oil-dependent state in the nation. And for young people, who may see many of the natural resources we now take for granted disappear within our lifetimes, caring about sustainability is more than just a trend — it’s caring about the quality of our lives, our future.

So go ahead, no shame: Tell your friends to do it in the dark.

Photo: Sustainable Saunders Earth Day 2008 on Flickr.

Sharon Stone’s films are being been banned in China, following remarks the American actress made at the Cannes film festival last week suggesting the Chinese earthquake was “karma” for what happened in Tibet earlier this year. Hong Kong’s Cable Entertainment News interviewed the actress on the red carpet, and got a mouthful from Stone:

First, I’m not happy with the way the Chinese are treating the Tibetans, because I don’t think anyone should be unkind to anyone else, and so I have been very, concerned, about how to think about what to do about that, because I don’t, like, that. And then I’ve been, just, concerned, oh, how should we deal with the Olympics, because they’re not being nice to the Dalai Lama, who’s a good friend of mine. And then all this earthquake and all this stuff happened, and I thought, ‘Is that karma?’, when you’re not nice the bad things happen to you?

Stone’s comments are all over the internet. According to the Chinese media-watching site Danwei, the Chinese Information Times printed a full-page special on her comments under the headlines “Sharon Stone is an enemy of the whole nation” and “The Chinese people spontaneously start an anti-Sharon movement.” As most Chinese media are still focusing on the 68,000 people killed in the earthquake, the Stone story received more moderate coverage in other papers, Danwei said.

Watch the video of the interview here:

She is not the first person, however, to link the May 12 earthquake to theories about the supernatural and the much-referenced Mandate of Heaven. As mentioned before in this blog, natural disasters have an eerie way of coinciding with major political events in China. Except, others who mention the Mandate of Heaven aren’t necessarily referencing the Chinese government’s policies towards Tibet, but rather how the Communist Party will answer questions about shoddily constructed public structures — like schools that collapsed on young children.

Being college-educated, and from her involvement with the Free Tibet movement — and being an American living under the current political conditions in this country — Stone should be able to separate the actions of a government from the wills and actions of its people. It was an ugly remark and she should have known better.

Two friends and I decided to do a hike to Likeke Falls yesterday morning, starting from the Pali Lookout.

We started off following the old Pali road which winds off to the right of the lookout. The path is pretty overgrown in some places, and at one point covered with huge boulders. We weren’t quite sure what to do when it led us right down to the current Pali Highway.

Our directions said to climb down underneath the highway, and walk under the two huge overpasses with cars racing by at high speeds just a few feet overhead. So, to get under the highway, we descended a metal ladder that someone had kindly set up as an alternative to a set of makeshift wooden stairs. That was one of the more exciting parts of the hike!

We emerged on the Old Pali Highway and followed the route as it led down to a “Y” in the road with a small bridge to the left. The switchback trail leading into the forest starts right next to the bridge.

From there, it was about a 15 or 20-minute hike before the sound of rushing water reached our ears and we came upon Likeke Falls, a beautiful 30-foot waterfall with a shallow swimming area.

Because the hike is not as well-known as some other hikes on the island, like Manoa Falls, your hiking group has a good chance of being alone with this awesome waterfall — even on a Saturday afternoon on Memorial Day Weekend.

Growing up in Manoa, I have a special place in my heart for Manoa Falls. Unfortunately, some trails like Manoa Falls have become busier and busier since they began to appear in more hiking guide books. Now, you’re never alone when you hike Manoa Falls.

The Likeke Trail continues for several miles past the Falls, but we stopped there to cool our feet and eat some oranges before heading back up to the Pali Lookout — and to Kaka’ako Kitchen for a well-deserved lunch.

Hope everyone’s getting out of the house and enjoying the long weekend and the nice weather!

Click here for more info about the Likeke Trail.

Think back to when you got your first paycheck. Maybe you framed it. Maybe you cashed it and put a down payment on a new car.

Bet you didn’t think: “Wow! What a great chance to start saving for retirement!”

I’d venture to say that hardly any of my friends are thinking about saving and investing for when they reach old age. For Gen Y-ers, who tend to switch jobs every two years, even the thought of settling down in a permanent career seems light years away. So much for job security. So much for pensions.

I think most of us are conscious of the fact that we won’t have the same safety net to fall back on as our parents will when they retire. It’s a scary idea, but one that often gets pushed to the backs of our minds in the face of other matters.

Case in point: I talked to a friend yesterday who works two jobs. He bemoaned the fact that after plunking down money for various bills, tuition and car payments, he is basically living paycheck-to-paycheck. So, you can’t blame him if at the end of the month, putting an extra $100 into an IRA or a 401(k) isn’t foremost on his mind — IF there is even money left over.

“I try to, but then I realize I have no money,” he said. “It’s all gone.”

So, how do you convince a quarterlifer with a modest income to look 40 years down the road? I’m not sure. Perhaps it’s about setting long-term goals, like owning a house in Hawaii, and then realizing that there is no way you’ll achieve that goal unless you start doing something about it right now.

Here are some starting suggestions the experts have for saving:

1) Avoid running up high credit card bills, and pay off credit card debt. Consolidate student loans.

2) Open a high-interest savings account, and have a set amount automatically deducted from your paycheck and directed to it each month. Realize that time is on your side if you start saving early. Find a new appreciation for compound interest.

3) Open a Roth IRA and contribute to your 401(k).

4) Live with roommates to save on rent, or, if you are OK with it — live at home with parents.

5) Keep an emergency cash reserve that can go to pay for 3 to 6 months of expenses.

6) Check out this article from the Washington Post, which profiles three 20-somethings who are saving for retirement.

And if that doesn’t encourage you to start saving now, well, maybe this will.