UH law, med schools under costs gun
The University of Hawaii law and medical schools should become self-sufficient or eliminated, two UH faculty committees suggest.They also feel some reorganization would be desirable in the College of Education and the School of Hawaiian, Asian and Pacific Studies, said Ed Laws, oceanography professor. But they don't agree on how to do it, he said.
Laws heads a committee attempting to resolve differences in recommendations by two faculty groups formed to consider academic reorganization because of budgetary restraints.
Ralph Moberly, ocean engineering chairman, heads a research committee, and Roderick Jacobs, chairman of English as a Second Language, heads the academic group.
Dean Smith, senior vice president for research, said he asked both groups to serve as a single committee to reconcile differences in their draft reports.
"I asked them to come together with a single report at least to give me a sense where they agree or disagree."
Smith stressed that any recommendations must be approved by the UH Board of Regents.
"This is one stage of a long process. We are reviewing how we can best serve the university."
Laws said he will meet with the committees at least once more.
"I think we're pretty close ... We're trying to clean out areas of overlap."
Besides making the law and medical schools self-supporting, most likely through tuition increases, the groups are considering the same route for the public health and social work schools. It isn't clear whether that would be feasible, Laws said.
There was no agreement on a single College of Arts and Sciences but the committee agreed some consolidation is needed, Laws said.
For instance, he said it might be conceivable to merge the physics and astronomy departments with the Institute for Astronomy.
He said both committees agreed that students come first, particularly undergraduates, so any changes should be designed to minimize the impact.
Smith also said he's worried about potential and present students. "We're having management by rumors now. It's important that students realize we will protect them. They're top priority. Board policy is that any change in programs must accommodate students currently enrolled."
Laws said the committees listed some programs they felt could be examined for consolidation or elimination.
European studies somehow ended up on that list but there are no plans to phase it out, Laws said.
In fact, he said, the executive summary said it should be one of the strong units in arts and sciences.
Water board says city owes it $11.5 million for
The city owes the Honolulu Board of Water Supply $11.5 million, says Raymond Sato, board manager.That salvo in the battle between the board and Mayor Jeremy Harris was made at a City Council Executive Matters Committee yesterday.
Sato didn't indicate how that debt relates to the city taking over the Board of Water Supply functions.
Harris wants the semiautonomous board to come under his fold as part of a plan to restructure city government to make it more efficient and cost-effective.
Sato, board members and many of the board's 670 employees say politicization and a more costly operation will result from merging the water agency with the Wastewater Services Department and the Solid Waste Division of the Public Works Department under a new Environmental Services Department.
Several dozen employees protested in front of City Hall yesterday.
The city owes the water board roughly $11.5 million in reimbursements for water lines put up for former Mayor Frank Fasi's West Loch and Ewa Villages housing projects, Sato said.
The board typically collects compensation from housing developers and feels the city is no different, he said. "It's money that belongs to the board."
Budget Director Malcolm Tom said the administration agrees compensation is owed but that there is a dispute about the amount.
"It would appear that this was an illegal advancement of money," said Council Budget Chairman John Henry Felix.
Meanwhile, Sato said, the administration has been trying to collect just over $1 million from the board to purchase property near the city's Manana warehouse site that is to be used for a major road.
Sato said his agency, through city Chief Engineer Jonathan Shimada, was asked to to contribute toward the Manana project since it shares facilities there with other city agencies. Shimada asked twice, he said, despite city attorneys' opinions that the water board need not participate.
City Managing Director Bob Fishman said there's nothing wrong with the city asking the water agency for a fair share of costs.
Sato also reiterated that the Harris administration has been seeking to collect 5 percent of its annual gross revenues. Sato said his agency is still studying the plan, which would cost his agency about $4.5 million annually.
Tom said all other agencies contribute to the city's shared overhead and administrative expenses.
Some Council members have countered with a proposal that would join Wastewater Services with the water board and leave the agency semiautonomous.
Maui asks gov to lift controls on three wells
WAILUKU -- Maui water board members today voted to declare an emergency drought Upcountry and called upon Gov. Ben Cayetano to exempt three wells from environmental control so that they can be used temporarily.Two wells at Hamakuapoko and one in Haiku have some chemical contamination, including the fumigant DBCP. The department wants to trade the Hamakuapoko water with agricultural users in exchange for drinking water.
The well at Haiku would be used for drinking purposes, if approved for safety by state agencies, including the state Department of Health.
The water department said the three wells could provide an additional three million gallons of water a day.
Board members also authorized the water department to spend up to $500,000 to develop the system to pump and transport the additional water.
The resolution passed by the board maintains the mandatory 10 percent reduction in water use Upcountry and adds a request that residents reduce their water consumption by 25 percent.
Agricultural users are exempt from the voluntary 25 percent reduction.
The drought appears to be worsening on Maui, with forecasters now saying the only month that will have normal or above normal rain will be July, water officials say.
"It's a very serious situation," said board chairman Dorvin Leis.
Attorney Isaac Hall, representing a coalition that filed lawsuits challenging the use of the three wells, said his group is willing to allow the use of the water on certain conditions.
Hall said the conditions include that the county stop issuing building permits and water permits and halt the installation of water meters immediately in the Upcountry area.
He said his group also wants to make sure the farmers have first priority to the water and that their needs are not sacrificed for residential use.
Hall also indicated his group wanted to make sure the water was safe for drinking purposes.
He said state health officials previously rejected the use of the Haiku well for drinking purposes because of nearby cesspools.
McKinley students win a traffic light
McKinley High School officials and students will get their wish: a traffic light at a crosswalk fronting the school.They have petitioned the city and raised awareness about the dangers of crossing South King Street since two youths were struck by cars in December.
Yesterday, City Transportation Director Cheryl Soon said the new light could be installed in two months or as soon as equipment is available.
The catch is, pedestrians have to prove they can use it responsibly. Safety involves not only having the proper equipment, but using it correctly, she said.
The city will install a camera to monitor use of the light and crosswalk for one year to ensure pedestrians, not just students, are using it properly.
"If they don't, we'll take out the crosswalk and the light permanently," Soon said. "It's up to them."
A camera at the Pensacola intersection has been observing pedestrian activity at that intersection, as well as the crosswalk fronting McKinley High the past two months. Some people have not been waiting for the cross signal or aren't walking within the crosswalk, Soon said.
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Police/Fire
By Star-Bulletin staffWaianae man arrested after hospital threats
Police yesterday arrested and charged a Waianae man for allegedly threatening to kill an employee of St. Francis West Hospital after his mother died in the hospital's care.Bart Mendez, 28, was charged with second-degree terroristic threatening, disorderly conduct and harassment and is being held in lieu of $1,500 bail, police said.
Mendez reportedly threatened a woman hospital staff member at about 3:45 p.m., then started throwing items around in the intensive care unit, police said.
As he left the room, he yelled obscenities at the people present, police said.
Ocean victim was tourist from Maine
The 80-year-old tourist lifeguards pulled from waters off Waikiki Saturday has been identified by the medical examiner's office as Joseph West of Maine.West was found floating and unconscious behind the Hale Koa Hotel at 9 a.m.
He was taken to Queen's Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 11:17 a.m.
Con artist working the bank scam again
A man pretending to be a bank investigator persuaded an elderly woman to withdraw money from her account and hand it over to him last Tuesday, the latest episode of a criminal scam that has been successful here in the past.He was described as 45 to 50 years old, broad shouldered, with a fair complexion and rosy cheeks, 5 feet 9 and 200 pounds.
He called the victim and asked her to assist in a bank investigation of employees suspected of theft.
Police said she withdrew a large amount of money and surrendered it to the man, who identified himself as "Bill," in a meeting at Kahala Mall. He called a second time and she again complied with his request.
Police said he may be the culprit in two similar cases targeting elderly women.
CrimeStoppers will pay a $1,000 cash reward for information that leads to his arrest and conviction.
Calls are confidential and anonymous. Call the hot line, 955-8300, or toll free on a cellular telephone, *CRIME.
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