Editor’s Scratchpad

Tuesday, May 1, 2001

Attendance
wasn’t mandatory

That only 50.4 percent of the eligible members of the University of Hawaii Professional Assembly voted to ratify their new contract stands in a sharp contrast to the 80 percent that voted to go on strike earlier this month. With 86 percent of those voting saying "aye," only 43 percent of the faculty approved the new pact.

J.N. Musto, UHPA's chief negotiator, says the ratification percentage holds no significance, that the turnout was "typical in what we usually get in these votes."

The low turnout could be attributed to a lack on enthusiasm about the contract or an assumption that it would be approved anyway. Whatever the case, it is unfortunate that UHPA members could not rev up as much zeal for the vote as the did for the picket line and the strike that disrupted classes for two weeks.

Maybe the reason faculty members did not show up was that they were in the classrooms teaching. Did anyone take attendance?

--Cynthia Oi

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