Editorials
Tuesday, March 20, 2001On my first day in Hawaii, interviewing for a job at the Star-Bulletin, they took me to meet Bud Smyser, contributing editor. Although Bud had officially retired a few years before, a stop at his desk was a must for an incoming editor. Never say ‘30’ for Bud
or the Star-BulletinStar-Bulletin editor John
Flanagan remembers his colleague
and friend, longtime editor and
columnist A.A. "Bud" Smyser.Coming from the high-pressure world of mainland newspapering, I expected a briefing on the nuts and bolts: deadlines, systems, key personnel and critical issues.
Instead, Smyser sat me down and talked to me about the aloha spirit. We chatted about former editor Riley Allen, who banned a three-letter pejorative reference to the Japanese from the pages of the Star-Bulletin, even in the darkest days of World War II.
He described efforts to keep the paper publishing during a strike -- they were successful, if not pretty. He'd framed an ink-smeared clipping from the strike paper, proud that the paper had never missed a day of publication on his watch.
Little did we know in 1987 the heroic efforts that would be needed to keep that unbroken streak alive to this day.
Bud saw the Star-Bulletin through five changes of ownership -- from the Atherton and Farrington families to Chinn Ho, Gannett, Liberty Newspapers and now David Black.
He was excited about being part of the new Star-Bulletin, coming to the new offices for computer training and writing a column about the newspaper's history for last Thursday's premiere edition.
Smyser was a crusader. His biggest campaign ended successfully on March 12, 1959, the day the front page showed a huge U.S. flag with a 50th star and the headline "STATEHOOD!"
"He loved Hawaii more than anyone I know," Catherine Shen, former Star-Bulletin publisher, wrote to me yesterday after learning of Bud's death.
His last crusade, ironically, was for death with dignity. He was a strong supporter of the hospice movement and doctor-assisted death. It was with profound irony, but with a consummate newsman's sense of timing that Bud Smyser's column entitled "A better way to die" appeared in yesterday afternoon's edition, along with his obituary.
Regrettably, Bud's last job is undone. He planned a project he called "30 at 30," an ambitious series of 30 columns recapping the 30 most important issues during his career in Hawaii. It was to be his swan song, "30" being the newspaper code for "end of story" in the days of hot-metal typography.
Always fighting for Hawaii, Bud Smyser's spirit lives on at the Star-Bulletin. May there never be a 30.
This modest tuition increase seems justified, given the financial pressures on the university and the state government, and the scholarships and jobs available to students. Community college students will not see tuition increases for two years. UH tuition increase
seems modest, justifiedThe UH Board of Regents has
announced that tuition will rise
3.3 percent over five years. Some
students have protested.In a statement on the increase, the Board of Regents said, "The university must increase revenues from all sources," and was seeking more money from state appropriations, federal grants, private donations and entrepreneurial programs. The board also said that "no one who qualifies should be denied the opportunity to enroll in the University of Hawaii because of financial need."
Even with the increase, the university will be in the middle range in cost when compared with others schools that students from Hawaii might attend. According to the annual survey by the magazine U.S. News and World Report, the University of Washington, University of Oregon, the University of California at Berkeley, and the University of California at Irvine are more expensive. Colorado State and Montana State are about the same. Less expensive schools include California State at Fresno, the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, the University of Idaho, and Arizona State.
A handful of vociferous students protested the increases even as a student representative on the board voted for it. At the same time, many students have turned out to support a pay raise for the faculty. Therein lies a contradiction. Economics 101 would suggest that either faculty salaries stay at present levels and tuition not go up or that faculty salaries go up and tuition go up alongside them to help pay for the raises. Otherwise, it doesn't compute.
As a state university, UH exists for at least two reasons. First, it benefits society in that educated people are the backbone of Hawaii's political, economic and social order. Therefore the taxpayers ought to bear a good portion of the burden, whether their children are in the university or not.
Second, UH benefits those who attend and graduate in opening doors to a better life. Therefore, the individual should bear some share of the cost. The university claims that student payments to UH finances, as a proportion of overall cost, are one-third less than the national average, which ranks Hawaii as 46th out of 51 jurisdictions.
That's a reasonably good bargain by any measure.
Published by Oahu Publications Inc., a subsidiary of Black Press.Don Kendall, President
John Flanagan, publisher and editor in chief 529-4748; jflanagan@starbulletin.com
Frank Bridgewater, managing editor 529-4747; fbridgewater@starbulletin.com
Michael Rovner, assistant managing editor 529-4751; mrovner@starbulletin.com
Lucy Young-Oda, assistant managing editor 529-4751; lyoungoda@starbulletin.com
Richard Halloran, editorial director 529-4790; rhalloran@starbulletin.com
Ed Lynch, city editor 529-4758; elynch@starbulletin.com
Nadine Kam, features editor 529-4759; nkam@starbulletin.com
Stephanie Kendrick, business editor 529-4757; skendrick@starbulletin.com
Cindy Luis, sports editor 529-4782; cluis@starbulletin.com
Dean Sensui, photo editor 529-4791; dsensui@starbulletin.com
Blaine Fergerstrom, webmaster 529-4840; bfergerstrom@starbulletin.com The Honolulu Star-Bulletin (USPS 249460) is published daily by
Oahu Publications at 605 Kapiolani Blvd., P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu, Hawaii, 96802.
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