Tuesday, April 3, 2001

If UH professors
strike, teams will
keep playing

Athletes would also still be
required to attend study hall

By Kalani Simpson
Star-Bulletin

Despite the looming threat of a professor strike, the University of Hawaii athletic department is planning "business as usual," athletics director Hugh Yoshida said last night.

School will still be open, strike or no strike, and UH's teams and student athletes will proceed accordingly, Yoshida said.

Hawaii will still compete in previously scheduled games and contests. Students will be expected to report to classes as normal, which then could be dismissed after 10 minutes or so.

Athletes will keep up their current schedules for team academic sessions.

"They will be required to attend study hall like they had been doing any other week to catch up with work prior to a strike and during future classes," Yoshida said.

In the event of a strike, UH has found out from the NCAA that the university can apply for an emergency eligibility waiver. If awarded, this would allow athletes to remain on campus, receiving meal money and academic support, should the strike wipe out one or more academic semesters. A waiver could also help protect eligibility for athletes who otherwise might not accumulate the required number of credits due to a strike.

"There was a prior precedent with at least one other school," associate athletics director Jim Donovan said. "They had an answer for us pretty quickly."

Meanwhile, the athletics department is hoping that this situation gets settled, and that it doesn't have to move beyond "business as usual."

"We certainly hope that the strike will not happen," Yoshida said. "It's a lose-lose for everyone."

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University of Hawaii

UH Professional Assembly