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The Buzz

BY ERIKA ENGLE

Tuesday, April 10, 2001


Wine class sips
way past strike

UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII Outreach College students in the vintage wine class found their Thursday night session unaffected by the University of Hawaii Professional Assembly strike, which began that morning.

The classroom is in the JMD Educational Center for Wine and Food in Halawa, not on UH campus, and the instructor is a sales manager for JMD Beverages, not a member of the faculty union.

TheBuzz's tipster was wise-crackingly grateful for the non-cancellation as he'd looked forward to delving deeply into the curriculum for the evening -- champagne.

However, the instructor's sensitivity over the strike made him loathe to comment other than to express support for UHPA members. He cautiously referred questions to Pam Fujita Stark, director of the noncredit program.

Stark, however, was unavailable for comment as she was walking the picket line as a member of the union's collective bargaining unit.

Victor Kobayashi, dean of the Outreach College, said instructors who are not members of the bargaining unit are "supposed to show up for work, just like secretaries."

Kobayashi said the expectation is that members of the union will be on strike, but if they do sign in for work, which they have a right to do, "It's an ethical issue. We have to be neutral about it, and respect their right to show up for work."

Generally, he said, classes are scheduled, and "if a student shows up and there's no class they're entitled to be excused."

"If the class has to be canceled because of not enough class meetings, we would have to give a refund. Since the professor is being paid by the credit hour, the question is raised, do we get a refund from the professor too?"

Kobayashi said he and the other deans can't take sides.

"I hope that the strike ends for the mutual benefit of everyone," he said.

He added, "It may be that we deans have more than one side of our mouths to speak out of," introducing a bit of levity to a topic in which opportunities for humor appear to be in the eye of the beholder.





Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Bulletin.
Call 529-4757, fax 529-4750 or write to Erika Engle,
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210,
Honolulu, HI 96813. She can also be reached
at: eengle@starbulletin.com




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