Now is the perfect time
to re-examine the way
UH regents are selected

The Dobelle debacle is winding down. Now what?

Hawaii is famous for, and proud of, its laid-back reputation. So when it comes to making changes to our most important structures, we are conservative and slow to act. It often takes a cataclysmic event to bring about progress, and this seems particularly true when it comes to education.

If it weren't for the shenanigans of former Bishop Estate trustee Lokelani Lindsey that caused an upheaval in that organization, we wouldn't have had the badly needed changes to the Board of Trustees that Kamehameha Schools enjoys today.

So, in a strange way, we are grateful to Lindsey for her terrible performance. By the same reasoning, we owe the University of Hawaii Board of Regents our deepest appreciation for firing President Evan Dobelle.

Whether one agrees or disagrees with the sacking of Dobelle, I have yet to find a person, whether Republican or Democrat, who doesn't believe that the board screwed up -- horribly. The behind-closed-doors decision-making; the awkward manner in which he was fired; the "for cause" mystery; the embarrassing nationwide publicity; the costly settlement; and, indeed, the failure to reveal why they decided to get rid Dobelle in the first place (which we still don't know) all add up to such incredible incompetence that there is no question that the members, too, should be replaced.

But be replaced by whom, or what? It is here that the regents have done us a tremendous service by refocusing our attention on the necessity of making profound changes to an institution of critical importance to our state. The UH system, with its 50,000 students and 7,000 employees, is the fifth-largest business in Hawaii, according to Honolulu Business Magazine. There are few here whose lives haven't been touched by, or will be touched by, UH.

But tuition is going up, buildings are falling down. Students are looking for dorm space, and they will soon be looking for careers outside of our low-paying tourism industry. There are plenty of reasons to devote maximum efforts to considering whether a Board of Regents, like we have, or another board, with changes, or no board at all, would serve our citizens best.

Should we, for example, have greater de facto representation by faculty, students and other persons involved in education, rather than the traditional big- business types with ties to the governor that have dominated the board for so many years? What about a representative from the Manoa community? What about a distinguished educator from outside the state?

Above all, what about appointing regents who have experience in running a major university? Now there's a novel idea!

I recommend that the governor and our Legislature give a review of the UH Board of Regents their highest priority. As soon as possible, and most definitely before a new president is hired, a blue-ribbon committee should be appointed to explore changes to the board.

For Gov. Linda Lingle, who so rightly set her sights on fixing another turkey -- the Board of Education -- it would be a chance to rise above politics and make a major contribution to higher education in this state. Dobelle, himself, a soon-to-be researcher at UH, with an impressive background in university administration, could play a key role.

The Board of Regents, like Lokelani Lindsay, has given us a precious opportunity. For the sake of the future of the university and Hawaii's students, it is an opportunity we must not squander.