Clicking rather than flipping through the pages of a media guide appears to be the new trend when searching for information on college sports teams.

Printed publications produced by university athletic departments providing player bios, records and various facts and figures are being phased out by an increasing number of schools across the country which are instead posting the publications online.

Hawaii is following that movement by opting not to print media guides for most of its sports this year.

The school will print its normal run for football and women's volleyball. The UH sports media relations department will continue to produce media guide content for 17 other sports as well, but those will be available on the UH athletic department Web site only.

UH posted all of its media guides online last year along with producing printed versions. By not printing the guides, the department is expected to save about $50,000 this year.

Along with being tools for the media covering the teams and collector's items for some fans, media guides have become part of the recruiting process, providing prospects a glimpse of the program.

“;In football we bring in a large number of recruits and with our location in the middle of the Pacific, we felt producing the printed guide was important for football,”; UH athletic director Jim Donovan said.

With volleyball firmly entrenched as the school's top-drawing women's sport, Donovan said it was decided to publish guides for the Rainbow Wahine as well.

The availability of information online also factored into the decision to stop printing schedule posters—which will also save close to $30,000—as part of the department's “;going green”; effort. The media relations department instead designed computer wallpapers which are available online.

Among Western Athletic Conference schools, Boise State, Fresno State and Nevada will not have printed guides this year. The WAC office will also move some of its publications online as part of its cost containment plan.

Michigan and Ohio State jointly announced in May that both schools would do away with printed media guides. Wisconsin, a UH football opponent this season, will also stop printing guides. In the Pac-10, only Arizona, USC and UCLA plan to publish media guides for all of their sports. California and Oregon will not print any.

Donovan noted there is a proposal going before the NCAA that would eliminate printed media guides. If the legislation passes, this year's football guide—commemorating the program's 100th anniversary—could become a collectible in more ways than one.

On the job training

Summer internships aren't just for college students. UH defensive line coach Dave Aranda began a week-long internship with the Denver Broncos yesterday and associate coach Rich Miano leaves tomorrow for his stint with the Cincinnati Bengals.

Aranda said he was invited “;out of the blue”; by Broncos defensive coordinator Mike Nolan to work with the staff during the first week of training camp. He arrived in Denver yesterday and his week will include on-field coaching as well as sitting in on staff meetings.

Miano is looking forward to a similar experience when the Bengals open camp on Thursday. His first NFL internship was arranged by Dr. Edison Miyawaki, a part-owner with the Bengals.

Both coaches will return in time for the start of fall camp on Aug. 6.

WAC preview opens

The WAC Football Preview begins tomorrow in Salt Lake City. The preseason polls and All-WAC teams will be announced prior to the start of the media sessions for players and coaches. UH's session is scheduled for Thursday. The Warriors will be represented by head coach Greg McMackin and seniors John Estes and Brashton Satele.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.