UH proving to have range in finding ways to blunder

Dignitaries will gather and Gov. Neil Abercrombie is scheduled to speak this morning at the groundbreaking of the long-awaited Clarence T. C. Ching Athletic Complex at the University of Hawaii.

The project, which was fueled by a $5 million donation from the Ching Foundation, represents the largest gift in the history of the school’s athletic department.

As it rises on the former Cooke Field, the Ching complex will also represent the good that can come from UH reaching out in partnership with community and private entities.

But as we relish what the Ching complex will mean to UH’s many programs (track, volleyball, soccer, football, intramurals, band, ROTC, etc.) and community upon completion, you also have to ponder what the fallout from the Stevie Wonder controversy might mean for future partnerships and entrepreneurial zeal.

Hopefully the promised investigation and changes it needs to bring will prompt more thorough due diligence. It should inspire keener oversight and better checks and balances, of course.

But what many wonder is whether UH will leap so far from the lax oversight that apparently helped made the Wonder blunder possible to the kind of regulation that will constrict and suffocate future endeavors with red tape?

Too many times in too many areas, UH seems to have difficulty finding a middle ground. The kind that sees UH leap from one extreme to another and, as a result, operate at a snail’s pace.

Consider, for example, that almost as remarkable as the Ching family and foundation’s generosity that makes this complex possible is their remarkable patience. The agreement to build the Ching complex was approved by the UH Board of Regents in May 2008 and was supposed to have been completed in 2011 for $9.7 million, with UH and the state matching the donation.

Now, the forecast is for completion by the end of 2014 with a $13.5 million price tag that forces the state and UH to cough up an extra $3.8 million.

And, the groundbreaking might have been delayed further and cost who knows how much more if athletic department pleas hadn’t been heeded, NCAA warnings hadn’t been heard and if Vassilis Syrmos, an associate vice chancellor, hadn’t been brought on to help shepherd the project. A less committed donor might have walked away in frustration. And this was a deal brokered by then-UH President David McClain.

Given the molasses pace at which things can move at UH and the obstacles to out-of-the-box solutions that often exist, you have to wonder if the so-called Wonder blunder was rooted in haste for a financial Hail Mary in the funds-strapped athletic department?

Make no mistake about it: That should not be an excuse for what could end up being the loss of $200,000 from already-limited school funds.

But it is something to consider as we wait for the investigation to bring some much-needed answers. The kind that will, hopefully, serve to make UH’s operations more secure and efficient. Not ones that will stifle creativity in the process.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.