The high cost of crossing the Pacific Ocean became an excuse to charge a membership fee for the University of Hawaii to be in the Mountain West and Big West conferences.

They have Hawaii over an oil barrel because they can. They knew UH was desperate enough to get out of the Western Athletic Conference to pay a premium for landing spots. So, here it is, in the form of travel subsidies.

Let’s face it. Hawaii needs them more than they need Hawaii.

Geography is part of what makes Hawaii a great place. And this is another example of that same isolation making things more expensive.

Travel cost sharing has never been a two-way street. The Hawaii exemption is supposed to address the additional expenses of traveling to — and from — the islands for games, allowing another game above the NCAA maximum to schools with football and basketball teams that play in Hawaii.

But that additional football game is hard to squeeze into schedules, and profits made off one more basketball game won’t cover everything for nonrevenue teams.

As Ferd Lewis reports today, at least Hawaii has some of its own cost destiny in its own hands. Most of the teams in the Big West conference have elected to let UH do the travel booking for them. But if expenses spiral up, UH could lose even more money on the deal.

So it’s time for some creative thinking to alleviate as much of the budget pain of travel cost sharing as possible.

My first idea stems from this being tax season.

On your 1040, Uncle Sam asks: "Do you want $3 of your federal tax to go to the Presidential Election Campaign Fund?"

Maybe the state tax form can have this on it: "Do you want $3 of your state tax to go to the Fly The Rainbows/Warriors/Wahine Opponents to Hawaii Fund?"

Yes, I know. The state has more important things to do with the money it gets from its citizens.

So, instead, let’s employ the same logic applied to the Pro Bowl and use some of the tourism-generated taxes to defray the expenses of UH’s new frenemies — especially if the Pro Bowl is moved and that $4 million given to the NFL each year is just going to be sitting around doing nothing.

That makes sense, but would require legislation. And who knows how long that might take?

Maybe there’s something fans who want to help can do that’s easy and relatively painless; whether you’re a booster or someone who goes to one or two games a year, or even just watches on TV. It wouldn’t even involve money. It looks like it’s OK to donate award miles.

UH and its corporate partner Hawaiian Airlines recently adjusted their arrangement so that instead of a set number of flights, the airline provides the athletic department with a mileage account.

Associate athletic director Carl Clapp checked the NCAA rules.

"(Fans) can’t give it directly to the student-athletes, but the initial indication is that there’s no rule against donating miles to the university athletic department," said Clapp, who is following up with Hawaiian Airlines on feasibility. "It’s a logical idea."

Just put it in your mind that you’re helping a UH athlete get to a road game in California, not a UH opponent get here.

Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783.