Growing train wreck at UH is impossible to ignore

We try to move on from the train wreck at the University of Hawaii, but the cars keep piling up as we plant tongue in cheek and "flASHback" on the week’s news that amused and confused:

» UH-Manoa Chancellor Tom Apple got skepticism and derision from state senators looking into the Stevie Wonder concert fiasco. He must have made quite an impression; it was rare for legislators to give a witness the respect he deserved.

» Apple claimed former athletic director Jim Donovan’s hastily conceived $211,000-a-year marketing job actually saved UH money because the salary is lower than what peer institutions would pay. Only in academia do they have an official salary scale for make-work jobs.

» UH regent James Lee said the university never reported the $200,000 in missing concert money to Honolulu police because regents "didn’t think the police department would be able to handle all of that." They should never assume everybody is as inept as they are.

» Sen. Donna Mercado Kim said the Board of Regents’ failure to demand accountability for the botched concert and its aftermath left her speechless. For Kim, speechless is when her moving lips can’t keep up with her furrowing brow.

» The regents are starting UH President M.R.C. Greenwood’s annual job evaluation, a process that usually occurs behind closed doors without comments from the public, faculty, staff or students. They should at least get Stevie Wonder’s input.

» City officials said they rushed to start building the $5.26 billion Oahu rail system on land the city doesn’t yet own to keep the project "on time and on budget." How’s that working out for them?

» A Safer Roads initiative by Honolulu police resulted in 112 citations, mostly for using mobile devices while driving. When will Oahu drivers learn that you can’t safely avert our potholes while talking on the phone?

» The Hawaii State Teachers Association dropped out of federal mediation with the state on long-stalled contract talks and asked the Hawaii Supreme Court to force the state labor board to rule on its complaint. Teachers are pioneering a new bargaining strategy called Whack-A-Mole.

» Oahu Democrats rejected a move to censure state Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz for sponsoring a pro-development bill. Party leaders didn’t want to act as thought police; that would be stepping on Dan Inouye’s toes.

» A new study found that the Hawaii government has run up the nation’s third-highest state debt, at $29,062 per person. Don’t our wonderful roads, modern schools and clean parks make it all worthwhile?

And the quote of the week … from Gov. Neil Abercrombie on the breakdown in contract talks with teachers: "It is impossible to negotiate with people who refuse to talk." True, but it’s also impossible to negotiate with people who talk too much.

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Reach David Shapiro at volcanicash@gmail.com or blog.volcanicash.net.