So the University of Hawaii athletic department no longer owes $13 million to upper campus. Balanced budget, the easy way.

Some look at it as a family member forgiving a loan. Some look at it as a charge-off of a bad debt. Some look at it as $13 million of public money being taken from UH’s academic mission and being handed to athletics.

Whatever the case, athletic director Ben Jay is appreciative that Manoa chancellor Tom Apple and the Board of Regents are letting him start with a clean slate.

This is fair, since Jay — who has been on the job less than five months — didn’t create this mess, or at least what has been made to look like one.

In some ways it is just an imaginary deficit because athletics hasn’t been credited for all the revenue it generates. But the red ink has been out there long enough to paint a picture of a department in severe financial distress. And that includes the harsh realities of facility degradation, staff attrition and various triage corner-cutting.

This zeroing out should at least help morale in the quarry.

"Psychologically it’s a huge burden off our shoulders. It allows us to look forward," Jay said. "We can’t continue to make mistakes and we have to figure out ways to grow our resources. It’s a good start but now the real work begins."

The most obvious way to "grow resources" is to start winning more football games and generate some ticket sales and excitement. Barring a major surprise from the Rainbow Warriors this fall, that’s at least another year away.

The raw deal with Aloha Stadium is far from a quick fix, too. Gov. Neil Abercrombie has promised to help UH sports: Halawa might be a good place to start.

UH athletics is getting next to nothing for merchandising. Jay is in discussions for his department to take over Rainbowtique from auxiliary services … but not quite yet, because the way it’s set up now it is just another monetary sinkhole.

"Probably at the earliest next year," he said. "They’re locked into some bad leases and there are issues with inventory and staffing to be worked out."

One problem with Rainbowtique is that it’s been run like, well, a boutique. Jay knows he needs to get out from under the brick and mortar.

"We’ll keep the store at the Stan Sheriff Center, but otherwise we’ll be more flexible," he said. "That will include better use of mobile stores and a strong online distribution component."

Parking is another potential profit center, but the lower campus structure isn’t used only for sports. Athletics should get at least some of the revenue it generates on game nights, though.

One of the immediate remedies approved Thursday doesn’t sit well with some on upper campus because on the surface it smells of special treatment for athletes. Charging the lower in-state tuition rate for out-of-state scholarship athletes takes resources from the general population of students. But this discount will also be made available to other students who bring specialized talent to UH.

"It’s important that this be crafted for talented, smart kids and not just athletes," Jay said. "Maybe someone who will be a great researcher for us in the future."

UH has an athletic director intent on fixing what’s broken on his side of Dole Street, and it’s a lot. But he’s also not blind to the big picture. He certainly shouldn’t be, especially after this $13 million break.

Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783 or on Twitter as @dave_reardon.