UH presidents’ residence used for meetings, events

Question: How is the University of Hawaii Manoa’s College Hill, the large house near the Manoa campus that was previously used as the UH president’s residence, used now? I don’t think it’s been used as the president’s residence since 2009.

Answer: College Hill continues to be used for meetings and events, a practice that began in 2010, said UHspokeswoman Jodi Leong.

Whether the home will ever be used to house the UH president again is still uncertain. No decision has been made, Leong said.

The last president to live in the Manoa home was David McClain.

When M.R.C. Greenwood succeeded him in 2010, she opted to live in a Waikiki condominium.

Part of the reason was because the 112-year-old, two-story home was not accessible to people with disabilities. Greenwood’s partner was described at the time by a university spokeswoman as a "senior disabled person with attendant special needs."

UH agreed to pay Greenwood a monthly housing allowance of $5,000. Although the arrangement was supposed to be temporary, Greenwood never moved into College Hill.

The current president, David Lassner, also does not live at College Hill, but does not receive a housing allowance.

He resides in Palolo Valley, where he has lived for more than 20 years, Leong said.

The current plan is to use College Hill for university-related events that serve the university and UH community, she said.

Since 2010, UH has spent just under $961,000 updating College Hill, focusing "on ensuring long-term safety, compliance, sustainability and usability of the facility for meetings and events," she said.

The general exterior repair work included roof/shingle waterproofing; replacement of roofing materials that prevent water leakage; replacement of gutters, downspouts and devices used to capture runoff; installation of missing roof ornaments; replacement of damaged exterior siding, wood windows, window screens and vents; installation of an accessible wheelchair lift; and installation of solar panels and solar hot water heaters at the main house and cottage.

Other work involved demolition; asbestos abatement and removal of lead-containing paint; historic restoration procedures; wood treatment and restoration; carpentry; thermal and moisture protection; window restoration; painting; and mechanical, plumbing, electrical and related work.

Question: Can you reprint the name and address of the lady who accepts used Christmas cards and reworks them into booklets to give to hospitals?

Answer: Unfortunately, Waipahu Intermediate School teacher Merlinda Oania says she no longer is soliciting greeting cards to be used by her English as a second language students to turn into alphabet and poetry books distributed to hospitalized children.

That’s because she plans to retire from teaching after the current school year.

Oania says cards already donated will be used to create books for distribution in June.

As she nears retirement, Oania is hoping someone else will step up, just as she did more than 12 years ago, to take over a tradition started by late Kailua resident Helen Daniels.

Daniels, who was known as "the Christmas Card Lady," made hundreds of books using Christmas cards she received from around the world and distributed them every Christmas, for a dozen years, to hospitalized children. She died in 2000 at age 82.

Honolulu resident Cindy Delgado took up the challenge for a couple of years, then Oania took over in 2002, seeing an opportunity to teach her students through a worthy community project.

Mahalo

To a kind lady. I was in a cashier’s line in December, and she had just a couple of items, so I let her go ahead of me. Behold, she gave me a can of butter Danish cookies. I called her back but she just waved and left. I’m so thankful for her generous nature. — Blessed

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