Almost as bad as sausage-making

Well, there it went — any hope that the chapter involving Gib Arnold, the fired University of Hawaii basketball coach, would be quietly closed.

What initially sounded like a $346,000 payout by UH for his release has now turned into a contract dispute, with Arnold claiming $1.4 million.

Further, the ex-coach says he’ll fight the NCAA charges of violation against him, even as UH seemed to signal eagerness to move on.

So here we go, again. UH remains mired in yet another high-paid administrative tangle, and there goes another "up to $100,000" for outside legal counsel.

UH students, look away.

Immerse students in relevant tests

It will be a crucial accomplishment for the Hawaiian immersion program to get the federal waiver needed so that standardized testing in Grades 3 and 4 can be given only in Hawaiian.

The reason: Immersion language works best when it’s conducted entirely in the target language during the early elementary years. So testing in Hawaiian for these kids will be a fairer and more accurate reflection of the material the kids actually learned. And immersion education has a solid record of overall academic achievement.

Let’s hope the approval goes through so that the state Department of Education can try out the new Hawaiian-language tests it has developed.

It would reinforce the commitment to revitalizing the indigenous language. Hawaiian is one of two official languages of Hawaii, after all.