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Keeping lid on tuition increases a wise move
Kudos to the University of Hawaii Board of Regents for taking a measured approach to tuition policy. Tuition is being raised, but by 5 percent, rather than the 7 percent that it had previously approved in a multi-year schedule.
UH, like many public universities across the country, has had its allotment of tax funds slashed in recent years, a trend that has forced many state-funded systems to lean more heavily on students to shell out more for their education. But while some regents call for greater efficiency use of funds, there’s a minority view that must he heard, too. The concern is that reduced revenues will end up decimating programs these students need for their degrees. That can’t be allowed to happen, either.
The search for an acceptable middle ground begins here.
Protect our ocean: Check those pipes for leaks
The distressing news last week of the oil spill off Santa Barbara should be a wakeup call for this state, as well as any other that’s as reliant on its coastal resources.
The crude flowed from an underground pipe that ruptured well below its operating capacity, officials said, leaking more than 100,000 gallons on shoreline lands and into the ocean. It’s ironic that also last week, 25 miles to the south of the Santa Barbara spill, East Beach made the Top 10 list of best beaches issued annually by Stephen "Dr. Beach" Leatherman.
We must not forget that Hawaii had its own unusual spill — molasses in the harbor, remember? So we’re not immune. Let’s hope someone’s checking our oil pipelines, too.