Letter: Kim’s proposal could weaken UH research

Are you on the University of Hawaii job termination list?

I’m not sure if I am.

The chairwoman of the state Senate Higher Education committee, Sen. Donna Mercado Kim, has a list attached to House Bill 2, Senate Draft 1, to permanently terminate 121 research and teaching positions, mostly at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

The list is secret though. She attached her amendment after 800 pages into another budget bill.

Word is that if you’re a researcher at UH and haven’t earned your own grant this year, and aren’t teaching this year, then your job will be eliminated by June.

I’m pretty sure her approach to creating a better university will not play well with any future researcher or teacher we want for our home institution. My kids are grown, but yours may have no choice but to travel to the mainland for the chance to create knowledge and build a more enlightened society.

Jeff Kuhn

Kula, Maui

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