Give University of Hawai’i its autonomy

ENDORSEMENT

The University of Hawai’i wants its independence. With its growing

reputation as a highly respected institution of higher learning, voters should

grant UH that right by approving state constitution amendment no. 1 in the

general election next Tuesday.

The change that the university’s leaders

have campaigned for aggressively would give UH more responsibility and

accountability for the operations of its 10 campuses statewide, including

Kaua’i Community College. That’s the way a university should run. The

Legislature, which earlier this year sent the proposed amendment on to voters

for their decision, would retain certain controls over UH, such as state

funding. But decision-making authority on questions dealing directly with

serving students would shift to UH’s administrators and trustees if the

amendment passes.

One key advantage of doing it the way the amendment

proposes is that the university would be able to regulate the spending of money

in its budget. The amendment would do away with a state law that has put limits

on the mingling of state money and private donations for the university. As a

result, spending decisions have been more complicated than they need to be when

the bottom line is making UH a reputable and student-friendly place of learning

and research, where academia prepares future government, corporate and

community leaders and also fosters thinking on present-day issues.

Any

opposition to the amendment seems to center on concern that the Legislature

could overpower the UH trustees any time it wants to by passing a law of

“statewide concern,” an amendment provision that keeps some control over the

university in state hands. But that hypothesis isn’t enough to put the value of

university autonomy in serious question.

The issue does, however, face a

potential obstacle from a quirk in election rules. Voters who don’t mark their

ballot yes or no on the autonomy question – who just leave it blank – could in

effect help defeat the measure. Blanks are counted in the total number of votes

cast, and a simple majority of votes – at least 50 percent plus one – will

decide the outcome. Depending on the percentage of total votes that are yes, no

or blank, the blanks could tip the scales in favor of the nays. Without going

deeper into the mathematical possibilities, suffice to say that since their

ballots will count even if they’re blank, voters should study the issue and

then can cast a ballot on one side or the other – preferably on the yes

side.