Student-athlete eligibility waivers urged

By Stephen Tsai
and Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Staff Writers

The University of Hawai'i has no immediate plans to cancel its sporting events if its professors strike on Thursday.

Also, UH athletic director Hugh Yoshida will ask the NCAA for an emergency eligibility waiver for its student-athletes.

The waiver would allow the student-athletes to remain in the dormitories, receive meal money, attend tutoring sessions arranged and monitored by the athletic department, and not have their eligibility jeopardized for missed class time.

The NCAA requires student-athletes to earn at least 24 credit hours each academic year to retain their playing eligibility for the ensuing season Ü a requirement that would be difficult to meet should a threatened strike extend past the scheduled end of UH's spring semester.

"We don't want our student-athletes to be penalized" for a professor walkout, Yoshida said.

Yoshida said Hawai'i's isolation would create an added burden for UH student-athletes from the Mainland. He said those student-athletes could not easily return home or find temporary housing during a strike.

"At this juncture, school is still in session, so ... as soon as school shuts down we're going to ask our kids to stay on campus," Yoshida said. "We're going to ask (the NCAA) for a waiver, if we need one, to ensure our kids will be able to stay on campus. It's not a drive home for some of our kids."

Yoshida said the faculty has been cooperative, and many professors have already issued additional homework in anticipation of a strike.

Yoshida also said he plans to keep open the nightly study hall sessions for student-athletes. Those sessions are monitored by team assistant coaches and paid for by the athletic department.

It is not known if student-athletes will be allowed to work during the strike. Student-athletes on scholarship are restricted from working during their seasons.