UH newspaper details quirks, jerks of campus life
By Jennifer Hiller
Advertiser Staff Writer
The University of Hawai'i has made a lot of news lately with the looming faculty strike and the announcement of a new president. But some of the most entertaining and interesting things that happen on campus get reported in only one place: Ka Leo O Hawai'i, the student newspaper of the Manoa campus, which dutifully reports items from the security logs verbatim on alternating Tuesdays.
Among the masses who lose their wallets, drivers licenses and car keys are the others: someone shooting birds with a BB gun at Hale Noelani, a girl inexplicably throwing rocks at the air conditioner and window of the dining hall across from Mokihana dorm or the professor who calls to report that a student hit someone on the head with a shoe because he had used a racial slur (no visible injuries).
An astonishing number of "suspicious" men seem to wander the various floors of the Pacific Ocean and Science and Technology building.
What are those professors in the School of Ocean and Earth Science Technology up to?
Ka Leo's report, found in newsstands around campus or at kaleo.org, gives us a peek into some of the extremes of campus life: The bookstore receives a counterfeit $10 bill, an intoxicated student is found sleeping on the grass, someone gets stuck in an elevator that keeps moving up and down or a fire alarm at one of the dorms wakes everyone up in the middle of the night.
Mo-peds and bikes are stolen frequently.
Sometimes students manage to sneak on top of the Hale Aloha Cafeteria.
Some of the more unusual events include the Feb. 23 report that a $24,000 Bobcat 753 was missing from a construction site in the parking lot of Watanabe Hall. On Feb. 25, a campus security officer gave a man a verbal warning for practicing golf, "specifically chipping and putting," on Cooke Field.
On Jan. 26, a professor reported being harassed by a student who demanded an extension on a paper. The student did not take rejection kindly. Instead, the student followed the professor to his car, tried to prevent him from getting in, and then beat on the car windows as the professor hurried away, windows rolled tightly shut and doors locked.
On March 5, a female dorm resident reported a neighbor harassing her, pounding on the door, shouting obscenities and slurs. All because she had complained to a resident adviser that the neighbor had spilled beer on her Ü a definite party foul in college.
Here's my favorite of the year, a testament to the kindness of campus security:
On Feb. 26, a man was reported to be harassing a traffic guard after his vehicle was cited on Maile Way. The man told the guard he worked for the attorney general's office and that he would appeal the citation and should "kick the parking officer's ass."
The guard told him to have a nice day.
Let Jennifer Hiller know what's going on at your college or university. You can reach her by phone at 525-8084 or e-mail jhiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.
