Those rooms where most of the damage was found were not rented out to students for the fall semester, said Manoa spokesman Jim Manke.

Manke stressed there is no danger to students and staff because walkways and skyways were shored up on an emergency basis both last year and two years ago.

"If there were a serious safety problem we'd have to do it right away," he said of permanent repairs. "They (engineers) are satisfied the shoring up is satisfactory at this point."

Temporary emergency post supports for walkways and skyways were erected in October 2002 and September 2003. However, engineering reports indicate that shoring up is a temporary measure designed to last about three months before permanent repairs are needed.

Manke said the skyways and walkways are being inspected weekly for safety, and will be replaced probably next summer in a major three-month project. Engineers estimate the cost at $800,000.

Meanwhile, despite a report six months ago that recommended immediate action to kill the live infestation of ground termites found at the time, the university is only now starting the treatment process to destroy the termites.

Details of the problems at Noelani are revealed in engineering reports from 2002 and from March and September 2004 obtained by The Advertiser under the Freedom of Information Act. The reports detail the latest bad news for UH dormitories already plagued by age and poor maintenance tied to declining state money through the 1990s that has left the 10-campus UH system with a backlog of $160 million in repairs and maintenance overall.

While the 2004 engineering reports address only Noelani because of concerns two years earlier about termite damage to the underlying wood beam structure, it is estimated that dormitories throughout the campus require as much as $37 million to $40 million in overdue repairs.

With student enrollment climbing, the financially strapped university is looking at creative solutions to provide more dormitory space, including public/private partnerships. UH capital improvements director Jan Yokota said a concerted investigation will be launched shortly to evaluate the underlying structural condition of three of the oldest halls — Frear, Gateway and Johnson.

The Board of Regents agenda for November includes plans to seek a private partnership to rebuild or renovate all three, and Yokota wants bidders to have up-to-date information about their infrastructure. Frear has been in mothballs for eight years, and Gateway was closed for the spring semester to replace its electrical transformer.

Despite the latest engineering reports, students living at the Noelani complex said they do not feel overly concerned.

"Everywhere on UH the buildings are old," said 19-year-old sophomore Brandon Phillips. "Even inside the paint's not perfect, the walls aren't perfect, but it's not unsafe. I've never felt it shake around here. It doesn't look good, but it works."

"The university wouldn't put anybody in here if it weren't safe," said Noelani Resident Director Shane "Spinner" Jordan, a 33-year-old graduate student who is often the first one to hear student complaints and is responsible for small repairs. Rarely are there any complaints about safety, said Jordan.

"I was living here before the shoring up," he said, "and I have complete faith in the engineers at the university doing what has to be done. The only worry is if someone runs into a pole, so we painted the bases yellow."

Regents have given approval for repairs at Noelani, Yokota said. Money is available from the housing budget, and Manke said if bids go out by the end of the year as scheduled, the closed rooms and new skyways would reopen in the fall of 2005.

Even before the Sept. 20 report was complete, Manoa administrators were hearing from engineers about dangerous structural conditions in those dozen rooms, Manke said, and they have not been occupied since May.

But a preliminary termite assessment report six months ago in March warned there was live ground termite infestation then, with a notation it "appears to be spreading."

That March report by Structural Termite Diagnostics Inc. called for immediate attention, noting in part:

"To prevent the damage from getting worse by subterranean termites' continual infiltration into the building's wood-bearing systems, it is imperative that the University of Hawai'i immediately address the ongoing termite activities at the buildings and the grounds around Hale Noelani."

Ground termite treatment was not done then, said Manke, because that was considered a "preliminary" report. The work is being started now, he said.

"The immediate thing is to get the infestation under control," said Manke.

According to the Hawai'i Pest Control Association, a major colony of Formosan, or ground, termites can level a home in two years as they aggressively penetrate not only wood, but plaster, plastic, asphalt, soft metal and lead. It is estimated that termites cause $100 million in damage every year throughout the state.

UH termite expert Julian Yates, an extension specialist in the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, has recommended a baiting system to kill the live termites, which he said have built "humongous" mud tunnels into several areas of the dorms. Yates said once the latest technology is put in place in above-ground bait traps, the ground termites could be under control in as little as a month.

The danger in the closed rooms involves damaged floor joists because of the termite infestations and water damage caused by leaking water pipes around toilets and shower drains. That seepage has since been fixed but one maintenance overseer said toilets were in danger of falling through the floor.

The Sept. 20 engineering report by Nagamine Okawa Engineers Inc. for INK Architects Inc. pointed out:

"Due to the severity of the damage and the critical function of these floor joists to the floor framing system ... it is recommended that the rooms named above ... not be used/occupied until 1) the damaged floor joists are replaced, 2) the damaged floor joists are shored to prevent catastrophic collapse of the floor, 3) other measures are taken to provide for the safe use of the named rooms."

What isn't clear from any of the engineering reports is how extensive the termite damage may be in areas that have not been opened and checked — and the engineers are careful to point that out. Only by ripping off outer coverings of walls in virtually every area, pulling up carpeting, removing cabinets and even tiling, can the true extent of structural damage be determined, according to the latest report.

But the engineers also acknowledge that isn't realistic.