"It will have a financial impact," said Frazier in a statement, "but that is impossible to quantify at this time since the full extent of the proposal (by Aiona) has not been determined."

The amount is equal to about 1 percent of the total operating budget for the athletic department, a figure that spokeswoman Lois Manin pegged at approximately $18 million this year.

Aiona has written UH Interim President David McClain suggesting a number of avenues for the university to help curb underage drinking on campus, including banning the sale of alcohol at beer gardens and campus bars as well as banning alcohol vendors from advertising at sporting events.

But Aiona is not advocating removal of alcoholic beverages from publicly attended events such as sports events where admission is charged. Alcohol is sold both at Stan Sheriff Center and Les Murakami Stadium, in the lower campus athletics complex.

"It's part of an agreement with Sodexho (the campus food service provider) and not accounted for separately," said Manin, of alcohol sales during games.

"The athletics department receives a percentage of all concession sales."

That amounts to about 18.5 percent of all concession sales, said Manin, or about $435,000 last year.

Aiona said there has been a national movement to remove alcohol manufacturers from college sports sponsorship.

"There are strong proponents encouraging the NCAA to have a total ban on any type of advertising relating to alcohol," he said.

Aiona's focus — and that of UH administrators — is to find ways of curbing drinking on campus among underage students. He said he would like to see a "dry" campus — meaning no alcohol sold on the upper campus or allowed within dorm complexes — but realizes that is perhaps an unrealistic goal.

"Another thing that's a challenge for us is to change the attitudes our young people have to drinking," he said.

"There are a tremendous number of studies that show if you begin binge drinking — and the definition is 3 to 5 drinks at a sitting — before the age of 21, your chances of developing some type of alcohol dependency or addiction is 40 percent greater than someone who doesn't start until after the age of 21."

University administrators are developing a series of recommendations for changes in policy at the Manoa campus where approximately 3,000 students live. They could be ready in a matter of weeks, officials said.