Posted on: Tuesday, May 17, 2005
UARC meeting request denied
By Beverly Creamer
Advertiser Education Writer
University of Hawai'i interim President David McClain has turned down a request from the Save UH/Stop UARC Coalition for a meeting tomorrow, and has also refused the group's request to stop negotiations between the university and the Navy on the proposed establishment of a Navy University Affiliated Research Center at UH.
In an exchange of letters that began Friday with one from the coalition demanding McClain give priority to a meeting to be scheduled tomorrow to discuss the release of all documents, including internal communications, e-mails, faxes and phone records, regarding a Navy UARC at UH, McClain noted that it's "premature" to hold such a meeting.
"I can report that the university's attorneys are already working ... to comply with the coalition's request for relevant documents, and several have already been released," McClain said. "More documents will be released in the days and weeks ahead."
McClain said he was refusing the group's request to halt negotiations because the Board of Regents expects to see details of a proposal in the fall.
"Several members of the board have recently reaffirmed that point of view to me," said McClain in his response. "The discussion we will have in the fall cannot be complete without all the details of the UARC's proposed relationship to the university being spelled out in a contractual form."
By contrast, the coalition maintained in its letter that "a legitimate consultation process cannot take place while the UH administration is openly advocating for UARC or is engaged in ongoing discussions and negotiations with the Navy."
McClain said he had not agreed to any of the new stipulations in the letter, but had agreed to three points, after which the coalition ended a six-day sit-in at his office. They include:
• Delay of any decision on a Navy UARC to Oct. 1 at the earliest. • Release of all relevant documents. • The opportunity for both proponents and opponents of a Navy UARC to offer relevant information, a fair analysis and a complete picture of the UARC in a public meeting before the Board of Regents. Reach Beverly Creamer at bcreamer@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8013.
