Faculty voices rise against UARC
By Loren Moreno
Advertiser Staff Writer
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A meeting of the University of Hawai'i-Manoa faculty yesterday served mostly to state the case against establishing a U.S. Navy-affiliated research center.
"I have not heard one good argument for this," said Joe Ramos, a faculty senator who said he was undecided. "The only thing I have heard that would make this a good thing to do are the financial benefits," he said.
A little more than 100 members of the UH-Manoa faculty met to discuss the controversial proposal to create a Navy university affiliated research center, or UARC, at UH. Dozens of faculty members expressed various arguments against the UARC in what ended up being a cordial and one-sided discussion.
"I don't want to be a part of a university that institutionalizes the military," said Joan Peters, a professor of English at Manoa, largely summing up the opinion of most of her colleagues at the meeting.
Yesterday's discussion served as a prelude to an Oct. 26 special meeting of the faculty senate at which it is expected to take a formal position on the UARC proposal. That vote will act as a faculty recommendation to interim Manoa chancellor Denise Konan.
UH officials have said the center could bring in an estimated $50 million in research funding, but the proposal has generated considerable opposition on campus. Opponents fear that the research could involve development of military weapons, and Native Hawaiian students in particular objected because they said it represents a stronger military presence in Hawai'i.
If the contract is approved, UH-Manoa would become the fifth Navy UARC in the country.
Sara Rutter, the chair of the faculty senate committee on UARC, presented preliminary findings from legal counsel hired to review the recently released draft contract with the Navy.
She read a letter from the counsel that said that the contract has "proven to be more complex than imagined" and that the Navy reserves the authority to limit the release of research considered classified or "merely sensitive."
That alarmed some faculty, who said that portion of the contract is in direct opposition to a faculty senate resolution passed earlier in the year. The resolution states that the publication of results of research cannot be restricted.
Legal counsel also found an area in the contract that would require drug testing of "individuals the UH considers to be in sensitive positions." When Rutter read that, many in the audience groaned in disagreement.
Faculty members also have a wide range of questions about UARC, including:
Several members of the Save UH/Stop UARC coalition were in attendance and handed out bright green fliers against the proposed research center.
One member, Joel Fischer, professor of social work at Manoa, said the contract does not support claims made by the administration that $50 million in research money would trickle into the university.
"The administration believes it has the right to set priorities and that the faculty has to follow like sheep," he said.
Gary Ostrander, vice chancellor of research and graduate education, has said the plan was to have UARC be considered by the UH Board of Regents in November.
But some are feeling rushed to make a decision.
"We just don't feel like we've had enough time to address all the questions," Rutter said.
Reach Loren Moreno at lmoreno@honoluluadvertiser.com.
