Higher learning continues to elude us as we "flASHback" on the week’s news that amused and confused:
» University of Hawaii President M.R.C. Greenwood retired after a year of battering over the Stevie Wonder fiasco, and Sen. Donna Mercado Kim said it’s "the best course for the university." It was Kim’s polite rendition of the old Nancy Sinatra refrain: "These boots are made for walking, and that’s just what they’ll do. One of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you."
» In a Star-Advertiser Big Q poll, 42 percent of responding readers gave the 2013 Legislature an "F" and 31 percent gave a "D." It’s amazing how our legislators have so many opinions about how to run the University of Hawaii when they don’t even have the grades to get in.
» The Hawaii State Teachers Association is one of the top political donors to state legislators, giving $108,250 in the past two years, according to FollowTheMoney.org. It’s a sign of the times when teachers can’t afford to buy school supplies, but they can afford to buy politicians.
» After initially announcing his re-election plans in Honolulu, Gov. Neil Abercrombie toured the neighbor islands to spread the word. Oh, to be young again; Back in the day, he could have bellowed from Oahu and let his voice carry across the islands.
» A disabled helicopter had to make a crash landing in downtown Honolulu off Beretania Street. Downtown denizens took it in stride after the Legislature’s bigger crash landing on Beretania a week earlier.
» The City Council is demanding to know how Mayor Kirk Caldwell intends to pay for some $26 million in recently negotiated pay raises for city employees. The same way as usual, no doubt: Spend less on fixing roads and sewers.
» U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard launched a constituent outreach program called "Tulsi in Your Town." As a constituent, I wasn’t sure whether to take it as an invitation or an evacuation alert.
» Some 3,500 people who signed up for HPD Alerts had their names, email addresses and cellphone numbers compromised in a hacker attack. It’s a new police initiative called "Click It and Give Your Identity to Nigerian Scammers."
» UH scientists warned that Hawaii could see a threefold increase in tropical cyclones by the end of this century because of global warming. Looking atthe bright side, at least they don’t expect us to be underwater by then.
And the quote of the week … from UH-Manoa Chancellor Tom Apple on donor support needed to keep UH sports in Division 1A: "There’s one thing to say, ‘Go Warriors!’ It’s another to say, ‘Go Warriors — here’s my money!’" Perhaps he’d have better luck if he said, "Go ‘Bows!"
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Reach David Shapiro at volcanicash@gmail.com or blog.volcanicash.net.
