UH-West Oahu rooms cool again — for now

University of Hawaii-West Oahu has air conditioning again after workers installed a temporary chiller and portable air conditioners Wednesday morning to cool the five buildings on the Leeward Oahu campus, UH-West Oahu officials said.

Classes were held outside or online and instructors were asked to modify class teachings as appropriate after the air-conditioning chilling units at the new campus broke down on Monday.

No class has been canceled.

Parts are on order and are being flown in from the East Coast, UH-West Oahu officials said.

The university hopes to complete the repairs next week.

VA allots $3M for Hawaii homelesss vets

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announced the award of $207 million in grants for at-risk and homeless veterans, including $3 million for two Hawaii organizations.

United States Veterans Initiative and Catholic Charities Hawaii will each receive $1.5 million through the Supportive Services for Veteran Families program, the VA said Tuesday.

The grant program "connects community-based homelessness organizations with the VA to confront homelessness while addressing the distressing challenges that can face our veterans," U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard said in a release.

In August, U.S. VETS and Catholic Charities Hawaii also received fiscal 2014 grants of $1 million and $1.1 million, respectively, for the same purpose, Gabbard said.

Rising economy blamed for drop in enrollment at UH campuses

HILO » The University of Hawaii’s Hilo campus has the largest drop in enrollment across the system.

This fall marks the second year of enrollment declines for the Hilo campus. As of Tuesday, Hilo saw a 2.9 percent drop, while the flagship Manoa campus had a 2.5 percent decrease. The system’s new West Oahu campus saw enrollment increase by 12.7 percent.

Hilo’s Hawaii Community College has experienced enrollment declines for three years in a row. The college saw a 6.4 percent drop this year.

All seven of the state’s community colleges saw enrollment declines this year, ranging from 2.9 percent to 6.9 percent.

UH-Hilo Chancellor Donald Straney told the Hawaii Tribune-Herald that campuses in Hawaii and across the country have taken a hit in enrollment as the economy improves and students opt to enter the job force.

"We’re the same percentage down this year as we were last year," he said. "It’s a (trend) that’s going around all campuses. … We had hoped to hold even, but the demography worked against us."

The decrease means his campus will lose about $1 million in anticipated revenue, Straney said.

"It’s a significant amount of money, but we’re not anticipating we’ll have to reduce budgets this year," he said. He said departments will be asked to hold off on spending about 1 percent of their budgets until the impact of the reduction in revenue is clearer.

Straney said the university is trying to improve freshman retention.