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INSIGHT

Democrats have Thatcher in production of generic

drugs).
Elizabeth Warren, if they dare What law professor Rich-
ard Epstein calls Warren’s
“surreptitious socialism”
mystify politics. He argued
that politicians and bureau-
tributes wealth upward to
those — the confident, afflu-
crats seek to maximize
power the way many people
ent, articulate, well-lawyered
— who can manipulate its
in the private sector maxi- pulleys and levers. By multi-

M
argaret Thatcher’s with a progressive’s version would, he says, “likely lead mize monetary profits. plying those devices, War-
description of her- of Thatcher’s pugnacity that to the largest flight of capital She leavens her sentimen- ren would, inadvertently but
self as a “conviction caused one of her Conserva- GEORGE F. from the United States in tality with nostalgia: “When I inevitably, make govern-
politician” alarmed some tive colleagues to say that
Britons but delighted others “she can’t look at a British WILL history.”
Foreign investors — do-
was a kid, a minimum-wage
job in America would sup-
ment even more regressive.
Although Warren is criti-
because her convictions institution without hitting it mestic ones, too — will not port a family of three. It cized as “divisive,” serious
were incompatible with the with her handbag.” want to put wealth in corpo- would pay a mortgage, keep politics should divide the
flaccid centrist consensus Warren is too busy in- ism Act would produce the rations subservient to the the utilities on and put food polity by tugging its public
that had produced their na- veighing against “corrup- semi-nationalization of large political agendas of govern- on the table.” arguments up from the su-
tion’s 1970s stagnation. In tion” to define it precisely, corporations, with federal ment. And the agendas of Well. The Adam Smith In- perstitions and fetishes of
1979, voters rolled the dice, but she probably means charters requiring (among various “stakeholders” stitute’s Tim Worstall sug- identity politics, to the
sending her to Downing what economists call other things) 40 percent of deemed to have rights com- gests some pertinent realm of ideas. Columnist
Street. In Massachusetts rent-seeking, which in the their directors to be elected parable to those of share- arithmetic: When Warren Murray Kempton said that
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Dem- context of politics means by employees. holders who actually own was 10 in 1959, the federal the similarity between
ocrats have their Thatcher, bending government power Such accountable-to-gov- corporations, and to whom hourly minimum wage ($1, American politics and pro-
if they dare. for private advantage, either ernment (not to markets) corporate directors have which would be $8.55 in fessional wrestling is the ab-
When elected leader of by conferring advantages on corporations must have “a the fiduciary duty to maxi- 2018 dollars) for 2,000 hours sence of honest emotion.
Britain’s Conservatives, oneself or imposing disad- material positive impact on mize their shares’ value. (40 hours a week for 50 Not the way Warren goes
Thatcher, disgusted by a col- vantages on competitors. society … when taken as a Warren exemplifies pro- weeks) would provide about it. She is a clenched-
league’s rhetorical mush Although Warren’s in- whole.” gressivism’s sentimental be- $2,000 a year, below the pov- fist candidate, boiling with
about a glorious “middle veighing is virtuous, her pro- This gaseous metric will lief in disinterested erty threshold ($2,324) for a indignation and bristling
way,” slammed onto a table gram would substantially be defined and applied by government that, unlike hu- family of three. with proposals, including
Friedrich Hayek’s tome “The exacerbate the problem by government. Such federal- man beings (except govern- Wielding one of the presi- some that are punitive to-
Constitution of Liberty” and deepening government’s in- ization of corporate law ment employees), has dent’s favorite adjectives ward disfavored Americans.
exclaimed, “this is what we volvement in the allocation would inevitably be the thin motives as pure as the (“rigged”), Warren says that Most progressives feel this
believe!” Today, with a forth- of wealth and opportunity. end of an enormous wedge driven snow. today’s government “works way, but most voters might
rightness perhaps more She was a registered Re- of government control, She should read his 2003 for those at the top.” Indeed. prefer someone who will
bracing than prudent, War- publican from 1991 to 1996 crowding out market sig- essay “What Is Public Sprawling, complex, opaque, lower the political tempera-
ren advocates a radical because “I thought that nals. As would her Climate Choice Theory?”, wherein redistributionist govern- ture by lowering the stakes
agenda that is approxi- those were the people who Risk Disclosure Act. And her economist James M. Bu- ment usually does: It redis- of politics.
mately Thatcherism — capi- best supported markets.” American Housing and Eco- chanan, a Nobel laureate,
talism Today, she favors “big struc- nomic Mobility Act. And her used economic reasoning — ———
invigorated — inverted. Fur- tural change.” Affordable Drug Manufactur- determining how incentives George F. Will writes for The Washington Post.
thermore, Warren bristles Her Accountable Capital- ing Act (government-run influence behavior — to de- Reach him at georgewill@washpost.com.

HIGHER Major budget requests for University of Hawaii-Manoa buildings

EDUCATION
Continued from F1
Especially encouraging, he said, are
gains among Native Hawaiian and Fili-
pino students. Since 2010, when just 10
percent of first-time freshmen of Hawai-
ian ancestry picked up a bachelor’s de-
gree within four years, the “on-time”
figure has tripled — topping 32 percent
in 2018. During the same time frame, the
figure for Filipino students more than
doubled, to 38 percent.
In 2017-2018, nearly 270 Filipino stu-
dents and 283 Native Hawaiian students
graduated, wrapping up undergraduate
degrees in four or fewer years.
Due to commonplace setbacks such
as inability to register for required
courses, academic course credits lost in
transfer from one school to another, and
struggles to cover costs tied to enroll-
ment, in recent years, national education
policy experts have used benchmarks of
six years to earn a bachelor’s degree.
UH-Manoa’s most recent six-year rate
— 58 percent in 2016 — nearly matches
the national average of 59 percent at
public institutions.
Overall, Lassner added, “Our four-year
rate is still bad, but doubling is how you
improve it. If we drive it up by another 50
percent or so, we’ll be in a good place”
among public universities.
Matching degrees with workforce
STEM-focused degrees (science-tech-
nology-engineering-math) are among the
most in-demand throughout the UH sys-
tem. Progress in the works in that direc-
tion includes establishing the Academy
for Creative Media on the UH-West Oahu
campus. A ground-breaking ceremony
was held earlier this month for a $33 mil-
lion building, which will serve as a link to
complementary facilities and programs
at other campuses and across the state.
The academy will further develop pro-
grams prepping students for work in the
tech-centered creative economy, includ-
ing careers within video game design
and development, evolving film and tele-
vision production, and assorted new
media pursuits. Fitted with resources
such as a two-story sound stage and an
eSports room, the academy building will
be the seventh structure on the young
Kapolei campus.
“We see it as a great jobs pipeline,”
Lassner said.
The university’s capital biennium bud-
get requests $295 million for the 2020 fis-
cal year and $319.5 million the year after,
with the largest chunk of funding —
$290 million — tagged for systemwide
“Renew, Improve and Modernize,” (RIM)
projects that aim to address a worrisome
backlog in repair and maintenance.
Three years ago, it was pegged at $500
million, and has increased since then.
Dinging the UH for lacking a clear
strategy for attacking the backlog, state
lawmakers approved about half of its
capital request for fiscal years 2018 and
2019. This year’s outlook is more opti-
mistic, Lassner said. “We think that
we’ve done our part, which is to clean up
our (capital) program,” he said. “We
think we’re as efficient and effective as
anybody (Legislature-funded agency) in
the state.”
Through RIM, Lassner said: “We track
the deferred maintenance, but our goal
when we go in to do a project is not just
to return the building to the way it was
when it was constructed in 1960, but to
modernize it for what we need today.” He
added, “We don’t want to focus solely on
SOURCE: UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII
the deferred maintenance. We want to go
in and replace the air conditioning and
electrical subsystems and everything
else while modernizing the classrooms
and the laboratories and putting in sus-
tainability improvements.”
Last year, Gov. David Ige signed into
law a bill that allows the UH to take out
$100 million in bonds to cover capital
projects.
Renovating outdated facilities
Some of UH-Manoa’s most rundown
buildings are now scheduled for either
renovation or demolition. Among the
largest projects: a request for $41 million years remain on UH’s lease, a steward-
to renovate Sinclair Library. Located
near Campus Center, plans are underway
to revamp the 63-year-old library as a
“student success center,” designed to
provide students with a comfortable
place to study and collaborate and also
include on-site student support services care of the mountain that some Native
and academic advising.
Among other facilities projects in the
proposed budget’s big-ticket lineup:
Snyder ($55 million), Kuykendall ($2 mil- as predominately Native Hawaiian in
lion), Keller ($1 million) and Holmes
($37 million) halls at UH-Manoa; Hono-
lulu Community College’s science build- in improving our stewardship, very con-
ing ($43.5 million); and pharmacy lab
STUDENT SUCCESS CENTER (CURRENT SINCLAIR
LIBRARY)
Request: $41 million in FY20
>> Planning funds appropriated in FY19 ($700,000)
>> Focus on a center for student success in a central
location to provide a dynamic, modern space for students,
academic advising, studying, and group learning
>> Relocate Sinclair book collections to Hamilton Library
SNYDER HALL REPLACEMENT
Request: $55 million in FY21
>> Demolition and planning funds appropriated in FY18
($5 million)
>> Build replacement with multi-purpose classrooms,
meeting spaces and open-offices
>> Replacement would provide surge space for Kuykendall Hall
occupants during Kuykendall renovation
>> Current occupants (Biology, Microbiology and the Pacific
Bioscience Research Center) relocating to the Life Sciences
Building
KUYKENDALL HALL
Request: $2 million Design in FY20
>> 80,000 GSF* highly utilized classroom building; constructed in
1964
>> Analyzing cost effectiveness of replacement versus renovation
>> Existing configuration does not meet educational needs
>>Currently houses English department, Center for Instructional
Support, Center for Teaching Excellence, and others
KELLER/PHYSICAL SCIENCE RENOVATION
Request: $1 million Design in FY20
>> Keller Hall (60,000 GSF*) and Physical Science (40,000 GSF*)
are connected via an open air walkway; nearly 60 years old
>> Renovation establishes a STEM zone with modern classrooms
and labs that prioritize growing enrollment and workforce
needs
>> Currently supports mathematics, Information and Computer
Sciences, Geography, and International and Exchange
programs
HOLMES HALL RENOVATION
Request: $2M in FY20 | $35M in FY21 | $10M in FY23 |
$10M in FY25
>> 90,000 GSF* College of Engineering facility; built in 1972
>> Renovation improves mechanical, electrical and
communications systems
>> Modernizes and expands classrooms and laboratories and to
meet the demands of increasing enrollment in engineering
fields
*GSF=gross square feet
upgrades at UH-Hilo ($3 million). “We do not buy into this narrative of 50
years of mismanagement. We do accept
Managing Mauna Kea that last century UH was 100 percent fo-
Legislators also are expected to weigh cused on building observatories, and not
in on other university issues, including on the rest of the environmental and cul-
stewardship at Mauna Kea and planned tural stewardship that we are actively
installation of the $1.4 billion Thirty Me- engaged in today.”
ter Telescope (TMT) at the site. A recent internal UH audit of financial
Fifty years ago, then-Gov. John A. management found no irregularities in
Burns established the Maunakea Science how entities involved in use and manage-
Reserve and, through a lease with the ment of Mauna Kea lands account for
state Department of Land and Natural revenue and expenses. The Board of Re-
Resources, the UH was granted the au- gents called for the review in February to
thority to operate a 525-acre astronomy evaluate the flow of university funds,
precinct on the 11,288-acre site. While 15 lease payments and external dollars tied
to management, education and other ac-
ship debate continues to simmer. tivities.
One side maintains that while the uni- Responding to the audit, Lassner said:
versity has stumbled in its handling of “What I learned is that, for me, it’s overly
the overall site’s natural and cultural re- complex in terms of how we are manag-
sources, management is improving and ing the mountain.”
that UH is committed to collaborative Rather than continue with two man-
agement teams — one tending to sup-
Hawaiians view as sacred. Last year, the port services, such as snow plowing and
other side, pushed unsuccessfully for a visitor center operations, and the other
new management authority, envisioned environmental and archaeological moni-
toring and overseeing a ranger program,
membership. Lassner said: “It probably makes sense
“We think we’ve done a very good job for us to consolidate with one entity that
handles UH management of our respon-
sistently year-over-year,” Lassner said. sibilities on Mauna Kea.”