UH responds to Colt's criticism, vows to upgrade its facilities

HF says that Uh is working on a master plan to improve facilities:
"in athletics and the entire university." (HA)


Associate AD John McNamara said that the Athletic department is:
"working on problems that can be solved immediately." (HA)


About their lack of soap, colt said:
"We've had broken (soap) dispensers ever since I got here. We've never had soap on a consistent basis." (HA)

HA Note: "Two companies offered yesterday to donate soap dispensers. Heide & Cook, a mechanical contractor, is willing to pay for a year's supply of liquid soap. The Honolulu Quarterback Club started a soap drive."


About why he spoke out, Colt said:
"I didn't speak out because I wanted to point the finger or put any people in a bad situation. That was not the intent. I wanted to bring awareness to the upper campus and the people who allocate the resources to the lower campus (where the athletic department is located). I think upper campus really put the athletic department and faculty in the lower campus in a tough position by not implementing a plan to get us the resources and money to take all of our athletic programs to the next level." (HA)


McNamara said that they have to prioritize projects due to:
"limited resources" (HA)

HA Note: "Topping the list, he said, is changing the artificial turf at Les Murakami Stadium and the Cooke Field infield, which was condemned more than a year ago."


About how every little thing adds up, Colt said:
"What trickles down affects us. When resources are tight, things like soap can get overlooked pretty easily." (HA)


One of the comments on the HA website was very interesting to me, so I'm quoting it here:
I am a student at UH, and was overjoyed to read Colt Brennan's comments the other day. I serendipitously sent a complaint email at exactly the right time.

On Tuesday of this week, I sent a complaint via email to the facilities maintenance director at UH about the atrocious conditions of the women's bathrooms in the class room area of athletic complex. I received a note back that the athletic facilities maintenance is strictly under the control of the athletic department and that my email was being forwarded on to them. I haven't yet gotten a reply back, but I'm hoping some action might take place now that Colt has come forward.

For all the complaints we hear about the condition of facilities at UH, the maintenance of the athletic complex is by far the worst I have seen anywhere on campus in the three years I've been here. The women's bathroom near the large lecture hall is so disgusting it is unusable by me, and an embarrassment to the University.

So I say, bravo Colt! Its not just the athletes who understand your frustration and disappointment in the facilities.


Another comment is below:
Mr. Brennan has really impressed me a whole lot the past 2 days. I think we are observing the start of something really special; a Man's connection to the people around him. His actions over the last 2 days has shown a lot of leadership to his teammates and also to the other UH athletes and athletic programs out there.
Colt is in the beginning of his heisman campaign for next year and instead of playing the safe route and not making waves is bringing awareness to an internal situation at UH that has plagued this school for the last 25 years.
I am a former UH athlete that played at UH for 4 years and then went on to play professionally for a while and it felt like Colt read my mind. It was embarrassing hearing players from other schools talk about how bad our actual facilities were in comparison to other mid-sized schools out there. They weren't commenting on the big things either. The fact that anyone can just walk into your locker room is one of them. We used to have things stolen from our locker room all the time and the excuse was that "sorry, but we can't hire security just to watch your things." From not having soap to being told there are no towels to having your cars ticketed for parking by your practice field for a Sunday morning workout on campus. It's what athletes call the "Bush League."
I've since have given back my time and money to help the athletic department in any way that I can, but I've had to be careful in where I send that money because I know that if I don't give directly to the booster club for that sport, the team will not get the $ they need.
Just imagine that you are working for a good sized company and your division earns the most revenue by far. Your company then tells you that they will be taking most of the $ and allocate it to the rest of the divisions, but in doing so, it will take from making necessary improvements and maintenance needed to help your division become more productive and successful. Wouldn't that be disheartening as a worker to find out that this has been the story for the last 25 years.
I'm glad that Colt has brought attention to this and the reason UH is in this mess is solely a result of mismanagement of the University as a whole. This is a prime example of how not to run a business. Isn't that funny, when the business department is supposed to be one of the better aspects of the academics of UH. Wouldn't you think that they could come up with a simple business plan that would be a little proactive. Obviously not.