UH Booster contribution projected to fall $350k short this year

About the $350k shortfall in the funds that the Athletic Department uses to underwrite room, board and books for scholarship athletes at UH, Vince Baldemore (president of Koa Anuenue) said:
"We're like anybody else (in a falling market)." (HA)

HA Note: "Because of the plummeting stock market, where much of the funds had initially been invested, UH says it expects to receive $3 million from Koa Anuenue, its umbrella booster organization, instead of the $3.35 million it had originally budgeted. The $350,000 hit, plus an anticipated $125,000 drop in what athletics expects to receive from its share of the Honolulu Stadium endowment, administered by the UH Foundation, contribute to what officials say could be an overall $3 million department deficit for the fiscal year that closes June 30."

HA Note: "Koa Anuenue, which has about 6,000 members, generates support for athletics through the sales of premium seating at events, ticket packages and parking. The money is invested and then turned over to the athletic department."

UH associate AD Carl Clapp said that Koa Anuenue (which has provided more than $30 million to athletics since it started):
"does an awesome job and has been doing it for many years." (HA)

HA Note: "When the stock market began to tumble last year, Koa Anuenue's investments were, "basically put into cash" to minimize the hit, Clapp said. Even with a 10 percent drop, Koa Anuenue has done better than many. The UH Foundation has reported a dip of more than 20 percent in its endowments through the end of 2008 and, on average, university endowment funds lost 23 percent between July 2008 and November 2008, according to reports citing the National Association of College and University Business Officers."