After more than a year of heated debate and opposition from many students and faculty, a proposal for a U.S. Navy-affiliated research center that seemed all but dead has new life and is headed for final consideration by the University of Hawai'i's Board of Regents.

UH interim President David McClain recommended yesterday that regents approve the University Affiliated Research Center. Responding to concerns from opponents, he recommended that the UARC be under the administrative control of the UH system rather than UH-Manoa and asked that no classified research be conducted at the UARC for at least the first three years.

McClain told regents that he met with Native Hawaiian groups, chancellors on various UH campuses and faculty groups and that ultimately his decision was based on "freedom of inquiry."

"I tend to be biased in favor of measures to support the individual scholar no matter how popular — or even more importantly, how unpopular — his or her research interests," said McClain.

McClain's announcement stunned opponents in attendance at yesterday's monthly Board of Regents meeting at Honolulu Community College, even after the president recommended that no classified research be conducted by the UARC.

Joel Fischer, a professor of social work at UH-Manoa, stood before the regents during a public comments period and said it was a "sad day" for the university.

"You just tiptoed around all the testimony from the community, from the faculty, from administrators, from Native Hawaiian groups," Fischer told McClain.

Fischer pounded his fist against the podium and called for McClain's resignation, saying the president "sold out this university to outside interests."

But not everyone thought McClain's decision was flawed.

Roy Wilkens, a researcher with the Hawai'i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology at UH, called it "courageous."

"The research community on campus was overwhelmingly supportive of the UARC," Wilkens said by phone later in the day. The voices of the 50 to 60 researchers in favor of the UARC have often been shouted down by the opposition but have been heard by McClain, he said.

FERVENT OPPOSITION

McClain acknowledged in his statement to the regents that the "most productive researchers on the Manoa campus supported the UARC."

The UARC proposal has met fervent opposition that included the occupation of McClain's office, numerous votes and resolutions by faculty and student bodies, and more recently, a heated six-hour public hearing before the Board of Regents.

In the last few months, several groups came out firmly against the UARC including the UH-Manoa Faculty Senate, the Associated Students of University of Hawai'i-Manoa, Native Hawaiian groups, the Hawai'i Community College Faculty Senate and the College of Arts and Sciences Faculty Senate at UH-Hilo.

For more than a year, the opposition has argued that the UARC would threaten academic freedom and involve UH scientists in the development of military weapons.

Supporters said the military research center would draw millions of dollars in research grants over the next five years and bring prestige to the university. But their cries were often drowned out by the intense opposition.

McClain told the board that the UARC proposal is "neither as flawed as its opponents assert, nor is it as promising as its supporters claim."

ISSUES ADDRESSED

During McClain's statement to the regents, he attempted to answer claims made by the opposition that UARC scientists would be stripped of their intellectual property rights, forced to do research on behalf of the Navy, or be involved with dangerous classified research.

These issues "were not often matters of concern to researchers likely to participate in the UARC," said McClain.

Some opponents applauded when McClain announced he was upholding a December recommendation by UH-Manoa interim chancellor Denise Konan that a UARC not be located on her campus. But their applause soon turned to groans after he recommended the board of regents proceed with the UARC but move administrative control off the Manoa campus and to the UH system.

While McClain said he was making good on Konan's recommendation, his decision includes the possibility for Manoa researchers to still conduct UARC-related work on the campus.

"The research itself would take place wherever the individual researcher chose to do it," McClain told reporters following his announcement. "It could be on or off (the Manoa campus)," he said.

That did not sit well with UARC opponents. "(McClain) is playing word games with us," said Ikaika Hussey, a member of the Save UH/Stop UARC Coalition. He said he was disappointed in the recommendation but had expected it.

"He's trying to skirt around the legitimate concerns of the Manoa faculty," said Hussey.

McClain attempted to calm a major concern of the opposition by recommending that no classified research be conducted at the UARC. However, opponents said that stipulation still leaves the possibility open for possible "dangerous research" to be conducted, said Hussey.

He cited UH's involvement in the development and testing of Vietnam-era chemical Agent Orange in the late 1960s. "That was an open, unclassified contract," said Hussey.

LOCATION QUESTION

Robert Bley-Vroman, chairman of the UH-Manoa Faculty Senate, said the president's recommendation "does not agree with the faculty senate." He said UARC is a Manoa issue and the UH president should have never been involved.

He also called the idea of moving the UARC off campus but allowing UARC-related research to be conducted on campus "problematic."

"The chancellor believes he's upholding (her decision)," said Bley-Vroman. "I do not see his decision as being consistent with the chancellor's recommendation," he said.

Interim chancellor Konan said she believed McClain's decision was "in line" with her recommendation.

If McClain's recommendations are accepted by the Board of Regents next month, UH would enter into a three-year contract with the U.S. Navy.

After the initial three years, UH will evaluate the UARC's financial and research success and possibly renew the Navy contract for two more years, said McClain.

With the unclassified approach being proposed by McClain, UARC contracts would be similar to military-related research university scientists are already involved in, he said.

Reach Loren Moreno at lmoreno@honoluluadvertiser.com.