My column on Civil Beat this morning takes a look at the kerfuffle surrounding the decision by the board of the UH faculty union to end its long affiliation with the National Education Association.

I didn’t try to unpack the decision itself, which I’m assured has very long and complicated historical roots. Instead, I highlighted one of the surprising charges that has been thrown around over the last week or so.

In any case, here’s a link to this week’s Hawaii Monitor column (“Hawaii Monitor: Is University Faculty Union Trying To Crush Debate?“).

Amazingly, last week’s column about Safeway’s “price guarantee” policy was still up at #5 on Civil Beat’s list of ten most popular stories this morning, a week after it appeared. There must be a link being passed around, although I haven’t discovered where the interest is coming from.

And back at UH, a sharp-eyed reader asked: Will the UH Publicity machine ever stop?

Ka Leo, the UH Manoa student newspaper, reported yesterday:

“UH M?noa received a Tree Campus USA recognition by the Arbor Day Foundation, given to select colleges and universities for promoting healthy trees.”

But here’s the reader’s comment:

Guess no one told the Arbor Foundation about the loss of the tree to Campus Center, which refused to work around the tree (I can?t remember the name of the gorgeous tree, now gone except in our memories) nor the 2 banyan trees recently felled along “legacy walk”

Here’s what Ka Leo reported back in October 2009:

The life of a unique 80-year-old tree is threatened by construction plans for a new recreational facility next to Campus Center at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa.

Plants contribute to the physical beauty of the campus, but one particular tree is in danger: the acclaimed Ficus benjamina, also known as the Weeping Fig.

The tree is located between Miller Hall Annex and Campus Center and is in danger as a result of the Campus Center Renovation and Expansion Project. Phase 2 of this project, set to begin in 2010, originally integrated the tree into the construction plans. However, recent updates to the plans have altered the construction to place a recreation center building directly on top of the tree’s location.

The article traces the tree’s long history, and provides this description:

“Well, have you seen the tree? It is, in short, one of the most beautiful and rare trees at the university and beyond, with immeasurable aesthetic value,” Williams said. “And we don’t even need to mention the ecosystem services provided by such a massive tree … Shade, carbon sequestration, oxygen production and a pleasing sight that greatly enhances the campus environment.”

Then in August 2010, security officers moved in early and set up security fences so that the chain saws could go to work.

On Saturday, Aug. 14, the Weeping Fig (Ficus benjamina) located between Miller Hall Annex and Campus Center was cut down. The Weeping Fig was removed as part of the second phase of the Campus Center Renovation and Expansion Project.

A number of groups were opposed to the cutting down of the tree, including the UH Landscape Advisory Committee and the Outdoor Circle, a citizens’ group involved in issues concerning the local public environment. Additionally, determined UH student Adam Williams, a botany major and horticulture minor, started a petition to save the tree.

And so it goes.