(U-WIRE) HONOLULU – Bank of Hawaii, KKEA Sports Radio, the Honolulu Advertiser, Outrigger Hotels & Resorts and Burger King are just a few of the corporate sponsors for University of Hawaii athletics. They appear to be a normal array of local companies. However, do people know that Budweiser is included in that list, as well as Miller Lite?

Budweiser and Miller are corporate sponsors, too, and pay $180,000 a year for advertisements and promotional activities, according to Lois Manin, UH sports information director.

The ads by the alcohol companies can be seen at Les Murakami Stadium, in the Stan Sheriff Center and at other athletic venues.

Some worry about the alcohol advertisements having an affect on fans, most notably children. Some just worry about the financial impact that not permitting these ads at sporting events would have.

In a statement released through Manin, Athletic Director Herman Frazier said it will have a financial impact on the amount of revenue UH athletics receives if they lost alcohol ads.

On Feb. 25, 2005, Hawaii Lt. Gov. Duke Aiona sent a letter to UH President David McClain, advocating a ban on the sale of alcohol on UH campuses. Underlined in the letter was also a proposal to end sports ads by alcohol companies, although Aiona did not mention banning the sale of alcohol at sporting events.

Manin told the Advertiser that concession revenue from the sale of alcohol totals around $435,000 a year, or about 18 percent of total food sales.

McClain was unavailable for comment on the letter.

“Alcohol is the No. 1 choice for young people. It is dangerous to everyone, and we believe the marketing aspect is a big part,” Aiona said.

He also pointed to the fact that prominent collegiate coaches are attempting to end alcohol ads.

Former coach Dean Smith and U.S. Rep. Tom Osborne of Nebraska are working on proposals to the NCAA to ban beer ads at collegiate sporting events. Smith is a former men’s basketball coach at the University of North Carolina, while Osborne spent 36 years with the University of Nebraska Cornhusker football program.

Aiona conveyed that young people get the wrong message if college athletes are around alcohol ads.

“It is much more than just our college students; it is our young people, too,” Aiona said regarding the ads at UH.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving in Hawaii is taking a similar and tough stand concerning the recent proposal by the lieutenant governor.

Connie Abram, the executive director of the local chapter of MADD, said she does not want the children in Hawaii to experience alcohol ads. She supports the task force created at UH to determine ways to end the abuse of alcohol at UH.

“Alcohol should not be advertised and alcoholic beverages should not be sold,” Abram said.

Abram noted that in her 10 years working at MADD she had never heard of a proposal like Aiona’s before, a proposal to completely ban sports ads on the campus.

Rep. Lynn Finnegan, R-32nd, who sits on the higher education committee, told the Advertiser that “campuses across the Mainland are becoming dry and it’s for a reason. Underage drinking is not safe.”

Calls to Rep. Tommy Waters, D-51st, who chairs the higher education committee, were not returned.

-Scott Alonso

Ka Leo O Hawaii (U. Hawaii)