In addition to the inestimable prize of pride and happiness the University of Hawai'i Warriors brought to the state with their Sugar Bowl berth, there was the tangible reward of the $4 million payout, money sorely needed by a program swamped by deferred facilities projects.

About half of this money will go to cover expenses for the official Sugar Bowl travel party, but as The Advertiser has reported, there are suspicions that many more people than those with a direct tie to the team scored a free trip. Athletic department staffers have complained that some had little or no official duties, and that some entire families came along.

The UH travel money was advanced through state funds but will be recouped from the still-to-be-delivered Sugar Bowl purse. Still, the decision to be this lax with the travel money showed poor judgment by former Athletic Director Herman Frazier.

Though the bowl funds come from a private source, it was the duty of a public university that's fallen behind in facilities upkeep to spend it wisely. Repair and improvement costs that aren't covered by the prize money almost certainly will be paid ultimately by taxpayers.

Now it appears that the department's current administration is also applying faulty logic.

The Advertiser, which filed a Freedom of Information request to learn the names, reported yesterday that Carl Clapp, associate athletic director, has told recipients the names of those whose trips were underwritten would be made public.

Meanwhile, those who pay back the costs to the university would be able to remain hidden.

This is not how a public university should handle the situation. Fans who tagged along for fun rather than as part of the job should pay back the university. And all the names should be released as part of the public record, along with notations of who paid their own way in the end.

The beneficiaries of this trip may not have been aware at the time they accepted that they had an obligation to public disclosure, but when funds that are meant for public benefit are tapped, disclosure comes with the territory.

Meanwhile, the University of Georgia, the victorious rivals in the Sugar Bowl, already has disclosed the members of its travel party to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, in accordance with federal and Georgia open-records laws.

UH should be just as open.