Remember those maddening traffic tie-ups and pounding parking headaches in just trying to get to some University of Hawai'i football games before kickoff?

Recall the seemingly nonsensical rules against bringing ti leaves into Aloha Stadium?

Shake your head over some of those meager crowds for supposedly marquee Warrior games?

Well, it turns out the new folks who now run Aloha Stadium do, too. Somebody, it turns out, is listening.

Recent developments suggest they — and UH — have not missed the pointed message behind some of those empty seats. Pronouncements indicate that Aloha Stadium — which one wag suggested was a place "where rules are made to be made" — is turning the corner on being fan-friendly.

Stadium manager Scott Chan yesterday set about trying to create a kinder, more easy-to-negotiate facility with the announcements that Ford Island has been secured to beef up satellite parking for games drawing over 30,000; that a lower Halawa lot will be opened to a wider selection of fans and entry to a special tailgate area will be available to fans who take advantage of satellite parking so not as to miss out on the fun among other initiatives.

Moreover, Chan vows that stadium security will try to be more reasonable in dealing with fans and what they bring into the stadium. "I'm telling our security that we want to do this gingerly; we don't need to be the Gestapo at the gates," Chan said.

Welcome — and overdue — moves all. But equally encouraging is that Chan, who has been in the top job less than 3 months, said he continues to explore the possibilities of moving the swap meet or working around it to better suit UH games. While you would hope something can be put into place this season in time for at least the more popular games, there is apparently action in the right direction.

Most important, there appears to be a willingness to listen and work toward solutions rather than finding ways to rule them out. "We have received nothing but an open ear and a chance to share our input and feedback on a variety of issues," said John McNamara, UH associate athletic director. "Everything we have passed along to them they have dealt with in an expeditious and urgent fashion."

Nearly 30 percent of the Aloha Stadium management team will have changed in the six months leading up to UH's Sept. 1 kickoff. Something else seems to be changing, too.

There is also more of an effort to try and put "Aloha" in Aloha Stadium.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.