Hawai'i Pacific University sociology professor Gregory Gaydos yesterday said the school had so few students in 1982 that he's fairly certain he recognizes Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, named as U.S. Sen. John McCain's pick for his vice president.

Palin attended one semester at the school, which then was Hawai'i Pacific College.

"Actually she does look very familiar," Gaydos said. "I must have seen her. It strikes me that she must have been at the school and she may have been in my classes."

Palin then was Sarah Heath.

"We had so few students then and all the freshmen came through my class then," Gaydos said. "If she came here, she should have come through my class."

Palin received a bachelor of science degree in communications-journalism from the University of Idaho in 1987.

In 1982, Hawai'i Pacific had nearly 2,000 students, although only a small fraction were full-time students. Hawai'i Pacific began in 1965 with 57 students and the first graduating class of seven was in 1972.

Today, HPU has more than 8,000 students at its Downtown campus.