UH softball star shows value of early detection

To many University of Hawaii sports fans, Kelly Majam was a poster girl for success last season for playing a key part in the Wahine’s run to the Women’s College World Series.

But now, the center fielder could well be embodying the virtues of early cancer detection.

After a storybook freshman year that included setting UH’s single-season home run record, Majam learned that cancer was the source of a persistent sore throat. Summer surgery followed, and now, Majam is on the mend.

Now that’s a hit.

College rankings don’t always tell whole story

As the University of Hawaii gears up for class next week, college-ranking surveys by Princeton Review, Forbes Magazine and U.S. News and World Report are out.

The latter study broadened its top echelon so that UH, ranked 159th among national universities, now fits into Tier 1, even though its overall score has dropped.

Chancellor Virginia Hinshaw genially observed that the rankings are a "useful tool." But even those less worried about putting on a game face will advise students and parents against living and dying by these rankings.

Sometimes, counselors say, students do better in a school where they’re a better fit – or where the end result is not crippling debt.

Rankings mean something, they say, but they don’t mean everything.