Cheating at KCC should be probed

The Radiologic Technology program at Kapiolani Community College is the only one in the state, training students who go on to work in hospitals and clinics throughout Hawaii, positioning patients for X-rays. So a cheating scandal is especially worrisome there.

Sweeping changes in administration of exams should prevent similar schemes in the future. But we’re troubled that there seems to have been no effort to find out who emailed students the answers to tests during the fall 2012 semester, or to find out which students took advantage of the unsolicited help. The program’s acting director said such an investigation would amount to "a witch hunt."

We disagree. Such an effort is needed to maintain academic standards and uphold the school’s stated policy against cheating. Honest students deserve better, and so do future patients.

Boldly going where state funds permit

Among the briefer observations in the governor’s Tuesday speech was the recognition of 50 years of astronomy in Hawaii.

He restated his support for the $1.3 billion Thirty Meter Telescope proposed for a Mauna Kea site, and given the role Hawaii astronomers have played in the discovery of Earth-size planets around other stars in our galaxy, it’s easy to share in that excitement.

The governor cited the TMT plan to help train Hawaii college students for technical careers.

"Our state must support and ensure that this tremendous opportunity comes to fruition," he said.

Hard to argue with that.