THE UNIVERSITY of Technology (UTech) will, in the circumstance, do the right, and ultimately, the moral thing. There will be no rush to judgement and the affected students, however stupid and/or gullible they may have been, will not be allowed to sit their exams rather than being deregistered. Any such action by the university should await the outcome of the police investigation into the matter.

The facts of the case, as reported by this newspaper on Sunday, remain sketchy. What is known is that the police arrested two persons, including a UTech student, who is the president of the university's peer counselling club, for allegedly defrauding several students.

What is particularly significant about the case, this alleged fraud related to the students' university fees. The peer counsellor, it is suggested, implied that he could get rebates on students fees, took people's money and furnished them with what appeared to be genuine bank receipts. Except that the UTech seems not have received any funds and a faade, reportedly kept up for nearly two years, has crumbled.

If, indeed, the facts are close to what have been broadly sketched, it is probable that some of the students who were tricked out of their money knew that something was wrong and willingly participated in a scam. Or, more likely, they were plain silly, having failed to ask the appropriate questions and not seeking full information on a programme that should have been sanctioned by the university and, therefore, transparent in its operation. Nonetheless, they, like the university, would have been victims of this alleged fraud.

It has been suggested that if the students have not paid their fees, they would have been automatically deregistered by UTech's computerised system. In that event, they would have to clear all arrears in order to sit imminent final exams.

This, however, is a special circumstance that would be clearly obvious to the UTech administration. It would seem to us that all those affected should sit their exams and their grades withheld until the circumstances of the events become clear.

Students who were genuine victims of a scam should perhaps be allowed to graduate, but asked to pay a portion of their outstanding fees. If they knowingly cheated, they should be made to bear the consequences.

Scandalous guild

It is unfortunate that the administration of the University of the West Indies has had to again postpone election to the Mona campus' Guild of Students and launch an investigation into the financial affairs of the organisation.

It seems a case of the more things change, the more they remain the same. Indeed, this organisation is almost perennially riveted in scandal, particularly claims of fraud and duplicitous behaviour.

Early in the decade, for instance, the administration had to suspend the guild and put off elections after serious charges over the mismanagement, and worse, of a public raffle. A full clean-up of the organisation was envisaged. Apparently, we hoped in vain.

The sad thing is that the guild is often perceived as a training ground for entry into national politics. What is not clear is which corrupts which. It's all a great shame when we expect so much from our university students.