<p>“I’ve heard of very few instances where the professor’s decision has been overturned.”</p>
<p>To follow up on our previous Kim Curtis post, Duke Students for an Ethical Duke has been told by two confidential sources with knowledge of personnel decisions that Kim Curtis, the political science professor who was sued by former student and lacrosse player Kyle Dowd for giving him a failing grade on the basis that he was a lacrosse player, will no longer be returning to Duke University for the spring of 2008. Duke was forced to settle with the Dowd family and changed both his grade and the grade of the only other lacrosse player in the class, who was also failed on the final assignment, to a “P” for passing. Though the Dowds amassed overwhelming proof of their allegations, and in spite of the settlement, Duke refuses to acknowledge that a violation took place and has continuously refused to reprimand Curtis or punish her in any way.</p>
<p>There’s a difference between publishing lists on campus, to which only a few people who are enrolled there or work there can see it vs. publishing such a list on the world wide web. The former, I’m not going to comment on, but the latter, inappropriate and possibly illegal.</p>
<p>Duke is the used car dealer of the university world. You wouldn’t believe the scumbag things they did to their lacrosse players. But then you wouldn’t believe the things that scumbag Nifong did either. I’m glad Nifong’s been disbarred. He doesn’t deserve to carry the title of “attorney at law” and is worth less than the paper his JD is printed on.</p>
<p>AMB@005 Concerning the problems with academic due process, by many schools standards on plagerism the prof has a perfect right to flunk the student and to advise other echelons of the problem. But its a standard practice to clarify what the prof can do (flunk and refer) and what is the venue of administration and other entities such as student ethics boards. </p>
<p>But in implications of… "As stated in the syllabus, “No form of dishonesty is acceptable. I will promptly and publicly fail and humiliate anyone caught lying, cheating, or stealing. That includes academic dishonesty, copyright violations, software piracy, or any other form of dishonesty.” (CC)…are very disturbing. It’s one matter to refer students to proper channels for disciplinary action. But “I will promptly and publically fail and humilate anyone caught lying stealing…” does seem to indicate he intended to act independently of channels. Otherwise the would have been no need to use the “I” phrasing. In his choice of words alone there is some indication of a desire for unilateral authority. </p>
<p>And anyway the whole approach was very ill considered. Profs may be powerful figures on campus but are vulnerable to allegations. Especially if it appears to some that they are targeting students. Tactically it’s much more pragamatic to ensure other elements of the college are also involved in decisions which could bring the ire of student groups or their families (or lawyers). </p>
<p>It’s very possible the prof in question was either very naive about collegiate politics, or so arrogant to assume he was invulnerable to the potential consequences.</p>
<p>As another poster mentioned, many local newspapers publish the names of individuals accused of crimes. While universities may not treat plagiarism as a crime, the content of books and articles belong to the authors, and plagiarism in effect steals from authors. If FERPA didn’t exist, would it be acceptable to posters on this forum for instructors to report plagiarism as crimes and for newspapers to publish the names of accused thieves? If plagiarism is theft and FERPA is protecting criminals, then perhaps FERPA needs to be rewritten so that it does not provide a place for criminals to hide.</p>
<p>I think expulsion from college for one instance of cheating – even if it’s proven beyond a shadow of a doubt – is pretty harsh. Failing the course plus academic probation is plenty in my book.</p>
<p>“There’s a difference between publishing lists on campus, to which only a few people who are enrolled there or work there can see it vs. publishing such a list on the world wide web. The former, I’m not going to comment on, but the latter, inappropriate and possibly illegal.” post by futurenyustudent</p>
<p>As stated by this previous post, this is the crux of the matter. The latter case requires due process to prevent inappropriate or ill-judged attacks on personal character</p>
<p>The U has an Academic Integrity Policy that specifically states expulsion is a possible consequence of cheating. I would imagine the board that heard the evidence decided on the punishment. That also was true at my school which had a strict honor code.</p>
<p>As a student it may be surprising that I would agree with the professor’s decision. Plagarism is such as heinous evil that it must be punished to the greatest extent. The reason why plagarism and cheating is so rampant in all levels of education - elementary, high school, and college - is that the punishements are often rare and weak. For example, even giving the offending student a F for the course often do not prevent cheating. </p>
<p>Hence, I think that anyone who’s stupid, idiotic, and insane enough to cheat should be punished. In this case, the punishment is less than severe enough. Why? Because, given that students know there’s only a tiny probability that their cheating will be detected, only a heavy penalty will suffice. It’s the inverse of lottery tickets, given the low probability of winning a several million dollar reward is needed. </p>
<p>“Failing the course plus academic probation is plenty in my book”-Hanna. If professors can detect cheating all the time that would suffice. What about if I have a paper due tomorrow that’s worth 40%. If I don’t cheat, I have 100% chance of getting zero. But if I cheat, there’s only 5% chance in which I get zero, but 95% chance of getting 80%. Cheating seems like the pretty good deal.</p>
<p>Now, I guess the bigger issue is whether or not his form of punishment is valid. There are several reasons which posting on his blog is valid: </p>
<ol>
<li>He stated on this syllabus that he would “publicly fail and humiliate anyone caught lying, cheating, or stealing.”</li>
<li>What he posted was facts. He made no attempt to ridicule the offenders. </li>
<li>He did not violate the law. He revealed who cheated, not their grades. So FERPA was not violated. </li>
<li>He clearly, comprehensively checked his essay to make sure it was plagarized: </li>
</ol>
<p>" After I (Young) first discovered a plagiarized essay, I had my staff search the Web and flag for me postings that were possible plagiarism violations. I reviewed each case and construed every ambiguity in favor of the student. I approved some essays my staff flagged, either because the student had sufficiently cited the source material or because I thought it was too close a case to warrant a failing grade."</p>
<p>A tiny bit of hyperbole? You might want to look up the Center for College Affordability and Productivity blog and what his leading “scholar” has to stay on the subject. Actually, here’s what he says:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>As far as the good professor himself here is what he has to say:</p>
<p>So weshould bring out a guillotine in the middle of the campus or placed in the middle of a bonfire? Perhaps that might represent a just punishment that fits the crime of … plagiarism?</p>
<p>^ Plagarism must be done deliberately. It’s different from speeding, where one could forget to read the speedometer. Or, for example, it’s different from aggravated assault where sometimes one loses his mind.</p>
<p>There’s no reason why someone who doesn’t want to plagarize can “accidentally” plagarize. Like I said before, the professor must go through multiple steps/sources to verify. Yet, other times it’s impossible for two people to independently write two papers with identical words and style. If that’s probable you might as well download the random word generator. </p>
<p>Why not? The greater the punishment the less likely it’ll be carried out.</p>
<p>And what nonsense are you adults on about. Why are you adults defending these students?</p>
<p>And what the hell is with the comparisons with the guillotine?It’s not like we’re executing them. We’re just telling the world what they did. </p>
<p>These students committed a heinous offence. How is it morally wrong to tell the world INFORMATION that the world needs to know about these filthy liars? Would people have complained if the professors announced the list of all people who got an A?</p>
<p>If you are publicly accused, you should also have a chance to have a public defence. (Especially since some plagiarism charges are iffy or misinterpreted – e.g. wrong citation; you looked up various background facts somewhere but had 100 of those in your paper and didn’t cite every single one … ).</p>
<p>But “proper channels” what the hell?</p>
<p>In a lot of cases it is very clear cut. Gee … it’s taken ad verbatim from this other site.</p>
<p>The professor who READS these papers should have every right to humiliate the authors. Oh I’m sorry. Not the authors. COPIERS.</p>
<p>I am shocked at all on those on CC who are trying to support these cheaters. **This professor should be lauded and reinstated to his post. ** Everyone on CC should be cheering for him.</p>
<p>How did the professors threat in the syllabi, teach the students that it was wrong?
Was the students behavior illegal?
Or was what the * professor* did illegal?</p>
<p>If it’s illegal, the law is being quite ■■■■■■■■.</p>
<p>You probably shouldn’t reveal students’ grades to the public without due cause – but if it’s a case of plagiarism, the public deserves to know. </p>
<p>What the professor did was just. (e.g. not merciful). I don’t get you guys. This matter is so obviously clear, that there should be no argument about the matter.</p>
<p>In fact, in cases of plagiarism, you should always assume that your confidentiality is not protected; fact the professor has not revealed your name to the class is only out of his mercy.</p>