OPINION
7A
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2008
THE UNIVERSITY OF NASHVILLE KANSAS
COMMENTARY
Professors copy, paste plagarism policy
"Stealing and passing off as your own someone else's ideas or words, or using information from another's work without crediting the sources, is called plagiarism. Some specific examples of actions that constitute plagiarism include pasting together uncredited information."
Sound familiar?
It's the beginning of the University's official plagiarism policy, which is e-mailed to all the people who run classes.
Many instructors copy and paste from the e-mail they receive to the syllabus they are writing, but many don't cite where it's from.
They plagiarize the section on plagiarism.
I don't really care that my teachers are stealing something I've seen 50 times before without telling me that they didn't write it on their own.
I care that my tuition dollars are going to people who don't even have the courtesy to pretend to follow rules they are enforcing.
On the syllabus for one of my classes, my instructor forgot to remove the phrase "suggested wording" next to the section heading, which makes me even more confident that he lifted it straight from the University's plagiarism e-mail.
In the paragraph informing students that presenting someone else's work as our own is grounds for expulsion, we are being served a heaping helping of hypocrisy.
Does anyone who reads my column know the Chancellor?
He should know that something as important to academia as intellectual property is being flouted so blatantly on his watch.
It would be fine if each syllabus contained a standard wording of the policy. That would make sense.
Then there would be no room for interpretation, no gray area.
Instructors can choose their own phrasing of the policy. The problem is when they cut corners.
Maybe they had other syllabi to write. Maybe they partied too much the previous weekend.
They're just doing it once, no one will notice.
Whatever the reason, they didn't get around to writing their own version, so they cut corners and just used the one they were e-mailed.
Max Rinkel
But guess what? Someone did notice. That someone was my Jazz instructor.
I didn't even notice on my own.
I'm borrowing someone else's idea in my column on plagiarism. It's a whole other level of irony.
But notice how I am admitting that I didn't think of it on my own, unlike the instructors I am referring to who are just as bad as students who run afoul of intellectual property laws.
They should have the courtesy of at least keeping up appearances.
By breaking the rule as they explain it, instructors are demeaning its importance.
》 THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Students should not be forced to fund Athletics Department
The purpose of mandatory student fees is to fund campus institutions that provide services for students. While women's and non-revenue sports (men's
OUR VIEW
This exclusive group of athletes directly benefiting from the fee is 537 strong, or less than 3 percent of undergraduates. It doesn't make sense that such a small percentage is benefiting from the fees paid by all students.
Women should certainly have as much of an opportunity to play varsity sports as men, and athletes in non-revenue sports should have access to scholarships and practice facilities just like football or basketball players. The department must also comply with Title IX. However, the Athletics Department should be able to provide for all of these athletes out of its own budget rather than relying on already cash-strapped students. Increasing the cost of student tickets for basketball and football would be more fair than requiring all students to pay for a department they may not care about.
the construction of a new boathouse for the rowing team. Does the Athletics Department really need this money?
Consider this: according to Lawrence Journal World, the Athletics Department spent $2 million to fly coaches, the governor, KU administrators and faculty, as well as their spouses and children, to the Orange Bowl. More than $12 million was donated to the Williams Educational Fund in the 2006-2007 season alone, according to Jim Marchiony, Associate Athletics Director.
All money donated to this fund is non-earmarked, meaning that the Athletics Department can use it however it pleases.
The University of Texas, as well as some other Big 12 schools, don't have a mandatory fee. UT students pay an optional $70 per year for an all-inclusive sports pass.
The Women and Non-Revenue Sports fee was voted to be increased from $20 to $40 in Spring 2006 via referendum. Though 3,000 students voted — the largest referendum turnout in KU history — the outcome drew controversy.
Jack Connor, a Holdover senator who was on Wesco Beach the day of the vote, recembers numerous people from the Athletics Department (including Julian Wright, Sasha Kaun and Athletics Director Lew Perkins) handing out doughnuts and Gatorade to those who voted on laptops that the department had set up. In some cases, Connor said, athletes were sitting with the voter at the computer and telling them where to click. It wasn't until after the referendum passed that the Student Senate Rules and Regulations were amended to forbid this practice.
Fast-forward to last week. On Feb 19, the Student Senate finance
committee voted on a bill proposing to eliminate the Women's and Non-Revenue Sports student fee. The results were 11-6 in favor of the bill, but because a two-thirds majority is needed for a bill to pass committee, it fell short by just one vote.
But the mandatory fee should never have been proposed to begin with. The Student Senate Budget Code contains a provision designed to protect students from such unfair fees. Article 7.2.5.4.1 states that "No funds from student fees shall be allocated or apportioned to any corporation, organization, or group that is not open de facto to all University of Kansas students."
Apparently the six senators who voted last week's bill down decided to break their own rules.
lan Stanford for the Editorial Board.
COMMENTARY
Young generation respects old technology
In those times our professors like to call "the good old days," record albums and mother's spiral cord landlines were the new technologies available to keep a kid in touch with the world.
Today, new technology like cell phones and iPods keep us constantly in touch with each other and popular culture.
It would be foolish to view these differences in black and white terms because every new generation breeds new technology and ideas, but I have seen professors who would rather not see it this way.
It's as though they prefer to use the glory of the past as a platform to justify refusing this generation's technology, and on top of that, poke fun at us for using what is most convenient fur us.
A charismatic teacher I had the
privilege of taking a class from twice made comments about the generation gap between him and his students.
That makes me wonder if he, seeing me listening to my iPod, doesn't respect me.
He is intelligent, witty and engaging, and he has spoken to us as if our minds are so inundated with thoughts of what Hot-100 single to download to our cell phones. It's no wonder that we don't understand where some of his thoughts are coming from.
If music is mentioned, the professor is sure to reference vinyl as something we must have only heard about from stories of our parents' childhoods.
Although I like to fancy myself an analog girl (I know there are many of you who do just this), I keep my ears and soul warm on campus with the help of my chunky Sony stereo headphones and trusty iPod.
It is simple to let pride take over and assume that teachers making these references are surely not talking to you.
Whether you have a record collection or have only seen one at a garage sale, records are still visible
to our generation.
But we are lying to ourselves if we cling to items like records that symbolize the beauty of the past and deny that we live in an age where technology like cell phones and computers have become so widely used that we see them as essentials.
Just like landline telephones and microwaves, cell phones and computers are inventions that we can survive without.
But they have become tools that are seen as necessary to function in our increasingly public and fast-paced society.
In the case of cell phones, they are more commonly used among kids and young adults who live in an incredibly social world where people want to know what's cool, where people are going and how to get where they want to go.
We should not be ashamed of this.
Established adults don't necessarily live asocial lives, but they do not invite constant communication in matters of rinor dramatics or purposeless 2 a.m. calls.
that our age group has utilized new technology.
My intention is not to glorify the exorbitant use of cell phones seen in class and around campus, but rather to say that we are not uncool for owning and using technology for which professors may deride us.
It may be in style to nod to the past by buying records and scoffing at cell phone use, but cell phones and other recent technology give our generation options that help us not only meet more people and see more places.
This is where the gap lies, not in our knowledge of the trophies and trinkets of the past, but in the way
They help us work more efficiently in managing school,work and extracurricular activities that require communication and organization.
As long as it is not always pressed to your cheek directly before and after class, don't let a professor take a stab at you for the use of your cell phone.
Cultural inconsistencies in the generation gap survive, but the silly and critical comments about the technology of our generation are getting old.
Ryan is a Salina junior in art history.
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For the idiots who are stomping on the frozen top of Potter Lake: Do you have a death
wish?
--snow.
--snow.
To the guy who is obviously from Wichita that wears jean shirts any time of the year: One word comes to mind, hero.
For the seventh smartest city in America, it's pretty funny how they handle a half-inch of
--problem.
If someone asks what your tax dollars go to, the answer is not Lawrence's snow plows.
--problem.
All non-Johnson County students should be forced to shovel the snow off campus.
--problem.
Canceled. Next time classes are cancelled, KU on Wheels should check dictionary.com because they can't spell it right. Canceled. Learn it. Live it.
--problem.
Learn how to merge, you asshole.
We've been waiting for IHOP for 30 minutes. Help us out, Free For All
To the girls sitting next to me in the cafe: I'm glad that you called yourselves alcoholics. The first step is admitting the
---
Dear Oklahoma State, act like you won again. Yeah, act like it.
I don't know if I can handle the fact that Russell Robinson sucks
---
Hey Jayhawks, can we get a win on the road please?
How many times do you let someone break your heart before you say, "Fuck it?"
Look for us on Wescoe beach every Wednesday from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.
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THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Members of the Kansan Editorial Board are Alex Doherty, Bryan Dykman, Matt Erickson, Kelsey Hayes, Lauren Keith, Darla Silkpe, Dianne Smith, Ian Stanford and Zach White.