From the issue dated December 17, 2004
SPECIAL REPORT: A RASH OF PLAGIARISM
PROFESSOR COPYCAT
Plagiarism by professors is widely condemned, but it often goes undetected and unpunished. A Chronicle investigation unmasks scholarly thieves.
UNORIGINAL SIN
Lazy students are not the only ones guilty of plagiarizing. We found four scholars who copied the work of others without giving credit. How many more plagiarists are out there?
HIS PROTÉGÉ'S VOICE A biology professor published his graduate student's words as his own. Is that wrong?
WHO'S TO JUDGE?
The responsibility for punishing plagiarism falls to any of a number of entities, few of which ever take action.
- DEFINING THE TERM: Just what qualifies as "plagiarism"?
- FROM 'I'M SORRY' TO 'I'M SUING': When six scholars were caught plagiarizing in separate cases over the years, the outcomes ranged from apologies to lawsuits.
- CHOOSING A CIRCLE OF HELL: Institutions and groups that uncover plagiarism among their own have various options for punishing the offenders.
- THE SCARLET P: After scholars are found to have lifted someone else's work, how long before their "debt" to academe is considered paid?
- HOT TYPE: University-press officials generally agree that plagiarism is usually careless, not conscious, and best dealt with quietly.
THE FACULTY
PROFESSOR COPYCAT
Plagiarism by professors is widely condemned, but it often goes undetected and unpunished. A Chronicle investigation unmasks scholarly thieves.
CHOICE MISTAKES
A faculty hire is a terrible thing to waste, writes Kevin J.H. Dettmar, a professor of English at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.
IN BUT NOT OF ACADEME
His conservative politics lead a new assistant professor to conclude that he will never quite fit in on a campus.
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- POSSIBLE 11-YEAR SENTENCE: A medical professor at the University of Pennsylvania pleaded no contest to charges that he sexually assaulted a young woman two years ago, as well as to related drug charges.
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- $285,000 VERDICT: A federal jury ordered Bishop State Community College to pay a former student after finding that the Alabama institution had mishandled her sexual-harassment complaint against a professor.
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- OFF TO WORK THEY GO: Not every college employee's daily commute includes hunting for a place to park the car. Sometimes it's a matter of strapping on skis or checking the marine forecast.
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- IN STIR: Inmates at a prison in Washington State have put together a cookbook as part of a course offered by Walla Walla Community College.
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- PEER REVIEW: The law dean at Washington University in St. Louis will become president of the University of Rochester in July. ... A behavioral scientist and his colleagues at the University of Texas have moved to Wake Forest University. ... The University of North Carolina tapped a former president of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra as its first executive director of the arts.
RESEARCH & PUBLISHING
PROFESSOR COPYCAT
Plagiarism by professors is widely condemned, but it often goes undetected and unpunished. A Chronicle investigation unmasks scholarly thieves.
WHO'S TO JUDGE?
The responsibility for punishing plagiarism falls to any of a number of entities, few of which ever take action.
TESTS OF TIME
Albert Einstein and Kurt Gödel pushed time to its limits. Time, in turn, has obscured their profound and productive friendship, writes Palle Yourgrau, a professor of philosophy at Brandeis University.
A WORD TO THE WISE
"Smart" is in fashion in academe. But it's not always so pretty, writes Jeffrey J. Williams, a professor of English and literary and cultural studies at Carnegie Mellon University and editor of the minnesota review.
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- SOUL OF DISCRETION: A Columbia University professor who had been listed as the lead author of a study purportedly demonstrating the real-world efficacy of prayer has taken his name off the paper.
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- BONES OF CONTENTION: The remains of a tiny, ancient hominid found on an Indonesian island have sparked a dispute among scholars over the authenticity of the claim that the find represents a new species of human.
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- NOTA BENE: A historical hoax is recounted in The Scarith of Scornello: A Tale of Renaissance Forgery.
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- HOT TYPE: University-press officials generally agree that plagiarism is usually careless, not conscious, and best dealt with quietly.
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- NATIVE NATIVITIES: At the University of Dayton, an exhibition of crèches from around the world shows the ways that different cultures imagine Jesus' birth.
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- WHAT THEY'RE READING ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES: A list of the best-selling books.
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- NEW SCHOLARLY BOOKS
GOVERNMENT & POLITICS
AN EASIER ENVIRONMENT
After years of lobbying by colleges, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency may soon loosen the hazardous-waste rules that apply to them.
OPTIMISTIC OUTLOOK
Reversing last year's trend, state support for postsecondary education has crept higher in this fiscal year.
- FACT FILE: State appropriations for higher education in 2004-5.
SUPPLY AND DEMAND
Even talking about how they set tuition rates is difficult for public colleges, but they must do so, write Kathy Kurz and Jim Scannell, partners at Scannell & Kurz Inc., an enrollment-management consulting company.
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- HOLIDAY LEAVE: Several major higher-education officials have announced their resignations this month.
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- REVERSE BIAS? The U.S. Education Department's Office for Civil Rights is investigating a complaint that the University of Virginia and other colleges discriminate against white applicants for admission.
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- NO SPECIAL TREATMENT: The recently passed intelligence bill would bar the U.S. State Department from exempting more foreign students and scholars from a required interview with a consular officer before getting a visa.
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- MISTAKES COULD BE MADE: The Federation of American Scientists says the process through which Congress and the executive branch receive scientific advice to make critical decisions is in a "state of crisis."
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- 'FLYING BLIND': Commanders at the U.S. Air Force Academy have failed for years to recognize that the Colorado institution has a major problem with sexual misconduct, the Pentagon's inspector general has found.
MONEY & MANAGEMENT
THE PATERNO PROBLEM
Penn State must weigh the future of a legendary football coach who is no longer having much success on the field but is still a champion fund raiser.
OPTIMISTIC OUTLOOK
Reversing last year's trend, state support for postsecondary education has crept higher this fiscal year.
THE COST OF SECURITY
More than half of colleges are spending a greater portion of their information-technology budgets this year to protect their computer networks from intrusions, a Chronicle survey has found.
IN TUNE WITH ACADEME
Ronald A. Crutcher, president of Wheaton College, in Massachusetts, describes how his years as a chamber musician have given him an ear for leadership.
COURTING MY NEW BEST FRIENDS
Some may see only a fine distinction between alumni relations and development, but we're all playing the same game.
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- SEASONAL GIFT: St. Lawrence University annually enjoys royalties from the playing of "I'll Be Home for Christmas," which was written by one of its alumni.
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- PERFORMANCE RECOGNIZED: The University of Northern Colorado's business school was a winner of the 2004 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.
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- TANGLED RELATIONSHIP: Two trustees of TIAA-CREF resigned over conflicts of interest with the pension giant's independent auditor.
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- BOOK AUDIT: Two authors describe the secrets of two colleges' success.
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- NO CONFIDENCE: At the University of Missouri at Kansas City, the chancellor resigned after faculty members expressed their dissatisfaction with her leadership.
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- TRUSTEE TROUBLES: Auburn University has been taken off probation by its accreditor, but the institution is not yet out of the woods.
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- CRITICISM CONTINUES: In a vote, faculty members at Baylor University have expressed their belief that the president should step down or be fired.
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- APPEAL EXPECTED: Edward Waters College lost its accreditation two months after an investigation revealed that it had plagiarized large parts of a document submitted to the accrediting agency.
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- SHARE AND SHARE ALIKE: The American Medical Association has approved a resolution aimed at eliminating from research contracts the confidentiality clauses that prevent medical scientists from communicating their findings in clinical trials.
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- ALMOST HOME: A $100-million pledge from the estate of a late developer has brought the University of Miami's fund-raising campaign a lot closer to its goal.
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- HIGHER LEARNING: With the gift of a mountaintop ranch, the University of Arkansas System will establish a facility for adult career training.
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- FRAUD CHARGES: Federal prosecutors charged the former president and financial-aid officer of Morris Brown College for his alleged role in a $5-million fraud scheme.
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- PEER REVIEW: The law dean at Washington University in St. Louis will become president of the University of Rochester in July. ... A behavioral scientist and his colleagues at the University of Texas have moved to Wake Forest University. ... The University of North Carolina tapped a former president of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra as its first executive director of the arts.
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- BOND-RATING UPDATE
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
THE COST OF SECURITY
More than half of colleges are spending a greater portion of their information-technology budgets this year to protect their computer networks from intrusions, a Chronicle survey has found.
- CARROTS AND STICKS: Colleges are using a combination of enticements and punishments to get students to pay attention to computer security.
TAKING NOTES BY THE MEGAPIXEL
Researchers visiting libraries and archives are finding digital cameras to be handy tools -- where they are allowed.
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- TOO EASY TO HACK: Officials of the Pennsylvania State University system have recommended that students, staff members, and professors stop using Microsoft's Internet Explorer, because of security concerns.
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- QUICKER HELP: Technologically updated 911 systems are helping colleges to improve their emergency services.
STUDENTS
THE NEW 'SPEED'
Adderall, a stimulant prescribed for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, is increasingly popular among non-ADHD students who find that it helps them study.
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- NO CASE: A few weeks after accusing one of its critics of copyright violations, the College Board said it had overreacted.
ATHLETICS
THE SAME AND MORE IN '04
Much of the big news in college sports during the past year involved brawls, sex, and matters of money.
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- GAMECOCK GRIEVANCE: The director of the Black Coaches Association called for the University of South Carolina at Columbia to be shunned for not adopting the group's recommendations for an inclusive hiring process when it chose a new football coach last month.
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- MONITORED: Lewis University will be on probation for four years and will lose more than 26 scholarships as punishment for recruiting violations and failing to uphold academic standards.
INTERNATIONAL
'FAIR ACCESS'?
Britain's government wants universities to take more low-income students, but the universities don't like the meddling.
175 YEARS OF WONDERS
Three artists requisitioned artifacts from all over the campus for a celebration of scholarly curiosity at the University of Cape Town.
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- NO MORE COVER-UP: Nearly four decades after Mexican officials ordered the massacre of as many as 300 student protesters, the victims are getting an official memorial.
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- NORTHERN COMPOSURE: In a recent survey of international students at Canadian colleges, more than 90 percent reported that they were satisfied with their academic experience there.
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- COLLEGE TOWNS: Venezuela has begun plans to establish adult-education centers at hundreds of locations around the country.
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- NO SPECIAL TREATMENT: The recently passed intelligence bill would bar the U.S. State Department from exempting more foreign students and scholars from a required interview with a consular officer before getting a visa.
NOTES FROM ACADEME
175 YEARS OF WONDERS
Three artists requisitioned artifacts from all over the campus for a celebration of scholarly curiosity at the University of Cape Town.
THE CHRONICLE REVIEW
CHOICE MISTAKES
A faculty hire is a terrible thing to waste, writes Kevin J.H. Dettmar, a professor of English at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.
IN TUNE WITH ACADEME
Ronald A. Crutcher, president of Wheaton College, in Massachusetts, describes how his years as a chamber musician have given him an ear for leadership.
TESTS OF TIME
Albert Einstein and Kurt Gödel pushed time to its limits. Time, in turn, has obscured their profound and productive friendship, writes Palle Yourgrau, a professor of philosophy at Brandeis University.
WINTER WONDERLAND
Carlin Romano, critic at large for The Chronicle, asks, what do you get the philosopher who has everything but isn't sure what having really means, or whether things exist?
SUPPLY AND DEMAND
Even talking about how they set tuition rates is difficult for public colleges, but they must do so, write Kathy Kurz and Jim Scannell, partners at Scannell & Kurz Inc., an enrollment-management consulting company.
CONCRETE LIMITS
The photographs of Brian Rose illustrate one of the most exceptional things about the Iron Curtain: how unexceptional it looked.
A WORD TO THE WISE
"Smart" is in fashion in academe. But it's not always so pretty, writes Jeffrey J. Williams, a professor of English and literary and cultural studies at Carnegie Mellon University and editor of the minnesota review.
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- MÉLANGE: Selections from books of interest to academe.
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- THE SHORT LIST: Four scholars reveal what they're reading in their spare time.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
CHRONICLE CAREERS
COURTING MY NEW BEST FRIENDS
Some may see only a fine distinction between alumni relations and development, but we're all playing the same game.
IN BUT NOT OF ACADEME
His conservative politics lead a new assistant professor to conclude that he will never quite fit in on a campus.
IN PURSUIT OF A POSTDOC
How does a Ph.D. candidate in biochemistry persuade a master scientist to take her on as an apprentice?
- DETAILS OF AVAILABLE POSTS, including teaching and research positions in higher education, administrative and executive jobs, and openings outside academe
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