EDITORIAL: "Cheaters Never Win"

Demoted. Not fired. Not suspended. No salary cut or tenure reduction. Just removed from his endowed chair, and the word "Associate" added to his title. Oh, and he can't be an administrator at the Vet School anymore. The Trustees don't like this. According to a letter President Sheldon Hackney wrote to the "Almanac," "the Trustess would have preferred a more severe penalty, since they feel that plagiarism strikes at the heart of ethical faculty behavior and the values of the University." We feel that way, too. Professors at other universities are usually fired for plagiarizing. If a student at this University plagiarizes, the academic code recommends that he or she be suspended for one or two semesters in the case of a first violation, and expelled in the case of a second violation. What kind of example does this set for students? If you cheat, we can just make you an "associate student," and forbid you from becoming president of the Chess Club anymore? Come on. According to the rules of the University, the Trustees have to do what the Vet School's Committee on Academic Freedom and Responsibility recommends. They cannot impose further sanctions. This committee, which debated the case for five years, only recommended demotion. Well, if we ever decide to plagiarize something, we know who we want to hear our case. What will they do, send us a letter in five years, notifying us that we're now "associate alumni?" We're real scared.