Page 4 Unity Stressed on Martin Luther King By Michele E. Hart In a speech given January 19 to commemorate the birth of slain civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Harrisburg Urban League Deputy Director James Jones cited the need for unity in today's society. "One word, unity, was at the core of King’s beliefs," Jones said, but it is a goal we "are still reaching for in 1987." Society is still divided by many things, according to Jones, who spoke to an audience of nearly 30 two weeks ago in the Black Cultural Arts Center. To bring society together, Jones feels we must find a common ground. That ground, he said, "is the equality of all human beings." To reach the goal of unity, in Jones' view, "People must raise their consciousness above hatred, racism, bigotry, and prejudice and identify in people positive qualities that allow for co-existence." Society also needs to have "strong hope, faith, and love for each other," he said. Hope, faith, and love were three words that were very important to King, Jones said. "King knew that a power greater than man was necessary to overcome the problems of man. But he knew it would take more than religion." Sally is taking a test and cannot answer the main question. Now she regrets not having studied longer than an hour. She twirls her pencil, stares at the graffiti written on her desk, then looks around the room. The professor is reading a book. Casually glancing at her neighbor's paper, Sally sees that he is answering the main question. She looks away, then back again. She cannot fail this test! John is taking a management course and must give a presentation. He decides to reuse a presentation that he had given last semester in a public policy class. John does not tell his management professor that he had given the presentation once before. Although Sally has obviously committed a misdeed, did John? Surprisingly, the answer is yes. Both have violated Penn Statens policy of academic integrity. According to Policies and Rules far Students, 1986-87, "Academic integrity is the pursuit of scholarly activity free from fraud and deception and is an educational objective of this institution. Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, cheating, plagiarizing, fabricat ing of information or citations. "Dr. King addressed the inner-consciousness of man, the heart of man, and the soul of man," Jones said, all the while believing that love was the force to overcome all ills. During the course of his address, co-sponsored by the university and the Black Student Union, Jones played a portion of King's "But if Not" speech, a speech in which King urged people to "take a stand for that which is right." The challenge King left to us, according to Jones, is to transcend our egos. "I would suggest to all of you to not only let the dream live, but to continue and borrow from that dream. Allow each other to live in peace, liberty, and happiness." To some, however, just commemorating King’s birthday is not enough. According to an article written by Cody Shearer, New America Syndicate, the King holiday should be "re-shaped and given a subtitle: Civil Rights Movement Day." Shearer feels that the other participants in the civil rights movement, "the thousands of blacks and whites who were as courageous as Dr. King" should also be honored. In his article, Shearer said that King's "supporters would be better off working facilitating acts of academic dishonesty by others, having unauthorized possession of examinations, submitting work of another person or work previously used without inform ing the instructor, or tampering with the academic work of other students." What happens to John and Sally if they are charged with academic dishonesty? Dr. James D. South 11, associate provost for administrative operations, says that each faculty member has the latitude to consider all circumstances related to the situation and to develop a response that is an effective resolution. This does not mean, however, that the student is subjected to the whims of an individual professor. Rather, South says that the University Faculty Senate provides instruc tors with guidelines for handling situations where academic hon esty is an issue. A minor infraction, such as John's case, is treated informally and is not put on the student's record. Sally's case, on the other hand, might be considered a major infraction. Policies and Rules contends that a major infraction will warrant either Capital Times Day towards the agenda of "substantive" rather than "surface” changes including jobs and economic equality. Keith Bentz, an education/behavorial science major at Capital College, shares some of Shearer's views. Although he 'enjoyed Jones' speech, Bentz feels that more should be made of the King holiday. "King's holiday is a day when people should take stock of what they're doing to further equality, do an action,” Bentz. What action a person should do is up to the individual, Bentz said, because there are many social justice issues including war, disarmament, and the sanctuary movement that need people. Bentz is hopeful that the holiday will become a "day to celebrate those (civil rights) struggles and make people aware that there are those individuals and organizations out there still fighting." A Question of Integrity By Kathleen Riley-King academic or disciplinary sanc tions. Academic sanctions affect the student's grade for a. course. Disciplinary sanctions include warnings, probation, suspension, dismissal, expulsion, or loss of privilege. If expelled pr di &• missed, the student would receive no reimbursement of tuition, says South. Both Policies and Rales and South maintain that the student charged with a major infraction has the right to due process: to be notified of the charge; to present 's defense, etc. If the student is then found guilty, the incident is put on the student's record. South confirms that re gardless of whether a case involves a major or a minor infraction, the case remains confidential. "We don't share information from one faculty member to another about an individual student's circum stance;" he says. Only when a student has been implicated in multiple major infractions might the student's record be referred to. In such an instance, reference to a record would not be used to determine guilt or innocence in the current case, but rather to determine the level of sanctions. Malta Luther King Leadership Conference Helps Student Improve Skills By Jan Travers Leaders are made, not < born. So, in an- effort to give ! student leaders a chance to ' improve their leading skills, Student Activities, in coop eration with SGA, offered the twice a year leadership conference January 24, in the CUB. The seminar, opened to 1 resident assistants and anyone who participated in student activities, provided a full day of activity designed to help the students become more effective leaders. Dr. Terrell Jones,assistant director of student life at University Park, was the keynote .speaker, and he impressed upon the audience the need to evaluate the people they are dealing with. "It's important not to use people to meet your personal goals," he said. "To make people want to continue interest in an organization, you must include them in the process of making the rules," Jones added. He went on to warn that assumptions should not be made about people's understanding. Instead, make all instructions explicit. "America is a low Upon the student's graduation, the are removed from the student's record. Dr. South explains why: the faculty feels that it has put together an effective educational program, and that in going through this program, a student will have learned. Subsequently, faculty members feel that a student should not be penalized for having learned. Also, South believes that an incident of academic dishonesty occurs in a specific context, a context that may never be duplicated. Dr. South feels that Capital College needs the policy of academic integrity for severd reasons: toact as a guideline for handling situations. to better serve students by explicitly stating the school's standards, and to ensure equitable handling of a student's-situation. He maintains that die policy pro vides some consistency of stu dent treatment More incidents of academic dishonesty have been reported during the Fall i 986 semester than for some rime, imparts South. It has not been a major problem, however, he says. Why do studentscom- (continued on pg. ») mit these acts of academic Feb. 4, 1987 context culture." In explanation, he offered that with the vast array of cultures in the United States, if communication is not explicit the messsage can be lost. In addition to Jones' program, students were given a choice of five workshops, given by student services personnel, during the morning session. The upbeat tone of the day was temporarily interrupted with a message from Todd Hammaker, chairman of the joint SGA/Student Court committee on rewriting of the SGA constitution. Hammaker, also chief justice of Student Court, attempted to jolt the audience with an assessment of the progression of the revisions. "Last fall I was told the SGA constitution is a piece of garbage," said Hammaker. "But based on the attitude of the committee, it should remain the same," he added wryly. Criticizing the present constitution by saying it is so hypocritical that it doesn't even meet the guidelines expected of other clubs, Hammaker called on the student leader to question the document and suggest changes. dishonesty? South speculates that one reason is pressure to have high grades for some external use of those grades-i.e. to achieve a competitive edge for a job-and not for the satisfaction of having earned the grade. Because it is easier to cheat than to study. South also attributes laziness to creating some academic dishonesty. Succumb ing to peer pressure and being unprepared, either because of poor time management or an unrealistic set of courses, are other reasons South gives. He claims that two groups of students are less Kfcdy to violate the policy of academic integrtty: students who are in fdnol not for job traiaiag, but solely to learn, and students returning to school from the workforce. ' . Concluding that many people wtioare dishonest foist realizethat they are hurting themselves, Soufo contends that the coUegeoKperienoe includes more than just getting a good grade. He says that dishonest students are "not cheating the university out of anything. Indeed, they are robbing them selves of something they're paying good money for "
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