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Thursday, November 4, 1999

  • Some call cheating 'acceptable'
  • Multiple voices from Asia
  • The students of 1999: an insight
  • Volunteer awards still open
  • The busiest day of the week

Some call cheating 'acceptable'

There has been "relatively little activity" in the past year, says an annual report from the University Committee on Student Appeals, which handles major discipline cases and appeals by students over marks and academic standing.

That's good news, says the UCSA, which is bringing its 1998-99 report to the university senate on November 15.

However, the total number of cases has gone up, from 93 two years ago and 104 last year to 148 this year. Cases range from "unauthorized submission of same paper to two courses" and exam cheating to confusion about a student's standing in his or her academic program.

"UCSA is encouraged," the report says, "by what is happening to educate students about academic conduct/misconduct and to communicate the responsibilities and privileges of being a member of a university community. However, the incidents of cheating (which includes excessive collaboration) have increased in the past year. Perhaps the number of cases reported is as a result of instructors and proctors being more vigilant.

"It does appear that cheating is not inadvertent and that some students don't consider cheating to be a serious academic matter; indeed, some deem it to be acceptable to cheat to further their academic careers, believe that they 'deserve' degrees to augment their earning power. Others, when they cannot compete assignments, see it as a weakness to, for example, ask for an extension.

"Issues and concerns include group (encouraged in the secondary school system) vs. independent work, improper footnoting and double submissions."

Not everything that UCSA considers is about cheating. The report goes into detail -- but without naming names -- about one case that was considered last year, involving "disruptive classroom behaviour in two courses; unreasonable infringement on the work of others". The student in this case was found to be engaging in a "pattern of insistence . . . on own right to speak and assert views to the extent of seriously limiting the equivalent rights of others to speak or hear others speak". He or she (the report doesn't say which) was eventually given an "indefinite suspension", and is currently taking the case to the Ontario Human Rights Commission.

The UCSA divides the 121 disciplinary cases last year (among almost 22,000 UW students) into six categories: cheating (80), plagiarism (24), misrepresentation (5), harassment, discrimination and unethical behaviour (5), misuse of resources (2), and mischief (5). Another 27 cases are "grade reassessments etc."

Multiple voices from Asia

On nuclear weapons

Tonight brings a special event in the lecture series "Waging Peace in the 21st Century", sponsored by Physicians for Global Survival, the Waterloo Public Interest Research Group (WPIRG) and St. Jerome's Centre for Catholic Experience.

Speakers from two neighbouring countries with nuclear weapons will talk about "The Nuclear Threat in South Asia: Voices for Peace from India and Pakistan", at 7:30 p.m. in Math and Computer room 4061.

The speakers are Shambhu Shrivastwa (from India) and Tipu Sultan (from Pakistan), who have been working together for more than ten years "to create an awareness of the dangers of the nuclear arms race between India and Pakistan and the social costs of military expenditure in South Asia". They are on a cross-Canada tour to focus attention on global abolition of nuclear weapons in general and moving towards nuclear weapons convention in particular.

Says a WPIRG news release: "They have contributed to developing consensus on these issues in India and Pakistan despite nuclear testing by both countries in 1998. They are also working towards developing consensus on Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty."

Shrivastwa is a physician in New Delhi, the capital of India, and has been active in International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War and the All India Peace and Solidarity Organisation. Sultan is head of the department of anaesthesiology and the surgical Intensive Care Unit at Civil Hospital, Karachi, and Dow Medical College in Pakistan. He is one of the founding members of Pakistan affiliate of IPPNW. He is also involved with Pakistan Doctors for Peace and Development.

Next event in the "waging peace" series will be "Peace Education vs. War Games: How do we teach our children Peace?" by Joanna Santa Barbara, on November 9.

On Chinatown childhood

Short-listed for this year's Governor General's Literary Award for Non-Fiction, Toronto-based author Wayson Choy will read from his new book Paper Shadows: A Chinatown Childhood tonight at 7 p.m. at the Waterloo Public Library. The event is part of a series of activities marking Renison College's annual East Asian Autumn Festival.

Penguin Books of Canada describes Paper Shadows as "a beautifully wrought portrait of a child's world from one of Canada's most gifted storytellers. . . . a haunting journey into the childhood world of Choy (who is also nominated for the inaugural Drainie-Taylor Biography Prize). The book explores his early years in Chinatown, adolescent desire to be white, eventual politicization and the sudden discovery at age 57 that he had been adopted."

"My childhood is like a Chinese box that opens in a variety of ways," observes Choy, "revealing different levels, each sliding compartment a secret." Forsaking his Chinese culture, Choy recalls, "I was turning into a banana: yellow on the outside and white on the inside."

Choy was raised in several Chinese households in Vancouver. He teaches English at Humber College in Toronto. The Jade Peony -- his debut novel -- remained on the Globe and Mail's national bestseller list for six months. In 1996, the book shared the Trillium Book Award for best novel with author Margaret Atwood.

Admission to tonight's literary event is free. A book signing and reception follows the reading, where the public is invited to meet and talk with the author.

Earlier today, in another event of the East Asian Festival, an "Academic Showcase" about East Asian studies courses will be running from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the South Campus Hall concourse.

And Senator Vivienne Poy will speak on "A Year in Reflection" at 1:30 p.m. in the Renison College chapel lounge.

The students of 1999: an insight

Students starting university this fall "have never feared a nuclear war" and "have always had answering machines", says a list of things in history and popular culture that distinguish 18-year-olds from the people who teach them.

The list "has come to be associated with Beloit College" in Wisconsin, though it didn't really start there, says a news release issued recently by Beloit.

The list first started appearing in pieces on the Web in 1998, the college says."Beloit College assembled a number of them and added a few from faculty and staff."

Among items on the Class of 2003 Mindset List:

Volunteer awards still open

There's still time to nominate somebody -- or apply yourself -- for the President's Circle Awards for Volunteerism.

The deadline, originally set for this Friday, has been extended to November 12, says Dianne Scheifele of the university secretariat, who's collecting them on behalf of the awards committee.

In a release from the UW news bureau this week, officials of local community agencies were encouraged to nominate UW student volunteers for the special awards.

The President's Circle Awards for Volunteerism were established two years ago to recognize the contributions of students in volunteer work on campus and in the local community. A committee normally selects 10 recipients a year to receive awards worth $250 each.

"The awards honour the extra-curricular contributions of students in a variety of service areas, some of which may not be highly visible but nonetheless important to the community," says Catharine Scott, associate provost (human resources and student services).

Any member of the university or local community can nominate a student for the award. "As well, because volunteer work often has a low profile, students are very much encouraged to apply directly for an award," Scott said. More information is available from Scheifele at ext. 3183.

The busiest day of the week

The local Computer-Human Interaction interest group, WatCHI, will show off some interesting stuff today brought back from a major CHI conference. Organizer Margaret Pacey, a graduate student in systems design engineering, promises "interactive toys, haptic interfaces, and usability engineering in Japan". The presentation starts at 12:30 in Davis Centre room 1304.

[Warrior logo] The national women's field hockey championship is being held at UW today and through the weekend, with games being played at University Stadium starting at 1:00 this afternoon (British Columbia vs. Alberta). The UW Warriors' first competition comes tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. against Toronto. Things wind up with the gold medal game at 2:00 Sunday afternoon.

A new exhibition is opening in the Artspace Gallery of East Campus Hall: works by Alex Livingston, under the title "A History of Four-Footed Beasts and Other Curiosities". Livingston will lecture at 1:30 today in ECH room 1219, and from 5 to 7 p.m. there will be an opening reception in the gallery.

The Centre for Applied Health Research, and related enterprises, present a talk today by Thomas Stephens of the Ontario Tobacco Research Unit. Topic: "Secondary Analysis Possibilities in National Data Sets". He'll speak at 3:30 in the auditorium of the Lyle Hallman Institute, attached to Matthews Hall.

Also at 3:30, the Institute for Computer Research presents David Heckerman of Microsoft Research speaking on "Learning Bayesian Networks" (Davis Centre room 1302).

The Arriscraft Lecture Series in the school of architecture continues tonight at 7:00, in the "green room" of Environmental Studies II: Toronto architect Bruce Kuwabara, one of the team from KPMB Architects in Toronto who designed the new Canadian embassy in Berlin, speaks on, well, "Relatively Speaking".

A correction

A couple of days ago I mentioned a film shown by what I said was the "Hindu Movie Club". A reader gently corrects me: "I take it you meant 'Hindi Movie Club'. Hindi is a language -- Hindu refers to followers of the Hinduism religion -- not quite the same thing!" I knew that, but I made the mistake anyway.
The first of this year's "distinguished guest lectures" in the Jewish studies program comes this evening, when David Novak of the University of Toronto speaks on "Christianity and the Holocaust". "How much," Novak asks, "did the anti-Judaism of Christianity contribute to anti-Semitism in general and Nazi ideology in particular? Are contemporary Christians responsible for the anti-Judaism and anti-Semitism of the past? How valuable are current Christian efforts to build a new relationship with Jews and Judaism after the Holocaust? How much rethinking of Christian theology can reasonably be expected of contemporary Christians?" His talk begins at 8:00 in Needles Hall room 3001.

The autumn arts and crafts fair continues in the Student Life Centre.

And preregistration for the spring term continues today and tomorrow in department and faculty offices.

CAR

Editor of the Daily Bulletin: Chris Redmond
Information and Public Affairs, University of Waterloo
credmond@uwaterloo.ca | (519) 888-4567 ext. 3004
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