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Serving the Texas A&M University community
Vol. 74 No. 99
12 Pages
Tuesday, February 17, 1981
College Station, Texas
USPS 045 360
Phone 845-2611
The Weather
)
Yesterday
Today
High
68 High .
... .70
Low
42 Low
52
Rain
. . . . . none Chance of rain.
. none
Budget, officers
OK’d by council
P8
lat. |
l>.m.
>•11
By KATHY O’CONNELL
Battalion Staff
MSC Council members Monday
night approved recommendations by
the Budget Review Committee for
1981-82.
The total recommended budget for
next year’s MSC Council and Directo
rate programs is $1,323,599, a five per
cent increase over last year’s $1.25 mil
lion programming budget. *
The council will request $204,442
(15.4 percent) of the budget in student
service fees at Finance Committee
hearings Thursday. Keith ShurtlefF,
council vice president for finance, said
the council is requesting a 14.6 percent
increase over last year’s student service
fee allocation.
The other funds in the budget are to
come from generated revenue, which
includes ticket sales from the various
programs and donations from outside
sources.
ShurtlefF said the Finance Committee
asked the council to keep its student
service fee request to within a 10 per
cent to 14 percent increase. He said
the request would have been consider
ably less; however, MSC Political
Forum asked for a significant increase
in its budget because of the rising cost
of bringing top quality speakers to
campus.
dent service fee request — $25,949, up
$9,000 (53 percent) from last year’s
$16,949 — is justified because students
are wanting to hear better speakers and
this costs more. “If Political Forum is to
present quality speakers,” he said,
then more money will have to be
budgeted.”
Another reason the budget is higher.
he said, is because council approved the
“Madrigal Dinners” as a new council
project. Keith Bland and Kim Griffiths
presented the proposal to the council
and discussed the reasons for making
the dinners a council project.
They think the Medieval Madrigal
Dinner would be “an excellent way to
usher in the Christmas season and be a
welcomed tradition the students and
community will look forward to year af
ter year.”
The dinners are to be held three con
secutive evenings and will include en
tertainment, a craft fair, menu and cos
tumes representing the Renaissance
Era.
The council also discussed the role of
non-voting members. There had been
concern among members about the lack
of attendence from four of the six non
voting council members. These include
representatives from the Corps of
Cadets, Off-Campus Aggies, Residence
Halls Association, the Graduate Stu
dent Council, class councils and The
Battalion.
Brien Smith, Married Student Coun
cil representative, said “every thing the
council does affects the other groups
and they should be present at the meet
ings.”
At the Feb. 2 meeting the council
approved a proposal to include the Mar
ried Student council as a non-voting
member. Smith presented the prop
osal.
Council President Emen Haby sug
gested a committee be established to
study the purpose, objectives, organiza
tional structure and programming effi
ciency of four directorate committees.
This suggestion was made based on the
findings of the Budget Review Commit
tee when it reviewed budget requests.
These committees are Committees
for Awareness for Mexican-American
Culture, Arts Committee, Black
Awareness Committee and Recreation.
Tfie Program Study Committee will
investigate the four committees and
present a report to the council at the
March 2 meeting.
The council approved Nominating
Committee recommendations for the
1981-82 council officers:
— Kirk Kelley, vice president stu
dent development and Lisa Brubacher,
director of personnel;
— Craig Hanks, vice president of
programs and Brenda Svrcek, coordina
tor of programs;
— Paul Fischer, vice president of
operations; Louise Morgan, director of
MSC services; Bob Pfluger, director of
non-MSC services;
— Doug Noah, vice president of de
velopment; Eugene Alford, director of
development fund raising; Steven
Wong, director of development fi
nance; Scott Zesch, director of devel
opment public relations;
— Todd Norwood, vice president of
finance and and Julie Klabunde, direc
tor of funds; and
— Cindy Keep, director of promo
tions.
The new table of organization shows
these vacancies to still be open: vice
president for public relations, director
of advertising/publicity, director of
accounts, director of budget/planning,
director of procedures, two coordina
tors of projects and three coordinators
of programs.
Beatlemania
Richie Gomez looks and sings like former Beatle
George Harrison in Monday night’s MSC Town Hall
presentation of “Beatlemania.” For a review of the
performance, see Thursday’s Focus.
Made-to-order research papers have some risks
Editor’s note: This is the first in a two-part series looking at
the problems of cheating and scholastic dishonesty at Texas
A&M.
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By MARJORIE M. MCLAUGHLIN
Battalion Staff
‘‘Aggies do not lie, cheat or steal, nor do they tolerate
those who do. ”
— The Aggie Code of Honor
The advertisements are pinned to cluttered bulletin boards
all over campus: “Research papers on every subject.”
The number and nature of subjects available through the
mail is formidable. One California research firm, operating
since 1970, has a catalogue with 10,000 listings, ranging from
supermarkets to ancient Greek and Roman literature. This
company claims a staff of professional writers create thousands
of papers annually.
A phone order can be filled “within two minutes and be in
the mail within four hours,” according to the catalogue, and
24-hour-delivery is possible if the paper is shipped by express
messenger.
At $4 per page, these ready-made papers are not cheap. For
a price, even original papers and dissertations are available.
But apparently to some college students throughout the coun
try, the convenience of buying a research paper is worth the
cost.
What students don’t figure into the price of mail-order
research papers is the price of getting caught committing
plagiarism.
“I feel strongly about this,” said Dr. David Stewart, head of
the Texas A&M English department. “It is a form of theft —
trying to steal grades.”
The 1980-81 Texas A&M University Regulations (sec. 34-1)
state that instructors must report apparent scholastic dishon
esty in writing through the head of the department to the dean
of that particular college.
Professors have the option of either lowering the student’s
final grade or failing him.
Stewart said he couldn’t recall any cases of mail-order
term papers in the English department in the past five years.
Most plagiarism cases handled in his department are cases of
people borrowing other people’s research papers, or copying
papers out of library books.
He said that often, freshmen are honestly confused about
what constitutes plagiarism, having been taught in high
School that the way to write a research paper is to copy
material out of library books.
He said that a handout is given to all freshman English
students, outlining what constitutes plagiarism.
Katherine O’Keeffe, assistant English professor, said in
structors try to assign restricted topics to make it harder for
students to buy ready-made papers. But, she added, stu
dents with enough money can pay for someone to do their
research. -
“It’s not only cheating pure and simple, it’s also acting
against other students in the class,” she said, calling the use of
such papers, an “economic cheat.”
Stewart said there is no set method for proving that a
mail-order term paper has been used, but that most teachers
“instinctively” know when the paper is not written by the
student who turns it in.
Most teachers assign impromptu papers throughout the
semester to learn each student’s style.
Often, if a teacher suspects a paper has been purchased, or
copied, the teacher might ask the student questions about
what some phrase or word means and catch the student that
way, Stewart said.
Dr. Henry Dethloff, interim head of the history depart
ment, said that he was unaware of any cases in his depart
ment, but added that each semester, teachers wonder about
some papers. He remarked that if teachers require outlines
and sources, mail-order papers shouldn’t be a problem.
“It shouldn’t happen if a course is run correctly,” he said.
By monitoring each stage of students’ papers, assistant
history professor Dr. Chester Dunning feels that he can be
“95 percent sure” that plagiarism problems don’t occur in his
classes.
Dunning requires that topics be on based on specific class
reading assignments. In his advanced classes, he requires
preliminary bibliographies and one-on-one meetings with
students to discuss their topics, outlines and approaches to
their papers.
He then usually changes the approach slightly, narrowing
the topic. Complete bibliographies and outlines are required
before students begin work on the paper.
Dunning said he has received three mail-order research
papers since teaching at Texas A&M, but because less writing
is required in undergraduate courses, the problem is not as
prevalent here as at other colleges.
When he receives a plagiarized paper, Dunning fails the
student on the assignment. If the problem occurs again, the
student fails the course.
“It’s a fantastic business that should be stamped out,” Dun
ning said. “I’m all for free enterprise, but I’m also for the
integrity of the academic profession. ”
The Battalion ran an ad for a California research firm last
semester. Don Johnson, coordinator of student publications,
said that the national advertising agency which handles The
Battalion’s national ads arranged for placing the research
paper advertisements.
After complaints from the faculty, The Battalion notified
the agency that the ad would not be run in the future, Johnson
said.
“We told them that we had had objections to (the ad’s)
propriety,” he said.
Mail-order research services stand to make large profits,
with prices ranging from $4 a page for already written papers,
to $11.95 a page for graduate custom papers.
But, as Stewart remarked, most students don’t get what
they expect for their money. He said that the few papers he
has seen were about C-quality work, complete with a few
misspelled words and grammar errors, designed to look like
natural mistakes.
“I have never seen one (paper) that I would fail, but I’ve
never seen one that I would give an A,” he said.
rant
ohn
Flat land helped disabled building-mapper
Photo by Becky Swanson
Roddy Dunnell, a senior engineering technology major, practices his
bowling form in the MSC bowling alley.
By KATHY O’CONNELL
Battalion Staff
To some people getting around campus is nothing.
To Roddy Dunnell, it’s a challenge.
Dunnell, who is confined to a wheelchair, is active
in helping other handicapped students on eampus. In
fact, he’s so active he’s mapped and cataloged every
building on the Texas A&M University campus that
has wheelchair access. The handbook, entitled “Ac
cess,” was printed through the office of the vice presi
dent for student services.
Starting last spring and finishing in the summer,
Dunnell said he went to every building, restroom and
ramp to see what accommodations are available for
handicapped students.
“It was a long hot summer,” he said. “The good
thing about here (Texas A&M) is that it’s flat. Hills are
a real pain.”
The size of the campus makes it difficult, he said, but
there is a special shuttle bus that takes handicapped
students from one side of campus to the other.
“Originally, our club, Students Concerned for the
Handicapped, was doing it (mapping the campus),”
Dunnell said.
“We split it up into seven sections and were each
going to take a section. It ended up only one other
person mapped a section.”
Dunnell said he “figured it was needed” so he didn’t
mind the extra six sections.
Dunnell said there are about 100 students on cam
pus with handicaps and 10 to 12 in wheelchairs. He
said his main concern is to eliminate the barriers facing
these students.
“Right now a real big problem is parking — people
parking across curb cuts or bicycle riders and skaters
that use the curb cuts.” he said. “They don’t realize
that they’re made for people in wheelchairs.
“We’re in the process of having wheelchair signs
painted on all the curb cuts. ” This should make every
one realize what the curb cuts are intended for, he
said.
Dunnell said wheelchair access at Texas A&M is
comparable, if not better, to other schools. He said the
University of Texas has good facilities but the hills
make it difficult to get around. At the University of
Houston, he said, it’s crowded and people are incon
siderate, by parking bikes in front of the ramps or near
the handrails.
That happens here, he said, but not as often.
Dunnell said another concern of his is reaching
“program accessibility.” This means figuring out
where different classes should be held and if the build
ings are accessible.
“For example,” he said, “in chemistry lab, the
building is accessible, but the tables are to high for a
wheelchair. You can pick up a lot by watching, but it’s
not the same.”
Dunnell said he worked with Dr. Rod O’Connor,
chemistry professor, and designed a lab table which is
now being built.
The senior engineering technology major said he
doesn’t see his disability as a handicap.
“It’s all in your attitude. It’s not really a handicap to
me, it just hinders me in some things. You can’t look
back, if you look back you’ll start feeling sorry for
yourself. ”
Dunnell’s disability resulted from a spinal injury he
suffered while platform diving in 1976. He said he
went through a period where he felt sorry for himself.
“It hurt my grades bad, but I just couldn’t stop. I’m a
very straightforward person. I can’t stop something
once I’ve started.”
Dunnell said his disability is more difficult for his
friends to accept than it is for him. “It’s mainly harder
for my older friends who knew me before I was in the
chair. They don’t know how to treat me.”
Not only is he involved in Students Concerned for
the Handicapped, but he is also active in the Associa
tion of Handicapped Athletes. He said there are bas
ketball and bowling teams for handicapped students
on campus. They hold basketball practice on Monday
and Wednesday from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
The players get quite a work out and Dunnell said
they need it. “What people don’t realize,” he said, “is
that people in wheelchairs need to be more active. Our
systems don’t fight off colds as well.”
He said the team plays by rules set up by the Nation
al Wheelchair Basketball Association. According to the
rules, people have to have a 15 percent disability to
play in the league. Fifteen percent disability means
the person has bad knees or weak ankles and uses a
wheelchair.
Wheelchair basketball is classified into different
levels, he said, and depending on the type of disabil
ity, the player is allowed a certain amount of points per
game.
For example, he said, players in level three (15
percent disability) are allowed three points per game.
Dunnell considers himself a fair shot. “I’m getting
better. My shooting average is about 60 percent.”
He said the physical education department is trying
to organize a regular sports event for handicapped
students every semester, which would include table
tennis, backgammon and chess, as well as basketball
and bowling. He said most of the games would be held
in the MSC bowling center.
After graduation in May, Dunnell said he wants to
design buildings that have total wheelchair access. He
considers this very important for people in wheel
chairs. Although he’s not sure what the job prospects
are, but he hopes they’ll be good.
One thing is for sure though, he knows who he is. “I
don’t want to be singled out. I’ve learned to be very
patient. I’m still myself, I just can’t walk any more. I
hate the fact that I’m in a wheelchair, always will, but I
have no choice. You just can’t stop being persistent.”