A moral dilemna
Elizabeth is a freshman, and she takes a Philosophy class taught by Professor Berkowitz.
She has been assured by her room mate Alicia, who took the class the previous semester, that the class is easy, and that Professor Berkowitz, only requires three take home essay tests, and class discussion, and that he has not changed his curriculum in years.
Professor Berkowitz passes out the syllabus the first day, explaining that the class is graded on student participation and the three take home essay tests, as well as his standard class policies, informing them that any quotation of other sources should be properly footnoted and referenced, and that plagiarism or cheating will result in immediate failure in this class.
After the second test is turned in, Professor Berkowitz notices that Elizabeth's assignment, is far better than her class discussion to date, and much better than her first essay test. Something in the paper reminds him of something, so he pulls out the papers from some of his previous classes, and notices it is very close to a paper Alicia turned in the year before. He gives the papers to one of his colleagues, Professor Jones to review, as an impartial third party.
Professor Jones, reviews the papers, and concludes that not only was it plagiarized from Alicia, but that Alicia had copied it from an article in Humanist Magazine. He informs Professor Berkowitz of this fact.
Professor Berkowitz, fails Elizabeth, and goes to the Dean of Students, petitioning to have Alicia's grade reduced from the previous year from a B to an F.
The girls find out, and are incensed. They go to the Dean and file a complaint against Professor Berkowitz, stating that they were unaware they had done anything wrong, and that the Professor should change his curriculum more often. They also argue it is unfair for the Professor to retroactively change Alicia's grades from a B to an F.
Now, I realize none of these people is particularly sympathetic, but in order, please list, with a short explanation, who you feel the sorriest for, from most to least. Elizabeth, Alicia, Professor Jones and Professor Berkowitz.
You can e-mail me the results at: sommiel@yahoo.com. Please include your gender, and your age. When I get the results, I will return an e-mail explaining what this test is for, and what the order should be, and why.
Thanks for taking my short quiz, I am compiling these statistics for a psychology paper, and any assitance I can get is very much appreciated.
Dawn
She has been assured by her room mate Alicia, who took the class the previous semester, that the class is easy, and that Professor Berkowitz, only requires three take home essay tests, and class discussion, and that he has not changed his curriculum in years.
Professor Berkowitz passes out the syllabus the first day, explaining that the class is graded on student participation and the three take home essay tests, as well as his standard class policies, informing them that any quotation of other sources should be properly footnoted and referenced, and that plagiarism or cheating will result in immediate failure in this class.
After the second test is turned in, Professor Berkowitz notices that Elizabeth's assignment, is far better than her class discussion to date, and much better than her first essay test. Something in the paper reminds him of something, so he pulls out the papers from some of his previous classes, and notices it is very close to a paper Alicia turned in the year before. He gives the papers to one of his colleagues, Professor Jones to review, as an impartial third party.
Professor Jones, reviews the papers, and concludes that not only was it plagiarized from Alicia, but that Alicia had copied it from an article in Humanist Magazine. He informs Professor Berkowitz of this fact.
Professor Berkowitz, fails Elizabeth, and goes to the Dean of Students, petitioning to have Alicia's grade reduced from the previous year from a B to an F.
The girls find out, and are incensed. They go to the Dean and file a complaint against Professor Berkowitz, stating that they were unaware they had done anything wrong, and that the Professor should change his curriculum more often. They also argue it is unfair for the Professor to retroactively change Alicia's grades from a B to an F.
Now, I realize none of these people is particularly sympathetic, but in order, please list, with a short explanation, who you feel the sorriest for, from most to least. Elizabeth, Alicia, Professor Jones and Professor Berkowitz.
You can e-mail me the results at: sommiel@yahoo.com. Please include your gender, and your age. When I get the results, I will return an e-mail explaining what this test is for, and what the order should be, and why.
Thanks for taking my short quiz, I am compiling these statistics for a psychology paper, and any assitance I can get is very much appreciated.
Dawn
posted by Dawn at 4:15 PM
1 Comments:
Hi, I am Gary, male, 39 yrs old.
I dont feel sorry for any of them, except for Prof. Berkowitz. He clearly stated his expectations for the class, that plagiarism would not be tolerated. He may not be a great professor because he doesnt change his curriculum nor does he seem well informed (he did miss the original plagiarism by Alicia), but, he is clearly the victim of retribution unjustly from the two students due to their complaint. I dont feel sorry for either student ; they are both guilty of plagiarism. Professor Jones seems totally uninvolved to me. You have asked that I rate my sympathies. I feel most sorry for Prof Jones, for being dragged into the mess, assuming that the processing of this issue consumed his time, energy and perhaps some emotional or professional pain. Then i feel sorry for Berkowitz, for being accused in the students complaint. Next in sympathy order, i would list Elizabeth, since she did plagiarise another students work, altho, if Alicia had properly footnoted her sources, Elizabeth would have copied those too. The most guilty one, ie, the one i feel the least sympathy for, is Alicia, since it was she who plagiarised; she is guilty of the misdeed.
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