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Volume C, Number 49	University of Southern California	Friday, March 21, 1986
Academic integrity pondered
Student task force cites cheating problem
Mann Junior High sponsors on-campus basketball tourney
By Tommy Li
Staff Writer
Varsity and junior varsity basketball teams from 11 Los Angeles junior high schools will compete in the 2nd Horace Mann Junior High School Invitational Basketball Tournament held in the university's Physical Education Building on Saturday, March 29 from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Last year, the tournament was held in junior high school facilities with the finals at the Sports Arena.
"(The tournament) is, to my knowledge, the largest single day tournament in Los Angeles," said Bernardo Garcia, a senior economics major, and head basketball coach at Horace Mann Junior High School.
"I'm real confident that this will run smoothly. I do not foresee any problems (with this tournament)," Garcia said. "I do foresee that this will be a rewarding experience for all members involved.
"Getting all these schools will not only be an athletic experience but also it will be a cultural interaction, which I hope makes our city better off," he s<
The tournament will be sponsored by Horace Mann Junior High School. Student Senate and the Dr. Pepper, Co. will be co-sponsoring the event, Garcia said.
The senate has provided the facilities and the scorekeepers for the tournament, and Dr. Pepper has provided trophies and refreshments, he said.
In addition to providing an arena for competition between junior high school basketball teams, "we want to involve the community with USC," said Nancy' Calle, chairwoman of the senate's Environmental and External Affairs Committee. "We're hoping to get a lot of support."
Eight teams from both the varsity and the junior varsity divisions will be competing under single elimination rules. The single elimination process means the losing team is automatically eliminated from the tournament.	.. ._
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"Persistent enthusiasm7 recognized
Dean awarded for leadership
By Katherine Dyar
Staff Writer
Barbara Solomon, dean of Graduate Studies, was honored last week by the American Association of Higher Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching for her "persistent enthusiasm" in serving the university and its community.
Solomon, along with five other professors from top universities around the country, was given special recognition at the association's annual meeting in Washington, D.C. "for providing outstanding leadership to
their colleges and universities," according to an article in The Chronicle of Higher Education.
The award winners were nominated by the presidents of their universities and selected by the association's board of directors.
Solomon said she was "absolutely shocked” to find out she'd been given the award, but that "it’s nice to know you're appreciated."
Solomon said the award, in a way, is a response to "all of the negative press about the lack of attention given to teaching in universities," which portrays
By Gerhard Tauebel
Staff Writer
A student task force has rec-ommended that new measures be instituted to curb cheating in university classrooms.
The actions of the task force come in response to results of a survey showing that many students have witnessed at least one instance of cheating while enrolled at the university.
The report, compiled by the Gold Seal Task Force on Academic Integrity, includes recommendations that professors make known their intent to uphold the university's policy’ on cheating and that the use of bluebooks for taking exams be discontinued.
The report also calls for the establishment of a uniform policy on cheating within all the university's academic departments; a more active role in educating students of the cheating policy by the Freshman Writing Program and Summer Orientation Program; and the formation of a new committee to hear student complaints and questions regarding cheating at the university.
professors as giving "more attention to publications and research, and not enough to the university as a community."
The Association, Solomon said, is "very interested in enhancing the experience of higher education by acknowledging the importance of faculty to overall university life," and by honoring "faculty who make a difference" in the community.
"It's a good award," Solomon said. "A lot of faculty around here reallv feel it's important to serve in other capacities besides teaching and research."
Solomon, a 19-year veteran of the university, teaches research methods in social work and statistics in the school's doctoral program; two courses that she said are the "most hated, most feared" classes in the program.
"Part of the challenge is to have students who come in dreading the classes and have them leave saying 'Hey, that wasn't so bad.' That's probably why I got the award. If I had taught a class everyone liked, it would have been harder," she said.
Solomon is also the recipient of the university's Associates Award for Teaching Excellence.
In the community surrounding the campus, Solomon has been involved with a shelter for battered women and has helped provide family counselors at the predominantly black inner-city churches.
Solomon said she received a Steuben glass sculpture of an owl, "the AAHE's equivalent of an Oscar," as part of the award. A slide presentation of the award winners pictured at places around their campuses was also part of the award ceremony, she said.
The task force's findings and recommendations have been informally presented to both the Student Senate, which sponsored the survey, and Vice Provost Sylvia Manning, said Erica Crystal, chairperson of the task force.
She said the reports were made to inform the senate and administration about the task force's activities, and are not intended to be a call for action.
Manning was unavailable for comment.
The report is expected to be formally presented to the senate following the spring break, Crystal said.
Although the administration has been receptive to the task force's proposals, it is unclear whether it will take any action on the basis of the recommendations, she said.
''They're not demands, they're recommendations,” Crystal said.
The recommendations are in response to the task force's survey of 2,000 university students, which revealed that 40 to 60 percent of students have witnessed cheating at the university' and that 75 percent of students are unaware of the -university's cheating policy, Crystal said.
Survey results showed that the three most common forms of cheating are plagiarism, copying from someone else's test during an exam, and talking during an exam.
Crystal said the recommendations are designed to both educate and deter cheating at the university.
One proposal calls for professors to include a statement on academic integrity in their course syllabi, and provide one proctor for every 40 students in a class to discourage cheating.
"They (professors) need to step up their procedures," she said.
Moreover, by discontinuing the use of bluebooks. Crystal said the opportunity to prewrite an examination or fill the bluebooks with crib notes will be largely eliminated.
Instead, the report calls for the universitv to provide funds to each department for the purchase of the test booklets. The department will be responsible for providing them to students before an exam.
Crystal also said that a uniform cheating policy for all departments and more involvement by the freshman writing and summer orientation programs would raise student awareness toward the university guidelines.
By initiating a more active role for the FWP and orientation program, the university would be able to alert freshmen to the policy on cheating with increased effectiveness, she said.
Crystal said the formation of a committee to act as an intermediary between the student bodv and the administration on matters of cheating is presently under consideration. The committee would document incidents of cheating, as reported by students, and answer ques-(Continued on page 2)
F. PAUL PELLEGRINO DAILY TROJAN
Barbara Solomon, dean of Graduate Studies.
On a warm afternoon, this little boy is not only enjoying the first day of Spring, but also his early Easter basket.