Group sells reports that students use as own
Company accused of encouraging student cheating
By Kathy Braidhill
Cardboard boxes stuffed with papers lined the floor along the walls of the small apartment. Tall, green file cabinets were crowded into one. corner. Three men and one woman were slowly filing into an adjoining room, which whirred and buzzed from a Xerox machine. A poster of W.C. Fields competed for attention on a cluttered wall, but one sign on the door stood out: Research Asssistance.
The blonde boyish-faced man spoke slowly and sternly. He sat behind a desk, filling out forms, pausing occasionally to answer the telephone.
"We do not give interviews," he repeated to the reporter standing at hs desk, and he buried his head into his paperwork.
In this modest, Motel-6-type apartment in West Los Angeles, students can buy7 research papers and, though they are officially known as research materials, turn them in as their
"There is such at thing as honesty and integri-
ty here," said John Petruska, professor of microbiology, of the university. "(But) cheating haunts the system, and USC's credibility and students' values. We should get to the point where thev should be ashamed to cheat."
But students do cheat. They take the chance that their professor might recognize a bogus paper even though it might mean a "F" — or worse.
Some professors feel a failing grade is not enough to punish a student and will report him to Robert Mannes, dean of Student Life. Through a series of peer- and teacher-staffed review boards, the student faces expulsion, suspension and other academic sanctions.
The decision to prosecute a student who cheats rests with the faculty, who report to Mannes.
"The faculty member may simply report to me, or he may say in his report, 'I think there should be a conduct review, and I wrould like to see the student expelled or suspended.' "
An all-student conduct review panel, organized by Mannes, hears the case and makes a decision. This is the onlv way a student can be expelled from the university, Mannes said.
Expulsion may not be necessary if a professor feels that failing a student is sufficient punishment. A student may appeal this decision to an ad hoc committee from the school in which the class was offered.
If either the student or teacher is not satis-
fied with the committee's decision, they can appeal to the student behavioral appeals panel, which is composed of faculty and students.
"It's a very sensitive situation," Petruska said, "and difficult to prove. You cannot accuse them unless vou have firm evidence.
"It happened to me once. A student turned in a paper that was written very professionally. I asked to see his research notes in preparing the paper to §howr proof. He did give me notes in his handwriting. There was no proof of cheating except that it was a very sophisticated paper."
Although the university has specific guidelines established for academic impropriety, some departments handle it internally, and let the teachers talk to the students themselves.
A student of Juanita Mantovani, assistant dean of humanities, turned in a paper "with an obviously huge shift in style, authored by a completely different thought process," she said. "When I asked him, 'What grade do you expect?' he said, 'An 'F.' So I gave him an F.' "
"Where you calling from?" the man from Research Assistance asked on the telephone. He sat relaxed at the desk, with pencil pointed in his hand.
(Continued on page 5)
trojan
Volume LXXXIX, Number 48
University of Southern California
Tuesday, November 25. 1980
COMMUNITY TASK FORCE
Local residents get job help
By Joe Grassi
Staff Writer
In conjunction with the Central Park Five Council, the university is trying to help community residents find jobs.
Each Tuesday the )ob Development Task Force brings employers and prospective employees together at Los Angeles Trade Tech for job interviews.
The university, through its Joint Educational Project and
Job Placement Program, has been instrumental in establishing the task force and is expected to contribute each week at the Tuesday community meetings.
The task force's goal is to help maintain a good level of employment in the Central Park Five area, which surrounds the university. The Central Park Five Council, formed last spring, is a coali-
tion of citizens concerned with the community problems.
The university is the largest private employer in the Los Angeles area, with more than 1,100 employees and about 200 job openings each month.
"A lot of people in the community do not know how to approach the big employers and do not have transportation. So when vou bnng an employer in to see the people, it works well," said Barbara Gardner, coordinator of the Joint Educational Project.
About 60 people attended last Tuesday's task force and 38 people were interviewed by four employers.
"The university, the American Automobile Association, the University Hilton hotel and the Orthopedic Hospital participated," said Karan Neal, coordinator of a joint educational project sponsored by the Atlantic Richfield Company "Future job mart participants will include May Co. and the State of California Employment Development Department," Neal said.
' Other prospective participants in the job task fyrce are California Pediatric Hospital, YWCA-YMCA, Fedco, Occidental Life Insurance, Garment Industries, Security Pacific Bank, Pep Boys, Ross Loos Medical Group, 32nd Street Market," Neal said.
"We anticipate an increase in people and companies in the next few weeks,” Neal said. "Because we work regularly
(Continued on page 14)
Park Five Council tries to solve local problems
Formulated last spring, the Central Park Five Council, a coalition of concerned civic-minded organizations and people, has already made considerable contnbutions to the community.
The council is actively trying to solve many of the community's problems. Citing unemployment, gang violence, child care and the general appearance of the neighborhood as key problems, the couii cil distributes its energies through several task forces.
The Central Park Five area consists of the five neighborhoods surrounding the university. It is bordered by Olympic Boulevard and Santa Barbara Avenue in the north and south and San Pedro Street and Western Avenue on the east and west.
The universitv >s actively participating in the Community Job Mart designed to help unemployed community residents find |obs "USC has certainly been helpful, offering resources and contact people, but the dav to dav operation still relies on volunteers.” said Dannv Montoya, council president.
"We get a lot of participation from the local schools and churches," Montoya said. "The schools have been helpful in planning dav care centers. We want to develop more of a place for kids to go after school.”
"Through the schools we can reach the parents to discuss gang violence," he said "I'm sure the parents are aware of what's going on out there, we just have to get them more involved.”
The Dress Up Your Neighborhood Youth Program offers grants of up to $100 to aid youth groups carry- out projects to improve their neighborhoods.
Photo by Marsha Traeger
BOB MACKIESQUE — Jazz flutist Tim Weisberg, dressed to kill impressed students with his music at USC Concert's first noontime concert, held in Bovard Auditorium.