Emerald
Vol. 82, No. 112
I
Eugene, Oregon 97403
-1
Tuesday, March 3, 1981
Photo by Erich Boekelheide
Was a sunny day
Although sunny skies and blooming trees may have lured some Eugen
eans into a false sense of spring Monday, the National Weather Service
predicts lower temperatures and cloudier skies for the rest of the week.
Today’s high is expected to be in the low-to-mid 50s, almost 10 degrees
less than Monday’s high of 62. The chance of rain today is about 20
percent, growing to 60 percent tonight.
Photo by Steve Dykes
Prof upbraids
paper peddler
By LOIS YOSHISHIGE
Of the Emerald
"Term Paper Blues Cured! Research
service offers college students long
sought relief. Order one Pacific Re
search catalog for just $1
Sound familiar?
Companies providing students with
research papers have been around for a
long time, but no promotion has been as
blatant as Pacific Research's, says Stan
Greenfield, former chairer of the Acade
mic Standards Committee.
The company’s advertisements have
turned up on dormitory bulletin boards
and classroom walls all over campus.
English Prof. Glen Love even found ads
placed on his students’ desks one morn
ing when he walked into class.
Love says he is appalled at Pacific
Research for spreading the ads on cam
pus.
“They’re the scum of the earth.
They’re trying to turn an institution based
on the integrity of a student into a kind of
perversion of that.’’
Pacific Research, a Seattle-based
operation, offers research papers, cus
tom research for topics not listed in the
catalog and an outline service.
Catalog topics include: "The Social
Satire of Mark Twain,” "The Difference
Between China and Russia in the Area of
Foreign Policy” and “Behavior
Modification Techniques in Retarded
Children.”
Pacific Research representatives
repeatedly refused to comment on their
service when contacted by phone.
Dean of Students Bob Bowlin says
authorities aren’t cracking down as hard
on the sellers of pre-packaged term
papers in Oregon as they are in Wash
ington.
However, a bill has been introduced at
the Legislature that would ban term
paper sales in Oregon. Supported by the
Oregon Student Lobby and the ASUO,
the bill would "prohibit the sale of as
signments for higher education credits.”
If the Legislature approves the bill,
violators will be fined up to $1,000 for a
first offense and up to $10,000 for a
second offense. The law would affect
persons selling or promoting the sale of
term papers, but would not affect typists,
tutors or those offering legitimate forms
of tutoring
University student conduct coordina
tor Vernon Barkhurst says any University
student caught selling term papers will
be expelled. Students purchasing a term
paper could face suspension, usually for
one to three terms.
But Bowlin says punishment depends
on a student’s prior record and can
progress from failure in the class and a
warning, to probation, then suspension
No University student has been pun
ished yet for plagiarism from using
Pacific Research material. The difficulty
is the instructor must produce proof —
such as an original custom-made draft —
to press charges against a student,
Barkhurst says.
A teacher who suspects a student can
bring charges against him, but without
proof of plagiarism the charges must be
dropped, he says.
But once a student is suspected of
plagiarism, professors “usually give the
calf a little more rope to hang himself
with," Barkhurst says. "Typically a
student falls into the same pattern.”
It’s important that faculty members
report incidences of plagiarism, Bark
hurst says. If the first incident goes
unreported and cheating occurs again,
officials probably will be more lenient
since it will look like a first offense, he
says.
And Barkhurst adds that while
students who cheat tend to be those
concerned about flunking out of school,
“it’s just as possible for a very bright
student to cheat as a dumb one ”
These students “set a self-imposed
standard for themselves,” and it
becomes very important for them to get a
good grade, he says.
Everybody’s trials
part of an RA’s job
By JIM GERSBACH
Ol the Emerald
Few jobs compare with that of a
University dormitory resident assistant.
Most people cram their workday into
the hours between nine and five. But an
RA may begin the day at 4 or 5 a m.,
awakened by some student in need of a
dorm key after staggering back from an
all-nighter
University RAs often while away the
wee hours of the morning quieting row
dies or talking residents out of suicide.
In between there are hours of
meetings, duty rounds and paperwork,
with time thrown in for refereeing room
mate conflicts and providing a shoulder
for troubled residents to cry on.
For all that, resident assistants end a
month’s work with a total stipend of
about $4.40 a week. So why do more
than 130 University students vie for the
48 available jobs each year?
Besides free room and board in
University housing — valued at $3,000 by
the housing department — most resident
assistants mention the job’s emotional
rewards.
"It’s nice to see somebody come in
with a girlfriend or boyfriend problem, a
pregnancy or financial problem and to
help them solve that,” says Pat Hanlin,
RA of University Inn’s fourth floor
"You can’t solve all the world’s
problems, but for those you can it’s real
nice."
The ability to work with some 80
residents and their assorted problems is
Continued on Page 3