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The Reflection of Fairfield
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By Nicoletta Richardson Assistant News Editor
With the presidential election only three weeks away, students usually observe the election from only an outside perspective. But on Monday night in the LLBCC, former Time photographer P.F. Bentley gave his audience the inside scoop on the presidential lifestyle through never-before seen images. P.F. Bentley is a former photojournalist and Special Correspondent for Time magazine, but has also been published in the New York Times Magazine, The Washington Post, and many other media sources around the world. Bentley was the first photojournalist to depict the House floor in session through images. “I kind of wanted to try a new thing,� said Bentley. “What would it be like to be in the campaign looking out, where I was out looking in? What happened after the show was gone?� Bentley is respected throughout the print and broadcast community for earning access to presidential candidates during their campaigns, accord-
ing to Bentley’s official website. His subjects range from past presidents, such as George Bush and Ronald Reagan, to presidential hopefuls such as Jesse Jackson and Bob Dole. Bentley photographed Bill
“I kind of wanted to try a new thing. What would it be like to be in the campaign looking out, where I was out looking in? What happened after the show was gone?�
-P. F. Bentley Clinton during his run for president. Clinton agreed over a hand shake that Bentley could shoot whatever he wanted. Clinton requested that Bentley traveled with him and would never repeat what he had heard.
Bentley ended up covering Clinton’s first presidential run in 1991 to 1992 and also the last week of his presidency. One of Bentley’s images was chosen by Clinton to be displayed in his living room, according to Bentley. The picture portrays Bill and Hilary Clinton physically exhausted, lying together on a couch after a pizza meeting. To Clinton, it portrayed much more than an image of him and his wife. Bentley said that Clinton thought it “told the tale of how hard the campaign is, what happens to you.� Bentley not only described the behind-the-scene moments he captured of the president, but also of history. He was in the White House when the twin towers fell in New York City. Bentley captured Bush and other politicians in his photographs while crucial decisions were being made. Yet Bentley thought, “For the first time, we were one country.� He described the Republicans and the Democrats being in the same room, and putting aside differences for the sake of the American people.
do a deal. They could argue all day out there, but in the evening time they go out. There’s a lot of hate, so who pays for it? All of us do.�
A l though he witnessed this unity that was present during 9/11, he also saw it fall apart because of the nature of political parties. Bentley left Time magazine 10 years ago and is currently a documentary filmmaker and editor for corporate clients, according to his website. Bentley now lives on a small island in Hawaii and describes it as “a good balance.� He hopes to retire in the near future. At the closing of the event, Bentley was asked if he still has hope for the future of America. “Yeah, I got hope,� said Bentley. “I got hope that like one day, that bulb will go off, and they’ll say, ‘Why are you arguing?’ And you know, when you look at the older guys, they knew how to
Martin O’Sullivan/The Mirror
4VSWFZ SFFWBMVBUFT DSJUFSJB GPS BDBEFNJD JOUFHSJUZ By Molly Leidig Contributing Writer Student responses will ultimately determine changes to Fairfield University’s policy on academic integrity. The school’s regulations define academic integrity as intellectual honesty. Beginning Oct. 22, an academic integrity survey is being launched via student mailboxes. The goal of this survey is “to paint an accurate picture of our own campus attitudes, compare those with other campuses and in doing so engage the campus community in a conversation about integrity,� according to Dr. Kathy Nantz, professor of Economics and head of the survey task force. The results of the survey will be returned in December. But where does Fairfield stand at the moment? An informal survey of 29 students shows a preview of what the survey may reveal. It found several results regarding cheating, including: r All 29 students have witnessed another student openly and purposely cheating. r 11 students admitted to
openly and purposely cheating themselves. r Roughly 25 percent of the students felt guilty and undeserving of a grade they received in the past. r 22 students felt angry and bothered when witnessing another student cheat. If most people become angry with others for cheating, why do students cheat? Some students argued that they turn to cheating as a coping mechanism for heavy workloads, and they feel as if it is their only escape from the demanding college schedule. Other students feel pressured to succeed and believe cheating is their only option to do well. �Society puts so much importance on GPA and succeeding in the classroom and with some courses, no matter how hard I study, I know I am not going to live up to these high standards,� said a junior named Alex, who prefers that her last name remain unknown. “Cheating, with the possibility of getting caught, was worth the risk
for me because I feel good about myself when I get good grades.� But Fairfield isn’t the only
school with a cheating problem. One of the most famous cheating scandals comes from the United States Military Academy at West Point. The school prides itself on honesty and states on their website that their mission is to prepare each graduate to be “a commissioned leader of character committed to the values of Duty, Honor, Country.� In addition, their code of honor that simply reads, “A cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do.� Yet this code of honor was severely violated. In a 1976 cheating scandal, more than 150 cadets resigned or were expelled for cheating on a take-home electrical engineering exam, according to an article in The Wall Street Journal. A more recent scandal at Harvard shows another example of how no school is superior when it comes to cheating.
An examination given at Harvard was “open book, open note, open Internet�, but there was one other small rule: �students may not discuss the exam with others.� Although still under investigation, it is suspected that more than half of the class of over 250 students “inappropriately collaborated or plagiarized on that exam,� according to CNN. When approached, the students at Harvard were bewildered that they were even being accused of cheating. �It’s horrible when any student cheats or is accused of cheating. But, we look to Harvard as one of the world’s leader institutions in education, and as a leader, we look for more from places like Harvard,� said American ethicist Bruce Weinstein. Based on these occurrences, there seems to be much confusion regarding academic honesty in universities nationwide. Fairfield has exhibited similar confusion in the informal survey when 29 students questioned whether their behaviors could be considered academic dishonesty. Fairfield University has caught
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