Agora 3 Campus News Strickland bids farewell to teaching
February 10, 2006
Jackie Pacheco Editor-in-Chief For 39 years, Grant Strickland, associate professor of English, has been a staple at Monroe County Community College (MCCC). His eccentric mannerisms and unique style of teaching has made his English classes memorable, but the veteran teacher almost never made it to MCCC. Strickland had six contracts offered to him at the time of his college graduation: three in Michigan, one in St. Louis, Missouri, one in California and one in Chicago, Illinois. However, he chose to make MCCC his home and has taught here ever since. “My wife and I like the cooler climate, so we wanted to stay in Michigan. We came to MCCC because I liked what I saw at this college and I have never been disappointed. I love the trees, the rolling hills, the new theater. It’s just lovely,” Strickland said.
Strickland’s road to teaching began when he was a young
State in 1963. “I remember the office of one of my professors at Wayne State, and it was dark and crummy, and the paint was feeling off the walls. I walked into my office at this college and I was so happy. It was just full of light and air,” Strickland said. Agora photo by HEATHER WILSON After so many years Grant Strickland invested at man. MCCC, Strickland looks forHe picked up a job digging ward to retirement. ditches and can recall working “My wife and I are retiring next to an old man and thinking together. We’re both gourmet to himself, “I’m not going to be vegetarian chefs. We run and doing this all my life.” So he pur- lift together, we plan on studysued teaching, graduating from ing astronomy and helping out Ohio State first, then Wayne our children as well as putzing
around in the flowers. We’ll stay in Monroe because we think it’s just beautiful here,” Strickland said. However, Strickland knows he will always remember the people at MCCC. “I’ll never forget the faces, only names slip a little. I won’t forget the things that the students and the staff have done for me over the years. It was wonderful working at a college where the staff is left free to teach the way that they want,” Strickland said. Strickland recalled an unforgettable event at MCCC after the Kent State shootings took place (four students were gunned down during a demonstration against the Vietnam War in 1970). “I was looking out the window and watching students in the courtyard, and I remember thinking, ‘Bless your hearts, but you’re not going to change the world,’” Strickland said. “I’ve always told my students that they can’t lose their
Faculty confronts plagiarism in hopes of prevention Rebecca Kennedy Page Editor Grading papers one evening, a professor encounters a paper that changes in style from paragraph to paragraph. A brief internet search reveals the websites where the paragraphs were taken from, word for word. Plagiarism. Unfortunately, this scenario is common on college campuses. Dr. Bruce Way, the dean of humanities and social sciences at Monroe County Community College (MCCC), said between two and four students submitted obviously plagiarized papers each semester when he taught at the University of Toledo. Way has faced fewer claims of plagiarism at MCCC, but plagiarism still occurs. Dr. Joanna Sabo, political science professor, said one student submitted a paper from the University of Texas and then tried to convince her that the university actually stole his paper instead. Way said he encounters most plagiarism cases near the end of the semester when students face final exams and term papers. He suggested that students choose to plagiarize because they feel overwhelmed or simply do not want to do the work.
Some professors combat plagiarism by warning students about the consequences of cheating; others design their assignments to make it harder to plagiarize. English professor Lori Jo Couch educates her students on proper citation rules to prevent plagiarism based on ignorance. “It’s a fine line between students who don’t know Dr. Joanna how to document properly and those who blatantly takes parts of their paper off the internet,” she said. Professors have their own methods for detecting plagiarism. Way requests notes and proof of research from a student he suspects of plagiarism. Sabo compares questionable papers to in-class essays and can detect a shift in style fairly easily. “It’s completely and utterly obvious,” she said. Technology provides faculty with additional ways to catch plagiarism. Many professors search Google for suspicious phrases from students’ papers. Often this leads them directly to the plagiarized source. MCCC also subscribes to
Turnitin.com, a company that maintains an online database of websites, articles, books, and student papers. The company compares submitted papers with other sources stored in the database. When faced with a case of plagiarism, English professor
The vice president meets with both the professor and the student. He asks the professor to recommend a disciplinary action, which can range anywhere from a failing grade on the assignment to the student being expelled from the college. The college maintains an indefinite record of all academic dish o n e s t y c h a r g e s professor brought forth. T h e s e o f f i c i a l accusations are rare, however. Randy Daniels, the current vice president of student and information services, reported that he has investigated only two claims of academic dishonesty since he assumed the position last July. Even when a student goes uncaught, the consequences of plagiarism reach beyond failing grades or failing classes. Many professors feel students are cheating themselves when they plagiarize because they do not learn what the class is trying to teach them. “The tragedy in my mind is that if they put the same amount of effort into doing the assignment, they would have passed the course,” Way said.
I’m not afraid to identify a student very openly who cheats.
“” Sabo, political science Timothy Dillon often gives the student a chance to rewrite the paper. Not all professors are so lenient. Sabo sometimes lets students rewrite paper if she thinks the plagiarism was unintentional and the student is honest about it, but she decides that on a case-bycase basis. Usually she presses academic dishonesty charges against the student. “I’m pretty strict,” she said. “I’m not afraid to identify a student very openly who cheats.” When a professor formally accuses a student of academic dishonesty, the appropriate dean reviews the case and then reports it to the vice president of student and information services.
personal peace worrying about world events. Those will never change. Find somebody to love and find a job you love as well, and everything else will dwindle into nonexistence.”
MCCC loses Faunt Kelyn Dillon Page Editor The facts of life: vertebrates cannot live without a backbone, a nation is reduced to chaos without a strong leader, and Monroe County Community College (MCCC) will seem bleak without Peggy Faunt. Laurel Johnston, administrative assistant for the math and science division and a friend of Peggy Faunt, recalled a fond memory of Faunt. It was Johnston’s first support staff in-service day. The Hawaiian theme of the meeting contrasted with the brisk March weather. Despite the chill, from the Whitman Center to Main Campus, Johnston and Faunt, in full Hawaiian garb, rode in Faunt’s convertible with the top down. As MCCC Humanities Division Administrative Assistant, Faunt announced her retirement in mid-January. She served the Humanities Division for over 18 years and previously worked at the Whitman Center. “Whenever you have a question she knows the answer,” Joe McIntyre, MCCC student, said. “She’s a good listener… I’m going to miss her.” She gave two reasons for her departure: taking care of her father’s medical needs and running her animal sanctuary. When she is not working for the college, she administers an animal rescue sanctuary. Indian Creek Sanctuary in Temperance houses numerous cats, dogs, one pig called Petunia, and a few horses. Faunt is optimistic about her future. “When you retire, you shouldn’t retire from something you should retire to something… that’s what I’m doing,” Faunt said.