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RUTGERS UNIVERSITY—NEW BRUNSWICK
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2014
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Student groups launch ‘Where RU Barchi’ club KATIE PARK CORRESPONDENT
Luma Hasan said after the Condoleezza Rice protests last May, the administration treated her “like a child” and gave the protestors a “dismissive” attitude. But student and faculty relations have still been slow to develop, and several student groups have formed a coalition to demand greater communication from Rutgers President Rober t L. Barchi.
Barchi’s lack of responsiveness halted the agendas of several student activist groups on campus, including Rutgers’ chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said Suraj Patel, a member of the organization. It was the same for Kaila Boulware, a member of Women Organizing Against Harassment, whose group advocates for adding a more thorough sexual conviction vetting process when hiring prospective faculty and staff. SEE CLUB ON PAGE 4
With increased access to technology, especially smartphones, cheating on exams has become much easier for students. PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY MICHELLE KLEJMONT / PHOTO EDITOR
U. faculty shed light on preventing cheating, concerns of online exams ERIN PETENKO ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR
Rutgers President Robert L. Barchi has become the motivating force behind the creation of “Where RU Barchi.” The club aims to improve interaction between Barchi and Rutgers students. TIAN LI / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER / SEPTEMBER 2013
One attempted cheater at Rutgers took a bathroom break during an exam. Thanks to the phone in his pocket, he promptly looked up the answers on Sakai. His only mistake? He did not realize the teaching assistants could see him logging in. Many students are accustomed to the sight of an exam room — identification checked at the door, seats assigned and scattered across the room, exams of varying colors to indicate various question sets — all methods to keep test-takers’ eyes on their own paper. But as more classes and exams move online and students gain in-
creased access to technology with smartphones and other devices, the question arises: How can professors prevent cheating in the modern era? Melissa Backus, assistant director of Academic Integrity, said most reported students that come through her door claim to have practiced poor time management or had an emergency that prompted them to cheat. “The majority of students do come clean, and a lot of students tell us they were stressed and had no other option,” she said. She said plagiarism and cheating compose 90 percent of academic integrity incidents. Violations like academic sabotage, stealing or fabrication of research form the other 10 percent.
Each academic department can create their own policies concerning exam formats and other ways to prevent cheating. But Backus’ office does create guidelines for professors to consider. It recommends putting the academic integrity policy on the syllabus and on assignments, and using Turnitin — their plagiarism recognition software — to detect copied work. It has yet to create recommendations for problems like students’ cheating on online exams by taking them with friends or using online resources. “That kind of thing is a little harder to detect. The faculty might suspect it when answers are similar … or when SEE CHEATING ON PAGE 4
RU Ally Week kicks off with talk on social justice issues ERIN PETENKO ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR
In Alex Ngo’s social justice class, professors had students do a “privilege walk,” where students would stand in line based on their advantages and disadvantages. Ngo ended up at the back of the room. Ngo and Suey Park discussed the complexity of social justice movements on college campuses last night at the Livingston Student Center. Their talk was the opening event for RU Ally Week, an array of events centered on social justice advocacy. Zaneta Rago, acting director for the Center for Social Justice Education and LGBT Communities, said the week was aimed at students looking for ways to start a dialogue about social justice affairs. “It will help to deepen their understanding of the experiences of others,” she said. They chose both speakers for their experience with social me-
dia, she said. Park is well known for co-creating the #NotYourAsianSidekick hashtag and other hashtag campaigns, while Ngo is an activist and writer who chaired the Coalition for Queer People of Color at University of Michigan. Ngo said at the University of Michigan, he encountered many “rich, white” students. Most of the discussions centered on how guilty the privileged people felt, and he would be expected to share his marginalized experiences with others, despite his reluctance. While professors had male students talk about the heavy expectations they faced, Ngo thought of how he had been bullied for wanting to par ticipate in less masculine activities. To help prevent these kinds of injustices, his friends would text each other and ask one another to attend classes they were SEE ALLY ON PAGE 4
Activists Suey Park (left) and Alex Ngo (right) discuss their personal experiences at RU Ally Week’s opening talk held yesterday at the Livingston Student Center. YANGENG LIN
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