NEWS | PAGE 2 Ongoing issues loom over 2011.
OPINIONS | PAGE 6 The TSA has gone too far.
SPORTS | PAGE 9 Men’s golf eyes successful season.
ENTERTAINMENT | PAGE 13 ‘The Fighter’ a knockout biopic.
CAMPUS LIFE | PAGE 17 Students volunteer over break.
THE SIGNAL
VOLUME 78 | ISSUE 15
www.gsusignal.com
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2010
Georgia State lacks open job placement records By MIRANDA SAIN Associate News Editor Georgia State boasts to its prospective students about its new football team, its honors program, its Top 100 law school and its diverse student body. However, one element that Georgia State fails to tout is its job placement rate. As a university, Georgia State does not collectively keep an open record of the job placement rates of its recently graduated students. The last known university-wide survey of job placement and salary data was conducted in fall 2006 before the recession. Only 11.5 percent, or 356, Georgia State graduates participated in the survey. Of these 356, 88 percent indicated that they were working for a salary. The median salary was $33,000. Students are puzzled as to why Georgia State does not advertise or keep track of these numbers on an annual basis. “I think it makes the school look unorganized. Many smaller schools, even technical schools, post this information annually. Why can’t a school the size of GSU?” said Logan Bachus, a senior public relations major. “It makes me think that the job rate must be too bad for the school to want to post.” “They should be keeping track of the place-
ment rate. How can they tell that their program is successful? And how are they recruiting students without evidence that the programs offered will get perspective students where they want to go?” said Victoria Lang, a sophomore studying journalism and religious studies. Bachus said that the university needs these numbers and figures to promote Georgia State’s academics instead of its football program. “If we are implementing things like football and on-campus Greek housing to draw in new students, we also need to be keeping up with and implementing programs that are based on education to keep pulling in the best and brightest students,” Bachus said. The Robinson College of Business annually surveys its December, May and August graduating class for their salary data, career status and rankings data. The average salary of a Robinson graduate with a Professional MBA is $100,467. Those who graduate with a Flex MBA will start in the salary range of $45,000 to $130,000. The average starting salary for a master’s degree is $65,579. Bachelor’s degree earners get an average starting salary of $42,857. However, Robinson College does not have an open record of the job placement rate of its recent graduates.
SARAH BALTER | SIGNAL
Students are showered with confetti at graduation. Now they’ll have to go out and find a job, which might not be as easy as they think.
Collegiate cheating on the rise By CASEY ECHOLS Staff Writer
JUDY KIM | SIGNAL
Film major Jibri Morton uses Georgia State’s e-reserves website. Publishers have sued Georgia State for unauthorized copies of materials.
Publishers sue school over E-Reserves material
By MIRANDA SAIN Associate News Editor Georgia State is making headlines not for its new football program, but for its copyright infringement. On April 15, 2008, three major publishers filed suit against Georgia State’s former President Carl Patton, the Provost, the Provost for Information Systems and Technology and the Deans of Libraries, alleging copyright infringement. The publishers, Cambridge Uni-
versity Press, Oxford University Press and Sage Publications, allege that Georgia State engaged in copyright infringement by allowing the widespread, unauthorized use of copyrighted material on E-Reserves. E-Reserves is the electronic version of the traditional library “reserve” model, where a professor can make a limited number of physical copies of articles or book chapters available for students to use for supplemental maSEE LAWSUIT, PAGE 5
The end is finally in sight. Winter break, when students and faculty can finally relax after a long semester, is less than a week away. However, winter break does come just after another benchmark in the academic calendar: finals week. As students study for finals, this time can be especially overwhelming and the most stressful part of the school year for many. “It just sucks because everything is usually cumulative and every other test isn’t, especially when you’re taking four out of five classes and working a job or two,” said Georgia State senior Yegor Zyranov. “It becomes hard trying to balance those things and somehow maintain somewhat of a social life to keep your sanity.” In such a time for students, many may crack from pressure and resort to cheating on final exams. “I cheated on my history final via phone,” one Georgia State sophomore, who wished to remain anonymous, said. “It was just too
ERICA LENTI | SONIC ECLECTIC
Cheating is still a widespread problem in the university system, and each year students are expelled for academic dishonesty.
much information and too hard to remember. So, I cheated, and got the grade I needed.” In the Academic Integrity section of the Georgia State student handbook, the university defines cheating on examinations as giving or receiving unauthorized help before, during or after an examination. Examples of this form of academic dishonesty include the
use of notes, texts, books and electronic sources without permission or copying another’s exam. If a student is found cheating, consequences can vary from failing an assignment, failing the entire class or being expelled from the university, depending on the severity of the situation. SEE CHEATING, PAGE 5