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Tuesday, September 13, 2011 www.metronews.ca News worth sharing.
SEE PAGE 4
Secrecy not OK: Students’ union
Buffalo. Wingman
Investigation of U of A dean who plagiarized speech won’t go public
Bailey Jr., a 1,750-pound plains bison owned by Jim Sautner of Spruce Grove, rides shotgun in a convertible near city hall yesterday. The three-year-old buffalo not only cruises in cars, he has also been known to drink beer off the floor and kick it up on the dance floor at local watering holes. SHELLEY WILLIAMSON/METRO
Nothing plain about Bailey
Your hospitals, made cleaner.
The University of Alberta will not release the results of its investigation into the medical dean who resigned after admitting he plagiarized parts of a speech to graduates. But if Dr. Philip Baker returns to teaching on campus next term, an official with the students’ union thinks he should talk openly with students about what happened. “We feel that it’s important for Dr. Baker to take personal responsibility for his actions, if they are raised by students in class,” student vice-president Emerson Csorba said yesterday. He said the students’ union trusts the university conducted a thorough investigation and took appropriate action. But he hopes officials change their minds about releasing details. “It’s important that the university is transparent about the process,” Csorba said. Baker apologized in June for a “lapse in judgment” in stealing
parts of an inspirational speech he gave to future doctors at a convocation banquet. He said that when he was researching the speech, he was inspired by the text of a convocation address given by Atul Gawande, a surgeon and an associate professor at Harvard Medical School. The “Velluvial Matrix” speech, given last year to graduates at Stanford University in California, was published in the New Yorker magazine. Some students listening to Baker’s version of the speech quickly found Gawande’s original address online using their smartphones, and some said they were able to follow along with what he was saying. Baker quickly apologized to students. But after weathering a weeklong firestorm of criticism, he offered his resignation as dean and took a four-month administrative leave. THE CANADIAN PRESS
Return in October University spokeswoman Deb Hammacher repeated yesterday that Philip Baker will not be reinstated as dean and an international search is underway for his permanent replacement. She said Baker is set to return as a professor in October. It’s not known whether he will be teaching students or focusing on research. He is listed on the university’s website as an adjunct professor in the school’s physiology department. Hammacher said the university cannot make its investigation public because it is an employee disciplinary matter and the faculty agreement requires the process remain confidential. But Baker and the Association of Academic Staff University of Alberta can agree to release the information. The Canadian Press has requested details through the union but no decision has been made.