The Gateway: Volume 102, Issue 05

Page 1

Opinion Conspiracy Theories that are real...? 15

Arts & Culture

Sports

Ra Ra Riot caters to different folks 19

Rugby Pandas stay undefeated 25

gateway September 28th, 2011

Issue No. 5

Volume 102

THE

TH E O F F IC IA L STUDE NT NE WS PA P E R AT TH E UN I V ER S I T Y OF A LBERTA

broken record

dodgeball opinion

Lost record deserves righteous retaliation from U of A

SU wants to retake world record A return to the Butterdome scheduled after UC Irvine attracts 4,000 students to record-breaking game

Ryan Bromsgrove

April Hudson

opinion editor

news staff

The University of Alberta is preparing once more to reclaim the Guinness World Record for the largest dodgeball game, which it has broken annually for the past two years. The record, which the U of A broke in February 2010 with 1,198 participants and again in February 2011 with 2,012, has sparked international competition and has since been broken by institutions such as Rochester Institute of Technology and the University of California, Irvine, which recently broke the U of A’s 2011 record by attracting 4,488 participants to a game. “At this point, the numbers are just going up,” said Colten Yamagishi, Students’ Union Vice-President (Student Life), who is in charge of challenging the record with the next massive dodgeball game at the U of A. Yamagishi feels certain that the U of A can keep up its winning streak and take back its title as record-holder, despite UC Irvine’s new record being more than twice the number of participants that attended the U of A’s last dodgeball game in February. “We’ve never been 100 per cent sure before if we were going to get the numbers we needed or not, but that’s never stopped us. We’re really excited.”

Okay, UC Irvine, I think I speak for all of us here at the University of Alberta when I say, “it’s on, dickbags.” This new, more than 4,000-person dodgeball record of yours is not the end. Not by a long shot. In February, 2010, we smashed the world record for largest dodgeball game, then held by some crummy school in San Diego. Driven by the legendary towers of Lister and the determined leadership of then-Vice-President (Student Life), Nick Dehod, 1,200 students got together to show that at this university, dodgeball is taken ridiculously seriously. And yet, you stole our dreams, UC Irvine. You took the sport most precious to our students, and you got 1,745 of your freshmen to shit all over it. You think you’re so cool with your delightful California weather, accessible proximity to Disneyland and that admittedly cool nearby outside mall thing? Well, I’ve enjoyed all three of those things, but when I heard what you did to us, my fond memories curdled and swiftly erased themselves. And though we were all shaken at first, the shock quickly turned to righteous fervour for our record — the kind not seen since the Cold War.

PLEASE SEE dodgeball PAGE 5

file photo: aaron yeo

PLEASE SEE retaliation PAGE 12

Integrity Survey reveals shortfalls in academic discipline University and Students’ Union sources disagree over the use of online fraud detection sites such as Turnitin.com to avoid plagiarism Alex Migdal

staff reporter @alexem The recently published results of the University of Alberta’s Academic Integrity Survey reveal that 39 per cent of instructors surveyed said they had let a case of cheating go unreported, as did 26 per cent of teaching assistants. The survey, administered to U of A undergraduate and graduate students, teaching assistants, and instructors in October and

November of 2010, also noted that 42 per cent of undergraduate students reported observing another student cheat at least once, while 38 percent of instructors described the effectiveness of the U of A’s academic disciplinary policy as “low” or “very low”. The report also made a controversial recommendation to review electronic detection resources such as Turnitin.com for potential use at the U of A, which the Students’ Union has criticized as assuming guilt of students. Chris Hackett, Academic Integrity

Coordinator in the Office of Judicial Affairs, referred to the statistics from the survey as “concerning” and explained that the reason behind them is partly a communication issue. Hackett explained that the U of A emphasizes its vast resources available for students and instructors to prevent academic misconduct, but that the university doesn’t “necessarily do a good job of getting out in front of people and saying here’s the information you’re looking for.” “We frequently send confusing and

contradictory messages to people,” he noted. “Or we settle on the lowest common denominator: don’t cheat, don’t be bad, which really doesn’t mean anything.” On top of more than 3,500 survey responses received, focus groups were held for students, TAs, and instructors, which Hackett said were valuable in revealing the need for transparency when it comes to addressing academic integrity violations.

PLEASE SEE integrity PAGE 3


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