Ninety-eight years of editorialfreedom
Vol. XCVIII, No. 57 Ann Arbor, Michigan -.Tuesday, December 1, 1987 Copyright 1987, The Michigan Daily
Term papej
By MARTHA SEVETSON
College students expect to shell out big bucks for
tuition, room, board, and books, but how many budget
money for their assignments? At $7 a page, mass-
produced research papers aren't cheap - and the
students who buy them risk paying a much higher
price.
The student found buying a paper is punished with
suspension or expulsion, but the seller is rewarded with
huge profits. Under the University's Code of Academic
Conduct, a plagiarism infraction will become a
permanent part of the student's transcript. The seller of
the paper likely will go scot free.
Author's Research in Chicago, Research Assistance
in California, and the local Collegiate Reference
Publications all publicly advertise mail-order research
papers with legal impunity.
"THERE IS NO federal plagiarism law or fraud
English
profs.
discuss
firms pro fi
law," said John Russell, a federal Justice Department
spokesperson. He said using the mail to deceive
students might constitute mail fraud, but otherwise the
service is completely legal.
"It's hard to establish that (the firms) are doing
anything wrong," said Dan Sharphorn, a legal counsel
to the University administration. "If you could prove
their intention is for students to use it for their own
work - soliciting students to fraud - it could
conceivably be a criminal act."
University officials would like to take action against
such firms, but they have no form of recourse. The
companies can only be stopped if they fail to fulfill
their own claims.
IN 1972, the state's attorney general, Frank
Kelley, got an injunction against Write-On, a firm that
sold the same paper to two University students in the
same course, An Introduction to English Literature.
without punishment
The students, who failed the course, had been
guaranteed the papers were "one-of-a-kind."
But the companies since have learned to outsmart
their opposition. A student who purchases a paper is
expected to sign a waiver of responsibility and mail it
back to the firm.
The 18-year owner of Research Assistance, who
refused to give his name, has advertised "research
papers for research purposes" in The Daily, but he
firmly denies selling any type of "term paper." He was
unable to define the difference between "research
papers" and "term papers."
"These are not finished products that can be turned
in as is," he said. "It's unlikely, unless someone had
the exact assignment, that (a purchased paper) would be
perfect for them."
BUT HIS CATALOG - with 15,000 papers
ranging from "anthropology to zoology" - tells a
different story. Authors' Research advertises over
16,000 topics, including specific assignments such as
"The Behavioral Approach to Treating Depression."
The papers are unpublished and unsigned, so they
cannot be used as a research reference. The manuscript
includes editorial comments - "Your introduction
should state your purpose" - and each page is
stamped: "Intended for Research Purposes Only."
The papers are delivered in mimeograph form,
complete with spelling and grammatical errors. The
student cannot turn in the paper verbatim, but the
obstacles are nothing a little retyping can't overcome.
University Psychology Prof. Chris Peterson, who
recently graded a purchased term paper for The Daily,
said he never would have recognized the paper as
plagiarism. He could not surmise the number of
students who use such papers.
See TERM, P. 2
Polish voters
reject plan
for reforms,
proposal
By ELIZABETH ATKINS
English department faculty mem-
bers are discussing a proposal that
r would require concentrators to take a
course exploring literature written by
minorities, women, or English-
writing Africans, Asians, and Car-
ibbeans.
The proposal, made by the de-
partment's curriculum committee,
may be voted upon by department
faculty members as soon as January,
said Prof. Lincoln Faller, who
drafted the proposal.
Currently, English department
policy requires concentrators to take
six courses: Core I, II, III, Poetry
240, pre-1800 literature, and a senior
seminar.
The core courses span English
literature from the creation of the
language to contemporary literature
and most have focused on white
male writers, who have tended to
dominate Western literature.
Senior seminars are designed to
provide English concentrators with
one small, more intimate course that
allows faculty more freedom in se-
lecting literature. Nevertheless, none
of the courses offered next term fea-
ture minority writers.
Prof. Alan Wald, a supporter of
the proposal, said the current required
courses show institutionalized
exclusion of minority and women's
literature.
"We have to take steps now to
institutionalize alternatives. I think
this would be an excellent start in
that direction," Wald said.
THE PROPOSAL by the
committee, which reviews the de-
partment curriculum and proposes
changes, comes in response to a re-
quest by the University's
administration for the all de-
partments to address issues of racism
and sexism.
The committee created a list of
ways to address the issues and
recently decided to focus on the class
requirements.
Before the proposal comes to a
vote, the idea is sparking lengthy
discussions among department pro-
fessors and teaching assistants.
Prof. James Gindin said, "I am
opposed to making this a require-
ment, but I think we should discuss
it and do as much as we can," Gindin
said.
Dolly Photo by ROBIN LOZNAK
High kicking
Graduate student Eduardo Somarriba, a red belt, left, spars with first-year Engineering student Darren
Stevens at the U of M Tae Kwon Do Club practice yesterday.
Faculty, staff salatry
record released today
WARSAW, Poland (AP) -
Voters rejected economic and pol-
itical reforms, including painful
price increases, that Poland's com-
munist leaders said were needed to
revitalize an ailing, debt-ridden
economy, the government said yes-
terday.
The results of Sunday's bold and
unique referendum dealt a stunning
blow to the government of Gen.
Wojciech Jaruzelski, which strongly
campaigned for passage of the two
questions put to the voters.
It was Poland's first referendum
in 41 years and the first time in the
nation's communist history that the
authorities suffered a loss in nation-
wide elections.
Government spokesperson Jerzy
Urban put a positive face on the
outcome, noting that many more
people voted in favor of the ques-
tions than against them. By law, a
majority of eligible voters had to
approve for them to pass.
He said the voters' failure to ap-
prove the questions was "an answer
to all who maintained our democratic
institutions are a facade and that the
democratic transformations are not
true."
Leaders of the outlawed Solidarity
free trade union movement had called
the plebiscite a charade and urged
Poles to ignore it. The powerful
Roman Catholic church did not take
a stance.
"I want to confirm the deter-
mination of the authorities to con-
tinue reforms and the democratic
procedure of consulting the opinions
of voters on issues vital to every-
one," Urban said.
The government has, however,
previously said that if it lost the
referendum, reforms would continue,
but at a slower rate. It has already
made moves to streamline its econ-
omic planning.
Urban gave these results:
To the first question, on econ-
omic reform, 64 percent of those
voting said "yes" and 27.7 percent
said "no," with the remainder of the
ballots blank or otherwise invalid.
To the second question, on political
reform, 69 percent said "yes," 24.6
percent said "no.
Final figures showed that 67.2
percent of eligible voters partici-
pated. The government said it was
the lowest percentage turnout of any
election in the nation's postwar
history.
Solidarity leaders have disputed
turnout figures in past general elec-
tions, when only government-sanc-
tioned candidates have run.
Before Solidarity's rise, elections
in Poland typically attracted 99 per-
cent of the electorate, according to
official figures.
In Moscow, Foreign Ministry
spokesperson Gennady Gerasimov
praised the Polish referendum, but
said a similar mandate on Soviet
leader Mikhail Gorbachev's program
for change is unnecessary in his
country.
By EVE BECKER
For the next few days, faculty and
staff will be seen entering and
quickly exiting the Student Publica-
tions Building studying a folded
newspaper which lists the salary of
their peers.
Normally staid professors will
enter the building in droves to sat-
isfy their curiosity, studying pages
of small print to see how their salary
compares to others in their depart-
ment. About 2,000 of the annual
faculty salary supplements are being
sold for two dollars each on the sec-
ond floor of the Student Publications
Building at 420 Maynard St.
Under the state's Freedom of In-
formation Act, the salary records of
public officials must be released
upon request. The University
chooses to publish all salaries once a
year rather than responding to ad hoc
requests, said Assistant Director of
Personnel Edward Hughes.
For the 1987-88 school year, 170
faculty members made over $100,00,
74 more than last year. This year,
for the first time, women faculty and
staff members have earned over
$100,000.
THE HIGHEST PAID Uni-
versity employee is Mark Orringer,
Section Head of Thoracic Surgery at
the Medical School, with a salary of
$190,800.
The other faculty members who
The Daily's Faculty and Staff
Salary Supplement is avail-
able beginning today. T h e
supplementmay be purchased,
for $2 on the second floor of
the Student Publications
Building during regular bus-
iness hours.
hold the highest salaries are Chair of
Surgery Lazar Greenfield with
$181,260, Professor of Thoracic
Surgery Marvin Kirsh with
$170,130, Section Head of Neuro-
surgery Julian Hoff with $168,540,
and Vice Provost for Medical Affairs
George Zuidema with $168,522.
Five women have surpassed the
$100,000 mark this year. Senior
Associate Director of the University
Hospital and chair of the radiology
department Ellen Marszalek-Gaucher
was the highest paid woman with a
salary of $110,000.
The other high-paid women w'ere
Dean of Nursing Rhetaugh Dumas
with $105,846, Associate Professor
of Neurosurgery Joan Venes with
$103,477, Professor of Pathology
Kathleen Heidelberger with
$103,000, and Director of Alterna-
tive Care Delivery Systems at Uni-
versity Hospital Sandra Billingslea
with $102,816.
Most of the faculty and staff
members who earned over $100,000
are department heads or professors in
the Medical School or the University
Hospitals. A few of the high-earners
are law professors.
THIS YEAR University Presi-
dent Harold Shapiro has a salary of
$135,300, up from $127,000 last,
year. Vice President for Academic
Affairs and Provost James Duderstadt
will make $128,400, up 9.5 percent
See 170, P. 3
Soviets will not build
space-based system,
Gorbachev promises
-
Languages draw more interest
MOSCOW (AP) - The Soviet
Union "is doing all that the United
States is doing" to defend against
nuclear attack, but will not build a
space-based system, Mikhail Gor-
bachev said in an interview broadcast
yesterday.
Acknowledging what the Reagan
administration has long contended,
the Soviet leader said: "I guess we
are engaged in research, basic re-
search, which related to these aspects
which are covered by the SDI in the
United States."
SDI means Strategic Defense
Initiative, the formal name President
Reagan has given the space-based
defense project commonly called
"Stars Wars."
In response to a suggestion that
the Soviets are trying to militarize
space in the same way envisioned by
Star Wars, however, Gorbachev said:
"We will not build an SDI. We
half the superpowers' long-range
nuclear weapons. During the sum-
mit, they are expected to sign a
treaty getting rid of all intermediate-
range missiles.
"We have some steps that we
could take to meet the American
position halfway," Gorbachev said.
He added, however, that he was not
going to Washington to negotiate
the future of Star Wars, which the
Kremlin contends is limited to
research by the 1972 antiballistic
missile treaty.x
Although the Senate never ratified
that treaty, both sides have observed
its terms.
"Let America indulge in research.
Insofar as SDI does not run counter
to ABM," Gorbachev said. "That is
not a subject for negotiations."
About other possible arms
agreements, the Soviet leader said:
"We btiieve it is possible to do a lot
By JOON KANG
As if mastering the English language wasn't
difficult enough, more U.S. college students are taking
up foreign languages.
An estimated 1,003,234 students in the country's.
colleges and universities studied languages other than
English last fall, according to a report due to be
released in January by the national Modern Languages
Association. About 4,800 of these students were from
office figures.
The biggest increase in popularity the past five
years has occurred in Chinese and Japanese. "China has
opened up politically in recent years and there are a lot
more opportunities to visit and do business," said
Chinese Prof. William Baxter.
"We get a lot of students from the business fields
who are combining their professional interests with,
0..i.,