Tag: Ohio

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Plagiarizing valedictorian learns nothing

There is a common value shared by many people that one should take responsibility for their own actions. That you should “own” all your actions or decisions – good or bad – the results of them.

Our legal system is based on that value that if you step over the line – whatever line it is – you should held accountable. Except if you are President George Bush – but that’s another story…

If you make a mistake there should be some negative result to you if it was your fault. If you drive drunk you should lose your licence. If you jay walk you should get a ticket. If you cheat you shouldn’t be rewarded. And on and on it goes….

There was a story in the news a couple of weeks ago where a local high school valedictorian was forced to give up his award because he plagiarized the speech he gave at graduation.

Melanio C. Acosta IV, the Circleville (Ohio) High School valedictorian, surrendered the title after admitting that most of his commencement address on June 1 came from a video called “The Perfect Beatles Graduation Speech”, a collage of song lyrics, that had been posted on the video site YouTube.

I remember saying to myself at the time “Good. He learned a valuable lesson. Take someone else’s words or ideas and there is a penalty to pay.”

Well, not so fast. It seems the real lesson he learned is that your parents will bail you out at anytime and you lose nothing.

The Circleville High School valedictorian who surrendered the title after admitting to lifting two-thirds of his commencement speech from a YouTube video won the honor of co-valedictorian today in a settlement with the school district.

Acosta’s 4.5 grade-point average ranks him first in his graduating class of 138. He relinquished his valedictorian title and wrote district officials an apology letter June 4 after admitting that he took most of his commencement address June 1 from a video called The Perfect Beatles Graduation Speech, a collage of song lyrics.

The parents of the 18-year-old, though, maintained that district officials had coerced him to write the letter and had told him what to say. They hired Lancaster lawyer D. Joe Griffith, who argued last week that Acosta had not committed plagiarism because he had credited the Beatles as the authors in his speech.

The agreement averts a lawsuit alleging slander, invasion of privacy and other claims against the district that Griffith had said he planned to file this week in Pickaway County Common Pleas Court.

Settlement restores Circleville valedictorian

Most dictionaries define plagiarism as the act of wrongfully taking another’s words, ideas, or the like, and representing them as one’s own. Acosta’s speech did credit The Beatles for the song lyrics but the person – Cassandra Malloy – who is thought to be the first who gave a speech called “The Perfect Beatles Graduation Speech” – had the idea to use the lyrics in the format presented. Acosta admitted to cribbing 2/3 from a 2nd version by another student also posted on YouTube. But it still sounds like plagiarism to me.

But this is not the first instance of parents bailing out a child who, in fact, did something wrong.

One school district had a run in with the parents of a high school student who had violated the school system’s “zero tolerance” policy. He was involved in a fight at school with another student. The boy didn’t start the fight but he was fighting – violating the rules. Both were given 10 day out of school suspensions.

His parents raised a big stink – including attending several school board meetings – to have the transgression expunged and their child allowed back in school. The school board caved.

I remember from my school days how a parent should support their child. They should take the good with the bad in the hopes the child learns a valuable lesson and becomes a better person.

I was in 3rd grade and got into yet another fight with my nemesis Brad S. Once again he pushed all my buttons and we ended up rolling around in the snow at recess and were then sent to the principals office.

Mr. Winemuller was very upset with me. He had warned me about fighting. He had reached the end of his patience. He told me that if I got into another fight he would need to use the paddle on me (this was the late 70’s when corporal punishment was still allowed). He brought out a huge wooden paddle with large holes to reduce air resistance – causing greater pain with less effort.

He sat the paddle on his desk and I remember it went *THUNK*. I gulped and promised I would never get into another fight. He accepted my plea, banned me from recess for two weeks, then let me out of the office.

When my Mom got home from work I told her the whole story. She was mad me for getting into trouble – again – and mad at the school. She took time off work to visit the school and talk to the principal. Later she said, “he’s not going to paddle you unless I am there to witness it…”

I gulped again.

She knew and accepted I was wrong and should be punished but loved me enough to make sure they wouldn’t take advantage of the trust school administrators get for being “in loco parentis“. Which is a Latin term for a legal concept that the school is allowed to act in the best interests of the students as they see fit “in place of the parents.”

I think parents should be supportive of their children and not except the actions of a school toward their child without careful examination but if the kid did something wrong then they shouldn’t try to cover for the child by using threats of legal suits or raising a big stink. Johnny or Suzy isn’t always right just as the school isn’t always right.

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Blizzard of ’78 – 30th Anniversary

In the early morning hours of January 26th 1978, thunder woke me up. Rain was hitting our trailer hard. We lived on Trenton Ave. where the Wal-Mart store is now, at the intersection of US 224 and I-75.

At the time I was 10 years old and afraid of thunderstorms so I did my usual run to mom’s room and I crawled into bed with her. I fell asleep soon after.

That didn’t last long.

Just before dawn the roar of the wind woke both of us up. The wind banged the various loose metal pieces and trim around our windows. My mom turned on the radio and WFIN was broadcasting about a blizzard hitting Findlay. It wasn’t even 5 am and Findlay City Schools closed for the day. In fact all the schools in the county closed.

We laid there in the morning gloom listening to the radio until the power went out. Not only was the radio off but so was our propane furnace. Mom got up and filled a bucket and some empty milk jugs with water. She told me to put on some extra clothes to guard against the cold.

The roar of the wind didn’t stop. I looked out the window and saw nothing but sheets of snow.

The Great Blizzard of 1978 had arrived in Findlay.

That first day was an adventure. Mom got out our camping gear and setup the Sterno stove so she could have some coffee. We had little food in the house as the storm caught us off guard. Later in the day, when we tried to open our front door to let the dog out to pee, it was frozen shut. The rain the night before froze on the metal frame. My poor dog couldn’t go outside even if she wanted to. It took about a half hour and a butter knife to get it open. The dog went to the open door, sniffed around, and refused to go out in the wind and snow.

I had to lift her down onto the stoop and as she went into the drift around the door I only saw her snout. She was gone for only a minute and slowly made her way up the stoop. I had to reach out and lift her back into the house.

Being 10, I started to complain about being cold. Even cuddling with Mom on the couch under every blanket we owned I was still cold. Mom told me to stop thinking about it. But I couldn’t. She got up and poured me a shot of whiskey and said that it would make me feel warm. It made me sleepy. We both got into my bed and pretty much slept the rest of the day away.

The next day the power came back on so life returned to some what normal. We needed some food and the radio said that Great Scot down the road would be open for a few hours. I got out my sled and we started out for the store. Before we left the trailer park we stopped off to see our neighbors, the elderly couple Pert and Lou and found out they had a wood stove and were fine. We asked if they needed any food and Pert said he needed toilet paper for sure.

My mom and I walked the mile or so to the store. Driving was banned so dozens of people were walking to the store like we were. Some used cross country skis. There were some snowmobiles and a few 4 wheel drive trucks. The only clear spot was the middle of Broad Avenue. The store had plenty of can goods but no bread or milk. I was just happy to be out of the house.

On the way back we looked down on I-75 and there were cars and trucks abandoned on the highway. The drivers had been rescued the day before.

It took a few days and front end loaders from the National Guard before they allowed people to drive again. We were out of school for a week and I remember burning out on sledding down the hill of the US 224 I-75 interchange. I also spent a lot of time digging our car out.

The next weekend we went to McComb to visit my grandparents and the drifts along the roads were huge. At one point it was like driving through a tunnel as banks of snow towered over our car and the road.

The one thing we learned during that Blizzard was not be unprepared again. For years we stocked up on can goods during the winter months and if a storm was coming we bought extra bread and milk just in case. We also made a Blizzard box with extra blankets, candle, more Sterno, and a battery operated radio.

Toledo TV station WTOL has posted video of their newscasts on January 26th and 27th 1978 so you can see what it was like back then. The ironic thing is since our power was out we never got to see the shows when they first aired.

Blizzard of ’78 – 30th Anniversary

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Thoughts on the Findlay Mayoral Forum

I posted on 10/24 about the recent Findlay Mayoral Forum that was held at University of Findlay on 10/22. It was broadcast on WFIN, WLFC, and UF-TV 20. At the time of my post I had not had a chance to see or hear the event and said I would get back to you. Well, I’m back.

General thoughts: I did find more to the event than what was printed about it the Courier. Both candidates, Democrat Tom Knopf and Republican Pete Sehnert did a good job of presenting their ideas in front of the glare of television lights and cameras. Although it wasn’t a debate, I thought Knopf did a better job. When he answered the questions he gave specific examples to back up is overall idea.

I also need to correct my initial thought that I posted earlier:

I was a bit disappointed – based on the The Courier write up of the event – to read that Knopf wasn’t sure if more low cost housing was needed in the city.

Tom sent me a comment telling me to see the forum so I could see he hadn’t changed his position. He was right. He was the only one who had specific idea for the issue of low cost housing.

Knopf said he would like to see:

…more true actual low cost housing that will benefit those who aren’t able to pay 4, 5 , or $600 for a small 2 bedroom apartment.

Sehnert was the one who really didn’t seem to know if low cost housing was an issue or not. He explained that there was a lot of housing available and a lot of apartment stock. He didn’t address the issue of affordability directly.

I also liked Knopf directly saying that the Findlay Town Center project shouldn’t go forward unless and until the flooding issue is resolved first. He also wanted to see the empty store fronts downtown filled in and other non-flood plain areas considered for development before committing $90 million dollars on more retail space.

Flag City Politico has video segments posted of the entire forum. WFIN has audio of the forum available as well.

Pete Sehnert’s website

Tom Knopf’s website

Don’t forget to vote on November 6th

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Some Ohio college students want to carry guns on campus

The Columbus Dispatch had a story on Tuesday 10/23 about a protest from some students who want to be able to have concealed weapons on campus. When Ohio adopted a concealed carry law they exempted university and college campuses. Students who feel such a prohibition is wrong, protested by wearing empty gun holster around campus.

“You can carry (a gun) in several places, but Ohio prohibits you from carrying at a university or college,” said [Evan] Peck, a senior majoring in math and sociology.

“But this campus is the one place where I spend the most of my time, and I should be able to protect myself.”

Mark Noble, a National Rifle Association instructor, said he hated leaving his gun in his car when he took classes at Ohio State.

“Thieves know that if you are a student, then you are not allowed to carry a weapon and so they’ll target you,” said Noble, 31, who graduated in June and is the chairman of the Franklin County Libertarian Party.

“But if they changed the law, then thieves wouldn’t know who is armed and they would move on to other targets.”

Protesters want guns on campus

I don’t see the point to it.

It seems they believe that we are still in the Wild West. I lived in the campus area for about 6 years and never once felt a need to have a gun or carry a gun. I was never bothered or attacked. There aren’t bad guys waiting behind every bush.

It just seems a bit childish as if carrying a gun is like some kind of gage of manliness or something. It would be better to just get a tattoo. Besides unless the person is ex-military or a frequent hunter I doubt people carrying their guns would even be the deterrent they think they would be.

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Protecting “our” children from books whether you like it or not

I was watching the local news on Wednesday when I came across a story about a book controversy in a local school district.

It seems some parents complained about The Chocolate War an assigned book that they thought to be offensive.

What is ironic is that one of the book and film’s main theme is “conformity” – where the majority imposes orthodoxy in thoughts and belief. That is what censorship does. It imposes an orthodoxy in thoughts and beliefs by suppressing any that are contrary.

JOHNSTOWN, Ohio – Some parents are urging officials in the Northridge School district to place a ban on a controversial book that is assigned to high school students.

Michelle Doran and a few other parents are upset because students at Northridge High School are assigned to read The Chocolate War – a young adult novel written by Robert Cormier that was published in 1974.

Doran, whose son was required to read the book last year as a freshman at Northridge, took issue with some of the book’s passages, 10TV’s Tanisha Mallett reported.

“Her breast brushing against his arm set him on fire,” Doran recites. “If these books were a movie, they would be Rated R, why should we be encouraging them to read these books?”

Novel Draws Criticism From Parents

The Chocolate War was made into a movie in 1988 and it starred John Glover, Ilan Mitchell-Smith, and Wallace Langham and it was rated R. It is one of my favorite movies. The main plot is that a kid named Jerry Renault refuses to sell chocolate that raises money for his prep school which starts a war with the kids who controlled the school.

Ms. Doran continues:

“I understand they want to have freedom as to what they want to teach, but who are they teaching?” she said. “They’re teaching our children.”

I agree that parents should not only know what is being taught to their children but should have some control, but people like Doran not only want to “protect” their children they also want to prevent me from making the same choice for my children that she demands for herself.

If she wants to be able to opt-out her children from reading the book, I would support that, even though she is doing her children a disservice in the guise of protection, but she shouldn’t be allowed to have a say in what any other children can read.

The other point that bothered me about this issue is that the book is on a reading list for high school kids. That age range is something like 16 to 18. We call that young adult. Too young for 100% freedom of thought and action but too old to want them to think the world is just an episode of Teletubbies. It bothers me that some parents forget they were 16 once and also forget that words do nothing other than help children learn and relate about their world. It just seems warped that a parent thinks they can “protect” children from their natural reaction – in their bodies and minds – to becoming full and healthy adults.

Yet the American Library Association (ALA) ranks sex as the largest reason for challenges against books.

I had a job when I was 16, I could go see R rated movies when I was 17, and I was allowed to sign my own absence notes when I missed school when I was 18 – not to mention I could vote. I also knew all the euphemisms for a penis, that the clit was very important during sex, and a breast brushing against my arm would set me on fire. I was on fire pretty much 24 hours a day seven days a week during high school. A simple flip of a girls pony tail would hypnotize me for hours.

The ALA has, on it’s website, one of my favorite quotes against censorship:

“If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind. Were an opinion a personal possession of no value except to the owner; if to be obstructed in the enjoyment of it were simply a private injury, it would make some difference whether the injury was inflicted only on a few persons or on many. But the peculiar evil of silencing the expression of an opinion is, that it is robbing the human race; posterity as well as the existing generation; those who dissent from the opinion, still more than those who hold it. If the opinion is right, they are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth: if wrong, they lose, what is almost as great a benefit, the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth, produced by its collision with error.” — On Liberty, John Stuart Mill

There is a video from my local station about the book challenge here.

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