What are you afraid of?

Has anyone read RadarOnline's follow-up to their breaking story on the alleged J-School cheating scandal? We've got a J-Schooler (who doesn't want to be named apparently) saying, "Most of us were outraged that the administration hadn't forced their source to name names," says the student. "It sounded like they had promised anonymity to the student or students who had alleged cheating, and couldn't go back on their word." Damn anonymous sources are evil! Oh, by the way, please don't print my name! Now you know how the snitch must feel. If you can't say this without the guarantee of anonymity, how do you expect whoever caused this to come forward. They must have more at stake here than you do! You're so outraged at the administration, but you're too afraid of them to let them know what you think? Just a little more irony for y'all.

Quit Dogging on Freedman Will Ya?

If anyone read "Ivy J-Schoolers Fail Ethics, Ace Irony" by Radar Online's Jeff Bercovici, you probably know what I'm talking about. How Mr. J.B.'s last two paragraphs relate to the issue at hand is a mystery to me. Yes, Sam Freedman has his quirks. But, aren't we are all a little quirky in some ways? He stands behind a podium and reads his lectures word for word. He gets visibly agitated whenever someone gets up during lecture to use the bathroom. He starts all his lectures with "Back in (insert year here)." But, the truth is, he knows his #$%^ and he is dedicated to his teaching. Many J-Schoolers feel like Freedman should explain himself--why he does what he does, why he teaches the way he does, why he gets angry when students use the bathroom during class. But, he's the captain and we're just sailing on his ship right? As long as we get to our final destination, who the hell cares?

Dean Lemann...We Need Some Raid!

Lets be honest with each other, a bad seed is...well, a bad seed. It's clearly obvious that among the ethical portion of the class (about 99% according to today's discussion) there lurk some rotten apples--you might want to hold your tongue while you say that. Here's the kicker though...regardless of whether the school finds out who/how many students were/are involved, it is apparent that most students have not grasped the overarching lesson to be learned--in the briefing session today, students focused on finding out who told the administration, not who did the cheating. If we are ethical, as the vehement discussion that was had this afternoon suggests, why don't we feel the need to focus on those who actually had the unfair advantage? Perhaps someone should plant some ant traps around the lecture hall...Raaaiiidddddd!!!!!! Maybe we can stick the Stabile students on it?

The Columbia Cheating Scandal...not all that scandalous?

A Message from Tube O. Toothpaste
As a student at Columbia University's J-School, I am appalled at the media response to this pretty minute situation. We learned (yes, in Sam Freedman's ethics course) about the rumor mill that influenced the MSM in the wake of Katrina and yet, somehow, we have elevated a small situation (which involved a handful of students) into a schoolwide fiasco. It reminds me of the "telephone" game--It starts out with "oh, one or two people cheated" to "alert the media, this is the cheating scandal of the year." It's absolutely ridiculous on all fronts. But, as one professor pointed out, you can't put the toothpaste back into the tube. If that's the case, what do we do now? I guess we clean it up the best we can and hope it doesn't leave those white-chalky marks on our oh-so-precious ivy-league degrees.