Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - September 4, 2004, Winnipeg, Manitoba A14 Winnipeg free press saturday september 4, 2004 Freedom of Trade comment editor Terence Moore 697-7044 Liberty of religion Equality of civil rights editorials a dilemma in Russia t he people and the leaders of Russia need to keep their nerves steady and their minds As Clear As possible amid the series of terrorist attacks they have been living through. Planes full of passengers have been blown out of the sky a Sui cide bomber blew herself up at a Moscow subway station and then yesterday about 28 hostage takers at a school in North Ossetia massacred Many of the children they had been holding at gunpoint since wednesday. Like the attackers of the Moscow theatre where 750 were taken hostage by about 50 attackers in october 2002, the attackers at the school in Breslan were demanding Independence for the Cauca sus territory of Chechnya. That mainly islamic part of Russia declared Independence in 1991 and was then brought Back under Moscow a control by Sav age military repression in 1994 and since. Terrorism is a tool that can be employed in Aid of any cause just or unjust. The underlying political demand however cannot excuse the cruelty of the terrorists. No terrorist movement should be encouraged to think that it can achieve its goals by massacring schoolchildren. The murder Ous Force that was used against those children this week can just As easily be turned against Canadian children next week if some gang thinks the method will work. For that reason the safety of canadians and of All people is protected when the russians stand firm see their children massacred and con cede no Inch of ground to the terrorists. This is a time of terrible and growing pain to rus sians. The terrorist movements have shown that they Are Able to operate in the streets of Moscow in aircraft and in the schools of the caucasus Region. They have carried out a rapid series of attacks presenting the obvious threat that any town in Russia could be next. The resulting sense of terror is exactly the result terrorism is designed to produce. Russia should be encouraged to adopt peaceful Means of penetrating the terrorist movements and intercepting their conversations to learn their intentions improving Security at places that might be tar gets. They should be discouraged from lashing out blindly at All chechen or All muslims or All sympathizers of chechen Independence. The enemy is terrorism and it can perhaps be Defeated because the number of Active terrorists is Small. Canada and other Western countries will never object to Stern measures against terrorists but cruelty toward chechen civilians will provoke objections. Or. Bush a dream George Bush on thursday night found a Noble reason Why americans should re elect him presi Dent two months hence ? to Advance the cause of Liberty in the world. That cause May serve him Well As he appeals to american voters to reject the appeals of democratic candidate John Kerry. Senator Kerry later the same night offered a curious reason Why americans should support him and reject or. Bush ? that he served honourably in the Vietnam War 30 years ago while or. Bush and vice president Dick Cheney evaded military ser vice. It seems a weak basis for choosing a presi Dent. The two candidates were roughly neck and neck in the opinion polls As the republicans wrapped up their nominating convention in new York. Or. Bush is burdened with disappointing employment growth and an Iraq War that continues to produce Ameri can casualties Long after he declared it Over. Or. Kerry is weakened by a thin record of accomplish ments during his years in the . Senate and a pro Gram that is hard to distinguish from or. Bush a. The two men disagree about Stem cell research and about tax cuts for the richest americans but both intend to pursue the Iraq War both intend to defend America from terrorists. The loudest noises from the two campaigns have echoed around the conduct of the two men during the Vietnam War when sen. Kerry served in the Navy and was decorated for his courageous actions on Swift boat duty on the Mekong River. Or. Bush at the same time was said to be serving in the Texas air National guard which exempted him from ser vice in Vietnam. Sen. Kerry asks voters to conclude that he would be a Good president because he was a Good Swift boat commander. This reasoning has not produced any groundswell of support for the Massachusetts senator. Americans May feel they already know George Bush a character and skills Well enough in the role of president and they Are not much upset to learn of his draft evasion 30 years ago. In this context or. Bush a definition of americas purpose in the world set his candidacy apart from or. Kerry a. The definition he offered was neither original nor surprising but coming from a presi Dent who has sent . Troops into Battle in Iraq and who has consoled the relatives of the fallen it seemed both sincere and inspiring. The Wisest use of american strength he said is to Advance free Dom As America has done lately in Afghanistan and in Iraq. People in other countries of the Middle East will see that they too can enjoy democracy and jus Tice. The idea will catch on More and More widely and As Freedom advances America will be More secure and the world More peaceful. Or. Bush May be deluding himself about Middle Eastern hunger for american values but this dream clearly does explain and motivate his action. John Kerry has just two months to come up with an equally interesting goal for America. New face of College cheating by Lawrence m. Hinman special to the Washington Post recent studies have shown that a steadily growing number of students cheat or Plagia Rize in College ? and the data from High schools suggest that this number will continue to Rise. A study by Don Mccabe of Rutgers University showed that 74 per cent of High school students admitted to one or More instances of serious cheating on tests. Even More disturbing is the Way that Many students define cheating and plagiarism. For example they believe that cutting and pasting a few sentences from various web sources without attribution is not plagiarism. Before the web students certainly plagiarized ? but they had to plan ahead to do so. Fraternities and sororities often had files of term papers and some High tech term paper firms could fax papers to students. Overall however plagiarism required forethought. Online term paper Sites changed All that. Overnight students could order a term paper print it out and have it ready for class in the morning ? and still get a Good nights sleep. All they needed was a charge card and an internet connection. One response to the increase in cheating has been to fight technology with More technology. Plagiarism checking Sites provide a service to screen student papers. They offer a Colour coded report on papers and the original sources from which the students might have copied. Colleges qualify for volume discounts which encourages professors to submit whole classes Worth of papers ? the academic equivalent of urine testing for athletes. The technological Battle Between term paper Mills and anti plagiarism services will undoubtedly continue to escalate with each Side constructing More elaborate countermeasures to outwit the other. The Cost of both plagiarism and its detection will also undoubtedly continue to spiral. But there is another Way. Our first and most important line of defence against academic dishonesty is simply Good teaching. Cheating and plagiarism often arise in a vacuum created by routine Lack of interest and overwork. Professors who give the same assignment every semester fail to guide students in the development of their projects and have Little interest in what the students have to say con tribute to the academic environment in which much cheating and plagiarism occurs. Consider by Way of contrast professors who know their students and who give assignments that require regular continuing interaction with them about their projects ? and who require students to produce work that is a meaningful development of their own inter ests. These professors create an environment in which cheating and plagiarism Are far less Likely to occur. In this context any plagiarism would usually be immediately evident to the professor who would see it As inconsistent with the rest of the students work. A Strong meaningful curriculum taught by committed professors is the first and most important defense against academic dishonesty. The second remedy is to encourage the development of integrity in our students. A sense of responsibility about ones intellectual development would preclude cheating and plagiarizing As inconsistent with ones identity. It is precisely this sense of individual integrity that schools with Honor codes seek to promote. Third we must encourage our students to perceive the dishonesty of their classmates As something that causes harm to the Many students who play by the rules. The argument that cheaters Hurt Only themselves is false. Cheaters do Hurt other people and they do so to help themselves. Students cheat because it works. They get better grades and More advantages with less Effort. Honest students lose grades scholarships recommendations and admission to advanced programs. Honest students must create enough peer pressure to dissuade potential cheaters. Ultimately Stu dents must be willing to step Forward and con front those who engage in academic dishonesty. Addressing these issues is not a luxury that can be postponed until a More convenient time. It is a Short step from dishonesty in schools and colleges to dishonesty in business. It is doubtful that students who fail to develop habits of integrity and honesty while still in an academic setting Are Likely to do so once they Are out in the real world. Nor is it Likely that adults will stand up against the dishonesty of others particularly fellow workers and superiors if they do not develop the habit of doing so while still in school. Lawrence Hinman is a professor of philosophy and director of the values Institute at the University of san Diego. Quit moaning about the medals lets quit moaning about our medal count at the olympic summer games. Its the same thing after every recent olympic games. A lot of whining. Federal government funding of our athletes draws heavy Flack. Other critics Are More philosophical. If Canada were truly a sporting nation says Michael Chambers pres ident of the Canadian olympic committee where you could feel that the Canadian peo ple with a fire in their hearts wanted that to happen then wed have a greater investment in if past olympics Are a guide the complaining will soon subside and nothing much will be done. What should be done is this first the Feder Al government should make winning a respectable number of medals at the 2010 Van Couver olympic Winter games a National priority. Second this push should be integrated with programs canadians say Are their most important concerns ? health and education. Elite athletes make an excellent capstone to health and education efforts. Many educators say students need to know More about exer Cise and eating and require More physical training sessions. Olympic athletes could serve As role models and help train them. They could add zip to the much neglected Field in Canada of preventive Medicine. A Nat ural fit our athletes helping to Lead the fight against obesity today a biggest Public health problem. Canada is a Winter nation. Why then do Many of us spend More time dreaming about Southern beaches than we do in outdoor activities Canadas poor results at olympic games Are difficult to understand. We have an enviable reputation for staging International sporting events volunteers at the 1988 Calgary olympic Winter games and the 1967 and 1999 pan am games in Winnipeg have seen to that. These games also left a legacy of world class training facilities. But we Haven to collected a lot of medals in recent games. We sent 309 athletes to Sydney in 2000, who got 14 medals and a 17th-place finish behind Belarus and Cuba. In Atlanta in 1996, our team won 27 medals including six golds. In the 104 years Between our first summer olympics and the beginning of the greek olympics Canada won 224 medals. We Haven to done that Well in the Winter games either ? 92 medals in 19 games. Winning medals even with pots of Money is never a sure thing. Athletes such As Perdita Felicien in the hurdles who according to end less accounts was supposed to win her event sometimes Don to. Others such As Kyle Shewfelt in men a gymnastics Are not talked about much but win Gold. The experiences of Many nations at olympic games shows however that Ade quate funding and Good coaching Are important. Ottawa spends $90 million on Amateur sport it gave our athletes a one time $30-Mil?Lion boost in May. Australia on the other hand has funded sports handsomely since a poor showing in 1976. This year $145 million was spent on the most elite athletes in a relatively Small num Ber of sports. Canada has another problem it sent 261 athletes to Greece but 271 support staff ? the so called Blue its estimated that of the $120 million in Federal funds spent on sport Only $16 million goes directly to the competitors. Id like to see Ottawa not Only spend More on elite athletes but also Challenge All canadians ? individuals corporations and Chari ties ? to donate More Money and to help our Young men and women with services employ ment lodging and other kinds of support. We must change our motto from go for the Bronze to go for the its a risk something the cautious poll driven Paul Martin government does to like to under take. We May not end up As one of the top five medal winners at Vancouver but at least wed know we gave our athletes a fair Chance. That a better than just moaning about poor results. Tom Ford is managing editor of the issues network ? 2004 Winnipeg free press a division of up Canadian Rudy Redekop newspapers limited partnership president up Canadian newspapers limited partnership published seven Days a week at 1355 Mountain Avenue Murdoch Davis / publisher Winnipeg free press est 1872 / Winnipeg Tribune est 1890 Winnipeg Manitoba r2x 3b6, pm 697-7000 Nicholas Hirst / editor ;