Chad Greenfield and the whole plagiarism scandal, REALLY surprised this hasn't been mentioned yet... Options

[kcroxyoursox]

All from different articles written in the DT

The Daily Toreador's editorial board has been alerted by a reader about an issue of plagiarism.

In a column that ran in Monday's edition of the newspaper titled "Random-ness," a columnist for The DT and Texas Tech Student Regent Chad Greenfield directly copied the content of another person's work and claimed it as his own. Because of his actions, Greenfield will no longer write for The DT.

As a columnist and as the Student Regent, Greenfield is considered a public official, and we have the right and the responsibility to inform our readers on the actions taken to remedy the problems with this incident. At Texas Tech, students and faculty strive for a sense of academic integrity, and plagiarism, regardless whether it's in publication or school work, is a violation of that standard. It is something that should be inherent from the day a student begins courses on this campus. Plagiarism is identified in the Student Handbook as academic dishonesty and misconduct, however, the consequences for this act are not clearly defined. As editors of The DT, we believe this is a major downfall on the part of the Tech administration. Plagiarism should not be taken lightly. It seems to only be a slap on the hand. Plagiarism is a serious offense, and it allows students who engage in it to believe they have done no wrong when they are not reprimanded for their actions. Without consequences for such action, it is setting up the student for disaster in their future careers and lives.

We want the readers to understand that the editorial board and the staff members of The DT take the issue of plagiarism seriously. We feel it is our duty to be transparent and to share this information with you, the reader. However, an implicit sense of trust exists between our editors and our employees. We clearly explain the consequences of plagiarism to each person when they are hired, and we trust they will follow those guidelines and produce their own work.

We pledge to provide you with accurate and original content, and in incidents such as these, we must acknowledge the problem. We promise to inform you on all future occurrences of these circumstances.

Former Texas Tech Student Regent Chad Greenfield admitted to plagiarizing another column he submitted to The Daily Toreador while he was employed by the newspaper.

Greenfield, a graduate student from Monahans, acknowledged plagiarizing portions of Michael Medved's column "Why the World Hates America," found at http://www.townhall.com, in his Sept. 5 article, "Student Regent Loves America," without attributing Medved as a source. The DT editorial board made the discovery after reviewing Greenfield's previous columns for potential acts of plagiarism. A reader also caught the plagiarism after The DT editorial board became aware of the plagiarism.

Greenfield said he could not believe he failed to cite sources in two different articles.

"It makes me sick that I made the same mistake twice," Greenfield said. "It was never my intention to bring a negative light to the paper or the university."

While he admitted he turned in material without proper attribution, Greenfield said he was not trying to intentionally mislead the readers into thinking the work was his own.

"I wouldn't have ever mentioned (Medved's) name if I was trying to steal from him," he said. "I do realize the gravity of the situation, and all I can do is be honest about it and admit a mistake."

Greenfield said the reason he did not respond to Opinions Editor Jeremy Glidewell's invitation to write a conciliatory column addressing the student body was because he said had been advised to not speak to the media after he admitted to plagiarizing his Sept. 25 column titled, "Random-ness." Several paragraphs were directly copied without citation, resulting in Greenfield's termination as a columnist at The DT.

On Tuesday, Greenfield resigned from his position as Tech's first student regent.

Greenfield said the statements he made to the local media following his resignation about not being offered a forum to retract his column were not meant to mislead anyone about his contact with The DT editorial board following his dismissal.

"If I was trying to hide something, I wouldn't have talked to someone like KCBD who reaches tens of thousands more viewers than The Daily Toreador," he said. "I was just telling my story. It's all how each individual takes it."

The Tech Board of Regents had no comment on Greenfield's second act of plagiarism. Regent Chair L. Frederick Francis said the board regrets the situation that led Greenfield to submit his resignation, though they commended him for his handling of the situation.

"Throughout Chad's nine months as a member of the board, the other regents and I have found him both diligent and capable of carrying out his duties as student regent," Francis said. "Chad's willingness to take responsibility for his mistake is indicative of his desire to put the best interest of Texas Tech ahead of his own."

Though no plans have been made to name a new student regent before February, Francis said the board is happy with the addition of a student voice on the board.

"It represented another way for us to hear the voice of the students, and we are very committed to that," he said. "The board continues to fully support the concept of a student regent and looks forward to working with the next student who will be appointed to this position."

Joey Kirk, editor in chief of The DT, said the decision to uncover Greenfield's further acts of plagiarism is consistent with the paper's policy regarding employees who are dismissed for plagiarizing.

"Usually within a case of plagiarism we go back to check if the reporter or the columnist or the editor plagiarized any of their prior work," Kirk said. "The reasoning behind that is basically a credibility issue."

While some students have implied The DT's coverage of Greenfield's resignation has been one-sided, Kirk said no agenda has been set to target Greenfield for unfair scrutiny.

"Honestly, we have nothing against Chad Greenfield," he said. "We just feel like our readers shouldn't be misled or lied to."

In response to Greenfield's statement that The DT editorial board did not offer him the opportunity to write a retraction about his Sept. 25 column, Kirk said it is not within his power to do so.

"After somebody is found to have plagiarized a column or an article, you cannot retract that because you have stolen someone else's work," he said. "We offer them the chance to apologize for misleading, but never a retraction."

Kirk said he wants the Tech community to understand no exception should be made for work that is plagiarized, regardless of whether it occurs in the classroom or elsewhere.

"A lot of people don't see us as a part of academia, but we are a part of this institution, and what we provide up here is a learning environment, and in a sense, that is a part of the academic institution," he said. "Plagiarism is a serious offense, and anybody who works here, whether it be voluntary or hired in general, they're informed on the policies and consequences of plagiarism."

In accordance with Student Media policies, Kirk said referrals have been sent to Student Judicial Services about both columns Greenfield plagiarized.

Though no one could be reached for an official comment regarding the Greenfield case, an official with Student Judicial Services said there is no set outcome for a student who plagiarizes, and each case is handled on an individual basis.

Greenfield said he has no plans to take future action regarding his plagiarism or resignation from the Board of Regents, but he does hope that everyone involved with the situation can move on as quickly as possible.

"It was never my intention to mislead anyone," he said. "Albeit negligent, it was an honest mistake. I took ownership of that, and I admitted to it. I hope we can lay this to bed and all parties involved can move on."

He also submitted his resignation:

Texas Tech's first student regent, Chad Greenfield, tendered his resignation Tuesday to the Texas Governor's Office and the Tech Board of Regents.

Greenfield, a graduate student from Monahans, resigned after the Governor's Office was informed about his recent act of plagiarism in The Daily Toreador.

Greenfield admitted to plagiarizing several paragraphs in his Sept. 25 column titled "Random-ness," which resulted in his dismissal by The DT editorial board Sept. 28.

During his visit to Lubbock on Tuesday, Texas Gov. Rick Perry told The DT he believes Greenfield handled the situation properly by tendering his resignation.

"This is an unfortunate situation for Chad," Perry said. "Sometimes we all make mistakes in life, and he realizes he made one."

With the student regent position at Tech now vacant, Perry said he is not certain whether a replacement will be named before February, the month Greenfield's term was scheduled to end. Each student regent is appointed to serve a one-year term as a nonvoting member of the Board of Regents.

"I don't know if there would be any major decisions that the board would be making between now and February," Perry said. "Obviously we wouldn't just pick a name out of a hat and put it in there."

Perry said his office did not make an official request for Greenfield to resign, and the decision was made voluntarily by Greenfield.

"I talked to Ken Anderson who's our appointment secretary," he said. "It is my understanding that Chad offered his resignation to Mr. Anderson. That was his decision."

Kathy Walt, Perry's press secretary, said the Governor's Office had not made any inquiry into the Greenfield case until KCBD-TV brought the issue to their attention. Monday the station contacted the Governor's Office about the plagiarism case.

"Chad Greenfield's offer to tender his resignation made no further investigation necessary," Walt said. "Our director of governor appointments contacted Greenfield about the allegations to see if they were true, and Greenfield then offered to resign."

Greenfield's letter of resignation to the Governor's Office stated he did not want any controversy surrounding his personal life "to reflect negatively on the university."

He also wrote it saddens him "that an honest mistake has been turned into political capital" resulting in his resignation.

When contacted Tuesday evening by The DT, Greenfield said he did not want to comment further on the issue, but he wants students to know any questions they might have can be directed to him personally.

"If people want to know something, they can just contact me," he said. "I think it's unfortunate that it all came to this. I've been open and honest about this the whole time."

On Sept. 28 Opinions Editor Jeremy Glidewell sent Greenfield an e-mail offering him the opportunity to address Tech students and apologize in writing to the Tech community. In media interviews given by Greenfield Tuesday evening, he disputed this fact.

In addition to his former position as student regent, Greenfield serves as a staff assistant to Congressman Randy Neugebauer. Though Neugebauer could not be reached for comment and had no official statement on the issue, his press secretary, Josh Nolan, said Neugebauer views this as an issue between the university, the Board of Regents and the Governor's Office.

"Chad is a fantastic employee who has served the people of the 19th District well," Nolan said.

Ryan Worley, president of the Student Government Association, said he believes the situation is unfortunate.

"I think Chad is a great guy, and I don't think it speaks negatively of him," Worley said. "I think, unfortunately or fortunately, because of the positions we hold there's bigger consequences, not only for Chad, but the position of student regent."

Worley said he wants Tech students and Texas Tech Univeristy Health Sciences Center students to know their voices will be heard on the Board of Regents, even without the student regent seat being filled immediately.

"I think in the case of students, input from both presidents of both universities is still very influential," he said. "The students will still have a presence at the regents' meetings."

[jwttu]

I'm glad he finally got what he deserved.

I got tired of people saying that the DT was out on a witch hunt. When you are high profile and you screw up you should be prepared for the consequences.

[Spectatrix]

An accident, my ass. Nobody "accidentally" plagiarizes full paragraphs of somebody else's article.

[Seeker]

why is this dude high profile? isn't he just some grad student?

[GOB]

why is this dude high profile? isn't he just some grad student?

yes, and he loves himself very much.



he's a disgrace to this university. he should be kicked out or leave willingly. that's what happens anytime any high profile person fucks up, and it's the right thing to do.

[kcroxyoursox]

why is this dude high profile? isn't he just some grad student?

he's pretty high profile imo
he was a red raider camp counselor
ca in the dorms
saddle tramp
first texas tech student regent
hes involved in a lot of things on campus
many people know him

and im with spec. an accident would be phrasing one thing that hed heard somewhere else to where it sounded almost verbatim. but whole paragraphs and TWO separate instances leads me to the conclusion that he knew what he was doing and did it any way. hes a really smart guy and i know he knows better.



as an attack:

Dove: Greenfield mischaracterizing his mistakes
Justin Dove
Issue date: 10/19/06 Section: Opinions
I don't intend to beat a dead horse, but wait, yes I do. Last week, I took shots at the Texas Tech administration and the Student Government Association for not taking a stand in regard to the Chad Greenfield situation. I felt that the lack of response by the administration was a complete failure to address the importance of the disease that plagues higher education. I felt ashamed on behalf of the student population that something of great importance was seemingly swept under the rug. However, I was wrong in addressing the failures of the administration when the blame should have been squarely placed elsewhere.

It is the faculty that has failed the students, and for that I retract my earlier comments about the SGA and the administration. I'm sorry.

Apparently, Tech professors have done a horrible job defining plagiarism to students. It is despicable that we have graduate students who cannot determine where the lines of plagiarism are drawn. It is your job to teach, to clearly define terms so that the students can prevent themselves from making mistakes that could cost them their educational careers. The professors knew the wording in the student handbook was educational jargon students could not decipher. How could they lead the students astray? How could the molders of intelligent minds put them in a position to fail?

The answer is, the professors did not set students up for failure. Plagiarism is clearly defined and has been included in every syllabus I have received for the past three years I have been enrolled here. There is no such thing as a case of accidental plagiarism. It is deliberate. Always. It has been overtly expressed to me in classes - not only in English classes, either - that if there is any doubt of plagiarism, albeit faulty references, or lack thereof, to reference anyway. Or ask. The professors of Texas Tech University are here for the betterment of the student body. Failure doesn't reflect badly only on the students, it reflects badly on the university as well. There is an incentive for the instructors of higher education to ensure students' success.

What the faculty of this university cannot instruct, though, is character. There are ethics classes (I recommend Intro to Ethics taught by Dr. Walter Schaller) that teach students how to act ethically in problematic situations. However, the classes fail in guaranteeing that students will act ethically.

The lack of ethical conduct came to a head this week with the actions of a single graduate student enrolled at this university. Last week, I commented on the actions of said student, but I deliberately avoided commenting on his character. I understand that people make mistakes, but there are consequences of those actions. I never portrayed this incident as the destroyer of an otherwise stellar academic career. Everybody I had talked to regarding this student had nothing but positive things to say about him. When I heard of the resignation, I was going to commend him for it. It is hard to admit personal wrongdoing, but I felt this was the right decision and integrity is most important. I figured a few speeches would be given relaying the importance of always doing original work, whether it be a "meaningless" column or term paper. Such would be the actions of a true representative of this university.

None of those actions were taken. Instead, our former student regent decided to seemingly blame The Daily Toreador for this incident. Rather than acting honorably and publishing an apologetic column, he declined to comment to The DT and, in turn, gave television interviews and said he was never given the chance to give his side of the story. Instead of honesty we received lies. When honesty was your best bet, Mr. Greenfield, you decided instead to attempt to save yourself with falsified rhetoric.

President George W. Bush proclaimed this week "National Character Counts Week." In the official proclamation found on the White House Web site (http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/10/20061013-17.html), Bush stated that we should commit ourselves "to instilling values in our young people and to encouraging all Americans to remember the importance of good character." (See how easy referencing is?) Good character has come in short supply recently, especially with politicians.

An exposition on your respectable behavior of late would do you good, Mr. Greenfield. There is still ample opportunity to do the right thing. Own up to your actions. Tell the student body what happened. Let them know of your dishonest actions and work diligently to rectify the situation and save your good name. Until that time, you deserve what comes to you. Quit playing the role of the victim. The DT didn't cause this to happen.

in his defense theres a letter to the editor today that i cant find on the dt web site claiming that he did wrong, but that his plagiarism in the school paper should not affect his standing as a regent and that he shouldnt have had to resign. what do you guys think of that?

[Spectatrix]

He voluntarily resigned, so where's the issue?

[chook]

I don't think he wanted to and it was highly suggested.

[John6.7]

We have a paper that people take seriously?

[Epic]

part of the big deal is that chad wanted to be the face of the university, something he was pretty serious at attacking. he was generally a good guy, trying to do a lot, and usually putting too much on his plate.

frankly the punishment is different since it wasn't an academic paper. so now he's gone from big man on campus to a very shallow individual.

i hope that he loses more than this though, because a student leader has a responsibility to the campus he wants to represent.

[jwttu]

and today they reported that he plagarized a second article.

[prefix]

There's no need to discuss this because we've all seen the 5000000000000 articles about it in the paper all week. I'd be happy if I never heard about this again.

[kcroxyoursox]

and today they reported that he plagarized a second article.

see the second quote on my first post

[Mommy]

who cares....its a shitty paper. if it was a little softer, i would use it as toilet paper. nothing but idiotic trash comes from it.

[kcroxyoursox]

who cares....its a shitty paper. if it was a little softer, i would use it as toilet paper. nothing but idiotic trash comes from it.

the issue isnt where he plagiarized but that he did it. hes lucky it wasnt for a class or hed be gone from ttu.