Ivy League Morality
So despite the fact that sophomore Kaavya Viswanathan admitted to plagiarism in writing her book “How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got A Life”, Harvard has taken no disciplinary action against her as yet. Apparently, since it didn’t involve her academic life, they have no cause to expel her cheating butt. And the fact that she’s leaving Harvard seems to be saving them the trouble of having to do anything.
In other news, the government of Peru is seeking to sue Yale University to return relics that were discovered by a Yale history professor in expeditions in 1911 and later that led to the discovery of Machu Picchu. There was a letter that even stated that the items should be returned to Peru after 18 months, and yet, not everything was returned. Yale contends that the items in question were from the earliest, 1911, expedition, and so it’s rightfully theirs.
“Yale offered to divide the items up and help Peru install its share in a museum near the site. Peruvian officials would not agree to any joint projects until Yale acknowledged that all of the objects belong to the Peruvian people. Yale refused.”
Fuzzy logic at best, if you ask me. I know there’s a fine line, and we often have to find the perfect balance. What – exactly – is cheating? Is it acceptable to borrow someone else’s notes? Because that doesn’t necessarily gauge how well you learned in class. Is having an explicit dream about someone other than your partner considered cheating? What if you think about the dream during the day? Or is it just if you act upon thoughts. Is it wrong to lie? What if the truth would hurt, or you really just aren’t in the mood to chat on the phone but don’t want to be rude? Is putting the kids to bed earlier than their official bedtime wrong? What if they’re tired? And normally they don’t go to bed by their “official bedtime” anyhow?
On a personal level, sure, making the right choices day in and day out is difficult. But knowing that my kids are watching me and learning from me makes me choose carefully (though not always correctly – for example, yelling was not the right way to go this evening, since I then caught my elder son yelling at his brother with a tone that was eerily familiar). And the on-the-spot moral decisions people face seem more difficult than any decisions that a larger organization would have to make. There are by-laws and other documents guiding decision-makers at large institutions to do the right thing. And long ago, we have stopped expecting anything but a focus on the bottom line from the executives in corporate America.
Seriously, all this news about oil companies posting great profits – it’s not news. There’s really no surprise. The fact that the entire administration is involved with the oil industry, and that higher gas prices have spiked during the past six years should come as a surprise to nobody. What surprises me is that people are shocked and outraged by the "new" information. Fine, Condoleeza Rice has an oil tanker named after her. Big deal. If she makes a bid for the White House, I’m sure she’ll ask that the name be changed. George W. Bush is close to oil tycoons. Yeah? So? He’s never really hidden that fact, has he? His agenda has been as obvious as his clueless expression from day one.
But from our top-notch universities, we expect more. That’s where our future leaders are learning their values when many of them live away from the watchful eyes of their parents for the first time. College is when many children learn to think for themselves, find their own sense of right and wrong, and become adults.
Harvard, expel Ms. Viswanathan, even if she has already left. There’s now talk that she also plagiarized from a second book in writing her novel (and I use the word “her” loosely).
Yale, give Peru back the artifacts. Thank you for the discovery, thank you for putting Machu Picchu on the map. I’m sure you’ll be duly recognized at the museum at Machu Picchu. But just give it all back.
But then again, where did George W. Bush go to college?
In other news, the government of Peru is seeking to sue Yale University to return relics that were discovered by a Yale history professor in expeditions in 1911 and later that led to the discovery of Machu Picchu. There was a letter that even stated that the items should be returned to Peru after 18 months, and yet, not everything was returned. Yale contends that the items in question were from the earliest, 1911, expedition, and so it’s rightfully theirs.
“Yale offered to divide the items up and help Peru install its share in a museum near the site. Peruvian officials would not agree to any joint projects until Yale acknowledged that all of the objects belong to the Peruvian people. Yale refused.”
Fuzzy logic at best, if you ask me. I know there’s a fine line, and we often have to find the perfect balance. What – exactly – is cheating? Is it acceptable to borrow someone else’s notes? Because that doesn’t necessarily gauge how well you learned in class. Is having an explicit dream about someone other than your partner considered cheating? What if you think about the dream during the day? Or is it just if you act upon thoughts. Is it wrong to lie? What if the truth would hurt, or you really just aren’t in the mood to chat on the phone but don’t want to be rude? Is putting the kids to bed earlier than their official bedtime wrong? What if they’re tired? And normally they don’t go to bed by their “official bedtime” anyhow?
On a personal level, sure, making the right choices day in and day out is difficult. But knowing that my kids are watching me and learning from me makes me choose carefully (though not always correctly – for example, yelling was not the right way to go this evening, since I then caught my elder son yelling at his brother with a tone that was eerily familiar). And the on-the-spot moral decisions people face seem more difficult than any decisions that a larger organization would have to make. There are by-laws and other documents guiding decision-makers at large institutions to do the right thing. And long ago, we have stopped expecting anything but a focus on the bottom line from the executives in corporate America.
Seriously, all this news about oil companies posting great profits – it’s not news. There’s really no surprise. The fact that the entire administration is involved with the oil industry, and that higher gas prices have spiked during the past six years should come as a surprise to nobody. What surprises me is that people are shocked and outraged by the "new" information. Fine, Condoleeza Rice has an oil tanker named after her. Big deal. If she makes a bid for the White House, I’m sure she’ll ask that the name be changed. George W. Bush is close to oil tycoons. Yeah? So? He’s never really hidden that fact, has he? His agenda has been as obvious as his clueless expression from day one.
But from our top-notch universities, we expect more. That’s where our future leaders are learning their values when many of them live away from the watchful eyes of their parents for the first time. College is when many children learn to think for themselves, find their own sense of right and wrong, and become adults.
Harvard, expel Ms. Viswanathan, even if she has already left. There’s now talk that she also plagiarized from a second book in writing her novel (and I use the word “her” loosely).
Yale, give Peru back the artifacts. Thank you for the discovery, thank you for putting Machu Picchu on the map. I’m sure you’ll be duly recognized at the museum at Machu Picchu. But just give it all back.
But then again, where did George W. Bush go to college?
posted by BrainHickey | 10:58 PM
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