Stealing School

Do you understand?

Ms. Chen!

Oh... sorry?

I said, if ruled today

that you did indeed plagiarize your last history essay

you will not have fulfilled enough arts credits

to receive your Computer Science degree next week.

So, Ms. Chen,

do you understand

the consequences of today's hearing?

I understand.

Professor, the floor is yours.

Okay, um... well...

I am so sorry.

The streetcars were backed up all the way on St. Clair.

- Have you started yet? - No.

I was just about to inform everyone

that I think it's best

that this case be led by Mr. Ward here.

Yes. Thank you.

And who are you?

I'm Keith Ward.

I'm one of Prof. Thornton's teaching assistants

And he is also my PhD advisor.

Why are you here?

Well, I'm the one

who originally caught April cheating.

And, thus, we both decided that it would be best

for me to present the case against her here today.

What is this, Alan?

Well, as you'll see, Richard,

Keith has a history with the student in question.

Wait.

Just to be clear,

does the professor even really believe April cheated?

Of course he believes it. We both believe it.

I'd like him to answer for himself.

I'm sorry, who are you?

Micah Shaw, student advocacy.

Student advocacy?

Of course you'd get a lawyer.

Actually, I was assigned to April's case

- and in the interest of... - Go ahead.

I know I didn't do anything wrong, so just...

go ahead. Whoever.

Mr. Ward, it would appear the floor is yours.

Okay. Thank you.

I'd like to start off

by thanking the tribunal for being here today.

I'm sure there are places that you would rather be on a Friday.

But, frankly, I'll take any excuse I can get

to get away from my thesis.

I'll begin by showing how April Chen

has shown a history of deceit and disrespect

towards myself and this university.

You see, this all began in our Poli Sci 100 class.

April, hi.

Please, have a seat.

So, this is your second year here at DuPont, correct?

Yeah.

And where are you from?

Uh, my family moved here from China when I was 9.

What part of China?

It wasn't a major city.

I might know it.

It's called Harbin.

It's in the north.

Yeah, I... I think I've heard of it.

The north, right, yes, um...

So, your paper.

Now...

as you can see here, the...

Oh, uh...

I got it.

Thank you.

Trying to quit, you know?

Yeah, know. I gave up on that a while ago.

Smoking?

No. Trying to quit.

Your paper.

You see these two passages?

See that they're the same?

Everything else in your paper is cited,

so do you think maybe you just forgot to cite this paragraph?

Will I be penalized?

- I'll let you off this time. - Okay.

But keep an eye on it in the future, all right?

Sure.

I appreciate you coming in.

No problem.

Okay. So you let her go?

Yes, but that is besides the point...

Why didn't you report this to Prof. Thornton?

With all due respect, I don't think people like you...

I don't think that those outside of the teaching faculty

understand what it's like for us TAs.

You see, there's just so many students for us to deal with

and I can't waste Prof. Thornton's time

with each and every minor infraction.

Oh, sorry.

So...

this takes us to the second time I met with April.

Hello?

April. Have a seat.

Can you please tell me in your own words,

what academic integrity means to you?

Oh, um...

I guess it means being original

and, um, citing your sources?

The reason I ask is because I'm wondering if this

is in line with what you just said.

This is your paper

and this is a paper that was published just last year.

Do you notice anything?

'Cause aside from a few minor cosmetic changes,

these two opening paragraphs are essentially identical.

I've never seen that other essay before.

Listen, I'm just trying to find out if this

supports your own definition of academic integrity.

I'm not a cheater.

Okay.

If that's how you feel, then I have no choice

but to hand this off to Prof. Thornton.

And he can deal with you.

Goodbye.

I'm very disappointed in you.

I then handed that paper over to Prof. Thornton.

Sir?

Uh, okay, yeah.

I, uh, questioned Ms. Chen on the details of her essay,

and I concluded that the similarities between the papers

were just a mere coincidence.

I didn't feel it was necessary

to bring that to the tribunal at that time.

Because you believed that she didn't cheat?

Yes, that became apparent when I spoke with her.

Although, I don't blame Keith

for bringing this matter to my attention.

It was an honest mistake.

Alan, your teaching assistant here

seems to be trying to establish a pattern of deceit.

Do you feel perhaps you were deceived in this case?

No, I think I know a liar when I see one, Richard.

Huh. You sure about that?

Yeah. I'm sure.

Professor, I have to ask,

do you think that we're all here today because of another

what you might call "honest mistake"?

No.

I believe that April's third and final essay...

The one that we're judging here today.

Yes, that essay was, indeed, plagiarized.

Which brings me...

Why don't we all quickly take a break?

You think we could get the AC on?

Yes, please.

They must have shut it off for the summer.

I'll see if I can get someone in.

You judge many of these?

Nah, not really.

If you're from student advocacy,

that means you're still in law school, right?

Yeah, applying to firms soon

and they love this kind of shit on a resumé.

Oh. See, I would have thought you were doing this

just for the satisfaction of helping out the less fortunate.

You know how much law school costs?

I am the less fortunate.

That you?

Oh, yeah. It's nothing.

Josh, I'm right here.

You can't keep pretending

you don't notice me.

You write for a student newspaper, Russ.

No one notices you.

Tell me about this tribunal

about a female computer science student?

I didn't know there were any girls in CS.

That's a bit sexist.

It's just the facts.

Aren't they a fifth of your department?

That's a shortage.

Can't force women to major in Comp Sci.

Like we can't force you to major in something useful.

What's that supposed to mean?

We don't need any more liberal artists.

We need more plumbers.

Thanks for the career advice.

You're already good at shovelling shit...

I know that, as the department rep,

you sit on those tribunals.

I can't talk about my tribunal duties.

Well, here's what I know so far...

it's a girl and I hear that she's Asian.

Well, Asians, those we don't have a shortage of.

Please forget I said that.

Bro, what do you take me for? It's forgotten.

So tell me about this tribunal.

Okay, okay.

Her name's April Chen.