Students need to be more aware about plagiarism By Maria Asselin-Roy, Staff Reporter | aurie Beckwith is a professor at Douglas College, and is also a member of the Academic Affairs comity. This group is a part of VPAC (Vice Presidential Academic Committee). The members are set to advise VPAC and the Deans involved in the sense of letting them know what they would like to work on within the college, whether it is something that needs to be changed or something that needs more attention. “About a year ago, we decided that the Academic Dishonesty Policy or practices were probably something that could use some work.” Beckwith says. This policy had not been looked at in a long time, and since Douglas now has a partnership with SFU and they take the dishonestly policy very seriously, Douglas should do the same. “What we are now working on is moving the policy from a more punitive system to a system where we need to focus on academic integrity.” With this, it is stated that we must not just address the people who are caught plagiarizing, but we must address all students. Plagiarism affects the student’s academic standing in two senses: if a student is getting good grades because of work, or if a student is getting good grades because he or she is cheating. If students are receiving good grades because of cheating, then it will most definitely lessen the value of the degree. “We are trying to set it up so that everyone is involved and committed to plagiarism rather than punitively hurting specific people. With that we are also trying to make everyone aware of where the root is: how a professor reports academic dishonesty, what happens after that, and right now the policy doesn’t have any mention of the students as stake holders. The thought behind this is to put students on the idea to possibly create a council; however this is all just in the proposal stages.” Right now the Academic Affairs Committee is working on writing the proposal, and before it gets accepted it will have to go through all the various committees. Beckwith says that one of the topics that came up in the meeting was that some universities and colleges in the United States have the registration process set up where students must watch a short video about the seriousness of plagiarism. The goal of the Academic Affairs Committee is partly about education and partly about making students aware of plagiarism in all Nod aspects. Douglas College is the only school that is a part of the Academic Affairs Committee, however all other colleges and universities have their own ways of dealing with plagiarism. For example, SFU has a policy where they have introduced an FD grade, which is failure for academic dishonesty. Members of the committee are saying that even something as simple as uploading a video about plagiarism on the Douglas registration site will benefit students in the sense that everybody is aware and starting out on an even playing field. Local Business Closes its Doors Making Room for New Arts Facility By Leslie Ste. Marie Ts award-winning Chinese Dim Sum restaurant, Dragon Palace, permanently closed its doors on October 6th. Owner Charles Zhao said he had to close one of his restaurants to make room for the museum being built by the city. Zhao owns Dragon Palace and Ki Sushi which are situated next to each other on Eighth Street at Carnarvon. The city requires the site where Ki Sushi is located, but Zhao says that is the more profitable restaurant, so he closed Dragon Palace for renovations and will move Ki Sushi to that location when renovations are complete. According to a June report from the Development Services Department of New Westminster, a Multi Use Civic Facility (MUCF) will be built using Development Assistance Compensation (DAC) funds from gaming revenue. The city has selected a site on Columbia Street between Eighth and Begbie Streets, the upper border of which includes the building that Ki Sushi will vacate. The city views this as a legacy project showcasing the use of gaming funds for economic development and tourism purposes. The DAC agreement specifies the project must be completed by the end of 2013. City staff and consultants have been working on the planning and programming needs of the facility since 2008. The facility will likely have spaces dedicated to Fine Arts, Studio Arts, Performing Arts, and Digital Arts, and will provide workspace and a storefront for local artists. In addition to enjoying local art, the public will be able to enrol in art classes at the MUCF. Potential components of the facility include a convention centre, a theatre, gallery space for museums and archives, and multi-purpose and purpose-built community and art centre space. Efforts will be made to ensure that activities taking place in the purpose-built spaces do not compete with or duplicate those provided by existing private sector and local education facilities. Dragon Palace, well known for Chinese cuisine and a weekend Dim Sum menu, had received many accolades over the years including a Critic’s Choice Award from CBC, local Reader’s Choice Awards, and a feature article in the Vancouver Sun. Although the restaurant was packed for Dim Sum on the weekends, Zhao said lunch was not very profitable, “Everything is made by hand. We have twelve people working in the kitchen here, and only four in the sushi restaurant’. The former Dragon Palace will undergo two months of renovations to become the new Ki Sushi. Zhao hopes he will only have to close Ki Sushi for one day to accommodate the move.