Academia

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Profiles in Plagiarism: Academia

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George O. Carney

Orange: High Risk

American geography/musicology

The case of George O. Carney was discussed in The Chronicle of Higher Education, and from this discussion, it would appear that Professor Carney was a career plagiarist.

That is, from the very start of his teaching and research as a professor of geography, he employed cut-n-paste as a means of textual composition. Papers, books, book chapters, essays--these were composed using "phrases, sentences, and even entire paragraphs from numerous authors" without proper citation, according to the authors of the Chronicle feature on plagiarism.

The only sort of censure or condemnation that Professor Carney ever encountered involves a few rejected manuscripts and a promise by Oklahoma State to "look into the matter".

How many other textual carnivores are on the prowl in academe!?!?

References

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Ward Churchill

Red: Severe Risk

Outspoken views and controversial research related to ethnic studies and Native American rights; Gained spectacular notoriety as the "9-11 Prof" who compared the 9/11 victims to Nazi war criminals

The plagiarism allegations concerning controversial "9-11 Prof" Ward Churchill had been around for some time before they resurfaced in 2005. This re-surfacing of plagiarism allegations seems to stem from Churchill's notoriety and the wide publicity which the media gave to a paper in which he likened the 9-11 victims to Nazi war criminals, "little Eichmanns" as he referred to them in his essay.

After a spate of renewed controversy involving the cancellation of several speaking engagements due to fears of protests and the potential for violent confrontations, Churchill refused to back down from his controversial remarks.

However, this stance only hardened the resolve of those seeking to remove Churchill from his tenured position at the University of Colorado, the Colorado governor himself recommending the university fire the troublesome 9-11 prof.

But because he held a tenured position, Churchill could not necessarily be removed simply for making controversial remarks, no matter how outrageous. That would be a violation of his academic freedom, and his freedom of speech.

So the attempts to silence Churchill have focused on his published research, another controversial area inclusive of the plagiarism allegations.

He is alleged to have plagiarized from other writers without proper citation, to have distorted facts to suit his views, to have made false claims regarding his Native American heritage, to have infringed on the copyright of another artist (copying a picture for a painting), and to have generally engaged in sloppy scholarship:

"By researching those copious endnotes, however, the discerning reader will discover that notwithstanding all the provocative sound and fury rumbling through his essays, Churchill's analysis overall is sorely lacking in historical/factual veracity and scholarly integrity" (John LaVelle, University of New Mexico Law Professor who accused Churchill of plagiarism in 1999).

Whether or not the revisiting of these plagiarism allegations (and other issues of academic integrity) will suffice to warrant dismissal of Churchill from his tenured position remains to be seen. He definitely hit a raw nerve with many Americans in making such ill-advised comments, and while the American right to freedom of speech protects academics such as Churchill from direct retaliation for his 9-11 remarks, these remarks have indirectly contributed to a closer analysis of his scholarly record. And this analysis may spell the undoing of the "9-11 Prof".

It's not a happy conclusion for the academy as Thomas Brown of Lamar University relates after assessing Churchill's academic record: "It is a distressing conclusion. One wants to think the best of fellow scholars. The scholarly enterprise depends on mutual trust. When one scholar violates that trust, it damages the legitimacy of the entire academy . . . " (from a draft of Brown's essay "Assessing Ward Churchill’s Version of the 1837 Smallpox Epidemic").

Update: As the CU investigation of plagiarism and misconduct allegations against Ward Churchill drags on and on, the situation has been further complicated by recent developments, namely the resignation of two members of the 5 member panel appointed to investigate "allegations of plagiarism, misuse of others' work and falsification and fabrication in his research work". Bruce Johansen (University of Nebraska, Omaha) and Robert A. Williams (University of Arizona) announced their resignations after apparent conflicts of interest surfaced which led to criticisms about the "impartiality of the panel" ("Professors Resign from Churchill Research Investigation").

Another Update: A review of the tenure granting process was undertaken by the state of Colorado, without a doubt resulting from the controversy surrounding the granting of tenure to "Churchill . . . the quintessential professor run amok . . . ." (John Gravois in "Colorado Governor Proposes Standardizing the Tenure Process, a Possible Response to the Ward Churchill Controversy", Chronicle of Higher Education).

Churchill Investigation Completed: Dated May 9,2006, the long-awaited "Report of the Investigative Committee of the Standing Committee on Research Misconduct at the University of Colorado at Boulder
concerning Allegations of Academic Misconduct
against Professor Ward Churchill" has finally been completed. The entire 125 page report (whew!) is available for download from the University of Colorado website along with other information about the investigation into the research misconduct allegations against the infamous professor of ethnic studies with dubious claims to American Indian ancestry. The report details findings of serious and deliberate research misconduct including fabrication, falsification, and plagiarism as well as "Failure to comply with established standards regarding author names on publications" and "Serious deviation from accepted practices in reporting results from research". Sanctions against Churchill have yet to be determined with possibilities on the table inclusing outright dismissal and revocation of tenure, or the less harsh suspension without pay.

"U.of Colorado Begins Process to Fire Ward Churchill": Scott Smallwood reports in the Chronicle of Higher Education that the University of Colorado has initiated proceedings to dismiss the controversial "9-11 Prof" (Smallwood, S.).

References

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Keith Cook

Service on the Orange County School Board

When Chairman of the Orange County School Board Keith Cook decided to lift material for re-use in a high school graduation speech, he was following the model of other leaders in education who have plagiarized the content of their speeches rather than write something up on their own.

The only problem with such derivation is that people are more intelligent than educrats often give them credit for, and the unacknowledged copying is spotted by perceptive listeners.

In this case, Keith Cook lifted a speech given by Donna Shalala in 1998, and this bit of plagiarism prompted calls for him to resign his position as School Board Chairman. Cook did end up resigning, but he also announced his intention to run for re-election to the school board. In the end, he lost that election, voters deciding that a plagiarist might not be the best choice for the important business of the school board (K. T. Ataiyero; Darla Miles).

References

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René Diekstra

Popular author of books and articles on suicide, drug use, depression, personality, psycho-social disturbance and other topics from a psychological perspective

René Diekstra, a popular author from the Netherlands, presents an interesting case study in the psychologist as plagiarist.

Diekstra had to leave his position at Leiden University after allegations that he had been plagiarizing the research of his colleagues, copying entire pages without attribution.

Apparently un-rehabilitated as a plagiarist after his 1997 experience, Diekstra again fell afoul of the guidelines governing use of other's work when he claimed to be the author of a poem in a radio interview with a KRO broadcast "Between Heaven and Earth". As a guest of this program in 2001, Diekstra read a poem which he gave indication as being his own, citing the name of Hans Andreus as if he were inspired somehow by Andreus.

Upon conducting a fact-check, the editors of the program subsequently discovered that they had been duped--the poem was a word for word copying of a Hans Andreus poem. Upon being confronted with this obvious plagiary over Holland's airwaves, the editors of the broadcast report that Diekstra continued his pattern of denial, claiming that the wording of his Hans Andreus "acknowledgement", "freely to Hans Andreus", meant that he had done nothing wrong.

The psychological self-deception and the clues a plagiarist leaves behind in such a public manner--as if he wants/needs to be caught--would seem to be some important clinical indicators in the Diekstra case. Therapy would seem to be called for in cases where the plagiarist engages in such obviously self-destructive behavioral patterns.

References

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Susan Duval

Effective leadership at Springstead High School

What's the deal with the cribbing of commencement speeches by high school principals?

After being found out for plagiarizing a Chicago Tribune column by Mary Schmich in her 2005 graduation speech, Springstead High School Principal Susan Duval admitted to plagiarism in her 2004 graduation ceremony as well.

An anonymous tip-off resulted in Duval's cribbed graduation oratory being discovered, and the matter has been referred to the Florida Department of Education which will investigate the charges and consider possible "action against her teaching certificate . . . ranging from a written reprimand to the revocation of Duval's educator's certificate" (P. Quinlan).

Letters to the Editor of the St. Petersburg Times reflected outrage over the dishonest principal's unacknowledged use of other authors' texts. Extracts from several letters appear below:

In the real world, which is what students are supposed to learn about, punishment also exists with fines and lawsuits and so forth. How are students supposed to understand punishment if the principal of our school, who is supposed to be a role model, is not punished? . . .

Springstead principal Susan Duval should be removed, not necessarily for her poor judgment concerning her plagiarism of other's works, but for her continual insistence that her acts were "unintentional errors . . . The act of pulling up another's speech on the Internet is in no manner unintentional. Claiming the words she found on the Internet were her own "personal thoughts" also is in no way unintentional . . . The woman suffers an integrity issue and is unable or unwilling to admit her intentional transgressions . . .

I'd say "cribs" is too kind a word for anyone who cheats, even a principal . . . What a legacy to leave to her students! Then we wonder why young people have no qualms about cheating or lying when it's to their advantage? . . . A cheat is a cheat and no other word will suffice . . . ("Critics, supporters assess principal's plagiarism", www.sptimes.com)

 

Abhi Raghunathan of the St. Petersburg Times reported that this is not the first time commencement speakers have plagiarized Mary Schmich's Chicago Tribune column. Other graduation speakers in a pinch have lifted portions of this column which purports to be a "Sunscreen" commencement speech delivered by Kurt Vonnegut at the MIT graduation of 1997 ("'Sunscreen' Speech Rings Familiar"). This is actually an urban legend--Vonnegut never delivered this speech at MIT, but the legend has made its rounds on the Internet, and Duval is not the first commencement speaker to incorporate components of "Sunscreen" into their address to students at "the powerful life moment of college [or high school] graduation" (Joan E. Aitken)

Those calling for the Springstead High School Principal's termination will have to wait to see whether the Florida Department of Education revokes Duval's teaching credentials. For now, both students and colleagues at Springstead are recovering from the shock of discovering that their principal plagiarized her graduation speeches, two years in a row.

References

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Edward Waters College

Florida's oldest private college; Phenomenal growth in the 1990s and honorable mention as one of "The Best of Florida Schools 2004" in the Florida Leader magazine

An un-named administrator at Edward Waters College seems to be responsible for a plagiarism scandal which happened as the college was applying for re-accreditation with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

A report in Black Issues in Higher Education claims that the Edward Waters' Quality Enhancement Plan was found to contain identical wording lifted from a similar document belonging to Alabama A & M University. The Quality Enhancement Plan also lifted "detailed statistical information" as part of the re-accreditation bid.

As a result of this plagiarized Quality Enhancement Plan, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools revoked the accreditation of Edward Waters College, a major crisis for the small private college since 90% of their students receive financial aid ("Edward Waters College Brief History"). Without accreditation, a college's students are ineligible for federal financial aid, and organizations such as the United Negro College Fund also base their membership decisions on the accreditation status of member schools.

The college will most likely pull through this difficult time. The loss of accreditation has been appealed, and there has been a change in leadership as President Oswald P. Bronson, Sr. took over after a period of growth under the direction of President Jimmy Jenkins. Furthermore, the college has the support of Florida Governor Jeb Bush as well as the United Negro College Fund.

As this crisis at Edward Waters College so aptly illustrates, plagiary always affects others. Former President Jenkins tried to re-assure faculty and students that "This is a new beginning", but many of the college's 1,300 students were probably wondering about their financial aid status after this incident.

Thankfully, the financial aid will continue to be disbursed throughout the appeal process. In the meantime, EWC has filed a lawsuit against SACS alleging that their due process rights were violated, SACS not giving EWC an opportunity to respond to the plagiarism allegations before the decision to revoke the college's accreditation status.

Update: As of Thursday, June 23, 2005, Edward Waters College had settled its lawsuit against SACS. The settlement includes the re-instatement of EWC's accreditation with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (Fain, P. "Edward Waters College, Backed by Legal Punch, Wins Reinstatement of Accreditation").

References

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Melissa Elias

Educational leadership with the Madison School Board

Madison School Board President Melissa Elias was forced to resign after evidence emerged that she had cribbed parts of her 2005 commencement speech from a graduation address delivered by Pulitzer-Prize recipient Anna Quindlen at the Mount Holyoke College graduation ceremony of 1999 (L. Vernon-Sparks, "Madison board leader quits over 'plagiarism'").

Before Elias' resignation, the Madison School Board formulated a statement affirming that "The board does not condone nor tolerate plagiarism within the Madison School community and expects all members of our community to adhere to the highest ethical standards" ("Side by side: Two texts in plagiarism furor", The Madison Eagle).

Commencement speakers. Another one bites the dust!

References

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Bindu Ganga

Red: Severe Risk

Teaching, training and administrative work in clinical psychology

As reported by the Chicago Sun-Times in this case of a "Student [being] scolded over plagiarism allegation" , it was not the plagiarist who was first charged with ethics violations, but the student who discovered the violations of scholarship norms in a paper 'written' by her professor! (D. Newbart, "Student Scolded Over Plagiarism Accusation").

An allegation directed against a member of Argosy University's faculty resulted in what appears to be an attempted institutional cover-up on behalf of a plagiarist. After the student made allegations against Bindu Ganga, "confid[ing] to a professor that she believed Ganga's thesis might have been plagiarized", she herself was accused of ethics violations involving "a pattern of unprofessional comportment . . . including disrespect toward those in authority" ! The Argosy University student,Marla Decker, did end up receiving her degree after the university tried to have her dismissed, and her 'ethics violations' ended up as a "part of her permanent academic record"! (D. Newbart, "Student Scolded Over Plagiarism Accusation")

What a crooked way to deal with plagiarism accusations on the part Argosy University officials! It gets even worse. The title of Ganga's doctoral thesis? Deception vs. Perception: A Critical Look at the Intricacies of Lying Withing the Therapeutic Relationship, in which Ganga borrows heavily from sources including Charles Ford's book Lies! Lies!! Lies!!! without acknowledging extensive verbatim appropriations.

Thanks to a Turnitin.com "originality report" commissioned by the Sun-Times, the allegations by Argosy Univesity student Marla Decker were substantiated ("a 45% match" as revealed by the "originality report"), and the unethical attempts to silence this student were exposed.

Update: As of March 3, 2006, Argosy University had reversed its earlier position and decided to fire Bindu Ganga over the plagiarism allegations raised by Marla Decker. As reported in the Sun-Times, Argosy "also took away Ganga's doctorate in clinical psychology" (Newbart, D. "University fires official accused of plagiarism").

About time!

References

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Gary A. Giamartino, Robert Carver & the SIUE School of Business

Blue: Guarded Risk

Leadership at the School of Business, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

Sources in the know at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville see a storm coming. Locally, SIUE is cynically referred to by some as CAPU, or Cut And Paste University, due to the *composite* nature of certain web content on official university websites.

Take for example Dean Gary Giamartino's welcome page for the SIUE School of Business. The SIUE newspaper published an article claiming that the "School of Business plagiarizes Web material" (McKinney, T.) after it was discovered that the Dean's welcome message was not all that original of a welcome statement. In fact, portions of that statement were identical to another website, mirroring phrasing from the University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business webpage.

Such borrowing of institutional, "corporately composed information" (G. Giamartino) is not without precedent. Borrowing the "Boilerplate" language of other texts is actually more common than might be at first realized. Indeed, plagiarism statements themselves have been institutionally plagiarized as it were, making the rounds from one school to another!

What makes the SIUE case stand somewhat apart from such cases of "Boilerplate" language appropriation is a troubling story involving an SIUE professor's having been summarily dismissed for the same infraction the Dean himself is now being accused of. You guessed it--plagiarism.

An as yet un-named professor, rumoured at SIUE to have initiated pending litigation as a result of such dismissal, was fired after complications allegedly involving a plagiarized teaching philosophy statement. More details will evidently be forthcoming on this pending litigation . . . Stay tuned . . .

For now, the unrest at SIUE over this case of "composite . . . corporately composed information" is reflected in the allegations and responses which have been publicly voiced in The Alestle. Students have been asking if they too will now be allowed to employ such "composite" composing techniques for their own assignments, and they have asked for an apology from Dean Giamartino (Darling, C. "Student says double standards reflect poorly on SIUE"; McDonald, N. "Dean's actions unacceptable, apology necessary").

For his part, the Dean maintains that "The allegations of plagiarism leveled by the Alestle toward the School of Business are biased and exaggerated" and that he inherited the web content problems from his predecessor, Dean Robert Carver: "The organizational image we wanted to project did not change when I became dean, so we felt no need to change the text of the welcome message" ("Dean offers response to plagiarism allegations").

Sounds like things are getting quite nasty between the faculty and the admin at SIUE with pending litigation to boot. Not good . . . not good at all.

Update: The "un-named" professor dismissed from the SIUE School of Business has now been named in the Alestle. In a call for Dean Giamartino to resign, Tyson Giger wrote "Gimartino [sic] needs to hold himself accountable for his actions. He fired a finance professor, Chris Dussold for the same crime: plagiarizing written word [sic]. If you cheat, which is what plagiarism is, you're fired. Dismissal was the standard that he set in the firing of Dussold. This is a precedent he created. Since this dean cannot fire himself, he should do the next best thing: resign" (Giger, T. "SIUE alum calls for dean's resignation" The Alestle). Dussold's lawsuit was actually initiated back in March of 2005 when he "filed a nine-count defamation lawsuit . . . seeking at least $750,000 in compensatory and punitive damages claiming his reputation has been damaged . . . [relating to] 'impeach[ment of] his honesty, integrity, virtue or reputation'" (Gonzalez, S. "SIUE Professor Files Defamation Suit" Madison Record).

The Latest: For recent info on the case involving Chris Dussold, Giamartino, and SIUE, see the article by T. Bartlett "The Rumor: What really cost Chris Dussold his dream job?" in the Chronicle of Higher Education.

References

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Lindsey S.
Hamlin
(and co-
author
William T.
Ryan)

Syllabus magazine is well known for featuring information on the use of technology within contexts of higher education

Dan Carnevale reported in The Chronicle of Higher Education on the peculiar case of unacknowledged derivation in Syllabus magazine (2003, June 20). A graduate associate at Florida Atlantic University and her co-author, not to mention Syllabus magazine, found themselves in the awkward situation of having copied text without acknowledgement in an article addressing plagiarism by distance learning students.

Lindsey S. Hamlin and William T. Ryan, both of Florida Atlantic University, lifted a few passages and employed a bit of synonym substitution in their Syllabus article "Probing for Plagiarism in the Virtual Classroom". In the view of Michael Heberling, Hamlin and Ryan's article came too close to the phraseology of an article he had written on "Maintaining Academic Integrity in Online Education" for the Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration.

Carnevale reports that Heberling received an apology from Ms. Hamlin: I honestly did not realize that some of my verbiage was so close to yours . . . [H] ad I realized that the language I used was so close, I would have definitely referenced it . . . I apologize . . . [I]t was not done intentionally."

Syllabus editor Mary Grush appended a reference to Heberling's article at the end of Hamlin and Ryan's essay, a "Band-Aid fix" in the view of Heberling, and Professor Ryan exclaimed, "It's been blown enormously out of proportion."

In the various genres of discourse--including scholarly discourse--plagiarism in a text about the very phenomenon of plagiarism itself is an occasional happenstance. And it just may get even more complicated than that--plagiarism of an article about plagiarism which has plagiarized another text on the subject which might itself contain substantial portions of unacknowledged, derived language chunks!

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Blair Hornstine

Hornstine had previously been recognized for involvement in social projects such as the co-founding of MAGIC, the Moorestown Alliance for Goodwill and Interest in the Community; Also known for being involved in "drives for cleft lip correction surgery for orphans, prom dresses, 9/11 victims, and food for the hungry" ("Blair Hornstine", Wikipedia)

Poor, privileged Blair Hornstine didn't have the common sense to say "No thanks, Dad!" to her father Louis Hornstine, a New Jersey State Supreme Court judge who had determined to "manipulate the rules designed to protect disabled students for the purpose of allowing (Blair) to win the valedictorian award" ("Blair Hornstine", Wikipedia).

Her *disabled* condition? Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and possibly an immune deficiency which exempted her from formal school attendance, allowing her to receive instruction at home without having to take physical education, a demanding course which would probably have lowered her GPA just a fraction enough to bring her score down to the level of her closest competitor for class valedictorian.

These circumstances prompted Mooretown High School to name two valedictorians, and the Hornstine family promptly sued in federal court to have Blair named as the one and only valedictorian, and they also sought $2.7 million from the state court as "punitive and compensatory damages" ("Report: Blair Hornstine Dropped from Harvard for Plagiarism").

Understandably, this move did not endear the promising young Ivy League applicant to her Moorestown classmates, and the Hornstines found their home generously decorated with free toilet paper and several dozen lobbed eggs. This was just the beginning of Hornstine's woes.

Plagiarism allegations would surface next concerning a column by Hornstine featured in the Cherry Hill Courier-Post. In these regular columns, it was discovered that Hornstine had lifted text from sources without attribution. Even before these allegations surfaced, an online petition signed by "nearly 2,700"[!] people "call[ed] for Harvard to rescind Hornstine's acceptance". The incidents of plagiarism provided impetus to the petitioners' request("Report: Blair Hornstine Dropped from Harvard for Plagiarism").

Harvard obliged in July 2003 and decided not to admit a high school plagiarist into the hallowed halls of the ivy league . . .

. . . WAIT A MINUTE ! ! ! . . .

What about Professor Charles Ogletree?

How about former Professor Doris Kearns Goodwin?

And let's not forget about Professor Laurence Tribe!


Had she gone to Harvard, Blair Hornstine would have found herself among members of the plagiarazzi, plagiary's elite--the Ivy League Plagiarists. What's a little bit of plagiarism by a high school girl compared to your own professors' wholesale lifting of text in their books?

It seems rather hypocritical--doesn't it?--to state "It would be unusual for Harvard not to rescind the admission of a student caught plagiarizing" (Marilyn McGrath, Harvard Director of Undergraduate Admissions in "Report: Blair Hornstine Dropped from Harvard for Plagiarism") when your own professors are kept on after doing exactly the same thing?

The sad case of Blair Hornstine . . . There seems to have been more outrage and public response to the plagiaries of this wayward young high school student than to the textual pilferings of the glib and gifted profs inhabiting the ivory towers. If only her family hadn't sued Moorestown High, this gifted young plagiarist might have been happily plagiarizing her way along toward her degree in Harvard's class of 2007--in the good company of fellow plagiarists, it might also be noted (see the "Harvard Plagiarism Archives").


References

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Blue: Guarded Risk

Leadership at Central Connecticut State University

You know things are really bad when the President of a state university has to retire because of plagiarism allegations for which a college student would be severely reprimanded, if not expelled!

Richard L. Judd apparently lifted parts of an opinion article which he wrote for The Hartford Courant. After discovery of Judd's plagiarism, including material from sources such as the New York Times, editorial-page-editor John J. Zakarian lamented, "The Courant regrets publishing Judd's article."

Judd resigned from his position as President of Central Connecticut State University days after the allegations surfaced. Just like a student who withdraws from a college course after, *ahem*, a bit of difficulty coping with the courseload.

References

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Bryan LeBeau

Authoring and editing various books on history; hosting the nationally syndicated "Talking History" radio program

Another historian accused of plagiarism, another commencement address as the venue for delivery of a speech freighted with unacknowledged derivation. Bryan LeBeau now joins the ranks of H. Joachim Maitre and others who thought they could get away with cribbing their speech from the graduation platform. Commencement addresses would seem to present a unique category of rhetorical thievery given the number of educators who have used graduation platforms to convey their learned liftings from more capable colleagues.

Although Professor LeBeau is a historian, because he orally plagiarized in a more general commencement address which was subsequently published in the "Dean's Newsletter", the LeBeau profile appears here with other general cases of academic plagiarism on the FamousPlagiarists.com website.

LeBeau and other plagiarists seem to be unaware of the technological advances which make verbatim plagiary so easy to detect. They underestimate the power of Google. In May of 2005, two years after LeBeau's plagiarized commencement address, Sally Greene was Googling for the phrase "history is a slaughterhouse" when up popped the very similar speeches of Bryan LeBeau (2003) and Cornel West (1993). As a member of the academic community herself, Greene felt an obligation to report her discovery, so she contacted the Chronicle of Higher Education which subsequently ran an article on this case of oral plagiarism (E. Ferreri, "Google search uncovers plagiarism").

After the Google search gave the game away for LeBeau and his case of oral plagiarism back in 2003, it became apparent that this instance of plagiarism carried certain telltale indicators common to derivative texts, oral or written. Errors from the original texts are frequently carried over into the derivative text by a plagiarist. Thomas Bartlett points out that both Cornel West and Bryan LeBeau misspell the name of novelist Toni Morrison in the published versions of their texts (Chronicle of Higher Education, "Missouri Dean Appears to Have Plagiarized Commencement Speech by Cornel West").

What makes this case of oral plagiarism so grievous is the fact that LeBeau is a widely acknowledged scholar and author/editor of numerous works, and also the host for "Talking History" [emphasis added], a nationally syndicated radio program of the Organization of American Historians carried on National Public Radio every week. LeBeau clearly understands the need for integrity in scholarly contexts, particularly "the powerful life moment of college graduation" (Joan E. Aitken).

In a memo to the faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Missouri, LeBeau publicly apologized:

As some of you may know by now, the Chronicle of Higher Education ran an article in which I was used as an example of those making inappropriate use of material in a commencement address. . . . I admit having made the error . . . I failed to attribute . . . I apologize to all of my colleagues in the College for any embarrassment this might cause you. It is lesson [sic] learned the hard way, that I hope to use in an instructive manner come next semester.

Penitence two years late is better than never. This case isn't over yet. There have been publicized calls for LeBeau's resignation/termination. He has also had to drop out of the running for a coveted administrative post at DePaul University. And bloggers have hinted that LeBeau might have also lifted from a commencement address by Pulitzer Prize recipient Russell Baker (E. Ferreri).

The way of transgressors is hard. So observed King Solomon in his recorded proverbs millennia ago in the distilled wisdom collected from various sages and experiences--all of which the Hebrew king duly acknowledged with textual references.

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James Mackay

Orange: High Risk

Self made status as an academic, winner of the 1994 Saltire Award

In one of the more poignant cases of plagiarism, the biographer of Robert Burns, a recognized authority on Scotland's National Bard, has been accused of "spectacular and sustained plagiarism" in as many as four of his biographies. Experts in forensic linguistics have compared Mackay's texts with the alleged source texts and have concluded that enough evidence exists to warrant charges of plagiarism.

Mackay, a self-made scholar, felt on his part that he was being targeted by other scholars who were jealous of his reputation and standing as a Burns scholar. However, as Mackay did not cite the earlier works from which passages appear to have been lifted verbatim, his reputation is likely to suffer damage with so many passages having been lifted without acknowledgement.

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H.Joachim Maitre

Orange: High Risk

Emigrating from Germany to the US; Taking a firm stance on controversial issues in his new, high profile position with Boston University

Just like the case involving presidential aspirant Joe Biden a few years before, evidence for the unacknowledged borrowing in the H. Joachim Maitre case existed in the form of incontrovertible videotape recording.

In delivering a commencement address on May 12,1991, Boston University's Dean of the College of Communication had lifted the the "basic theme and organization"--much of it word for word--from an article by Michael Medved as reported in the Boston Globe by Anthony Flint and Muriel Cohen ("BU dean used the words of another; Source not given during speech").

The subject of Maitre's commencement address? Of all things, upholding standards. "My article was all about upholding standards" said Medved about his article which had first appeared in the journal Imprimis, and then in condensed form in Reader's Digest.

Maitre launched into his borrowed commencement speech with a three-pronged assault in the form of an outline encompassing "traditional values, family and religion . . . [employing] the same examples and anecdotes that Medved does" as the Boston Globe reporters related about a month and a half after the now notorious address to the graduating class of journalists and filmmakers.

The speech included Maitre's supposed commentary on the movie "The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover" as part of his three pronged assault on the decline in standards, yet analyses and side-by-side comparison of the speech with Medved's article revealed the unacknowledged derivation which had taken place, a lapse in Maitre's own standards of scholarly integrity [or perhaps his administrative, behind-the-scenes speechwriter].

After the Boston Globe publicized Maitre's unacknowledged derivation, Boston University President Jon Westling dismissed Maitre from his position as Dean, an unhappy ending for the relatively recent hire whom Westling had brought on board from Germany to teach journalism and international relations at Boston University.

But this profile in plagiarism doesn't end here! In writing up this story for the New York Times, the Boston bureau chief for the Times found the Globe's take on Maitre's plagiarism too tempting to resist. So what does Fox Butterfield do? He swipes some of those irresistible chunks of text from Flint and Cohen's article and tries to pass them off as his own . . . but that's another profile in the category of journalism.


References

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Charles J. Ogletree, Jr.

Yellow: Elevated Risk

Scholarship investigating Brown vs. Board of Education

In yet another embarrassment for Harvard University, one of its renowned law professors was discovered to have published a book containing about several pages of text lifted verbatim from another book without proper citation.

Professor Charles Ogletree's book All Deliberate Speed contained six paragraphs which directly copied text from Professor Jack Balkin's book What Brown v. Board of Education Should Have Said.

An internal review at Harvard found that this was an "honest mistake" although others expressed serious concern about the type of scholarship for which a Harvard student might be expelled or otherwise disciplined.

Ogletree basically blamed his research assistants for the bit of plagiarized text, although he did accept full responsibility in a public apology: "I made a serious mistake during the editorial process of completing this book, and delegated too much responsibility to others during the final editing process. I was negligent in not overseeing more carefully the final product that carries my name. I accept full responsibility for this error and apologize to Professor Balkin, NYU Press, my colleagues, students and others for this serious mistake."

The issue of "celebrity professors" facing the music "for the egregious sins of ill-trained assistants" is commented on by David J. Garrow in his Wilson Quarterly review of P.C. Hoffer's Past Imperfect: Facts, Fictions, Fraud--American History from Bancroft and Parkman to Ambrose, Bellesiles, Ellis, and Goodwin. And this is an issue which probably more than a few university professors are contemplating, perhaps wondering whether their research assistants might have done something similar in one of their publications.

The "Harvard Plagiarism Archives" gives the student response to a perceived "meltdown in scholarly integrity" at one of America's most well-regarded ivy league institutions of higher learning. Whether committed by the professor himself or his research assistants, the fact that plagiarized material has somehow entered the professional discourse of academia is a very serious concern.

Scholarly integrity is such an important and vital issue, and perceived lapses are bound to have an effect on both individuals and the academy.

References

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Elizabeth Paige Laurie

Orange: High Risk

Being an up and coming member of the Wal-Mart family dynasty

Elizabeth Paige Laurie just did what many other college students do these days to cheat their way through college. She paid her roommate to write her papers for her, a quick and easy way to have custom-made term papers done in the convenience of your dorm room! Plus, you don't have to worry about downloading papers from Internet databases with the fear that cheat-detection technology will spot matching text.

Custom-made term papers are all the rage these days when plagiarism-detection services such as those offered by Turnitin.com, mydropbox.com, plagiarism.com, and Essay Verification Engine are able to spot lifted language and match it up with the source text.

Of course, students can't always be so sure that the "custom made" papers for which they are paying good money aren't paper downloads quickly accessed by "research services" staff on the Internet.

This probably helps to explain why Elizabeth Paige Laurie preferred to pay her roommate, Elena Martinez, for her "custom made" papers in exchange for about $20,000 over several years.

The University of Southern California claims to be "investigating" these allegations according to Michael Jackson, the vice president of Student Affairs.

Meanwhile, Paige-Laurie has skipped happily off with a communications degree in hand as of May 2004. But after her parents donated money to the University of Missouri and had a sports arena named after their daughter, they had to agree to the school's request to rename the arena in light of the academic controversy.

If Paige Laurie weren't a Wal-Mart heiress, Martinez wouldn't have appeared to voice her allegations, Paige-Laurie wouldn't have had a sports arena named after her, and she would have had to settle for the less expensive forms of plagiarism--cheating for the common college student via paper databases and "research services" available on the Internet.

Essay-Mart. Always low prices. Always.

Update: Reportedly, Elizabeth Paige Laurie has "voluntarily . . . surrendered her degree and returned her diploma to the university [U of Southern CA]. She is [no longer] . . . a graduate of USC." This surrendering of her degree seems to have taken place sometime near the end of September 2005 judging by the announcement made by USC spokesman James Grant ("Wal-Mart Heiress Returns USC Diploma" Associated Press news article reported in Yahoo! News and The New York Times).

References

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Tina Rosenberg

Gender studies and feminist activism

Wallace and Gromit of "Techno-Trousers" fame would be absolutely horrified! Trousers once again being used to pull off a heist. This time a texto-trousers rather than a techno-trousers heist.

In what would appear to be a case of wearing the wrong trousers--somebody else's texto-trousers that is--gender studies specialist/activist Tina Rosenberg has been (re-)accused of using plagiarism as a composition technique in her book Byxbegär ["Wearing the Trousers" or "Trouser Desire"]. According to The Local's Andy Butterworth, the plagiarism allegations had been known for some time before being repeated again in an Axess journal article which analyzed the "politicisation of academia" ("Feminist professor accused of plagiarism" The Local).

The texto-trousers plagiarism was first brought out of the closet in a review of Byxbegär by Ingeborg Nordin in 2000. Five years later in 2005 Johan Tralau cited the Rosenberg case as an instance of "gender politics com[ing] before academic rigour". In response, Feminist Initiative party spokesperson Gudrun Schyman accused Tralau of harboring "misogynistic prejudice" and criticized the close scrutiny of gender studies specialists as resulting from a "systematic campaign" to discredit gender studies specialists/activists.

For Johan Tralau, however, the Rosenberg case represents "gender politics" taking precedence over the actual research and inquiry upon which such feminist activism is based. Slip-shod scholarship will certainly not help the cause of gender activists. As Butterworth reports, the case of the wrong texto-trousers will be investigated by Stockholm University at an upcoming faculty meeting.

Update: A committee at Stockholm University has decided that the plagiarism allegations against Rosenberg do not merit investigation. Derstin Dahlbäck, the dean of this committee noted that "Her [Rosenberg's] intention was not to use Dekker and van de Pol's work in an inappropriate way" ("No investigation into Rosenberg"). No response as yet from Professor Tralau in reply to email query sent by Dr. Lesko for his take on this decision by Stockholm University not to investigate these plagiarism allegations.

Professor Tralau Responds to Stockholm University's Decision:

Professor Tralau reports that he has

responded to Rosenberg's and her old supervisor's reactions in
Expressen . . . and in the latest issue of
Axess . . . giving sufficient examples to show that she has copied a number of phrases out of a book published by two other scholars.

Furthermore, she has republished the book after having been alerted to the fact that she had copied sentences word by word without showing that her words were really quotations. The claim that there are footnotes referring to the book in
other parts of the chapter is irrelevant . . .

The response on the part of the faculty is hence surprising, to put it mildly: the dean of the faculty claimed that there are just different techniques of citing people. One of which implies copying their words, then, and not letting the reader understand that those are quotations (from an email sent to Dr. Lesko by Professor Tralau in response to the following query: "What is your response to the decision of Stockholm University to basically clear Rosenberg of any wrongdoing?").

References

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Christopher
Sawyer-
Lauçanno

Literary scholarship

A Harper's Magazine book review by Wyatt Mason accuses Christopher Sawyer-Lauçanno of plagiarizing in his book on e.e. cummings, A Biography.

Allegedly, Sawyer-Lauçanno appropriated "storytelling and language" from another e.e. cummings scholar, Richard S. Kennedy, author of Dreams in the Mirror: A Biography of e.e. cummings. Wyatt Mason claims in his review that Sawyer-Lauçanno's book employs "wholesale borrowing" without proper acknowledgement.

On his part, Sawyer-Lauçanno maintains his innocence: "while I clearly missed a few citations, I am not willing to admit to plagiarism." And his publisher backs him up: "Calling a few missed citations plagiarism grossly exaggerates the mistakes."

Mason obviously disagrees. Having painstakingly researched the previous biographies of e.e. cummings by Charles Norman and Richard S. Kennedy, Mason recounts the archival research and consultation of primary source documents as well as intimate contact with e.e.cummings himself in the case of Norman.

Contrasting this firsthand archival research by Norman and Kennedy with that of Sawyer-Lauçanno, while also acknowledging that Sawyer-Lauçanno had done some archival research, Mason found the latest biography of e.e.cummings to rely too much--way too much--on the primary research, "storytelling and language" of the now deceased Kennedy.

"This is plagiarism" Mason concludes after citing numerous examples of Sawyer-Lauçanno's linguistic and scholarly debts to Kennedy.

Mason admits this problem of plagiarism is one he is "extremely loath to touch", and he called Sawyer-Lauçanno for a "long talk" to discuss these disturbing findings. Sawyer-Lauçanno claimed in this conversation that he had not "consciously plagiarized", stating that he regretted not being more thorough in citing his indebtedness to Kennedy. After this conversation, as a bottom-of-the-page note informs Harper's readers, Sawyer-Lauçanno consulted with a lawyer and faxed some further information to Harper's Magazine, modifying his stance somewhat: "any un-attributed similarities are quite trivial and seem to arise from our use of the same source documents."

Having passed away in 2002, e.e. cummings biographer Richard S. Kennedy must leave the defense of his authorship in the hands of others . . . unless we have another "sly and spectral" return of the Author underway, the presumed deceased returning to haunt a plagiarist and would-be Author-murderer.

References

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Roger Shepherd

Blue: Guarded Risk

Artistic design, chairing the Department of Fine Arts at New School University, writing online features for the Architectural Record

Although this was not one of the most egregious cases of plagiarism in academia, the verbatim copying of portions of text from another professor's work was enough for New School University to fire the Chair of their Fine Arts Department in the Parsons School of Design. A job dispute followed in which Shepherd claimed to have been unfairly terminated from his position with the university. He did admit though to the Chronicle of Higher Education that this copying was "probably the worst thing I've ever done."

References

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Rodney Smith

Bold initiative to transform the College of the Bahamas into the University of the Bahamas by 2007

Ho hum, another commencement address scandal. This time at the College of the Bahamas by President Rodney Smith. This sort of commencement address plagiary is old hat. With commencement speakers setting such a deplorable example at the "the powerful life moment of college graduation" (Joan E. Aitken), is it any wonder that students feel free to do the same in their essays and college research papers?

What a farce for those students who plagiarize their way through high school or college (thanks to Internet paper mills and the "research services" industry) and find themselves at graduation listening to a plagiarized commencement address!

How apropos!

If you're such a student, can you even spell apropos ? Do you know what that means? Not that it matters anyway if you've already graduated.

As reported by Tameka Lundy, President Rodney Smith found himself on the hotseat after lifting parts of a speech previously delivered by the President of New York University John Sexton. Faced with pressure to resign, Smith admitted having made a "terrible mistake" and expressed his desire to "remove any further negative and damaging media frenzy from the doorsteps of this great institution [College of the Bahamas]". Evidently, a committee appointed by the College Council to investigate the plagiarism allegations against Smith had advised him to either resign or face termination (Lundy, T. "Smith Gives Up").

From students to academic deans all the way up to college and university presidents, members of scholarly communities are responsible for acknowledging their sources of influence--particularly verbatim derivation--and adhering to the conventions of academic discourse.

On a side note, if the commencement address plagiary trend continues, FamousPlagiarists.com may need to add a whole new category to the list: "Lifted Commencement Speeches" perhaps, or should it rather be called "Recycled Graduation Oratory".

References

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Su Tsui-yun

Lin Tsai-mei

Administrative work at Taiwan's Chinese Culture University

Jewel Huang of the Taipei Times reported in 2003 on an apparent mother-daughter duo engaging in a bit of plagiarism to help the daughter finish her master's degree in business management with the Chinese Culture University ("Plagiarism penalties to be set for university advisers").

There was a slight problem with this strategy. Lin Tsai-mei happened to be the university chancellor! And she was also the master's degree advisor for her daughter, Su Tsui-yun. Allegedly, Lin allowed her daughter to copy portions of her book for use in her dissertation on business management. Some 90 pages of her dissertation out of 110 were copied directly by Su from her mother's book.

Once this plagiarism was brought into public view, Su's degree was revoked and Lin was forced to resign her position as chancellor of Chinese Culture University, continuing on with the university as Director of the School of Business.

Faced with such corruption at high levels of university administration, but not wanting to interfere in the self-governance of the Chinese Culture University, the Taiwanese Ministry of Education began planning for new penalties to deal in the future with such blatant violations of scholarly integrity.

At the same time, one university trustee claimed that university president Chang Ching-hu was engaging in a cover up for this mother-daughter derivative duo. The trustee, Mu Ming-chu, was reported to have put a knife to President Chang's throat in an attempt to have him remove Lin entirely from any association with the Chinese Culture University.

Trustee Mu was the wife of President Chang, and suspecting an amorous liason between President Chang and Chancellor Lin, seemed to have more than one form of cheating on her mind as she confronted her husband over keeping a plagiarist-collaborator on at the university after such a flagrant violation of academic standards.

References

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Laurence H. Tribe

Yellow: Elevated Risk

Scholarship on constitutional law; representing Al Gore in legally contesting the presidential election of 2000

A Harvard University professor who had a fairly good chance of becoming a nominee for the US Supreme Court (with a Democratic presidential administration) has acknowledged that a book he wrote in 1985 lifted passages from another scholar's book without proper acknowledgement. Tribe issued a public apology only after his plagiary was revealed in a magazine, The Weekly Standard.

The revelation of Tribe's plagiarism (in a conservative publication) occurred nearly twenty years after the fact. A timely reminder that the passage of time and the development of new technology increase the likelihood of a plagiarist's plagiarisms being found out!

How Harvard University has dealt so leniently with plagiarism by their "celebrity professors" has recently been taken up by a group of concerned Harvard students who have developed the "Harvard Plagiarism Archives" in response to what they quite properly see as a "meltdown in scholarly integrity".

When "ill-trained [research] assistants" (David J. Garrow) are employed in the writing of scholarly texts, it seems only natural that these assistants are not going to be as concerned about the final product since their names are not going to be on the front cover (assuming that we buy the "research assistant made me do it" line). In the end, it must be the author who takes responsibility for any lapses in scholarship within the pages of scholarly texts bearing the author's name.

References

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Tauseef Ur Rehman (and his students)

Research and teaching at the university level; Known by students as a stickler for "no cheating" policies which he enforced in exams

Plagiarism by a Pakistani professor and/or his students (depending on whether the professor's defense is credible) at the International Islamic University in Islamabad has resulted in disciplinary action. The professor has been removed from the list of HEC (Higher Education Commission) approved supervisors in spite of his claims that it was basically his students' fault that the plagiary occurred ("Chairman HEC Takes Serious Note of Plagiarism").

The professor's claims might seem a bit more credible if this were the only instance of blatant plagiarism, yet there are at least three cases: one case involving plagiarism of a 1997 paper by John Kelsey, David Wagner, and Bruce Schneier; another case involving plagiarism of a paper by French cryptographers Serge Vaudenay et al. And yet another case involving plagiarism of Ville Hallivuori's "Analysis of Real-time Transport Protocol Security", this time with Ur-Rehman, Junaid Aslam, and Saad Rafique. The first two papers dealt with cryptanalysis, and Umar Saif observes the following with regard to the first case:

It's clearly plagiarism. Sentences have been reworded or summarized a bit and many typos have been introduced, but otherwise it's the same paper. It's copied, with the same section, paragraph, and sentence structure--right down to the same mathematical variable names. It has the same quirks in the way references are cited . . . If I sound angry, I'm not. I'm more amused. I've heard of researchers from developing countries resorting to plagiarism to pad their CVs, but I'm surprised see it happen to me . . . it's nice to know that our work is still considered relevant eight years later [can't fool a cryptanalyst!] ("Plagiarism").

With three cases currently having been discovered, it rather seems that Ur-Rehman might be heading up a team of dedicated plagiarists at the International Islamic University! The Textual Taliban ! (Talib simply means "student" in Arabic).

Ur-Rehman offered his "sincere apologies" in a letter to Kelsey, Wagner, and Saif, *admitting* that "as a supervisor I failed to properly check the validity of the paper." His students backed him up in their letter of apology:

. . . The whole episode occurred because of temptations in a weak moment where we crossed the line.

Please accept our apologies and we give you our word of honor that such an inhumane act will never be done from our side . . . we are ashamed of our selves and we have ruined our careers. Please Forgive us.

Online discussion of this case at www.paktribune.com ranged from a defense of Professor Ur Rehman by one student at the International Islamic University:

i just want u ppl to look at the other part side of the picture that wht sort of effects this wuld produce in Dr. Tauseef's life, his complete career is on stake, none of the uni will accept him, he n his family r gona suffer badly due to all of this.I think Dr. Tauseef must have learnt enuff by this incident n guys after all that person has remained a teacher n teacher in our society our religion is respected equivalent to a father . . . i wuld request u not aggravate further this incident n just stop all the inquiries n actions against Dr. Tauseef. . . . Dont just ruin his life.

To a harsh criticism of a "big cheater" teacher by another student:

He is always saying in the examination hall. No cheating! No cheating. But, I know I understand that why no one was not listening to his words carefully as he is a big cheater (Yes I am talking about my cheater teacher Mr. Tauseef.). He is not eligible to be a teacher of our great institution.

But farely there are many black sheeps in our institution through this forum I want to do something against them . . . I am not mentioning my name because I am afraid of him as he has power and can spoil any body's career.

Clearly Professor Ur Rehman has a reputation of sorts at his home institution. That reputation has now been garnished with further descriptors and unique qualification for padding his CV:

• Head of Several Dedicated Teams of Plagiarists at International Islamic University
• Encouraged/Taught Students to Develop Strategic Skills in Derivative Composing Techniques
• Shared the Glory for Successful Papers; Denied Involvement When Problems With Student Research Developed
• Known as one of the "Big Cheater" Teachers and "Black Sheep" Professors On Campus
• Well Trained in Writing Letters of Apology
  

CV padding is quite common among academic researchers. Papers are frequently recycled with slight title modifications and tweaking of content to give the impression that more papers have been written than is actually the case.

The Ur Rehman (et al) Pakistani plagiarism ring is a case study in CV padding which occurs using other scholars' papers. Why didn't these guys realize that sooner or later other crypanalysts would catch on and decipher what was going on with their derivative discourse?

References

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Wang Mingming

Inspirational teaching and research in social anthropology

Modern China's relative tolerance of copyright infringement is evident in the pirated movies, music CD's, and counterfeit brandname items widely available for sale. In an article entitled "Plagiarism in China fuels debate on intellectual theft", the Christian Science Monitor represents a controversy over academic standards and intellectual property as coming to a head in the Wang Mingming case.

This case dates back to around 1987 when Wang was the co-translator of a book on Cultural Anthropology by US professor and anthropologist William Haviland of the University of Vermont. This translation into Chinese of Haviland's work was done with permission. Wang's later copying from the same work was done without proper acknowledgement.

I n 1998, Wang evidently found Haviland's book so useful that he decided to copy entire sections amounting to over 100,000 words for use in his own book Imaginary Alien Nation. Wang Xiaosheng, a doctoral student at Capital Normal University, reported his discovery in a Shanghai social sciences journal.

As in other countries, there is great concern about a perceived "academic plague" of cheating behavior among students, including students pursuing advanced graduate degrees and academic/scientific qualifications. An article in China Daily reports Zhu as warning, "Institutions of higher learning should never shelter academic cheaters" ("Plagiarism brews academic storm", China Daily).

Beijing University students offered a tremendous "outpouring" of support for Wang, a young and popular professor recognized for important contributions to social anthropology studies in China. Students asked questions such as, "How many books . . . are written totally by the authors? Even students' papers are copies of others" (Christian Science Monitor). These student observations may have more substance to them than academics would like to admit, not just in Chinese universities, but in other countries as well.

The Wang plagiarism incident is notable for both the extent of lifted material and also for the nature of the plagiary itself, the fact that the lifting was an inter-lingual incident of academic plagiary. Globalisation and the inter-connectedness of communities across national boundaries makes it increasingly more difficult for an inter-lingual plagiarist to effectively conceal such textual crimes. Once more, we must chalk one up for a perceptive student, Wang Xiaosheng, who wasn't willing to just look the other way when he came across this egregious lapse in academic scholarship.

References

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Neil Winn

Orange: High Risk

Research and teaching on European studies

Chalk one up for a perceptive student in this case!

Harvard University student Todd Fine is credited with noticing the similarities between an article in the International Studies Quarterly and the book by Neil Winn on European Crisis Management in the 1980s.

Instead of just passing over these similarities, the perceptive student passed on his observations made simply by coincidence while researching his senior thesis. As Fine observed, Winn had made minor changes such as converting spellings from American to British convention.

This case is a classic example of the difficulties faced by individuals in confronting plagiarism. Todd Fine and others found that other academics and even professional organizations seemed very hesitant to take any kind of actions involving the confrontation of a plagiarist. (both Leeds University and Blackwell Publishing responded with letters to the Chronicle editor--note the apparent concern about public perceptions in their letters with regard to this case link).

As The Chronicle of Higher Education writers Thomas Bartlett and Scott Smallwood report, "academe appears conflicted about what to do about the plagiarist."

Having been "given a second chance" according to Leeds University Head of Communications Vanessa Bridge, Neil Winn's academic career remains intact, and as Bartlett and Smallwood also report, "[Winn's] book, the one with five plagiarized pages in the introduction, is still listed on his university web page." [still listed on the date this profile was created--removed from the Leeds University website sometime in April 2005 following an email exchange with Dr. Lesko in which the Leeds University Head of Communications threatened to "put this in the hands of our lawyers" ! ]

References

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