Albert* was about to receive his exam from his statistics professor when the professor stopped to make a statement. The professor announced that he caught five students cheating during the exam a few days ago. The professor said that if they do not confess, all five would fail the class and would have to receive major offenses.
A batch vice president approached the professor in class to confess that she had cheated during the exam, but the professor demanded that all five students should approach him. After class, two star scholars along with three other students, including the batch vice president, approached the professor.
Albert was surprised a few days after when his classmates had explained that the professor let them off the hook. Two of whom are Star Scholars.
Under a contract with the University, Star Scholars have to maintain a GPA of at least 2.5. The contract, however, states, “If the deviation from the required GPA is not more than .25, the student is given a chance for only one more term.”
Star Scholars may also lose their scholarships by non-compliance of disciplinary regulations such as a major offense from cheating.
Star Scholars come from the top 100 scorers in the DLSU college entrance exams. Entering at the top 100, however, does not guarantee a candidate a slot. Candidates have to perform well in an interview conducted by the University President, a representative of the Office for Strategic Communications (STRATCOM) and a representative of the University Registrar.
The Student Leadership Involvement, Formation and Empowerment Office (SLIFE) and the Office of Admissions and Scholarships (OSA) handle and monitor the performance of Star Scholars when they enter the University.
Joel Navarez, Coordinator for Operations of the Office, says that the Office of Admissions and Scholarships only renews the scholarship of Star Scholars, much like any other scholar, and that they are subject to the criteria like everyone else. The office only directly monitors with the Star Scholars on their third year. “For their first and second years, it is SLIFE that provides programs for them.”
Starting third year onwards, Navarez states that there are no more special programs for Star Scholars, and that all they need to do to maintain their scholarship is to keep their GPA and steer clear of major offenses. Otherwise, they will be taken out of the program. The programs for the Star Scholars, maintained by SLIFE, end after their second year in DLSU.
Navarez says that the office has no official database or tracking of Star Scholars’ careers and performance after graduation, although he affirms that STRATCOM maintains close contact with certain Star Scholars who have performed exceptionally well in their careers after. The rest, however, do not come immediately to mind, unless they visit the office.
Lasallian values
The incidence has raised the issue of a value component in the selection of Star Scholars and their continued guidance in the University. STRATCOM Director for Operations explains that the selection process of Star Scholars does employ a value component, but concludes that in some cases, some scholars do not perform.
Another office, SLIFE, handles Star Scholar training. Scholars are encouraged to attend leadership seminars, and are asked to participate in organization activities. One particular Star Scholar, however, complains that the office is not as strict and in many cases, the office does not push through with scheduled meetings.
Student leaders and athletes
The issue has also raised a concern on prefential treatment of student leaders and atheletes.
University Student Government President Jana Cabuhat admits that preferential treatment for USG officers may occur in some cases. Cabuhat, however, does not know of any USG officer who has received a major offense, and had to step down from his or her position.
She furthers, “The Judiciary branch ensures that the officers of the USG are of good moral character. The office of the ombudsman monitors the officers in accordance to the constitution and the code of conduct. The student can also file a complaint against any officer through the Judiciary.”
Athletes have also been known to receive preferential treatment from some professors. A professor admits, “Professors normally adjust the gravity of the course and their teaching strategy if the class is an athletes’ block. We make the lectures shallow and we reduce terms and concepts that are too technical. Students that are part of an athletes’ block who are academically competent suffer though for the course appear less challenging.”
He clarifies though that he does not give consideration to athletes who fail a course because of their failure to comply with requirements. He recalls that last term, a student manager approached him during grade consultation to give his student a 1.0 so that the student could play in the UAAP; the aforementioned professor did not change the grade.
The professor says that in some cases, some professors are compelled to change the grade of some athletes. He remembers having a colleague who failed a student, but received a letter from an administrator weeks after. The said professor was compelled to change the grade for some of the administrators who will handle his/her promotion are signatories of the letter.
18 replies on “Two Star Scholars get away with cheating”
why am i not surprised?
During the adjustment period there was a really really long line and a friend of mine didn’t want to go through all the hassle and pretended to be a student athlete and her request was actually prioritized and expedited. She got her new EAF in like 5 minutes compared to those who waited 2 hours for theirs.
Ok. So your friend abused an athlete’s privilege despite not being one. And your point is?
^abusing something that is not your privilege. Of course they would prioritize the athletes.
What is school doing about these issues? These are serious matters that the University should address since many students, including my own, are paying for the tuition and fees of these so-called scholars.
You are not the one paying for the scholars’ tuition and fees. Its the alumni of DLSU. Don’t be ridiculous say things you don’t know. And that cheating case discussed above is not true.
While I will admit there are cases where special consideration is given to those with unusual circumstances, I would like to clarify, first, your child’s tuition fees are for their education exclusively, and the funds for scholars are drawn elsewhere. The fees are broken down every time you pay tuition, and you can inquire if it still bothers you.
Secondly, the incident in question was based exclusively on hearsay from the source, and is of little merit. Retelling from the other students in the class in question tell a much different story from what was presented. The whole story was based on a single student who was only vaguely aware of what was going on.
Thirdly, this article fails to hedge unsupported claims, and instead passes as true something unverified that damages, and paints a negative image of an organization and several people. While The La Sallian is not the bastion of excellent and verified writing (in fact, it is the opposite in some cases) I would like to think it is above such things as defamation of fellow members of the student body.
Considering the lack of proof, I would like to think this should be filed under “opinion” or “shameless libel” if TLS has a category for that. They should make one if they don’t, seeing as half of the things in this article they pull out of their ass.
Remind me to go tattling to the LaSallian if I want to ruin the reputation of anything in DLSU. Didn’t know there were still publications that looked reputable that are willing to rely on the word of one person without investigating the case properly.
Granted that this article is written and researched poorly, I think it would be unfair to dismiss the case entirely as untrue because of hearsay and lack of concrete, credible evidence. Further inquiry should be done as to the case of the alleged cheating in order to deal proper and decisive action. The LaSallian (TLS) should’ve been more mindful of the basics of an investigative report, being the official english school paper. What a very sloppy work, TLS.
While the case may possibly have merits, I think proper investigation should have been done before publication. You know, basic responsible journalism. This is sloppy work, and whether or not it is true, reflects poorly on TLS.
Perhaps what disturbs me most is not the veracity of the claims, but the fact that “Albert” had decided to go to TLS instead of the administration or discipline office. The writers who received this tip also failed to do the right thing and report it, instead witholding the information for what is presumably a week or so. The time could have been used for proper disciplinary action instead of waiting until the Christmas break is over. Perhaps it wouldn’t have been as news-worthy, but our duty is to report these matters to proper officials first. We are members of our school community first, and reporters, newswriters, second.
TLS, try to get the side of those star scholars and the professor involve to add meat to this interesting story. Such are investigative stories worthy to be reviewed and should be looked by the administration. I remember when I used to be editor of TLS, we have been covering issues like this. You may consult Donelle Gan, a star scholar himself and a TLS editor, who wrote articles about academic honesty during his stint. But great job for covering this issue.
As a former sports editor of the La Sallian, I am extremely disappointed at the journalistic ethics shown by the writers and editors when they decided to publish this article.
These are serious accusations, yet no proof has been provided to show the veracity of the claims. I would assume that all writers and editors of the La Sallian are very conversant with the ethics of journalism. This article casts doubt on the integrity of our entire La Sallian educational system.
Unless the writers are willing and able to back up their allegations with proof, I would suggest that they publish a retraction. This kind of article has no place in the La Sallian.
May I add that this smacks of tabloid journalism, where writers are wont to print whatever under the guise of reportage and right to know. There is no apparent attempt to verify the stories and get the facts before printing.
Honestly, shouldn’t the title of this be “One dude allegedly saw his classmates get off the hook for cheating, and two of them happen to be star scholars, so we’ll talk about what Star Scholars get. Also athletes get lots of privileges.” ? A little lengthy, I know, but it’s a lot less misleading.
Among the articles I’ve browsed today, this happens to be my least favorite. I’m sure the other commenters have explained enough, but to reiterate: Please, please, do a more thorough investigation before publishing. It may be true, it may not. Albert* doesn’t seem to have actually witnessed the conversation between the students and teacher. And all the other things mentioned in the article actually don’t pertain to the case directly. The Lasallian, you may be just a collegiate publication, but you still have a reputation to uphold. You are one of the public faces of the University you report for, and you would do better to make sure you’ve done your job properly before biting the hand that feeds you.
TLS, comments here are right. You should never have published this given there was no actual investigation conducted by school officials. You relied on the account of one person only who was not even directly involved. Be careful next time.
Woah. I used to think TLS was a good student publication… :/