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COMMENTARY Thursday, December 10, 1998 - Page 7 Horse Racing: Dying Tradition? Maryland racing and slot ma- J. Tim Mascari comments "no." What are the chances of the chines: an important tradition? Not on slot machines and new football stadium needing slot according to a poll done by Maryland horse racing. machines to compete with neigh- Potemac Survey Research. When boring sports stadiums? It is not asked if they oppose or favor slot Sauerbrey's behalf. (The Balti- going to happen. machines at horse racing tracks in more Sun) Glendening, knowing Horse racing is a part of Maryland, 48% of Marylanders of De Francis' contributions to the Maryland's history, but it may also opposed the idea. opposing party, is not going to will- be a business. Marylanders have If the over 10,000 people work- ingly pass a new slots law. the privilege of living in horse ing in the Maryland racing indus- Glendening has, on the other country U.S.A. and we are taking try had a choice between slots or hand, contributed 21.7 milliondi- it for granted. When you think of no slots they would probably say rectly to the industry. This is a nice horse racing in America, you think no to slot machines because it gesture and it sounds like a lot of of Kentucky, New York, and Mary- draws attention away from the money, but putting slots at the land. horses. But they do not have a tracks would generate over 24 mil- We are the second leg in the choice; they depend on racing for lion a year. Triple Crown, and f could not a job, and for their livelihood. 16 million would be directly imagine having to go to Delaware Without the slot machines, added to the purses which, in tum, to see the Preakness. I could not Laurel and Pimlico are eventually would bring more people to the imagine having to go to West Vir- going out of business. Surrounded race tracks. Big purses are what ginia just to watch the horses run. by tracks with slot machines, draw people to the racetrack, the So, the next time you get a Maryland is already losing busi- chance to win a lot of money at one chance, take a trip to Pimlico. You ness to West Virginia and Dela- time. do not have to bet on the horses, ware. Maybe the threat of losing but just be proud of where you live The recent reelection of Parris Maryland's most highly regarded and the generations of horsemen Glendening does not help the in- tourism and sporting attraction, that have founded this sport. terests of the racing industry. Jo- Preakness, would convince Mary- Slots may not be the way to go seph A. De Francis, the majority land lawmakers that slots are not in Maryland, but something has to owner of Pimlico and Laurel Park that bad. There is a concern that be done soon. Right now, slots are racecourses, gave $250,000 to the the legalization of slot machines the only answer, but maybe the Republican National committee. would open the door for other types government and the racing indus- This happened just as the party of gambling. try can work together in preserv- launched a major ad campaign on There is a good answer for this: ing this great Maryland tradition. Letter to the Editor: WMC Honor Code Project The students in my COM2202 dishonesty is, and they are gener- If it is easy to cheat, and if some Communication Research Meth- ally opposed to it. However, they students eagerly take advantage of much, much longer to write them. ing from" (Andy Behr). students ods class recently completed a are unwilling to report dishonest this, and if the faculty are unwill- With ten or twelve so bad. but in the A number of others have spo- isn't class, this with study of student attitudes towards acts, and their teachers are paying ing to act, then it is hard to see how twenty-five or thirty. it's a major ken to this point, and their com- the WMC honor system. little attention to the situation. high-minded words in the Hand- commitment of time. ments are available at the web site. The questionnaire, the data, the As a result, the relatively small book will induce anyone to change. Still, it does work - the stu- This approach may be the way students' analyses, and a summary number of students who have no Furthermore, data from one of dents say that they think this method to get at the key question, which to be: "Why doesn'tWMC appears of national research on academic qualms about cheating remain un- the survey questions suggests that is fair, and the numberofDs and Fs behave like a real academic com- dishonesty are online at: punished, and the advantage that a sizable group of students do not has somewhat increased. munityT' [www.rdillman.com/achon/ they gain by their behavior draws want faculty to make cheating more Finally. it strikes me that the In a traditional academic com- achon.comment.html]. others into following their lead." difficult. most cogent comments on the en- munity, cheating is a serious, des- Here is a brief summary of the Given this, the notion that stu- And surely there are faculty tire situation have come from those results: dents need more tutoring on the who feel the same way. If we con- who question the role of campus picable offense. But at WMC today, most people • When asked if they had read Honor Code would seem to be sider the broader picture. this social life in the development of tend to treat it as a minor offense, makes a certain amount of sense. ethical behavior. like going 63 mph in a 55 mph given Everyone knows the rules, the problem is spring, Based on the grades GPA of the One faculty member comments zone, or like carrying an open can last the average of the cheating that many are simply ignoring them. WMC undergraduate student body that the root cause in the residence of beer across the hall. suggests is found problem member One faculty is just under 3.0. halls. Students who come to WMC that today's students come to col- Given the late "drop" policy and should join. and be socialized into, or been familiarized with the moot. Everyone knows the rules, the "retake a course" policy, very an academic community. lege for "sports, sex and social WMC Honor Code, 84% said the problem is that many are sim- few Ds and Fs find their way on to But in practice the first year stu- life." And that they do not see class "yes." ply ignoring them. the transcripts of WMC graduates. work as important to their educa- • When presented with various As one student put it when she Happy with their As, Bs, and statements from the Honor Code analyzed the data. "The widespread Cs, most students see no need to Happy with their As, Bs, and Cs, most booklet and asked if they agreed awareness of the honor system rock the boat, and even the teach- or disagreed, approximately 70% gives the implication that it has ers who are actively trying to elimi- students see no need to rock the boat.... agreed. little to no effect on the students nate cheating say that it takes a lot • When asked to label eighteen who are supposed to follow the of work. dents are segregated from their up- specific dishonest activities, ap- rules governing its existence." I can verify that latter. This se- per class peers and allowed to per- tions. but rather as time put in for a degree. credits towards proximately 70% agreed that most "Cheating seems to take place mester l've begun to give difficult. sist in the ideology [hey learned in If the majority of students. of the activities were dishonest. quite frequently in all different ar- open book, essay exams, with each high school. teachers and administrators take • When asked if they had expe- eas, even though 84% of the stu- student getting a different set of And, as one COM2202 student rienced violations of the honor dents interviewed have been told questions. wrote in analyzing the survey data: this point of view, then it's easy to see why most don't see of them code, most had experienced atleast about and, are said 10, understand According to the students in my "Since our findings indicate that academic dishonesty as a major some dishonesty, and approxi- the honor code. Therefore, it ap- classes, this has greatly reduced the students do not follow the honor problem. mately 60% reported witnessing pears that academic dishonesty is cheating - because looking at code despite their agreement with On the other hand. it would dishonest acts "often" or "very of- occurring because there is a lack someone else's paper is useless, it, future studies should sharpen seem to raise some serious ques- ten." of implementation of, and belief in. and because everyone is working their focus on the student body. In- tions as to what a WMC education Data from all WMC sources the honor system's rules and stan- hard trying to answer their own stead of looking at the campus in seems consistent with national re- dards" (Grace McAleer). questions, and so they have little general, a study examining differ- is all about. ports and might be summarized as Nor does it seem likely that rhe- time to help anyone else. ent groups and organizations on R. W. Dillman, Department of follows: torical changes in the Handbook But it takes me much longer to campus could provide an in-depth Communication "Students know what academic will make any difference. grade a set of these exams, and look at where this attitude is com-