Good poets borrow, great poets steal.
Dear Families,
As I mentioned last week, the high school faculty recently enjoyed a conversation about academic integrity led by Glenn Novar, a teacher at Spence School and former copyright lawyer. Glenn spent many of his early years as a lawyer protecting intellectual property, where the stakes for such clients as “Curious George,” “Batman,” and “Garfield” can be extremely high. But what is the economic value of a student’s original work?The discussion began with the particulars of copyright law, plagiarism versus infringement, and how the law is breaking down in the Internet age, then we moved onto the sharp distinction between what is allowed in the real world versus what is permitted in schools. For instance, schools break copyright law every day, but we can still be concerned with academic integrity. Perhaps because some of what we ask of students is contrary to a student’s real world experience, we need to be more specific about what academic integrity means to us, what the value is specifically. In fact, in the ‘real world’ unethical behavior is common, and stealing ideas is ‘okay’. While the stakes are high when it comes to intellectual property (the economic value of a novel, a painting, a formula is understood) and the purpose of copyright law is to protect the economic value of intellectual property, what is the value of academic integrity to students?
Glenn suggested we be clear about the economic value of it, as students certainly understand the economic value of other things. The discussion of the economic value of academic integrity ended our meeting. What we initially came up with was that there is, of course, the economic value of a grade, the value of trust between student and teacher, and the value of fair competition.The faculty in attendance, which included members of the middle school faculty as well, appreciated the discussion, and remained long after to debate and discuss. As our student-led LREI Honor Board has worked hard to create the consequences of academic dishonesty, the faculty will continue to work to clarify and consider the nuances of this complicated issue. We have just started to rework our thinking on this topic, thanks to Glenn.To be continued…
Don’t forget, 2007-2008 class pictures are now available on Flicker! Thanks to photography teacher, Susan Now, who is responsible for encouraging the beautiful smiles.
All the best,Ruth
• The school’s calendar can be accessed by clicking here.
• For general LREI Athletics news go to this link . This page will provide general announcements, game summaries, league standings and season recaps.
Updates and announcements:
1. Please join us in celebrating our seniors and their artistic talents at the annual Apple Store Soho Senior Arts Showcase on Monday, December 10 from 6:30-8 PM.
2. Chorus News from Susan Glass: The EI Singers are getting ready their annual sing at the Hudson River Guild on Thursday, Dec. 13th at 12:00 – 2:45, and the big LREI Winter Concert on Tuesday, Dec. 18th at 6:30 p.m. at the Charlton Street PAC. Please come see our terrific singers at either one of these events!
3. Winter Choral Concert by the Glass Menagerie Chorus, LREI’s adult chorus-in-residence (Susan Glass, founder and music director) will take place on Saturday, December 8th at 8:00PM at St. Joseph’s Church in the Village (Sixth Avenue and Washington Place).
4. From the Community Service Committee: Please view the calendar of events.
5. Please take a look at the following letter from the LREI Lesbian Gay Straight alliance (LGSA) announcing the upcoming Visibility show.
6. For updates on faculty performances, openings, presentations, and publications visit the Faculty in the News page on the school web site.
7. LREI is a member of NYC-Parents in Action (NYC-PIA). NYC-PIA provides parenting education, information and a communications network to help parents prepare their children and teenagers to cope with social pressures and to make sound choices towards a future free of alcohol and drug abuse. Please read the attached flyer to view their 2007-2008 calendar. You can also access their website at http://www.parentsinaction.org/.