Mountain West Conference and Conference USA announce merger

UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA – The Mountain West Conference and Conference USA announced today a merger of their football programs into a 22-team conference, officials said.

The new, unnamed conference will be split into two divisions and play a championship game, according to a statement released today. The leagues would retain their independence in all other sports, and the new conference would probably begin in 2013.

The University of Nevada, Reno, Fresno State University, and University of Hawaii (football only) reached a deal to join the MWC in 2012, but it is unknown whether the merger would affect the universities. The Nevada Athletics department was unavailable for comment.

“The potential of this association is very exciting,” Conference USA Commissioner Britton Banowsky said in a statement. “By taking an innovative approach, we feel we can offer tremendous opportunities for exposure and stability without breaking up the regional rivalries that truly make up the college football tradition.”

-The Nevada Sagebrush
By The Staff Report

Jury indicts National Guardsman on 2 rape counts

OHIO UNIVERSITY – A National Guardsman accused of raping an Ohio University student last month was indicted by a grand jury yesterday.

Levi D. Canterbury, 21, of Gallipolis, was indicted on two counts of rape.

The charges stemmed from an incident Sept. 10 when Canterbury allegedly picked up the female student on state Route 682, drove her to a lit parking lot and raped her. He then dropped her off near College Gate, according to an Ohio University Police Department crime alert.

After dropping her off, Canterbury called 911, identified himself and said he picked up a woman along state Route 682 and dropped her off at the corner of Court and Union streets.

“She is very, very inebriated,” Canterbury said in the call. “I tried to convince her to not just go wandering off, but her backside or lower leg or something is bleeding pretty heavy.”

The victim reported the rape to the Ohio University Police Department Sept. 15, stating she remembered being picked up on state Route 682 and that he had been dropped off at College Gate in the early morning hours of Sept. 10.

Canterbury was arrested in Ft. Bliss, Texas, where he was deployed with his National Guard Unit.

His arraignment is scheduled for Oct. 19 at the Athens County Court of Common Pleas.

-The Post
By Marika Lee

Underclassmen more prone to plagiarism

UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS – Technological advances don’t only add texting acronyms and abbreviations to students’ vocabulary. Advances have made students familiar with the computer operating commands for copy and paste as well.

With the availability of online sources, plagiarism can be a tempting option to students with pressing deadlines.

The University investigates 90 cases of academic misconduct per year, said Kim McNeley, assistant dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. McNeley said the majority of these cases are plagiarism.

“Students used to have a limited number of resources and a faculty member would normally have read every resource available,” McNeley said. “The world was a different place.”

The vast majority of plagiarism cases are with freshman and sophomores, McNeley said. She said students at this level are still learning the difference in expectations between high school- and university-level writing. Sanctions for student plagiarism range from admonition, or a verbal warning, to transcript citation. McNeley said the stakes are much higher for students as they advance in their academic career.

-The University Daily Kansan
By Sara Sneath