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Film Critic Quits UMKC Paper: Web Site Accuses Student Writer of Plagiarism

Posted on: Tuesday, 11 April 2006, 06:00 CDT

By Mara Rose Williams, The Kansas City Star, Mo.

Apr. 11--An online movie-critiquing publication has accused a writer for the University of Missouri-Kansas City's student-run newspaper of more than 50 incidents of plagiarism.

EFilmCritic.com claims a University News writer who until last week also was the paper's reader representative, lifted paragraphs written by 15 different eFilmCritic.com contributors.

In a letter sent to university officials and the student paper, eFilmCritic.com claims the UMKC writer plagiarized 38 movie reviews that were published in University News over the past 13 months. The online publication asks the university to pay $25 for each instance of alleged plagiarism.

A University News article to be published today says that after receiving notice of the claims made against Samir Patel, a graduate student and English teaching assistant in the UMKC College of Arts and Sciences, editors "verified 85 instances where Patel used sentences or paragraphs without giving proper credit to the originators."

Patel, of Mission, did not respond to e-mails requesting comment and could not be reached by telephone.

University News Editor Emily Iorg said: "The University News position is strong on this matter. What Patel did was wrong and unjustifiable, and the University News has addressed the situation." Iorg interned for The Kansas City Star in December and January.

In a front-page teaser to the University News article written by Iorg, Patel is quoted as saying: "While I do feel there may have been somewhat of a misunderstanding, I apologize to the readers and I am resigning due to my actions. I truly didn't mean to hurt anyone, and least of all this paper." He resigned Wednesday.

The letter making the claims against Patel compared dated paragraphs from eFilmCritic's Web site and University News reviews. University officials received the letter Friday from the West Coast editor of the online publication.

On Monday, Melvin Tyler, interim vice chancellor for student affairs, said in a statement: "University officials are reviewing the information and looking into this issue to obtain facts before determining next steps.

"The allegation of plagiarism is serious, and we must move forward with thorough due diligence."

Plagiarism violates the student code of conduct at UMKC. The penalty for a code violation would be assessed by the director of the student life office and could be as severe as expulsion.

The student then would have a chance to appeal to a panel consisting of staff, faculty and sometimes students.

To reach Mara Rose Williams, call (816) 234-4419 or send e-mail to mdwilliams@kcstar.com .

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Kansas City Star, Mo.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: The Kansas City Star (Kansas City, Missouri)

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