Plagiarism prong has arrove (McAdoo plagiarism uncovered by Pack Pride hooligans)

General UNC Scandal100

The recent news that former UNC-CH football player Michael McAdoo was suing the NCAA and UNC-CH (covered here by WRAL) led to one of McAdoo’s papers becoming public.  It took less than one afternoon for McAdoo’s apparent plagiarism in this paper to be discovered by UNC-CH’s least favorite group of message board yahoos.  The plagiarism story has now been picked up by several outlets, first by Sports by Brooks, and later by Sports Illustrated and the DTH.  The Sports by Brooks piece is especially good in that it goes through the material in detail, proving that much of the material in the paper was cut and pasted.

Also, I am not sure who put together this pdf, but it goes through the first few pages of the McAdoo Frankenpaper and shows,using a clear format and in detail, how much material was lifted and exactly from where it was lifted.  For example, it explains the actual source behind such dubious sentences as:

These winds have been blowing with metronome regularity for eons, carrying dhows laden with cargo.

McAdoo (in glasses) pictured above at a Washington, D.C. 2011 post-draft party with Quinn and Coples.

Alert readers will remember that McAdoo was ruled permanently ineligible by the NCAA for his involvment with both the tutor and agent prongs.  You can read this past SFN entry for a recap.  Readers who want a full understanding of the McAdoo saga should explore this pdf document.  It contains transcripts, exhibits, and other items connected with McAdoo’s eligibility appeal.  For example, on page 73 of that document, you can read a transcript of the NCAA appeal hearing, in which McAdoo says:

Since I arrove at the University of North Carolina, I have had a lot of support as a student athlete and have trusted a lot of people to help me be successful.

Yes, that’s right, he said “arrove.”  All SFN readers are hereby officially ordered to work the word “arrove” into the next conversation you have with any UNC fan who has ever taunted you with the word “amphibious.”

Regarding the paper itself, if you want to, you can read it beginning on page 127 of that same pdf.  This quote from the DTH article does a good job of explaining the nature of the Frankenpaper if you don’t care and/or don’t have time to read through it and its sources in detail (emphasis mine):

McAdoo’s paper uses three consecutive paragraphs from a Tanzanian journalist’s blog post “Know the history of Swahili language and its original culture.” The paragraphs are nearly word for word from the blog post, which was written less than two months before McAdoo’s paper was turned in on July 13, 2009.

The paper also takes two paragraphs from an article entitled “The Brief History of the Swahili Language,” which was found on the Zanzinet Forum.

There is no mention of the blog post anywhere in the paper, including the works cited page that Wiley was found to have done for him.

McAdoo’s paper takes a substantial amount of work from Charles Cornelius’ “The History of the East African Coast.” McAdoo cites some usage of the book but claims several paragraphs as his own throughout his paper. On page four of his paper, McAdoo uses an entire paragraph that is nearly verbatim from the second page of the book’s introduction.

According to the Instrument of Student Judicial Governance, Section II.B.1, plagiarism is defined as “the deliberate or reckless representation of another’s words,thoughts, or ideas as one’s own without attribution in connection with submission of academic work, whether graded or otherwise.”

McAdoo’s professor Dr. Julius Nyang’oro is out of the country and did not immediately respond to emails.

It will be interesting to see how McAdoo’s lawyers spin the previous claim that the Frankenpaper was McAdoo’s original work and that he only cheated by getting help with cite forms.  Also from the DTH:

“This work reflects his ideas exclusively,” said Steve Keady from UNC’s legal counsel during McAdoo’s appeals teleconference with the NCAA. “It is not a rip off. This really is his work.”

and

“We are arguing that this was Michael McAdoo’s work, even the citations were his work. They were not formatted correctly, however,” UNC athletic director Dick Baddour said during the appeals teleconference.

I guess by “his work,” they mean that McAdoo himself hit control-c and control-v repeatedly.   Just for fun, let’s take a roll call of all the adults connected to UNC-CH who had access to this paper.  I am sure I have missed some, but included in the group must be:

UNC Honor Court? Check.
AD? Check
Tutor(s) paid for by the University and/or under the private employ of the Head Coach? Check
McAdoo’s UNC-grad Attorneys? Check
UNC Professor? Check

You are telling me that NONE of those UNC-CH-connected adults recognized McAdoo’s Frankenpaper for what it was?  They really supposedly believed that a person who would use “arrove” in a formal setting could also write things such as “These winds have been blowing with metronome regularity for eons…”???

General UNC Scandal

100 Responses to Plagiarism prong has arrove (McAdoo plagiarism uncovered by Pack Pride hooligans)

  1. DaWolfofGC 07/08/2011 at 6:44 PM #

    And UNC continues to stand firmly behind a coach that is leading them on a highway to hell…

  2. Pack78 07/08/2011 at 6:53 PM #

    Sounds like McAdon’t could not even coherently explain to the panel how he was getting help from Wiley instead of his University-appointed tutor…and if Wiley really helped with this Charlie-Foxtrot, then what is SHE doing with a college diploma? Oh wait, it’s from unx…

  3. wolfpacker 07/08/2011 at 6:56 PM #

    The entire system is suspect, from the TOP down. It’s hilarious that these well educated leaders of our state / university system have sacrificed the integrity of their own university to win football games. They are looking like they got themselves into a pile and don’t have a clue how to get out…not to mention, it could get a lot worse before it’s all over.

    You call that leadership?

    Nice education you gave this kid. Teach them to cheat, that’s the carolina way…but we knew it all along.

  4. TheAliasTroll 07/08/2011 at 7:04 PM #

    It’s been a great year.

  5. TheAliasTroll 07/08/2011 at 7:04 PM #

    Need more sign out sheets.

  6. Old MacDonald 07/08/2011 at 7:09 PM #

    This will all be over by Friday. Everybody does it.

  7. TheAliasTroll 07/08/2011 at 7:10 PM #

    We should compare the styles between the paper McAdoo turned in and his tweets. lol.

  8. Pack78 07/08/2011 at 7:11 PM #

    ^I think that the new sign out sheets are still at the printers and have not arroven at unx yet…

  9. State Fan 07/08/2011 at 7:14 PM #

    http://www.lib.unc.edu/plagiarism/
    Just in case any UNC grads are looking in and need a refresher.

  10. Old MacDonald 07/08/2011 at 7:21 PM #

    I wonder if the UNC folks are starting to arrove at the conclusion that Butch is not worth the trouble.

  11. wolfpacker 07/08/2011 at 7:25 PM #

    This just exemplifies what I have been saying all along. How in the WORLD, could the professors NOT have known that these kids didn’t write the papers? How could it be that this could go on at such a fine institution? Maybe they never, ever, never, ever even read them?

    Don’t forget, it’s not WHAT you know that will earn your degree, but WHO you know. That’s the carolina way.

    I honestly can’t believe there hasn’t been more of an outrage by the faculty that actually care about the integrity of the university. Then again, I know a lady that works there and they ask you questions in your interview about basketball…true story…in the interview. Now, that’s a university that cares about education.

  12. TheAliasTroll 07/08/2011 at 7:29 PM #

    Would be awesome to get our hands on the other papers he “wrote”/copied&pasted.

    That’d likely show this wasn’t an isolated event.

    This lawsuit is the textbook definition of backfire.

  13. MrPlywood 07/08/2011 at 7:37 PM #

    “Yes, that’s right, he said ‘arrove.’ All SFN readers are hereby officially ordered to work the word “arrove” into the next conversation you have with any UNC fan who has ever taunted you with the word ‘amphibious.'”

    Done.

    I know, I know, I shouldn’t argue on the internet (says my 17 y.o. daughter) but it’s like shooting fish in a barrel lately. Anytime I notice a UNC based screenname in an ESPN thread, it’s SO easy to shoot them down with a BMFD, Carolina Way, honor court, tutor or some related quip. One of my favorites is to say something along the lines of “Did you copy that post or did a tutor help you write it?” You can almost hear the stammering…

  14. Sweet jumper 07/08/2011 at 7:40 PM #

    At my daughter’s high school, they run every student-written paper through the plagiarism software and deal with violations accordingly. I feel certain that most colleges and universities use this software. I guess UNCheat only uses it on the papers of legitimate students and not on semipro athletes’ papers. I “arrove” at the conclusion that I never will allow a UNX fan to make another Washburn or Shackelford slur without a spirited retort. All I hear from my UNX friends these days is that Coples is cleared, legitimate and eligible. I reply that one out of 85 ain’t bad.

  15. Pack78 07/08/2011 at 7:45 PM #

    ^^TAT-Remember that the NCAA permanently suspended McAdon’t for multiple violations across multiple terms-this would indicate that they have seen more of his ‘work’ than has yet been made public-maybe we will see the rest in a discovery process if this lawsuit proceeds? Hopefully, this is just the tip of the iceberg that will be revealed in due time…

  16. MrPlywood 07/08/2011 at 7:50 PM #

    I will also make copious use of the phrase “metronome regularity” when speaking to UNXers…

    re: the “paper” – JEEBUS! Anyone in contact with McAdi’int on a daily basis would know full well that there is no way those words came out of his brain. No plagiarism software required.

  17. TheAliasTroll 07/08/2011 at 8:05 PM #

    @Pack78 – The NOA that was delivered to UNC only stated problems with the citations of McDoo’s paper. I’m pretty sure the NCAA was not aware of blatant plagiarism.

    If true I don’t see why the investigation isn’t re-opened to scrutinize the other papers made available to them.

  18. Primewolf 07/08/2011 at 8:28 PM #

    Now this is funny stuff. It just gets better and better. “Unintended Consequences” have frequency made what seems like a good idea turn into a pile of dog shxx. I bet those UNX attorneys don’t feel so smart now.

    Are you really kidding me. Wouldn’t anyone properly trained in the law have read the papers in question and, after talked to Mcadon’t realize such a case wasn’t a good idea.

    Way to go, monkey board.

  19. choppack1 07/08/2011 at 8:53 PM #

    Like I said on the forums – this is huge…and it’s quite possibly the worst “scandal” so far.

    As in most cases, it’s not the crime, but the cover-up. The NCAA is left with two options to consider:
    UNC’s general counsel and AD knowingly misled the NCAA in an NCAA appeal
    -OR-
    UNC didn’t excercise the most basic due diligence before arguing McAdoo’s relative innocence and claiming “This is really his work”.

    And how proud must you be if you work in the local media right now? You were scooped by the same clowns you mock. If we needed to prove either the criminal complicity or the pathetic incompetence of our local writers – this is yet more proof.

    And finally, props to the DTH – they continue to be the most vigilant source of local media. It’s almost as if they want their degree to mean something.

  20. WendellPackster 07/08/2011 at 9:15 PM #

    What a bunch of f’ing crooked cheaters. It’s been going on forever and finally they have been caught with their hands in the cookie jar.

  21. wolfpacker 07/08/2011 at 9:25 PM #

    This is more entertaining than a 3 ring circus. I guess the parties that haven’t spoken, the BOT, BOG, ACC Commissioner have known this stuff has been going on for a VERY LONG time. They have all just ‘hoped’ that it wouldn’t be exposed. This is a bit of a slap in the face to all who have stood behind unx.

    Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn’t. – Mark Twain

    Was he thinking about the unc bog or unc’s bot when he wrote this:

    In the first place, God made idiots. That was for practice. Then he made school boards. – Mark Twain

    Several years ago, I helped uncover a fraud of a different nature…and folks, you simply can’t make this stuff up. This is a fraud and the guilty ALWAYS do the same things. They make mistake after mistake and they constantly try to divert attention from themselves (ie, Friday telling us that ‘they’ had made mistakes, now let’s move on). The mistakes continue to happen, because they are trying so hard to control the situation and they are losing control and have been for a while.

    The ncaa must be in awe of the incapacity of the leadership at unc.

  22. backnine 07/08/2011 at 9:38 PM #

    So what must Dick Baddour feel like right now?? He went on record stating as fact that McAdoo wrote this paper as his own. So Dick, how does that carton of egg feel on your face right about now? Note to Baddour – how about you actually read the damn paper before you go on record to the world (and NCAA) that it’s legit. If would be bad enough if it was “boarderline” that McAdoo “might” have written it. But this paper is such a circus in its high-minded prose that claiming its authenticity with a straight face, much less coming from a supposedy authority figure, is insulting at first, and then outright laughable. Yet Baddour trotted it out as FACT (as did the UNC lawyer). This episode serves to eliminate what little credibility Baddour had left. Who can take seriously anything this man has to say after this? He’s really allowed himself to be turned into a complete bafoon through this process. But he apparently went willingly – so he’s earned what he gets.

  23. choppack1 07/08/2011 at 9:48 PM #

    Where is Bill Friday?

  24. BureauOfMines 07/08/2011 at 9:49 PM #

    Plagiarism is risky these days. The internet makes it much easier to catch unattributed copying than it was long ago. But as another poster pointed out, he could have been exposed the old fashioned way. Just ask him to describe what a metronome is. I’ll bet good money he doesn’t know.

  25. Old MacDonald 07/08/2011 at 9:57 PM #

    Yeah but you didn’t need the internet (or even the “metronome” usage) to bust McAdoo’s ridiculous “paper.” I can’t read it without laughing. It is beyond obvious that he just went from one source to another cutting and pasting. It is not even linear.

    Great education they are getting over there. Really preparing them for life.

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