Academic dishonesty is not something that can be ignored

[MikeG]

All that proves is that she is not doing what she is supposed to at work. I can come up with as many excuses as you would like for why she would have the papers on her computer that do not involve Ben cheating (none would probably be true but that does not mean that her having the papers is prima facia evidence that Ben cheated).

I mentioned this in another post, but I assume Brett or Greg (or USF for that matter) are considering filing under the Freedom of Information Act for a forensic sweep of the hard drive of Ben's wife's work computer since it is government property and she is a government employee.

Sorry to be a downer but it would be pretty easy to corroborate many of her allegations and establish wrongdoing.

I said corroborate.  If you want prima facie evidence keep dreaming.  There are men and women rightfully in prison without a having single shred of prima facie evidence introduced at trial.  And these folks were convicted under a "beyond a reasonable doubt" standard - an evidentiary standard Ben does not enjoy (unless USF code of conduct surprisingly says so).

Are you an attorney?  Or do you simply speak latin at home.  

OBJECTION!

[hbryan]

I mentioned this in another post, but I assume Brett or Greg (or USF for that matter) are considering filing under the Freedom of Information Act for a forensic sweep of the hard drive of Ben's wife's work computer since it is government property and she is a government employee.

Sorry to be a downer but it would be pretty easy to corroborate many of her allegations and establish wrongdoing.

The only thing that would verify is that she typed it.  The intellectual property doesn't reside on hard drives, only the typed letters.  I used a typing service for my papers back in Colorado before I had my first 286 machine, was the typist the paper writer or the paper typer?  I never kept my handwritten papers once they were typed and checked, as well.  Almost impossible to prove this garbage.

[USF_Grouper]

While the salacious he said - she said details of a divorce are nothing but tabloid fodder, the accusations of academic dishonesty leveled against Ben Moffitt cannot be ignored.  Ben Moffitt's fitness as a husband and father are not the University's business, but a college football player HAS to be a STUDENT athlete.  If not then college athletics are just low-end pro farm teams, and there's no reason for a university to support it.

USF MUST launch a full-scale and thorough investigation of this immediately, and make completely public everything it finds, no matter how damaging.  Academic dishonesty CANNOT be tolerated.  Period.  I would rather have a football team of honest student-athletes who lose every season than a national championship team of academic cheaters.  Anything else and our values as a university have gotten way out of whack. 

So you think every time some completly unsubstantiated allegation comes to the front USF should launch a full scale investigation?  Where do you draw the line?  I got an idea, we can set up a 1-800 number so that knight fans can just call up and get "full-scale" investigations started all over the place. 

I am not execusing academic dishonesty, but I would hope it takes more than just some comments from an angry soon to be ex-wife.

[knight_fan]

starting fire with a flint as opposed to using butane lighter doesn't make you a better fire starter.

Did you write that yourself?  Sorry in these trying times I had to ask...

do you see any footnotes?

Until you find yourself alone in the woods with plenty of wood and flint, and your butane lighter runs out of fluid.  Then you think to yourself, "Crap, I wish I had watched Man Versus Wild more often!"

[fiero_dude]

In the fourth grade my mom helped me forge the mandatory science fair science project.  I did the dishes and cleaned my room and she glued the styrofoam planets together.

I bet to this day you feel awful for cheating yourself out of this quality educational experience. Next time, when you're at work and the boss asks you to make a solar system model, looks like you'll be sweating the whole time....

[MikeG]

starting fire with a flint as opposed to using butane lighter doesn't make you a better fire starter.

Did you write that yourself?  Sorry in these trying times I had to ask...

do you see any footnotes?

Until you find yourself alone in the woods with plenty of wood and flint, and your butane lighter runs out of fluid.  Then you think to yourself, "Crap, I wish I had watched Man Versus Wild more often!"

all you are missing from your favorite dream sequence is the light sound of a banjo playing in the background as the locals converge on your location. Squeel like a pig

[EduBull]

OF COURSE the allegations of a scorned wife are suspect, and no reasonable person should take them as fact.  I don't know whether Shauna Moffitt was or has ever been a USF student, but by helping Ben cheat she is as guilty of academic dishonesty as she is claiming he is, and there's little doubt in my mind that plain vindictiveness is her primary motivation for coming out about it now. 

But all that being said, the University has to investigate when someone makes very specific allegations of cheating like these that involve specific assignments and the knowledge of multiple people.  Whether you like it or not, the football team exists to support the mission of the University - not the other way round.  And academic fraud is the single worst transgression you can make at an academic institution. 

And yes, when someone graduates by cheating, they lower the value of the degree for everyone. 

Finally, Ben Moffitt was given a scholarship - not a salary to play football.  That means his primary job was to get an education.  If he cheated he defrauded the taxpayers in exactly the same way a foodstamp recipient would who sells his food stamps to buy beer. 

Now, hopefully USF will investigate this and convincingly conclude that there is no evidence except for the rantings of a spurned wife.  But it has to find out.

[mikebeau]

OF COURSE the allegations of a scorned wife are suspect, and no reasonable person should take them as fact.  I don't know whether Shauna Moffitt was or has ever been a USF student, but by helping Ben cheat she is as guilty of academic dishonesty as she is claiming he is, and there's little doubt in my mind that plain vindictiveness is her primary motivation for coming out about it now. 

But all that being said, the University has to investigate when someone makes very specific allegations of cheating like these that involve specific assignments and the knowledge of multiple people.  Whether you like it or not, the football team exists to support the mission of the University - not the other way round.  And academic fraud is the single worst transgression you can make at an academic institution. 

And yes, when someone graduates by cheating, they lower the value of the degree for everyone. 

Finally, Ben Moffitt was given a scholarship - not a salary to play football.  That means his primary job was to get an education. If he cheated he defrauded the taxpayers in exactly the same way a foodstamp recipient would who sells his food stamps to buy beer. 

Now, hopefully USF will investigate this and convincingly conclude that there is no evidence except for the rantings of a spurned wife.  But it has to find out.

dumb

[EduBull]

you should get an edu-cation on college athletics. 

Do you think I've misread this, http://www.gousfbulls.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=7700&KEY=&ATCLID=222750, where it says student athletes are students first?  Or what it says about the purpose of Intercollegiate Athletics?

Do you think the donors who make USF Athletics possible don't think it's a slap in the face when a student athlete cheats instead of making use of services such as this - http://www.gousfbulls.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=7700&KEY=&ATCLID=219886?

If you want to kill football at USF once and for all, go ahead and make excuses or brush it off. 

[mikebeau]

you should get an edu-cation on college athletics. 

Do you think I've misread this, http://www.gousfbulls.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=7700&KEY=&ATCLID=222750, where it says student athletes are students first?  Or what it says about the purpose of Intercollegiate Athletics?

Do you think the donors who make USF Athletics possible don't think it's a slap in the face when a student athlete cheats instead of making use of services such as this - http://www.gousfbulls.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=7700&KEY=&ATCLID=219886?

If you want to kill football at USF once and for all, go ahead and make excuses or brush it off. 

I think you've been on your soapbox long enough.  Your ranting is based on an angry woman, and even if true, are isolated to one individual.  call me when we've got tutors giving out answers a la FSU. 

"FULL INVESTIGATION"  please. 

that idea is garbage.  Just ask Reggie Bush.  People are wasting their time to figure out if they should rescind a trophy.  It doesn't matter. And unless Shauna is employed by the university anytime soon this doesn't either.