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Volume CXXXII, Number 5 |
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Thefts strike sour note with music department
ALEC SCHLEY
STAFF WRITER
Three compact discs, on reserve for the History of Jazz I Music 121 course, were taken from the Music Library during the last week of September and were never returned. The jewel boxes for the compact discs were returned to the library monitor, but the actual discs themselves were missing.
The compact discs, an integral part of the course, were held on reserve to help students prepare for an exam, and their disappearance proved to be a disadvantage to students. According to James McCalla, the course's professor, "The jazz class is built around repeated listening to CDs of tunes which are covered in some detail in the textbook and which I also talk about (in more or less detail) during lectures. Exams include a listening section in which students have to answer questions about what is played-not identifying tunes by title or performer, but being able to hear and describe particular musical elements. So these CDs are key for being prepared for exams."
It is not clear why someone would steal the CDs, but McCalla said, "People get crazy before exams, and the Music Library closes at 1 a.m. So it's perfectly possible that someone snuck the CDs out, thinking they'd just keep them overnight, but then never returned them. Who knows?"
He continued, "Even so, there is no reason for [stealing the CDs]. Stuff for the whole semester is on reserve all semester long, so it's perfectly possible to plan ahead and get the listening and studying done before the eve of the exam."
Stealing the compact discs is an act of academic theft and a breach of the Academic Honor Code. In spite of the seriousness of the incident, McCalla does not intend to take disciplinary action against the culprit if he or she is found. Said McCalla, "I told the class this time that I would not [take disciplinary action], but that I wanted to have a talk with the person who took the CDs about academic honesty and about the college as a community. I also alerted Dean McMahon to the incident, but just told her I'd keep her up to speed."