Red Sox victory leads to riot
(U-WIRE) AMHERST, Mass. – A celebration of the Boston Red Sox’s victory over the Oakland Athletics turned ugly last week as students ignited fireworks and overturned two cars in a residential area near the University of Massachusetts.

The riot started after the end of the game, students said, to praise Red Sox outfielder Trot Nixon’s game-winning home run. The UMass Police Department sent about 30 officers to the scene to break up the destructive behavior, arresting two people unaffiliated with the University for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.

Technology hurts plagiarists
(U-WIRE) AUSTIN, Texas – Cases of plagiarism at the University of Texas have been rising in recent years, but University officials say that’s not because of an increase in campus cheats. They attributed the increase to professors who have had an easier time catching plagiarists with the help of technology.

Beyond simple Internet queries, tools for detecting plagiarism have become more sophisticated.

Turnitin.com, a system created by researchers at the University of California at Berkeley, sells licensing to universities that allow them to check students’ work against a vast database of Internet content, published works and past student submissions.

-compiled by Marcus Peter Mrowka,
U-WIRE Washington bureau chief