There is a mountain being made of a molehill regarding Dr. Tunc Aldemir’s recent editorial in The Columbus Dispatch, which was called into question for using remarks common to other public releases on the topic. Perhaps in an attempt to stick one back at the professors, some have thrown common sense out the window, and instead are wrestling with semantics of the academic code to decide whether Dr. Aldemir has done something wrong.
The use of a speechwriter or ghostwriter by professionals is not at all uncommon in addressing the public. I am sure many of us have sat through a spring commencement, and enjoyed the humor of a big-name speaker’s speechwriter. They usually close with a ‘Go Bucks!’ rather than a bibliography.
Common sense should tell you that a student combing the Internet to find an out-of-the way piece to cut and paste into their writing assignment is an attempt at academic fraud. Translating technical language into a form more readily digestible by the general public by enlisting the aid of a public relations firm is not.
I have had Dr. Aldemir as a professor at both the undergraduate and graduate level, and there is nothing fraudulent about the way he instructs a class. He is both nationally and internationally known for his leading research within engineering and the nuclear industry. To try to discredit his work or professional opinions based on this irrational issue is unfair and ridiculous.
Michael FiorinoGraduate Student, Nuclear Engineering
