Terrapin backup quarterback Josh Portis violated the Code of Academic Integrity on a pop quiz in an American Studies class in early April, according to former university student Brandon Bullock, who said Portis copied off his quiz.
Portis has been declared ineligible for the 2007 football season. Bullock, who has since transferred to East Carolina University, said the pop quiz consisting of about 10 short-essay questions was given with about 15 minutes left in class.
Portis was not available for comment.
Bullock said his quiz was returned with a "PLEASE SEE ME" note attached to it from graduate assistant Manouchka Poinson, who taught the AMST212: Diversity in American Culture class.
"When I saw her, she said that she had already spoken to the other person as well," Bullock said in a phone interview yesterday. "She wouldn't say his name. Both of the papers were there in front of me and she covered up the names on the paper, and she had me read a bunch of answers that were similar to each other, and one was word for word."
Poinson did not return phone calls or e-mails from The Diamondback.
This past weekend, Portis admitted to violating the Code, but he never went into specific details about the incident. The Code defines the four categories of academic dishonesty as cheating, fabrication, facilitating academic dishonesty and plagiarism.
Bullock said he sat in front and "kind of to the right" of Portis. When asked if he could have cheated off of Portis' quiz, Bullock replied "I don't have eyes in the back of my head."
"[The quiz was given] toward the end of the class, it was definitely rushed," Bullock said. "I probably didn't make an assertive effort to like keep my arm over my paper, but we're just kinda scribbling, trying to finish the class, all of us. And every student enrolled in that class can tell you we had only 15 minutes to answer 10 short questions. That's not much.
"I didn't hover over it and look over my shoulder and make sure nobody was looking," Bullock added. "I was just answering the questions."
Portis, a redshirt sophomore, will have two years of eligibility left when the season ends.
"What I'm going through right now is a life-changing experience," Portis told The Diamondback on Sunday. "It's the one time I've made a mistake in my life. It's gonna make me a better person. People just gotta understand where I'm coming from. Obviously I made a mistake. Everybody's gonna have an opinion on the situation, but I'm a good kid, and I just made a mistake."
Bullock was planning to transfer before the incident, which had nothing to with his decision, he said. Bullock said he has not yet had his hearing in front of the Student Honor Council, which would have determined his punishment.
"I never got a letter from the University of Maryland saying that I needed to go [to a hearing]," Bullock said. "The only reason I knew I needed to go in front of the Honor Council was because I called about getting my final transcript sent to ECU. They said I had a pending academic dishonesty thing. That's the only reason I knew.
"Maryland won't send my final transcripts to ECU until I do take care of it, and East Carolina won't let me register for spring classes until I get my final transcript," Bullock said.
Junior kinesiology major Chris Kirby-Smith said he often sat next to Portis and didn't know of any other incidents.
"From what I gathered from him, he was a responsible student," Kirby-Smith said. "I didn't even know he was on the football team until [Bullock] told me."
zuckermandbk@gmail.com
Be the first to comment on this article!
Log in to be able to post comments.