Thursday, October 23, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

UNLV Rebel Yell columnist accused of plagiarism, fired

Alexander Marriott Lost job as Rebel Yell columnist

A UNLV newspaper columnist who wrote a controversial opinion piece on Christopher Columbus last month was fired Monday following allegations he plagiarized his Sept. 29 column.

Rebel Yell Editor Renae Judkins said Alexander Marriott's termination is final, even though the California man whose writing Marriott allegedly used says he feels his work was not appropriated by the University of Nevada, Las Vegas student.

Judkins said Marriott's column, "Christopher Columbus, we salute you," mirrors a 2002 Capitalism Magazine article, "Did Christopher Columbus discover America?" written by Michael Berliner.

Berliner is an editor at the Ayn Rand Institute in Irvine, Calif., an educational organization that promotes individualism and free-market capitalism.

Judkins said the major red flag she noticed in the two pieces was a similar phrase that claimed Columbus should not be remembered for "death and destruction."

She said several of Marriott's sentences were constructed in nearly the exact same way as Berliner's, and his first draft contained more plagiarized statements than the printed version.

Judkins could not locate the original draft Wednesday. Marriott provided a copy to the Review-Journal, which was passed onto Judkins. She said she could not verify it was the same as the original version.

"I'm basically fired for no reason at this point," Marriott said. "Right now it looks like I was fired for my opinions."

Marriott, a columnist at the Rebel Yell for one year, said he was given the notice over the phone without a clear explanation. He said Judkins did not point out specific portions of his column that she interpreted as being lifted from Berliner's piece.

Marriott's opinions sparked controversy at UNLV immediately after the Sept. 29 issue hit newsstands. The piece included the assertion that some societies are "better than others" and a reference to American Indians as "primitive Stone Age level savages."

The Rebel Yell received several angry letters as a result. The most recent and drastic form of protest took place Thursday when all copies of the paper were bundled up in trash bags and left in the campus amphitheater, with the phrase "Rebel Yell Wake Up" draped over them.

Judkins maintains that Marriott's termination was strictly for plagiarism and had nothing to do with the negative attention the paper received.

But Berliner said when he read Marriott's column in the Review-Journal, re-printed in the Oct. 12 opinion pages, he had no problem with the content.

"It never struck me that it was plagiarism," he said.

Berliner said no one from the Rebel Yell staff ever contacted him before or after firing Marriott. A former professor for 15 years at California State University, Northridge, he said he has graded enough essays to spot plagiarism.

Berliner said he and Marriott seem to have similar beliefs, but different writing styles.

"If you can't agree with anyone else it makes it hard to write," he said. "Death and destruction. Those are not copyrighted words."

Berliner said he sent an e-mail to Rebel Yell opinion editor Irene Marquette suggesting Marriott was fired for something other than plagiarism. Marquette was unavailable for comment Wednesday.

Berliner said he has read both the printed version of Marriott's piece and the original draft, suggested to contain more plagiarism.

"They're virtually the same," he said.

Judkins said she reached her decision to fire Marriott after showing the printed version of the column to two UNLV professors, who compared it to Berliner's article.

One was Cathy Scott, a part-time journalism instructor at UNLV. Judkins said she could not recall the name of the other professor who believed Marriott plagiarized.

Scott, who has no official connection to the Rebel Yell, said several sentences seemed to be taken directly from Berliner, and the overall writing seemed too advanced for a college student.

Scott said she is not surprised Berliner wasn't bothered by the episode, since Marriott shares his opinions.

"Maybe he's flattered," she said.