ATAR Notes: Forum

Uni Stuff => Universities - Victoria => University of Melbourne => Topic started by: acrimony on June 05, 2012, 03:04:26 pm

Title: I'm innocent!
Post by: acrimony on June 05, 2012, 03:04:26 pm
I rocked up to the Bio exam today without a bag, but with a pencil case and a piece of paper that had useless notes on it.

Anyway.
 
2 hours into the exam, I am busting to go to the bathroom. As I walked to the entrance of the bathroom, two people sitting at a desk asked if I had anything in my pocket, I pulled out a packet of gum and that damned piece of paper. I totally forgot I had it in my pocket. They then harshly asked for my name and I.D number, and threw that piece of paper into a pile of what seemed to be other confiscated notes.
 
So what do you guys reckon will happen?

Should I email anyone to plead my case?
Title: Re: I'm innocent!
Post by: seretide on June 05, 2012, 03:25:39 pm
Don't do anything irrational. Just wait to see what they do - if they say anything about it, then you could ask for an interview or something to explain what happened. And, if they don't well, no harm done.
Title: Re: I'm innocent!
Post by: paulsterio on June 05, 2012, 03:35:33 pm
How useless were the "useless notes" - if they were completely irrelevant, like directions how to get to the place or some shit like that, it probably won't matter, but if it's related to the subject matter, it'd be hard for you to defend yourself :\
Title: Re: I'm innocent!
Post by: acrimony on June 05, 2012, 03:38:11 pm
Useless as in none of what was on there would've helped me in the exam, it did contain bio notes.

And I shall wait seretide.
Title: Re: I'm innocent!
Post by: lexitu on June 05, 2012, 04:38:41 pm
I think
- make a note to yourself of any particular circumstances so you have a detailed case if anything eventuates
- contact 13 MELB / consult website for info about relevant procedures / appeal mechanisms just so you are informed (no need to do anything irrational as seretide said)
- stay calm, don't over analyze and focus on your upcoming exams
Title: Re: I'm innocent!
Post by: seretide on June 05, 2012, 05:05:44 pm
Yeah, the main thing is to let it go for now and focus on your upcoming exams- don't become distracted by it
Title: Re: I'm innocent!
Post by: golden on June 05, 2012, 05:28:39 pm
Theoretically if you were planning to cheat then you would have had remembered that you had notes in your pocket and would have not presented it. You should be safe.
Title: Re: I'm innocent!
Post by: Starlight on June 05, 2012, 05:48:36 pm
Theoretically if you were planning to cheat then you would have had remembered that you had notes in your pocket and would have not presented it. You should be safe.

Haha yeah they ask you if you have any notes, 'Yeah I have notes, and what are you going to do about it?' i'm sure that would go down well lol.
Title: Re: I'm innocent!
Post by: Starlight on June 05, 2012, 05:52:52 pm
Did they allow you (acrimony) to explain yourself?
Title: Re: I'm innocent!
Post by: paulsterio on June 05, 2012, 06:51:41 pm
They won't allow you to explain yourself in an exam, it's not their position anyway, but yeah, just deal with it after all your exams
Title: Re: I'm innocent!
Post by: Starlight on June 05, 2012, 07:28:18 pm
I guess they just report any 'suspicious' activity and leave it to be followed up
Title: Re: I'm innocent!
Post by: acrimony on June 05, 2012, 08:51:22 pm
Cheers guys, I'll let you all know the results of it.
Title: Re: I'm innocent!
Post by: golden on June 06, 2012, 08:32:35 am
Cheers guys, I'll let you all the results of it.


To be continued...
Title: Re: I'm innocent!
Post by: seretide on June 06, 2012, 02:23:54 pm
Cheers guys, I'll let you all the results of it.


To be continued...

Acrimony should start back again with... "Previously on I'm Innocent" :D
Title: Re: I'm innocent!
Post by: Eriny on June 06, 2012, 06:14:17 pm
Cheers guys, I'll let you all the results of it.


To be continued...

Acrimony should start back again with... "Previously on I'm Innocent" :D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MFtl2XXnUc
Title: Re: I'm innocent!
Post by: acrimony on June 28, 2012, 06:46:49 pm
I still have not received my Bio mark yet (WAF), tomorrow I have a meeting for the perceived misconduct. Hopefully all goes well or else there goes a year off my uni life as it is a prerequisite for next year's subjects.
Title: Re: I'm innocent!
Post by: anonymous1 on June 28, 2012, 06:53:45 pm
^are you serious? I didn't think they'll take it that far lol

well good luck with the meeting ;)
Title: Re: I'm innocent!
Post by: acrimony on June 28, 2012, 06:55:50 pm
Cheers anon. This feels like highschool again getting in trouble and being sent to the coordinator's office, oh happy days.
Title: Re: I'm innocent!
Post by: charmanderp on June 28, 2012, 06:59:35 pm
Good luck mate, fingers tightly crossed for you! To state the obvious just be calm and honest and sincere because you know that you're not in the wrong here, and that'll give you the best chance of getting a justified result.
Title: Re: I'm innocent!
Post by: acrimony on June 28, 2012, 07:03:25 pm
Cheers buddy
Title: Re: I'm innocent!
Post by: Starlight on June 28, 2012, 07:27:08 pm
I forgot about this thread. Hope all goes well!!
Title: Re: I'm innocent!
Post by: acrimony on June 28, 2012, 07:35:15 pm
Thanks el, and well done on acing chem fundamentals. I reckon you should jump straight to chem 2 since you love your holidays
Title: Re: I'm innocent!
Post by: Starlight on June 28, 2012, 07:45:17 pm
Thanks el, and well done on acing chem fundamentals. I reckon you should jump straight to chem 2 since you love your holidays

Hehe, I don't know if i'd call it acing but I guess 80 was good enough for them. I sent a form today to the ESPC :) I do love my holidays indeed, however most of these holidays may be trying to catch up with other chem students who have done Chem 1 :P Let us know how the meeting goes :)
Title: Re: I'm innocent!
Post by: acrimony on June 28, 2012, 07:51:37 pm
Haha yes, I shall.
Title: Re: I'm innocent!
Post by: VivaTequila on June 30, 2012, 12:21:19 pm
I find the scenario amusing, albeit quite serious. What ended up happening?
Title: Re: I'm innocent!
Post by: golden on June 30, 2012, 12:42:01 pm
He met with Gandalf and they discussed plans to fight the forces of evil.
I'm sorry I had to say that.
Title: Re: I'm innocent!
Post by: acrimony on July 08, 2012, 06:36:55 pm
My exam mark was adjusted so that the the highest possible mark I could receive was a 50. And I got exactly that. I was told many students who had similar stories to me actually failed the subject. The old saying still rings strong, "when life gives you lemons, just squeeze them over the wounds."
Title: Re: I'm innocent!
Post by: anonymous1 on July 08, 2012, 06:53:19 pm
so sorry to hear that, that is really harsh! But don't worry this is just first year, if you like most others also aim for high gpa, one subject won't affect you much ;)
Title: Re: I'm innocent!
Post by: Starlight on July 08, 2012, 07:13:18 pm
My exam mark was adjusted so that the the highest possible mark I could receive was a 50. And I got exactly that. I was told many students who had similar stories to me actually failed the subject. The old saying still rings strong, "when life gives you lemons, just squeeze them over the wounds."

Yeah as anonymous 1 said, it's just one subject, still it's quite harsh because you didn't actually cheat. Your gpa will be fine
Title: Re: I'm innocent!
Post by: Russ on July 08, 2012, 07:15:03 pm
Give the student union a call and see what they can do for you. What sort of discussion did you actually have with the faculty?
Title: Re: I'm innocent!
Post by: zhenzhenzhen on July 09, 2012, 08:29:26 am
You should have definitely spoke with the student union before the meeting. Though it is really hard to defend a piece of paper with bio notes on it, IMO passing was a blessing.

That said, if I felt a piece of paper in my pocket, I wouldn't have pulled it out..not like it leaves a bulge or they will strip search you.
Title: Re: I'm innocent!
Post by: Starlight on July 09, 2012, 10:58:27 am
You should have definitely spoke with the student union before the meeting. Though it is really hard to defend a piece of paper with bio notes on it, IMO passing was a blessing.

That said, if I felt a piece of paper in my pocket, I wouldn't have pulled it out..not like it leaves a bulge or they will strip search you.

I think the fact that acrimony was willing to show his pockets (however not realising there were any notes in there) purely showed it was accidental in bringing in notes in there in the first place. If it were done with the intention of cheating, the person would just say no there are no notes without opening their pockets.
Title: Re: I'm innocent!
Post by: Starlight on July 09, 2012, 11:48:47 am
You should have definitely spoke with the student union before the meeting. Though it is really hard to defend a piece of paper with bio notes on it, IMO passing was a blessing.

That said, if I felt a piece of paper in my pocket, I wouldn't have pulled it out..not like it leaves a bulge or they will strip search you.

I think the fact that acrimony was willing to show his pockets (however not realising there were any notes in there) purely showed it was accidental in bringing in notes in there in the first place. If it were done with the intention of cheating, the person would just say no there are no notes without opening their pockets.
Yeah but surely if you said "no" the supervisor wouldn't be like, "fair enough." In which case the default response of a student should be to open pockets regardless.


I'm pretty sure they don't have the right to tell you to show your pockets
Title: Re: I'm innocent!
Post by: Starlight on July 09, 2012, 12:07:39 pm
no, i don't expect they would be allowed to physically force you to open your pockets; but not doing so would be more incriminating than showing notes and claiming negligence (i'm definitely not saying this is what happened to acrimony, it's just that opening pockets isn't conclusive in any way)

I think if you brought notes you would have the intention of saying you didn't have them when they asked you, if someone is very unprepared for the exam, I think this is enough drive for them to take that risk. I suppose it's not conclusive that the person is innocent by willing to open their pockets, but I think it gives a strong indication that they did not have the intention to cheat.
Title: Re: I'm innocent!
Post by: zhenzhenzhen on July 09, 2012, 01:46:07 pm
I agree with you. unfortunately he/she was was in possession of an illegal item during the exam, and intentions don't really count for much in this situation. Really bad luck though.
Title: Re: I'm innocent!
Post by: paulsterio on July 09, 2012, 02:08:09 pm
Even though it's harsh and bad luck, I think that it's important we all learn from this, all the materials we have on ourselves during an exam is our own responsibility and the truth is, we can't all say that it's accidental if something happens and we get caught. So check what you have on you before you go into that exam room!
Title: Re: I'm innocent!
Post by: Russ on July 09, 2012, 02:33:23 pm
If you refuse to empty your pockets, sure they can't force you to but they can refuse to give you your mark for the exam in that case (or just concede a pass). Similar to how refusing a breath test isn't going to get you out of a drink driving charge

I would get in touch with the union and see if there's any chance to get the exam mark reconsidered. I think there's some degree of murkiness here that might let you work something out
Title: Re: I'm innocent!
Post by: Starlight on July 09, 2012, 03:43:21 pm
But they don't ask you to empty your pockets, when I was there they just asked me if I had any notes?
Title: Re: I'm innocent!
Post by: charmanderp on July 09, 2012, 03:56:50 pm
Alternatively try to avoid using the toilet during exams :P
Title: Re: I'm innocent!
Post by: Gloamglozer on July 09, 2012, 08:37:52 pm
Alternatively try to avoid using the toilet during exams :P

Yeah wear nappies, like Russ does.

Works like a charm.  :P
Title: Re: I'm innocent!
Post by: simpak on July 09, 2012, 08:52:58 pm
I went to the bathroom wearing this coat I have with false pockets and they tried to get me to show them what was in my pockets and I was like "they're not real ):" and it took them 30 seconds to believe me, it was quite awkward. I was like, how can I prove to you these do not open?
Title: Re: I'm innocent!
Post by: ninwa on July 09, 2012, 09:08:28 pm
Yeah wear nappies, like Russ does.

Works like a charm.  :P

He should write a magazine article about this!
Title: Re: I'm innocent!
Post by: QuantumJG on July 09, 2012, 10:59:19 pm
I feel so sorry for you acrimony. You are lucky that you got a 50 instead of failing (or being pulled out of your course). Before an exam MAKE SURE YOU'RE POCKETS HAVE NOTHING IN THEM THAT ISN'T ALLOWED! I personally do NOT bring in my mobile and anything I do bring in, is contained in those clear plastic lunch bags.