Spring Break
Plagiarism requires punishment
Ed Board
Issue date: 4/3/08 Section: OPINION
Students in charge of rewriting the honor code at The University of Texas at San Antonio were caught in a lie earlier this week when it was discovered that the new honor code looked far too similar to another university's.
Officials cried foul when they found entire sections had been pulled from Brigham Young University's honor code. Ironically enough, the portions plagiarized were those that condemned submitting unoriginal work. The student in charge of the rewrite called it a "minor oversight" while secretly praying that a works cited sheet existed.
The story has since snuck into the national news, spurring publications such as The New York Times to churn out opinion pieces contemplating the rationale of an increasingly techno-savvy generation. With Turnitin.com co-founder John Barrie reporting in the Salt Lake Tribune that roughly 30 percent of term papers are "less than original," we may have a serious situation to analyze.
The Internet has given our generation many opportunities that other forms of media, such as television and radio, could never dream of offering. But with increased accessibility comes increased responsibility. Many students who rode the Internet wave from the start never learned how to correctly, and ethically, use the tool.
So today, more than ever, anti-plagiarism messages are shoved down our throats. They echo throughout every classroom on college campuses, and millions of sheets of paper are filled with slightly different variations of the same message: do your own work.
In journalism, this is the deadly sin. Plagiarists are the lepers of the journalism community; they are shunned and their reputations are irreversibly damaged. So why is it not this way everywhere else?
The student in charge of the rewrite is still overseeing its creation, thus sending out a hazy message to those considering taking the easy way out.
As students are allowed penance for their misguided actions, many will inherit the idea that they will always get away with stealing other people's work and that such "minor oversights" really aren't that important. College is ultimately for preparing us for the real world. As such, plagiarism should never be overlooked, if only to educate a minority of students that has never observed the damage that goes along with it.
As college students in 2008, the Internet has affected our lives like no other form of media. We should take note as to how, along with the ways that its use can be misinterpreted, to protect future generations from falling into our peers' mistakes.
Plagiarism is a serious problem, and getting rid of it requires education and punishment for those who choose to knowingly break the rules.
Officials cried foul when they found entire sections had been pulled from Brigham Young University's honor code. Ironically enough, the portions plagiarized were those that condemned submitting unoriginal work. The student in charge of the rewrite called it a "minor oversight" while secretly praying that a works cited sheet existed.
The story has since snuck into the national news, spurring publications such as The New York Times to churn out opinion pieces contemplating the rationale of an increasingly techno-savvy generation. With Turnitin.com co-founder John Barrie reporting in the Salt Lake Tribune that roughly 30 percent of term papers are "less than original," we may have a serious situation to analyze.
The Internet has given our generation many opportunities that other forms of media, such as television and radio, could never dream of offering. But with increased accessibility comes increased responsibility. Many students who rode the Internet wave from the start never learned how to correctly, and ethically, use the tool.
So today, more than ever, anti-plagiarism messages are shoved down our throats. They echo throughout every classroom on college campuses, and millions of sheets of paper are filled with slightly different variations of the same message: do your own work.
In journalism, this is the deadly sin. Plagiarists are the lepers of the journalism community; they are shunned and their reputations are irreversibly damaged. So why is it not this way everywhere else?
The student in charge of the rewrite is still overseeing its creation, thus sending out a hazy message to those considering taking the easy way out.
As students are allowed penance for their misguided actions, many will inherit the idea that they will always get away with stealing other people's work and that such "minor oversights" really aren't that important. College is ultimately for preparing us for the real world. As such, plagiarism should never be overlooked, if only to educate a minority of students that has never observed the damage that goes along with it.
As college students in 2008, the Internet has affected our lives like no other form of media. We should take note as to how, along with the ways that its use can be misinterpreted, to protect future generations from falling into our peers' mistakes.
Plagiarism is a serious problem, and getting rid of it requires education and punishment for those who choose to knowingly break the rules.
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bill smith
posted 11/06/09 @ 9:54 AM CST
man fuck the army...they can suck my big white nazi cock
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