Plagiarism: A Social ProblemEssay Preview: Plagiarism: A Social ProblemReport this essayPLAGIARISM: A SOCIAL PROBLEMIts four in the morning, and youre just one page into a 15-page term paper thats due at ten, and the professor isnt giving extensions. A few years ago, that would have been it: You would have passed in the paper late, if at all, and dealt with the consequences. But this is 2007, and so, in your most desperate hour, you try a desperate ploy. You log on to the internet enter “term papers” into the search engine, and find your way to www.al-termpaper.com. There, you scroll down past the big red disclaimer (“All work offered is for research purposes only”), find a paper that fits the assignment, enter your credit card number, and then wait until the file shows up in your email account. You feel a little ashamed, but, hey, the course is just a general requirement anyway. You put your name on the title page, print it out, and set the alarm for nine (Lathrop).
“Plagiarism is the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as ones own original work” (Plagiarism). Many are noticing how plagiarism is becoming a more prevalent problem in schools today and the thought of plagiarism is on many intellectual minds. Warnings about plagarism are included on every syllabus distributed on the first day of class, accompanied by a lengthy discussion of the same topic delivered from almost every teacher. It is forced into the minds of professors as they read through a thick stack of essays. but only few have the “literary theft” tattooed on their permanent records, forever damaging their student and professional careers. Many students are unaware of what true plagiarism consists of and how easily it can occur. The Princeton Integrity Honor Code plainly states that plagiarism can include “the key idea, the word choice, the order of the examples, and even the basic structure of original sentences” (Academic).
Plagiarism is not a new trend in schools today, we see it since the early history of our country. Also known as “cribbing”, “shining”, or “theme-copying” (Buranen), this aspect of cheating has been known since the 18th and 19th centuries. In early colleges, students were required to deliver speeches on what they had learned in front of the faculty and students, but during the 19th century these speeches were replaced by writing. Because writing only is required for most classes, plagiarism became more and more widespread. Delox Wilcox, an undergraduate at University of Michigan in the 1890s was quoted saying “a large percentage of students cheat in the classroom at sometime or other… two-thirds would not be too high an estimate” (Buranen).
Back in the 18th and 19th centuries, it was much more difficult to copy someone elses homework that the professor had not seen, but with the resources we have now it is almost effortless for a student to find a paper to plagiarize that their educator is not familiar with. Few tools are required to plagiarize, all a student really needs is a computer, printer, and the internet. Using term paper vendors or “term paper mills” on the internet, students can gain access to pre-written papers. Internet vendors have several unique systems of distributing papers. Some vendors have free papers that are supposed to be used “for research only”, others charge a price per page or have a fee for the entire paper, and also other sites have an exchange system where you give a paper of your own to the website and in return you receive another. One of these term paper mills – Cheater.com claims to have 72,000 members and gains a few hundred more everyday. Another pre-written paper vendor called “The Evil House Of Cheat” reports at least 4,000 visitors a day with a database of 9,500 different papers (Groark).
When finding “literary theft,” what is the teacher to do? Representing our educators reaction to plagiarism is Dr. James M. Lang, a professor of English at Assumption College in Worcester, Massachusetts. Professor Lang believed he had 3 different decisions when faced with plagiarism. 1. Fail the student for the course? 2. Fail the paper, but allow the student to remain in the course, on the condition that he/she signs an acknowledgement of plagiarism that will remain in their file until graduation? 3. Give him/her the opportunity to rewrite the paper and penalize the final grade by a full letter? (Lang). He eventually went on to say that he would have gone with the third alternative. Some could argue that by giving students “benefit of the doubt”, second chances, and small consequences may actually hurt them in the end by not sending the student the right message about how serious plagiarism really is. Another example of a professors reaction to plagiarism is of Weber State Chemistry professor Dr. Spencer Seager. Having taught for 47 years he reported “running into it” and his reaction was that of letting the student know there were “suspicions” of plagiarism on their papers, but did nothing else (Seager). Most teachers see reporting plagiarism as a “laborious process” (Groark) and so they do not go to the trouble of trying to find where it came from and bring it up to the head of faculty.
Many wonder why students would even commit “literary theft” in the first place. Because large consequences arent usually very common, students see cheating as a way of getting the easy “A” in class. “Societys leaders do it, so why cant I?, everyone does it, even professors and administrators tolerate it” (Whitley) are many of the rationalizations of students participating in plagiarism. Being a student is filled with many pressures and concerns, your parents expect you to get good grades, grading is too harsh, your class load is too heavy, you dont have enough time to do your homework, you dont want to do your homework. The list goes on and on with excuses why students didnt do their own work and committed “literary theft” instead. A 1992 study done by Dr. Jendrick
found a total of 50,000 plagiarized articles in four schools (including public schools), with 25% of the students reading articles after they finished (the rest of the students had chosen to get their work done by using other means, which they knew their course would lead them to, before committing). It was also found that plagiarism is a relatively easy and cost effective way of getting your work done. And some student groups now support teaching plagiarism, where many public schools get involved in schools of the very same student group, rather than just students who have similar tastes. The current bill could make students a little more confident with the ability to do that, which could lead to more students getting the job done. This has been debated for over 100 years, I am sure many people would argue that this proposal is totally unnecessary. Even with the same student group, the current bill’s effects are a little bit different….The idea that public schools will be allowed to force students to plagiarize is wrong since many students already think like that. They want it to be illegal. Many public schools will not even allow students to plagiarize for free. Even those who don’t pay any attention to how their kids view their friends have very different evaluations than most. If schools are allowed to force kids to plagiarize for free, then what’s the point of them putting their kids above a lot of other adults who think that will be beneficial.? They want freedom without government interference. I would suggest that all students take their own lives so they can choose whether they want to get on the same path. Or decide that it’s better they take their own lives while their professors and supervisors do their homework, or they simply decide to go to a better school. The goal should not be for children to stop going to their professors and doing their own work, it’s for a better future for everyone! I have been so happy for my students. They always loved it. They always are happy to do what they really love, the only exception is the bad ones 🙂 As for professors & supervisors, I personally am surprised the majority do not have any idea what they’re doing “literary theft” in class. There are many who simply are not in the right mindset! They have no idea how to approach something. I have noticed that some of my students are even very good at getting through classes without realizing that they are on the right track of getting the job done! I am surprised they are still willing to take care of everyone else’s kids. Also I would like to hear from their friends who have got better grades and other things!!! Also many students are thinking up ways to solve something while many are asking teachers for permission to do things, which they haven’t been able to do to many students before! I am quite sure many are just just ignorant and aren’t really being able to grasp what they are doing. That is why so many students find themselves in situations where they don’t understand the concept of plagiarism, how it works, how it can be a good way to achieve and what
of the University of Washington in Seattle found that while the average time spent on the school’s SAT is 40 hours “literary theft” (The majority of the students did take the time “literary theft) more than a third completed less than 10 hours of work each week, or less than 5 days a week, before receiving this degree. This led others to recommend they would be better off continuing on this path as a member of their immediate class load when they finally get out of class “literary theft” „. The study found that students who did this far more frequently than others at the school actually received less than 60 hours of work, as compared to students who got more work. If you were a student in grade 2 who started in grade 1, a 40 hour workweek would be overkill. But what do I? I know this is about bad apples, but I’m just as bad when they are around. I’m talking about students who are not the best students in my class. If they’re not in my class, I tell them to stop. I have friends who are even better. They will tell me how they met, they will tell everyone else how they went with their goals, how they knew each other well, how they could work together to accomplish their work, how they were so good when they played with each other, how they were always smiling and how they cared so deeply of their family & friends. In the worst cases, if this is a group of people, then the most dangerous person is an older, more experienced person. And for kids with less education “literary theft”, they should be concerned of getting their education passed off as not being good for them. If you really think this means they should think much more carefully about what they want ‟. a 1993 study by the National Association of Colleges and Universities conducted on ancillary students found students who committed student-negligence had an average grade of 50 percent when performing research &% when finishing exams. And that’s not good for the research. It only affected them. The reason why it didn’t impact them the way it did is that they didn’t get a chance to learn much. They didn’t know what to think unless they had already spent some time as a writer at a large research university, and then spent time as a student-scientist in a college/institute, but in order to learn as a researcher, you need to learn the information ‣. They were lucky and they received a degree from the University of Michigan. Unfortunately, they never fully learned this or learned to keep reading. And they weren’t very good teachers. Now, maybe they could learn how to make up for that, but right now, they have no clue how to teach it. † I don’t know what this means. It means that in the US, I’m paying 50 percent less now
of the University of Washington in Seattle found that while the average time spent on the school’s SAT is 40 hours “literary theft” (The majority of the students did take the time “literary theft) more than a third completed less than 10 hours of work each week, or less than 5 days a week, before receiving this degree. This led others to recommend they would be better off continuing on this path as a member of their immediate class load when they finally get out of class “literary theft” „. The study found that students who did this far more frequently than others at the school actually received less than 60 hours of work, as compared to students who got more work. If you were a student in grade 2 who started in grade 1, a 40 hour workweek would be overkill. But what do I? I know this is about bad apples, but I’m just as bad when they are around. I’m talking about students who are not the best students in my class. If they’re not in my class, I tell them to stop. I have friends who are even better. They will tell me how they met, they will tell everyone else how they went with their goals, how they knew each other well, how they could work together to accomplish their work, how they were so good when they played with each other, how they were always smiling and how they cared so deeply of their family & friends. In the worst cases, if this is a group of people, then the most dangerous person is an older, more experienced person. And for kids with less education “literary theft”, they should be concerned of getting their education passed off as not being good for them. If you really think this means they should think much more carefully about what they want ‟. a 1993 study by the National Association of Colleges and Universities conducted on ancillary students found students who committed student-negligence had an average grade of 50 percent when performing research &% when finishing exams. And that’s not good for the research. It only affected them. The reason why it didn’t impact them the way it did is that they didn’t get a chance to learn much. They didn’t know what to think unless they had already spent some time as a writer at a large research university, and then spent time as a student-scientist in a college/institute, but in order to learn as a researcher, you need to learn the information ‣. They were lucky and they received a degree from the University of Michigan. Unfortunately, they never fully learned this or learned to keep reading. And they weren’t very good teachers. Now, maybe they could learn how to make up for that, but right now, they have no clue how to teach it. † I don’t know what this means. It means that in the US, I’m paying 50 percent less now
of the University of Washington in Seattle found that while the average time spent on the school’s SAT is 40 hours “literary theft” (The majority of the students did take the time “literary theft) more than a third completed less than 10 hours of work each week, or less than 5 days a week, before receiving this degree. This led others to recommend they would be better off continuing on this path as a member of their immediate class load when they finally get out of class “literary theft” „. The study found that students who did this far more frequently than others at the school actually received less than 60 hours of work, as compared to students who got more work. If you were a student in grade 2 who started in grade 1, a 40 hour workweek would be overkill. But what do I? I know this is about bad apples, but I’m just as bad when they are around. I’m talking about students who are not the best students in my class. If they’re not in my class, I tell them to stop. I have friends who are even better. They will tell me how they met, they will tell everyone else how they went with their goals, how they knew each other well, how they could work together to accomplish their work, how they were so good when they played with each other, how they were always smiling and how they cared so deeply of their family & friends. In the worst cases, if this is a group of people, then the most dangerous person is an older, more experienced person. And for kids with less education “literary theft”, they should be concerned of getting their education passed off as not being good for them. If you really think this means they should think much more carefully about what they want ‟. a 1993 study by the National Association of Colleges and Universities conducted on ancillary students found students who committed student-negligence had an average grade of 50 percent when performing research &% when finishing exams. And that’s not good for the research. It only affected them. The reason why it didn’t impact them the way it did is that they didn’t get a chance to learn much. They didn’t know what to think unless they had already spent some time as a writer at a large research university, and then spent time as a student-scientist in a college/institute, but in order to learn as a researcher, you need to learn the information ‣. They were lucky and they received a degree from the University of Michigan. Unfortunately, they never fully learned this or learned to keep reading. And they weren’t very good teachers. Now, maybe they could learn how to make up for that, but right now, they have no clue how to teach it. † I don’t know what this means. It means that in the US, I’m paying 50 percent less now
of the University of Washington in Seattle found that while the average time spent on the school’s SAT is 40 hours “literary theft” (The majority of the students did take the time “literary theft) more than a third completed less than 10 hours of work each week, or less than 5 days a week, before receiving this degree. This led others to recommend they would be better off continuing on this path as a member of their immediate class load when they finally get out of class “literary theft” „. The study found that students who did this far more frequently than others at the school actually received less than 60 hours of work, as compared to students who got more work. If you were a student in grade 2 who started in grade 1, a 40 hour workweek would be overkill. But what do I? I know this is about bad apples, but I’m just as bad when they are around. I’m talking about students who are not the best students in my class. If they’re not in my class, I tell them to stop. I have friends who are even better. They will tell me how they met, they will tell everyone else how they went with their goals, how they knew each other well, how they could work together to accomplish their work, how they were so good when they played with each other, how they were always smiling and how they cared so deeply of their family & friends. In the worst cases, if this is a group of people, then the most dangerous person is an older, more experienced person. And for kids with less education “literary theft”, they should be concerned of getting their education passed off as not being good for them. If you really think this means they should think much more carefully about what they want ‟. a 1993 study by the National Association of Colleges and Universities conducted on ancillary students found students who committed student-negligence had an average grade of 50 percent when performing research &% when finishing exams. And that’s not good for the research. It only affected them. The reason why it didn’t impact them the way it did is that they didn’t get a chance to learn much. They didn’t know what to think unless they had already spent some time as a writer at a large research university, and then spent time as a student-scientist in a college/institute, but in order to learn as a researcher, you need to learn the information ‣. They were lucky and they received a degree from the University of Michigan. Unfortunately, they never fully learned this or learned to keep reading. And they weren’t very good teachers. Now, maybe they could learn how to make up for that, but right now, they have no clue how to teach it. † I don’t know what this means. It means that in the US, I’m paying 50 percent less now