On Nov. 26 a commentary was printed containing a large portionof plagiarized material. The piece expressed the”opinions” of one SMU student concerning the BowlChampionship Series rankings. Material was taken from a well-knownsports information Web site and pasted into the body of thecommentary, almost quoting the plagiarized material verbatim,without citing the source in any way.
Every year, delinquent Mustangs are brought before the HonorBoard for their disregard of academic integrity in falselyrepresenting the work of others — without proper attribution— as their own.
Among college students today the occurrence of plagiarismrapidly rises with each new class that enters the hallways ofhigher learning.
According to a national survey published in Education Week, 54percent of college students admit to plagiarizing from theInternet.
The problem has become so overwhelming it’s almost easierto look the other way and pretend like the problem has not grown toengulf higher education.
Are we employing professors or an army of source checkers andhuman lie detectors that are expected to spend all of their timescouring the Internet in search of the real source of a paper thatis too good for the student — sitting in the back row whoshows up hung over, never participates and sleeps through class— to have written. Unfortunately, the thieving slack-assesdemand more of the professor’s time than those who made agenuine contribution to class work, discussion and assignments.
While it’s understandable that every student can possiblybe lured into a quick fix for procrastination, it’sdisheartening that so many plagiarize without a second thought ofthe consequences. (This fact is often evinced in the poor job somedo in appropriating others’ work without covering theirtracks).
Stuck in the quagmire of one’s own lack of research andeffort (or simple ineptitude) plagiarists often miss the seriousimplications and repercussions of committing intellectual thievery.In institutions built on the open exchange and expression of ideas,to take someone else’s original thoughts and try to pass themoff as your own, condemns you to academic hell, or better yet,brands you a cheater for the rest of your life.
But maybe that’s not enough. The equation is simple: Theinfractions committed by students are done because students areirreverent to academic integrity that is absolutely necessary tothe free and open exchange of ideas — the foundation ofintellectual and academic excellence.
Students aren’t concerned because on some level oursociety condones cheating in the interest of “gettingahead.”
