I have found a bit of Donne shockingly effective in combating plagiarism (along
with all the things other people have mentioned). We go over it at the start of
each semester:
But he is worst, who (beggarly) doth chaw
Others’ wits’ fruits, and in his ravenous maw
Rankly digested, doth those things out spew,
As his own things; and they are his own, ’tis true,
For if one eat my meat, though it be known
The meat was mine, th’ excrement is his own.
---- Original message ----
>Date: Thu, 2 Jun 2005 16:40:14 -0400
>From: "David L. Miller" <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Re: pursuing plagiarism
>To: [log in to unmask]
>
>I strongly agree, Michael. That's what I tell my students in the
>first-day admonition: that I will prosecute offenders because I believe
>that I owe it to the majority of students who work hard for their
>grades.
>
>David Lee Miller
>Professor of English & Comparative Literature
>University of South Carolina
>Columbia, SC 29208
>
>[log in to unmask]
>http://www.cas.sc.edu/engl/faculty/faculty_pages/miller/miller.html
>803 777-4256 (office)
>803 777-9064 (fax)
>803 466-3947 (cell)
>
>
>
>>>> [log in to unmask] 6/2/2005 4:11:01 PM >>>
>Well, I'm happy that you went the full route -- I had similar
>experiences of showing undue mercy (an F on the paper, but less than
>full administrative censure) only to see a repeat instance. If it
>helps, I view this primarily not as me protecting myself from getting
>cheated, but rather I view pursuing these cases as an opportunity for
>me
>to show loyalty to my "honorable C" students; those who are appealing
>people, but for whatever reason (aptitude, effort, circumstance) get a
>
>C. Those are the ones who, I think, we are most serving when we go
>after a plagiarist's attempt to get a better grade illegitimately.
>
>Michael
>
>Margaret Christian wrote:
>
>> Hello, everyone. I will second David's admonition to follow the
>> institutional protocol so that repeat offenders can be disciplined
>> appropriately.
>>
>> In my story, the student took Bible as Lit in 2001 and plagiarized
>her
>> second essay (10 weeks into a fifteen week course). I found it on
>the
>> web and, like David's colleague, did not file paperwork with the
>> appropriate administrator--instead I gave her a stern warning and a
>> zero. (She ended up failing the course.) She came back in 2003 to
>> take a Shakespeare course from me (???) and plagiarized her third
>> essay (due exam week). By this time, I was serving on the Academic
>> Integrity Committee, so I pursued the process with exemplary
>> punctiliousness. But my colleagues on the committee did not see fit
>to
>> handle it as a repeat offence, because the earlier case was not on
>> file--my fault. But at least she had to un-invite her family and
>> friends to graduation. Grrr!
>>
>> I hasten to add that this student was not an English major (both her
>
>> courses with me would have, if she had passed them, fulfilled gen ed
>
>> requirements). Somehow it is worse to hear about Anne's
>> advanced-standing liberal arts majors (or so I assume) plagiarizing.
>
>> I naively thought the grass was greener on your side, Anne.
>>
>> Margaret
>>
>> At 12:10 PM 6/2/2005, you wrote:
>>
>>> Hannibal & others,
>>>
>>> The best guards against plagiarism are have been around a while,
>and
>>> they involve prevention, not detection.
>>>
>>> 1. Assign topics for which it will be hard to find prefab
>materials.
>>>
>>> 2. Require students to submit work in stages so you can see an
>essay
>>> develop.
>>>
>>> Once the horse is out of the barn, it's very important for faculty
>to
>>> report cases to the appropriate administrator. Most universities up
>the
>>> ante for repeat offenders, but this is undercut by faculty who
>handle
>>> matters on their own; and it's the habitual offenders one most
>wishes to
>>> apprehend. I handled a case once from a student in political
>science
>>> who submitted a paper cribbed from the internet. The teacher gave
>him a
>>> stern warning and let it go. Later that same day he returned with a
>new
>>> paper--again cribbed from the internet. Him we managed to prosecute
>as
>>> a repeat offender, but his teacher would have made matters easier
>had
>>> she turned him in the first time.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> David Lee Miller
>>> Professor of English & Comparative Literature
>>> University of South Carolina
>>> Columbia, SC 29208
>>>
>>> [log in to unmask]
>>> http://www.cas.sc.edu/engl/faculty/faculty_pages/miller/miller.html
>
>>> 803 777-4256 (office)
>>> 803 777-9064 (fax)
>>> 803 466-3947 (cell)
>>
>>
>> Margaret R. Christian, Ph.D.
>[log in to unmask]
>> Associate Professor of English Office:
>(610)
>> 285-5106
>> Penn State Berks-Lehigh Valley College Home: (610)
>562-0163
>> 8380 Mohr Lane
>> fax: (610) 285-5220
>> Fogelsville, PA 18051 USA
Christopher Warley
Assistant Professor
Department of English
Oakland University
248-370-2256
|