I came across an interesting blog the other day and left a comment on an article about Wikipedia and plagiarism. The rant is here. I quote the applicable parts below:
I came across this post while googling “plagiarizing Wikipedia”, because I was curious to find out how plagiarism changes when you’re not stealing from one author, but instead stealing from a collaborative, open source work like Wikipedia. I haven’t yet found my answer, but this is a great blog post, so I’ll throw in my two cents:
This last year I finished a ridiculous high school ‘health’ class, which had a focus on research. The class itself was a joke, and I feel confident saying that as someone who considers himself an intellectual in training, because the teacher wasn’t able to practice what she preached. She ranted almost daily about how plagiarism would end in severe consequences, but was never able to spot it. Meanwhile, I was able to. For example, the class had to work on different research projects and distribute their findings to the rest of the class. I found it odd when many student’s documents used different fonts throughout, and had underlined hyperlinks. I kid you not, there were hyperlinks _everywhere_, a sure sign of very sloppy copying and pasting.
Furthermore, the teacher’s PowerPoint presentations were taken straight from Wikipedia! How could I tell? She had underlined hyperlinks in her presentations. I even wrote down a sentence and googled it in quote to see where it came from. Low and behold, Wikipedia.
One day, I was sick of it and stayed after class to discuss this with her. I pointed out half a dozen examples of plagiarism from the latest round of research projects and how you can spot it, and all she simply said was, “I didn’t know that.”
Today, none of the plagiarizing students were punished for their crimes. Now, that teacher has since taken a job at a great college, where she’s sure to be making a great sum of money. I can’t figure some things out.
Anyone else have any plagiarism stories?
Oh my god, that was the worst class ever. Are they still going to continue it in that format? I was shocked that they did for your class after all the bitching we did. That’s probably my least favorite aspect of Dover–we complained to guidance, to Tierney, to our parents who turned around and complained to guidance and Tierney, and nothing happened. Maybe that will change with Mrs. Basting in office.
Rampant plagiarism and cheating on tests went on all the time when I was in that class, and while I a) didn’t participate and b) usually abhor that kind of behavior, I can’t say I ever got mad about it, or blamed anyone for doing it. When a class is that useless and stupid I don’t think you can expect a student to take it seriously. I could go on about why I hated it but that’s getting off-topic.
Where is she working and doing what? (I think her getting hired for any decent job is a better justification for your “I’m reasonably smart, so I will somehow get a job” theory than anything.)
Columbia, prof.
Yeah, read that again.
One time, my ex-English person (I don’t call them teachers) accused me of plagiarizing an original idea/definition that I randomly inserted to close an essay (an A+ one, at that). He thought that since the idea wasn’t one he gave us in class, it couldn’t possibly be mine, and that I must have copied something I read and rephrased it. My options were:
A) Admit I had plagiarized & get a 0 on the essay
OR
B) Deny it, fail, and be suspended for a week without option of contesting the accusation.
Guess what I did.
Esposito & McTigue ALWAYS plagiarize their stuff too. Teachers are allowed to, for some reason. 1/2 of “Teeguey”’s Frankenstein test was Cut & Pasted from Spark Notes’ Frankenstein quiz. “Her” half of the test wasn’t even MADE by her, it had another teacher’s name on it!!!
Well, Michael, don’t leave us hanging. What did you do?
A) Because I have little patience or tolerance for ‘englishers’.
(Explaining my insulting tone in THE LETTER TO EURE)
http://hs.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=4606591253
Don’t know if it works for non-facebook users…
But really, how many could there be?
I’d like to point out that whoever wrote that rant isn’t aware that teachers make less money teaching at a college.
Micheal: I logged into facebook and can’t see your note, probabley because I’m not your friend.
I go to school in carmel, and in my AP english class, Mr.Bob(Name withheld) doesn’t even bother to save a power point locally, even when it’s blatantly plagiarized. But the thing is, he uses power points from WestConn’s master’s database, which is information no student would otherwise have access to.
And in all honesty, if a health teacher plagiarizes, who cares? So their being hypocritical douchebags, what else is new?
Michael, not everyone is entrenched in social networking. Sure it’s fine to ‘blog’ using Facebook notes, but it’s not accessible for the world to see.
Chris, I wrote the rant on another blog and quoted it here, and was completely unaware of that fact. You have some stats?
Here’s the semi-very insulting letter for your enjoyment.
Dear Mr. Eure,
When I began to work on this year’s summer reading list, I feared that the books would be as boring and useless as least year’s AP Literature Reading List and every one before that. I found two of the books, the two I suspect to be closer to the point of the AP Language Exam, to be surprisingly entertaining, Freakonomics and Nickel and Dimed. Freakonomics was likely my favorite because I could relate to the points Levitt brought up. Corporate and government conspiracies and controversial theories are my lifeblood. The chapter on cheating surprised me, though. I had always suspected teachers of lowering grades or straying from curricula due to some inferiority complex that comes from teaching a student who is more intelligent than you. According to my theory, this complex cannot appear in the higher studies of Physics, Mathematics, and the sort, where the student is always dependent on the teacher for formulas. However, in classes of the arts, such as Literary Analysis, Visual Media, and Music, the student can easily surpass the teacher though natural ability. Returning to the topic at hand, I had already known of information asymmetry and the internet’s ability to fight it, but never thought to coin the phrase or perform any research. The third thing I realized after reading Freakonomics is that cartoons have always been used to warp the minds of young Americans against our enemies, namely, Nazis and Communists. This is yet another reason why English teachers need to recognize television, movies, and video games as viable literature, as these forms of media are no less capable of conveying metaphors, symbols, and criticism than books and poems. Levitt is not afraid to say the things the reader thinks. However, in the style of Carlos Mencia, he is not afraid of being dubbed a racist or insane. All in all, there was nothing even remotely challenging about this book. I thoroughly enjoyed it, depriving myself of sleep to read into the early morning by flashlight.
Nickel and Dimed, like Freakonomics, was an interesting read. I have never heard of anyone else deliberately lowering his social and economic status to conduct an experiment about salaries and expenses in America. I didn’t learn anything significant from the book, I merely confirmed what I had already known, that housing and food is too expensive, and that minimum wage is not nearly enough to survive (or even die) anywhere in America. The book was enjoyable, but lacked the addictiveness of Freakonomics, though I do not understand why. I do not recollect any difficulties I may have had in reading the book.
Unfortunately, now I must discuss the two less entertaining books. My main problem with Tom Sawyer is that Tom, Huck, and Joe’s thoughts and decisions are too foolish and childish for me. I understand that Tom’s naivete and innocence is imperative to the book, but knowing that a more mature Tom would have understood danger, responsibility, and the importance of telling people where you are going made it nearly unbearable. In addition, the phonetic spelling of the characters’ southern drawl considerably impeded my comprehension of dialogue. Being a New-York-born, suburban-dwelling 90’s child, I cannot appreciate the nostalgia factor Clemens (pseudonyms are for cowards) intended his readers to feel.
I have only just finished suffering through The Tortilla Curtain. This may have been the second most boring book I have ever read (the first being A Tree Grows in Brooklyn). I have so many complaints about this book, I can barely stand listing the major ones here. The first thing I noticed was that the title, the canyon road, and the author all share the same initials. As a general rule, authors should go out of the way to prevent this from ever happening. In fact, any self-reference by a fiction author is, in my mind, the second worst disgrace. Second, as I have learned only today from a trustworthy friend, Boyle apparently stole from John Steinback’s novels The Grapes of Wrath and Tortilla Flat. The concept that the title was stolen from Tortilla Flat is only a hunch, but I have verified that the alternating points of view between chapters, random deaths of dogs, the flood that ends the story, and the pro-immigration (amnesty) theme are taken directly from Steinbeck’s most famous work. Did anyone even expel Boyle for plagiarism? Also, the book is just plain boring. I read not to hear about the problems of illegal Mexicans and middle-class victimized white Americans (both of whom which I deal with in my own life), but to be entertained, learn, and think. I do not regret that both of these books happen to be quite combustible, for I have been meaning to test whether the title of Fahrenheit 451 needs to be altered.
After some light contemplation, I believe a more effective summer “reading” list should have included the first two episodes of the anime series Fullmetal Alchemist, the Michael Moore documentary SiCKO, and any and all television commercials in place of Tom Sawyer and The Tortilla Curtain. If you wish to know why, or if you have any other question ask me in person during class; I regret that I cannot spend any more time ranting for now. In any case, I can only hope that, unlike all but one of my previous English classes, this upcoming one will be enjoyable for us both.
Sincerely,
M. “Andrade” Andrade
For the record, a full-time professor makes waaay more than a high school teacher, so whoever said he they make less needs to double check that. Avg. starting salary for a professor is about 60-70 grand, compared to 30-40ish for a high school teacher. After all, the professor has a doctorate, usually does research, and generally has to handle more than a high school teacher.
No, I looked some things up.
Whoever said that meant the entry salary for an Associate/Assistant Professor (~$30K)
You don’t make Professor money (~$80K+) until you’re 40ish (or older)
Which is why I’m considering becoming a Chem E instead of a Prof or teacher
I’m so confused. I guess I’ll have to do some research on this.
Um, I’m not really sure as to where the salary thread is going, but just to throw it out there-
I looked it up one time and the median salary for a full time professor (not an associate) is $65,000 a year. The median salary for a high school teacher I believe is $40,000, maybe less.
I looked it up and not only is she a prof at Columbia….she is in the Health Education dept….meaning SHE IS TEACHING OTHER PEOPLE HOW TO TEACH.
I will officially kill myself if I do not get a decent job in a decent timeframe after I graduate. It can NOT be that hard.
Kim, I think there might be something wrong with the philosophy that hard work equates with success. Either that, or all of us are going to do very well in life. I say “all of us”, because you guys are all very smart and motivated. You’d have to be to read my blog.
Thanks for that wonderful uplifting news, Kim. But, why don’t you share your source? Any potential for a name to be linked with this blog post condemning her teaching will not be tolerated, of course. That would just be wrong.
@Michael: I think you should have fought it.
In my school, you can only fight a punishment if
1. It results in suspension but is not plagiarism
2. You are in a Varsity or JV sport (regardless of offense)
This is because the school adores our football teams and would never let them lose a game on account of a missing player. Meanwhile, a few of our Foreign Language Classes got cut when the school refused to replace the 3 teachers who are retiring.
While your complaints seem legitimate, Michael, there might be more to the issue than meets the eye.
Like Transformers, for example.
Micheal,
Is that actual policy, or just a picture of the current state of things taken by personal experience? =P
Yes, only jocks can oppose any punishment, and no one can oppose plagiarism (It’s in both the 05-06 & 06-07 School Handbooks)
I’m really hoping that’s a joke. If it’s not, please scan that page of your handbook, I could use a good laugh.