Consequences of Plagiarizing a Rough Draft

[Loren Booda]

It's the weekend - time to think, but not to drink.

 

[TALewis]

All you got was an F in the class? Consider yourself lucky you didn't get expelled. If you play your cards right, you might be able to take the class again for grade replacement, if your university offers that.

And the bottom line as far as it being a "rough draft:" Your professor requested work. You submitted someone else's work and called it your own. That's unethical. Now you know.

 

[Adam]

I scored ridiculously high on IQ tests at Deakin University - proper ones, I mean, not internet tests. However, I am an absolutely terrible student. I've never cheated on anything in my life. Not even in primary school. So it annoys me when I sit there working away at stuff, and I see groups of other students sharing data, or just copying from material they bought off students from previous years. It annoys me more when I, who don't cheat but am a crappy student, work hard and get a pass, and these cheaters don't work at all and get great scores.

 

[Math Is Hard]

All you got was an F in the class? Consider yourself lucky you didn't get expelled. If you play your cards right, you might be able to take the class again for grade replacement, if your university offers that.

And the bottom line as far as it being a "rough draft:" Your professor requested work. You submitted someone else's work and called it your own. That's unethical. Now you know.

How do you know nemzy got an F?

 

[Ebolamonk3y]

Maybe he "fell on his sword" as Evo suggested.

 

[TALewis]

i go to a UC and i got caught plagiarising on my english essay, but the thing is its only the rough draft and the final draft is COMPLETELY different and in my own, but still the proff turned it into the board members and i got an automatic F for the class

Am I reading this wrong? I thought he said he got an automatic F in the class.

 

[Tsu]

I'm old and my eyesight stinks.
Math Is Hard is older than me, so she must be BLIND!

I do hope, tho, that no news is good news. It's a first offense, albeit a VERY SERIOUS one, so I hope they give s/he another chance. I'm just a softie...

 

[Math Is Hard]

You're right - my poor old eyes have failed me!

 

[Polly]

it annoys me when I sit there working away at stuff, and I see groups of other students sharing data, or just copying from material they bought off students from previous years. It annoys me more when I, who don't cheat but am a crappy student, work hard and get a pass, and these cheaters don't work at all and get great scores.

Well I have always noticed that life has a funny way of catching up with me and collecting from me the due.

My P.4 teacher was teaching the definite and indefinite articles (a, an, the) one late spring afternoon when I was most uncharacteristically captivated by the singing birds and lush vegetation outside the classroom. They have baffled me since.

And of course the year in which WWII ended was just too obvious to appear in any history test so I didn't commit it to memory. Guess what, it turned up in a t.v. quiz show some years later and not knowing the answer, my mother and I couldn't make it to the final contest.

 

[zoobyshoe]

I am happy to report you used the article "a" completely correctly twice in that post.

 

[Polly]

what a relief!

 

[zoobyshoe]

what a relief!

Once again! Completely correct!

 

[Chi Meson]

I scored ridiculously high on IQ tests at Deakin University - proper ones, I mean, not internet tests. However, I am an absolutely terrible student. I've never cheated on anything in my life. Not even in primary school. So it annoys me when I sit there working away at stuff, and I see groups of other students sharing data, or just copying from material they bought off students from previous years. It annoys me more when I, who don't cheat but am a crappy student, work hard and get a pass, and these cheaters don't work at all and get great scores.

I fall in the same category: High IQ, lousy as a student (much better as a teacher though since I can recognize those who don't perform as well in "traditional" forms of asessment). I wish I could boast your record though. I went into high school with a clean concience. BUt in my sophmore year, during a surprise (and mean-spirited) quiz, I succombed to the "wandering eye syndrome." I copied the completely erroneous answer of my friend next to me. Since I had not developed any skill at cheating, I copied the answer nearly ver batim. Case closed. The feeling that I had when I was caught, and the repercussions that followed created "the worst moment of my life." The ironic thing is that those kids who cheated all the time were the first ones to get into teasing me for cheating.

I guess it was a good thing that it happened so early; you never want to feel that way again. I still wish I could say that I have never cheated.

 

[Artman]

I scored ridiculously high on IQ tests at Deakin University - proper ones, I mean, not internet tests. However, I am an absolutely terrible student. I've never cheated on anything in my life. Not even in primary school. So it annoys me when I sit there working away at stuff, and I see groups of other students sharing data, or just copying from material they bought off students from previous years. It annoys me more when I, who don't cheat but am a crappy student, work hard and get a pass, and these cheaters don't work at all and get great scores.

I'm in this same category. I've told this story here before, but it suits this discussion.

The top ten kids in my HS graduating class shared homework assignments, test questions, etc., while I got mediocre grades because I just didn't do any homework (my tests got me through school). One time, I go very interested in Chemistry and I got a 100 on a test that no one else got higher than a 70 on. I busted the curve and they all got Cs. One of the top ten kids accosted me in the hall and told me not to do that again, "Or else". I though he was kidding, but he wasn't. Coercion, yet another form of cheating used by those jerks.

 

[Chi Meson]

So...?

We're waiting.

 

[TALewis]

I was regularly known as the "curve-buster." It really ticked people off.

 

[Zantra]

You guys are sending him the wrong message and being waaay to easy on him. Ya we all make mistakes. But if you don't learn from them then it's a waste.

Be an adult, accept the responsibility of what you did, and the consequences of your own actions. What bothers me is that this person is mad, when it's their own fault, and they are looking around for someone to blame. Blame yourself, because you only let yourself down- no one else. You made a mistake, and it happens- But if you get off easy, and don't learn from that mistake, and cheat again- don't bother looking at med school... I'd look into barber college or something.

If I'm harsh it's because I don't empathize with cheaters. Being supportive only reinforces his negative behavior, and makes it sound acceptable. It's not, and cheaters always find out the hard way later that life has no mercy on cheaters, and the consequences are a lott bigger.

 

[mooberrymarz]

If you get off easy you don't learn from mistakes...? Thats not really true. I'm sure Nemzy emotional state would be enough to remind Nemzy of wot happens when u cheat. he's clearly upset. I'm sure he's not going to do it again... being supportive is not enforcing his negative behavoiur, its just being human and accepting that we all make mistakes. nemzy screwed up and everybody gave him the best advice that they could and he did acknowledge that he did somehting wrong.

 

[Zantra]

If you get off easy you don't learn from mistakes...? Thats not really true. I'm sure Nemzy emotional state would be enough to remind Nemzy of wot happens when u cheat. he's clearly upset. I'm sure he's not going to do it again... being supportive is not enforcing his negative behavoiur, its just being human and accepting that we all make mistakes. nemzy screwed up and everybody gave him the best advice that they could and he did acknowledge that he did somehting wrong.

If there are no consequences when you do something wrong, you don't view it as wrong. A child puts it's hand on a hot stove and is burned. There is a consequence for doing it. If the child puts it's hand on the stove the first time and it's not on, the child will think it's ok, and the next time will get burned trying to to touch the stove.

Yes he's upset. The question is, is he upset with himself, or at being caught? If it's the latter, then he will cheat again and has learned nothing

Scenario: He gets away with a slap on the wrist and continues on. He cheats here and there to boost his GPA and graduates with a good GPA. Now comes the MCAT, because he wants to go to med school. Well all those other times he cheated catch up with him because the MCAT tests him on things he cheated on. So he tries to cheat on the MCAT. gets busted. Permanantly blacklisted from every med school, and just wasted 4 years of his life for nothing.

I don't think I'm being too harsh, I'm just telling it like it is. Ya it sucks that you got busted cheating, but it's your own fault... beg forgivness and don't do it again. I don't think I'm being vicious here.

 

[Njorl]

Why do you think one can't cheat on the MCAT? There are people who will take the MCAT for you, for a price. Then you can cheat your way through med school. Then you can cheat your patients out of good medical treatment.



There is a reason that cheating needs to be punished so harshly today. It is too easy. Those who are caught are the rare exception. When the risk is so low, the punishment must be extremely harsh in order to deter it. I think they really need to start stressing this in high schools. Children have just got to learn this. In high school, you can lay a heavy punishment on a student that won't alter their life too badly. In college, there should be no tolerance for it. There are people who don't cheat who would like to go to college, but don't get in. Every one of them deserves the education more than cheaters do.

The lamest excuse I have heard is that the work load is too much. If the work is too hard, then perform more poorly than the other students. Your poor performance will be an accurate reflection of your ability. It is nobody's right to be among the top performers. Even hard work does not give that right.

There is also the "everybody does it" line. If they do, turn the bastards in! They are stealing from you. If they broke into your home and took your TV, you'd call the cops, wouldn't you? All courses are curved, overtly or covertly. When someone cheats, they are lowering your grade. By lowering your grade and raising theirs, they are increasing their future earning potential and lowering yours. They are stealing your money!

Njorl

 

[i_wish_i_was_smart]

that is the best answer anyone could of given, and i feel the same way
way to go Njorl

 

[Kalimaa23]

I think you have just given a good argument for not curving courses...

 

[Zantra]

Why do you think one can't cheat on the MCAT? There are people who will take the MCAT for you, for a price. Then you can cheat your way through med school. Then you can cheat your patients out of good medical treatment.



There is a reason that cheating needs to be punished so harshly today. It is too easy. Those who are caught are the rare exception. When the risk is so low, the punishment must be extremely harsh in order to deter it. I think they really need to start stressing this in high schools. Children have just got to learn this. In high school, you can lay a heavy punishment on a student that won't alter their life too badly. In college, there should be no tolerance for it. There are people who don't cheat who would like to go to college, but don't get in. Every one of them deserves the education more than cheaters do.

The lamest excuse I have heard is that the work load is too much. If the work is too hard, then perform more poorly than the other students. Your poor performance will be an accurate reflection of your ability. It is nobody's right to be among the top performers. Even hard work does not give that right.

There is also the "everybody does it" line. If they do, turn the bastards in! They are stealing from you. If they broke into your home and took your TV, you'd call the cops, wouldn't you? All courses are curved, overtly or covertly. When someone cheats, they are lowering your grade. By lowering your grade and raising theirs, they are increasing their future earning potential and lowering yours. They are stealing your money!

Njorl

You missed my point, which is that right now cheating just alters grades. If he does it as a doctor, it could kill someone.

 

[jimmy p]

WOAH Zantra, long time no see!

 

[TALewis]

Yes, many an ER episode has shown me the consequencies of "cheating" on a patient's chart!

 

[zoobyshoe]

You missed my point, which is that right now cheating just alters grades. If he does it as a doctor, it could kill someone.

First Boulderhead, now Zantra. Proof that people can return from the dead!

Where the hell have YOU been?

 

[jimmy p]

badgerbadgerbadgerbadger... but i digress from my original point... if i had one.

 

[Will]

Another question about plagarism

I have heard that since a lot of teachers use some sort of automatic plagarist-check type program, some people get popped for using common, well known phrases that can be originally atributed to a specific author. Phrases like "an eye for an eye leaves everybody blind" or "We have nothing to fear but fear itself", or something similar; do these require reference? By the way, does anyone know the sources of the two quotes? I think the first one is from Martin Luther King, but possibly Ghandi, and the second is from FDR? Anyone?

 

[zoobyshoe]

I have heard that since a lot of teachers use some sort of automatic plagarist-check type program, some people get popped for using common, well known phrases that can be originally atributed to a specific author. Phrases like "an eye for an eye leaves everybody blind" or "We have nothing to fear but fear itself", or something similar; do these require reference? By the way, does anyone know the sources of the two quotes? I think the first one is from Martin Luther King, but possibly Ghandi, and the second is from FDR? Anyone?

A phrase like that shouldn't be used at all, since the first time is funny, and the second time it is on its way to becoming a cliché. Look at Yogi Berra's line; "It's like deja vu, all over again." It was hysterically funny when he said it. Now it's a tired cliché. People don't even realize why it was funny, anymore, which is because the original saying used to be "It's like deja vu!" Period. All guides to writing wisely advise people to stay away from clichés.

If a person HAS to use one, it is best to preface it by "As the saying goes..." or with "As someone once said...", or "As people often say...". Then you are off the hook in case it looks like you are trying to pass someone else's turn of speech off as your own. Most teachers just want good, clear, straightforward writing. They aren't looking for cleverness. They just want solid writing the students did themselves.

 

[BoulderHead]

First Boulderhead, now Zantra. Proof that people can return from the dead!

Where the hell have YOU been?

Perhaps Zantra has discovered my secret to avoid death; just keep moving.
I developed an involuntary twitch in my, you guessed it, eye. I figure that as long as it keeps twitching 24-hours a day, I should be ok.

Well, it has been ten days now since Nemzi posted. I had hoped he would have answered my question so I would have been able to know whether the final draft was actually completed as 100% original prior to being caught, after being caught, or never at all. I couldn’t tell from reading what was actually going on.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Perhaps Zantra has discovered my secret to avoid death; just keep moving.
I developed an involuntary twitch in my, you guessed it, eye. I figure that as long as it keeps twitching 24-hours a day, I should be ok.

Goodness, what an unnessesarily elaborate solution! Simply breathing 24 hours a day will suffice!

 

[BoulderHead]

It's that slight pause between inhaling and exhaling that kills !

 

[Dazed&Confused]

Well, the best thing you could do is to face the fact that you lied and cheated, now on one hand that might be considered a bad thing, on the other remember where you live and remember that what you have done only qualifies you to enter politics on a very low level. My advice would be to march right into that room and tell those ungreatfull pencil pushers that you resent their accusations, that you are only coming before them as a gesture of your good nature and to enlighten them as to what really happened.

Tell them that you had helped the person who owned the original draft, that this person pestered you endlessly day after day, with re-write after rewrite. You would mention her name, however, you are above that sort of finger pointing.

Tell them it got to the point that your desk was covered with her Euro-Trash ideas and when at last you helped him finish it, you were so tired that when at long last you were able to return to your own paper, after a few hours of helping out at the Save The Children's relief effort. Not forgetting to mention that you had to stop off at the blood clinic first to donate, that by the time you sat back at your desk you had misstakenly picked up some of that poor souls paper work and it was accidently incorporated into your own work. Adding; "Had you known that the events that unfolded in the way they did, that you of course would have brought this to their attention much eariler."

Finally closing with "Your only reason even at this late stage for approaching this distinguished pannel is that you have already signed up for an internship with former President, William Jefferson Clinton's office in Harlem, NYC, to devote 3 years to giving legal aid to those most needing of it, those poor people that ask only for a hand up, not a hand out. Remind them that as a child as your father ran off with the lady that was selling vacuum cleaners door to door, you vowed to your dying Mama on her death bed that you would look after your 7 brother and sisters and make sure that they all received a good education, inspite of their handicaps from birth.

For God's sake don't forget to shed a few tears at this point and then turn and start walking towards the door adding "I submit my future and theirs to you good people, I'll just wait outside until you decide what you wish to do..."

Now sunshine, if you follw this advice and pull this off, you are ready for a life time in the Congress of the United States of America! God Bless you boy and good luck!

 

[Tsu]

It's that slight pause between inhaling and exhaling that kills !

And whatever you do, DON"T SNEEZE! :surprise:

 

[TALewis]

A phrase like that shouldn't be used at all, since the first time is funny, and the second time it is on its way to becoming a cliché.

So what you're trying to say is, "Avoid clichés like the plague."

:)