Saturday, March 01, 2008
More Plagiarism
Apparently a Bush aid accused of plagiarism has admitted that he plagiarized more than 20 articles he wrote for Indiana newspapers and has, thus, resigned. He has apologized for "not upholding the standards expected by the president." It seems like every day another person who should know the definition of plagiarism is being accused of plagiarizing. As a teacher, this really intrigues me. I mean, the vast majority of my college freshman know what plagiarism is, and although on the rare occasion I have had a student plagiarize, I actually think they (by and large) have more remorse for their actions than people like Timothy Goeglein and others who are publicly accused of plagiarizing. So here is my question: do these individuals really believe that in our electronic age, when one can find original sources on the internet in seconds, that they really won't be found out? Or do they really not understand what plagiarism is? What I find really offensive about this particular case is that Goeglein only apologizes to the president, not to his readers or to the individuals he plagiarized.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
I agree, M, that most students who get caught plagiarizing are remorseful--but only because of the consequences. Were it not for getting caught, they would feel no guilt whatsoever.
I guess this what sociologist David Riesman means in The Lonely Crowd when he says that we--especially the middle classes--have moved from an inner-directed society to an other-directed one. We no longer have inner moral gyroscopes that direct our actions or make us feel guilty for doing wrong; what we have instead are desires to gain the approval of our peer-groups. So appearance becomes more important than substance. And guilt only enters the equation when others do not approve of our actions--which really is more an issue of shame than guilt, because what we did in the shadows to gain approval (i.e. plagiarizing to achieve success) has now come into the light.
I suspect that this is also true of Bush aid who has been accused of plagiarism. He probably only feels bad about his actions because he got caught and fired. Prior to that he likely shared the same motto as many college students and young professionals today: "Whatever it takes to get ahead." And I bet he never felt guilty for doing that "whatever."
To take the technological determinism argument, it seems that maybe the Bush official engaged in the act because the information was available to him in an easy format, though he assumes his audience was stupid and would not find it also.
I would also argue that it seems that some students do the same thing. They find their information from the internet, cut and past it into their work, without integrating the source and the material into the text in any coherent way. Sometimes, they even leave the text they take in the original font and text size.
And, finally, to regain some humanity in this, there is a lack of interest for both the Bush administration official and students. They do not care to do the research and just let time go by before they need to do it.
So it seems that we have thus far privileged two term in Burkes pentad: agent and agency. Can we find arguments that highlight the other three terms and, thus, according to Burke, offer a complete statement of the motives that drive plagiarism?
Scene:
We are surrounded in apathy; we live in a world where we no longer care about hard or originality; the culture of the current President encourages dishonesty; academia no longer cares about research, but reflects its business agenda of research.
Purpose:
To complete an editorial or a assignment, with as little effort necessary to get by.
Act:
Plagiarism. The stealing of one's words as if there is no worth in the pursuit of knowledge.
Agent:
Apathetic. Uninspired. Believes that the audience will and does not know about the act.
Agency:
The improper use of technology as a means to accomplish a task.
What does this say about the Bush Administration and The University.
What does this say about the Bush Administration and The University?
I shall remain aloft in my tower, watching seasons 1-5 of West Wing, pining for the one true Bartlett to save my country.
Hеllo mates, іts enогmous paгagraρh about tеachingand
completely еxplaіned, keep it up all thе
tіme.
Here is my web blоg pure leverage vs gvo
Post a Comment