The Voice

A reader recently brought to our attention that an isolated incident of plagiarism may have taken place in last week’s issue of The Colonnade.

After researching, we took appropriate measures to regain our readers’ trust and protect our credibility. The Colonnade, like all facets of GC&SU, does not tolerate plagiarism in any form.

As defined in the GC&SU Student Handbook, “‘Plagiarism’ is defined as presenting as one’s own work, the words or ideas of an author or fellow student. Students should document quotes through quotation marks and footnotes or other accepted citation methods. Ignorance of these rules concerning plagiarism is not an excuse. When in doubt, students should seek clarification from the professor who made the assignment.”

Plagiarism is not only limited to the exact words that are written. It also includes the theft of ideas or theories. Plagiarism robs students of the opportunity to advance their own knowledge, breaks others’ trust in them, and ultimately, defines them as thieves.

Professors at GC&SU have different policies on plagiarism. Some give students failing assignments grades after the first offense. Some fail students from the entire course. And many will try everything in their power to get students expelled. The choice of how to handle guilty students is up to the professor; but it’s best to avoid it at all costs because it is severely frowned upon and is unethical, and in most cases, can cost students their future and any chance of finishing college in the entire state.

A recent national survey published in Education Week found that 54 percent of students admitted they had plagiarized material from the Internet, while 74 percent of students admitted to cheating at least once during a school year. Plagiarizing happens at the loftiest of newspapers (yes, even the New York Times), but it’s the newspaper’s responsibility to take proper action and do everything in its to make sure the problem doesn’t happen again.

The Colonnade strives for integrity and the editors will continue to serve as a role model and uphold the paper’s tradition of excellence.

We thank you for your readership, and, to the reader that pointed this out to us, we thank you for bringing this matter to our attention.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Feb 10 2006. Filed under Our Voice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry