|
by Basi-20, 23 June 2008
‘Basically, lying is part of our culture. Some members of our society are lying and using marketing spins to get away with it. So today's student thinks, “Other people get away with it, so why shouldn't I?” ’ an anonymous professor said.
Don’t tell me that you have never plagiarized……at least to a certain extent.
Plagiarism is so rampant that some experts describe it as the "three Rs" -Reading, 'Ritin' and Rip-off. Ready-made paper, research projects could be found in Web sites like Schoolsucks.com and CheatHouse.com. Couldn’t find any piece to fit in? Employ scholars-for-hire to write one for you then.
CheatHouse.com provides more than 10,000 essays for sale. Its creator Jens Schriver defended, "I provide a service not too different from that of that of a library" he continued to rationalize his business "It can be used legitimately, to do research and get inspired".
It seems that cheating is no longer regarded as something shameful in certain societies. 'Why don't you worry about something that really matters? It's the American way?’ this is American students’ common reply when they got caught.
A study in UK revealed more than 98% of students caught cheating were allowed to stay at their universities. Some of these students had even been caught before.
The most common penalty is re-submitting the works plus a deduction in marks whereas expulsion appears to be merely harmless verbal threats.
Other ‘popular’ sanctions include reprimand, informal-warning etc. Many students receive up to three informal warnings after being caught, yet still do not face the music of expulsion.
What accounts for universities’ ‘patience’, ‘generosity’ and ‘forgiveness’?
Rank and money!
These set pressure on professors to turn a blind eye to plagiarism and ‘mark positively’ to boost degree results. Besides, universities tend to be lenient with overseas students with respect to the reliance of the institutes on the heavy school fees they paid. Hence, a disastrous plummet in degree standards becomes the consequence, according to Professor Alderman, who previously set standards at the University of London.
"I have heard it seriously argued that international students who plagiarize should be treated more leniently than British students because of 'differential cultural norms'. Professor Alderman continued. "It is indeed rare, nowadays, for habitual plagiarists to be expelled from their universities."
PRICE TO PAY FOR DISHONETY
Fudan University in Shanghai exposed nine teachers and students caught plagiarizing. The offenders were publicly shamed when the University released an announcement disclosing their misdeeds and punished them with expulsion and forced resignations.
Websites like Turnitin.com have been created to clamp down on cheating. This site allows teachers to check on a suspicious term papers by comparing it with more than two billion pages from the Internet.
Fudan University reminds us that integrity hasn’t become antiquated and unnecessary. As students, we need to ask ourselves if we are willing to contribute to the deteriorating standards-of-education and whether, by cutting corners and relying on plagiarized material, we are – in fact - cheating ourselves out of an expensive education.
|
Delicious
Digg
reddit
Facebook
StumbleUpon
