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Show u N I I T y THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3, 1998 On the Twelfth Night of Christmas Jared Larkin (left) , senior theatre arts major from Hurricane, Utah, and Jeremiah Linford, a junior theatre arts major from Henderson, Nev., sh.a re the stage as Sir Andrew a nd Sir Toby ill this year's Stage I production of Shakespeare's 'Twelfth Night.' The play opens tonight ill the SUV Auditoriunz and will run through Dec. 5 with four addllional performances from Dec. 9 through I 2. Curtain time is 7:30 p.m. and ulill be preceded by a brief "curtain raiser" performance by area youth. Plagiarism can \h ave serious consequences By USA DAWN PERRY JOURNAL STAFF WRITER Wilson Mizner, early 20th century philosopher,.said, "When you steal from o ne author, it's plagiarism; if you steal fro m many, it's research." It is this attitude, prevalent among college and high school students, that is causing problems for students and educators, said Julia KelJe r of the Chicago Tribune, in her recent article "Is Plagiarism till a Crime-Or Just a Leaming Experience?" Plagiarism, defined by the Webster's New World College Dictionary, is "to take (ideas, writings, etc.) from (another) and pass them off as one's own." Plagiarism is also, according to the SUU student handbook, a behavior that will result in "disciplinary action " by the university. Disciplinary action, as defined by the handbook, ranges anywhere from a warning to suspension o r expulsio n from the school. In addition co formal action taken by Lhe university, individual faculty members may fail students on a specific project o r exam or fo r the entire course, said SUU Vice President for Student Services terling Church. Faculty members may also request students be removed from the course, he added. Church said that disciplinary action has been taken within the past year for plagiarism. He said that a student was expelled for turning in a plagiarized term paper which was downloaded from the Internet. Keller said tl\at educators nationwide are faced with the increase of students plagiarizing from the Internet. "In an era in which pop music composers 'borrow' from other composers, film directors 'honor' fellow directors by parroting techniques and writers ftlch from other writers, what can teachers say to students who download material from the Internet for term papers o r copy from another s tudent's work?" Keller questioned. Some facilltyJTlemhcrs said that plagiarism is a problem at SUU. Art Challis, assistant professor of communication, said that the Internet opens up a lot more sources for students and that its complexity makes it hard to police. According to some faculty members, students plagiarize primarily out of ignorance, though there are some instances of blatant plagiarism. Brian Heuett, lecturer of communication, said that most students plagiarize out of ignorance because they lack proper c itation skills. Heuett said that most students are no t taught necessary skills In hjgh school. He said that in high school the focus tends to be toward creative writing rather than s kills. It's this lack of skill, according to Heuett, that causes problems in college. Heuett also said that sometimes plagiarism is the result of student negligence. Students wait until the last minute to do assignments and then they tend to lift information from other sources, he said. Acco rding to Robert Campbell, associate professor of computer science and mathematics, students plagiarize for two reasons: a lack c reativity and imagination, or they are lazy and looking for an easy way out, he said. Challis said that he tends co give students the benefit of the doubt. He said that he feels the majority of students plagiarize o ut of desperation o r innocence. Courtney Righter, a junior double-majoring ln psychology and biology, from Pleasant Grove, Utah, said that she feels that students plagiarize because it's easy. She said that either students don't want to take time to cite references of they feel they can't express themselves as clearly as the original author did. Kris Fitzgerald, a senior theatre arts major from Draper, Utah, said that he feels students plagiarize because they don 't know how to manage their time. "Students don't plan appropriately, and then when something's due, they freak o ut and take somebody else's ideas and call them their own," he said. Regardless of the reasons, faculty members said they feel the problem of plagiarism needs to he addressed. Heuett said that the issue of plagiarism has been addressed in faculty meeting and that many teachers have placed information in their syllabi re~rding plagiarism. Heuett said that he feels the problem lies in the fact that it's not taught o utright. "Maybe we need to address it more clearly, make some reading assignments and papers on it so that students can know what it is and how to avoid it," he said. Plagiarism will always be a problem until the instructors make it an issue in the classroom, he added. · Challis said that o n the SUU campus "we're in a situation where there is a lot more honesty than in o the r situations." Howeve r, he said that he feels teachers need to do a becter job of explaining plagiarism so that students understand what they can and cannot do. Students also said that plagiarism is an issue that need'i to be addressed. To combat plagiarism, Righter said that teachers need to explain clearly what plagiarism is and the consequences for plagiarizing."People need to learn how co write and think on their own. When a student plagiarizes he is only hurting himself because he doesn't know how to put his ideas on paper," he added. I• |