Blogger Helps DSU Fight Plagiarism

The Madville Times continues to fight the war on plagiarism on numerous fronts, and with more than just "outrageous hyperbole." This time, plagiarism rears its ugly head in the online classrooms of Dakota State University. On one course discussion website, 3 out of 17 student responses to assigned questions turned out to be plagiarized from academic papers and websites.

Unfortunately for the plagiarizers of those three posts, they are in class with this blogger, who has unashamedly ratted them out. No one likes a tattle-tale, but the Madville Times isn't in business to be liked. Why be a plagiarism ratfink?

1. Utterly selfish reason #1: The DSU doctoral program, like many doctoral programs, is a competitive setting. Students are competing for top grades, assistantships, and recognition, which will translate into good recommendations, good reputations, and good jobs in academia and industry. This doctoral candidate does not plan to bust his chops for an A, only to have cheaters tie with him.
   
2. Still selfish, but broader perspective: Even if plagiarists sneak through DSU, they will eventually be caught. Some will have their plagiarism discovered; others will find their ignorance exposed as they struggle to advance through their careers and prove they don't actually know what their transcripts say they should know. At that point, such graduates would make their alma mater look bad and tarnish the reputation of all the graduates and faculty of DSU. This doctoral candidate doesn't care to see his university or his future professional standing damaged in this way.
   
3. Professional obligation: Students this blogger taught in high school would have said, "You don't rat out your friends." We can perhaps forgive high school students as viewing themselves as a social group united in opposition to their teachers. At the doctoral level, though, students are no longer separate from the faculty. A big chunk of doctoral students (this writer included) work for the university. They collaborate closely with faculty in research and teaching. They are de facto members of the academic community, with an obligation to protect the integrity of their fields of study and their universities. Plagiarists are not friends; they are threats to the principles and practical functioning of their fields. They are also stupid: if they can't generate their own simple responses to questions from professors, how will they ever generate the original research that is the coin of the doctoral realm? Plagiarists have no place in the university, and loyal members of the university community, students and faculty, have an obligation to root them out.

Now the Madville Times has named names in previous plagiarism incidents; why no names this time? We find ourselves in interesting legal territory here. Some lawyers have argued that, even if speech is taking place off campus, a speaker identifying himself as having an affiliation with a school is instantly bound by any and all rules associated with the speaker's employment on campus. This blogger is indeed an employee of Dakota State University and the Board of Regents. This blogger discovered the plagiarism not in the context of his employment but his studies. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act generally applies to teachers and school personnel keeping student records private. However, revenues from the Madville Times aren't enough to hire lawyers for court cases (and I've got better things to do than play lawyer myself).

The miscreants will thus, for now, remain nameless. They know who they are, and they know now they can't cheat their way to a degree at DSU. Let them brand this blog a ratfink -- there's too much at stake to remain silent.