Essay Cheat

University Wire September 25, 2007 Tuesday Southern Illinois U. students ponder affect of plagiarism accusations By Brandy Oxford, Daily Egyptian; SOURCE: Southern Illinois U. 559 words DATELINE: CARBONDALE, Ill. As if writing hundred-plus page papers weren't enough, many of Southern Illinois University's graduate students say they now worry what a degree from SIUC will be worth. While administrators debate the definition of plagiarism and whether it can be accomplished accidentally, some students said they are approaching their own theses and dissertations with caution. Recent allegations of plagiarism against SIU President Glenn Poshard's doctoral dissertation and master's thesis have Alejandro Strong, a graduate student studying philosophy, concerned that putting SIUC on his resume will have a negative effect. "If the first thing someone thinks about is 'Oh, that's the school with all those administrators getting in trouble,' it will have a slightly detrimental effect," he said. Andrea Jones, a third year law student from Shorewood, Ill., said she is afraid of how plagiarism issues at SIU will affect how potential employers view her university when she graduates. She said SIUC already has a reputation as a party school and adding another case of plagiarism to that reputation could impair her ability to find a job. "The fact that it's in the Chicago Tribune and I have to go home and apply for legal jobs in Chicago, you know, plagiarism is a big deal," she said. "It's unethical and if potential employers ask me about it, it kind of takes away from them focusing on me and what I've done. I think that's kind of an agitating burden to have to carry around because it is a good school." Not all students agree that the reputation of the university is on the line, though. Lance Camp, a second year law student from Loda, Ill., said he has actually seen an increase in employers seeking students from the law school. "I think our administration has done a great job to increase SIU's profile, both at the law school and at the university wide level and I think they've taken a lot of positive steps to show the university in a good light," Camp said. He said he does not believe students will have to change how they approach their work because most students are accustomed to computerized plagiarism checking and know how they are expected to cite their work. Strong said he is careful with citations when he approaches his own work because he worries so much about the chance of plagiarism. Richmond Adams, a graduate student from Tennessee studying 20th century American literature, said he would never put himself in the position of being perceived as a plagiarist. Adams said he uses online databases in addition to hard copies of journals and books, but has a system of citation to ensure he has thoroughly documented each source. Jones and Adams said large portions of plagiarized text tend to be obvious because the style and language change. "It would be easy to catch since we have the Internet," Adams said. Adams teaches 100-level English classes and said he uses Turnitin.com to check his students' work, which was not available when Poshard's 1984 dissertation and 1975 master's thesis were written. "It's hard to see how it's going to play out and what the implications will be," he said. "We live in a time when Brittany Spears and Lindsay Lohan's latest exploits or Paris Hilton's latest stint in jail are seemingly more important than anything else," he said. "It's hard to know how long these issues will last." (C) 2007 Daily Egyptian via U-WIRE September 25, 2007 ENGLISH Newspaper Copyright 2007 Daily Egyptian via U-Wire