Kitty Litter
Monday, April 04, 2005
Torturing Plagiarists Is Fun!
Read the full story here first!
God, I love this guy! He caught a plagiarist online and shamed and humiliated her. I don't care what other people say; ideas are ideas, and to actively solicit plagiarism AND be stupid enough to miss the baiting comments...she deserves it. Get a laugh from the whole sordid business. I'm posting the same link on my teaching blog to scare my students into honesty.
Personally, I announce the names of the plagiarists I've had the misfortune to run into over the years at the start of each class; so far, it seems to have worked. Here's my favorite idiot plagiarist story. It pales in comparison to the girl in the link above, but it's still funny in that frustrating/enraging way.
Seventeen Times Moron Equals "Huli Ka!":
GB (initials used to protect the stupid), an Artistic Theater (name of course changed) major, was stupid enough to use the prize-winning Seventeen magazine short story "Fat Girl," in my Intro to Creative Writing class. And this after I announced that I read Seventeen regularly in class! Guess she really wanted to be caught. I knew it was plagiarized (she couldn't write to save her ass) but couldn't track the piece. What to do? I asked my other students for help.
My Hum I students eagerly pitched in when I showed them the manuscript, and in a stunning example of the resourcefulness of kids when they have a good incentive (exemption from the third exam), I got my answer in 20 hours. My CSI-worthy Hum I students even bought a back issue as proof!
Trying to be fair, I announced, without naming her in class, that I knew a story had been plagiarized. I gave "the author" 24 hours to admit her misdeed; if she did, I would drop her instead of flunking her.
She refused to take the chance I offered, and stubbornly insisted she'd written it. When shown the magazine, she refused to reply and simply disappeared. So I flunked her.
Every time her name comes up on the graduation lists, I take the mike at the college deliberation sessions and repeat this story.
Plagiarists, beware. Especially the kind without remorse.
God, I love this guy! He caught a plagiarist online and shamed and humiliated her. I don't care what other people say; ideas are ideas, and to actively solicit plagiarism AND be stupid enough to miss the baiting comments...she deserves it. Get a laugh from the whole sordid business. I'm posting the same link on my teaching blog to scare my students into honesty.
Personally, I announce the names of the plagiarists I've had the misfortune to run into over the years at the start of each class; so far, it seems to have worked. Here's my favorite idiot plagiarist story. It pales in comparison to the girl in the link above, but it's still funny in that frustrating/enraging way.
Seventeen Times Moron Equals "Huli Ka!":
GB (initials used to protect the stupid), an Artistic Theater (name of course changed) major, was stupid enough to use the prize-winning Seventeen magazine short story "Fat Girl," in my Intro to Creative Writing class. And this after I announced that I read Seventeen regularly in class! Guess she really wanted to be caught. I knew it was plagiarized (she couldn't write to save her ass) but couldn't track the piece. What to do? I asked my other students for help.
My Hum I students eagerly pitched in when I showed them the manuscript, and in a stunning example of the resourcefulness of kids when they have a good incentive (exemption from the third exam), I got my answer in 20 hours. My CSI-worthy Hum I students even bought a back issue as proof!
Trying to be fair, I announced, without naming her in class, that I knew a story had been plagiarized. I gave "the author" 24 hours to admit her misdeed; if she did, I would drop her instead of flunking her.
She refused to take the chance I offered, and stubbornly insisted she'd written it. When shown the magazine, she refused to reply and simply disappeared. So I flunked her.
Every time her name comes up on the graduation lists, I take the mike at the college deliberation sessions and repeat this story.
Plagiarists, beware. Especially the kind without remorse.
posted by Kitty Litter at 2:26 AM
5 Comments:
and it was such a dramatic announcement also! that was my very first creative writing class and we were all cooped up inside your room at the fc one afternoon and pramis, parang even the dust smotes were caught mid-air when you dangled the offer to the class in general.
i figured if all creative writing classes were always going to be that riveting, i had better shift, pronto! ☼grin☼
Harhar. I myself don't like plagiarists - I mean, if you plagiarize just to be able to turn in something for a class or impress a professor, you might as well not learn at all.
Well, shaming students can be a little harsh for someone as faint-hearted as me (kidding), but then they were asking for it. :)
Kannika, I'm glad you feel that way ^_^ nice to know may nag-aagree na 'studyante...But the truth is, pillorying idiots is a verrry delicious guilty pleasure!
Mario, naaalala mo pa yung kumag na yun diba? Too bad the younger kids beat you guys to it. Diba sabi ko i-u-uno ko sa class participation yung makahuli? Hehe >^..^<
Yui, "I mean, if you plagiarize just to be able to turn in something for a class or impress a professor, you might as well not learn at all." brava! and re lousy parents, parang 2 lang ata tayo sa mundo: those with the bad ones and those with the good ones you wanna steal. sniff! ^_^ btw i see bago format mo uli. sige, manginggit ka pa! >^..^<
back in 1st year when i took up CW 10 under ms. flores, I was in a class group discussion about future short story projects, and some classmates of mine had short story plots that sounded painfully familiar...right down to the nuances of some characters...but i never remembered EXACTLY where i read those before, so i kept mum. I regret it. oh well. DOWN WITH plagiarists!! mas makapal pa mga mukha nila kaysa sa mga nagtatapon lang ng basura sa kalye!!
btw ma'am, may i link your blog to mine? i know i did it na but i'm still asking permission... sorry ngayon lang po!!
Plagiarism is a crime not just against the person she stole the work from. The bigger crime was against herself, because she dared to admit that she couldn't do something, and then she decided she would therefore take any means possible to pretend that she could, when she just admitted to herself that she couldn't! So she was ruined not just in the eyes of other people, but in her own eyes. Just shows what kind of person she is. And desperation is never an excuse!
I wonder why in spite of the knowledge of the consequences, people still do things like these...
Though I'm too nice (or is it chicken) to do what Nate did.
Right. Did that make sense? :) Grar! I sound so pretentious. Sorry to take out my post-Ayn Rand philosophizing on your blog, ma'am. I really shouldn't read this kind of book too much.
Thanks po for the sem!
Post a Comment
<< Home