The introduction of technology, like the Internet, has changed many aspects of our society, but one thing it hasn’t altered is how academia defines cheating.Katherine Kisker, coordinator for the Committee on Academic Misconduct said, “The Internet might be another source from which students may find additional information.”She added that if the information obtained is not cited correctly, then it would be equivalent to using another person’s work as your own, which constitutes plagiarism.David Merli, a teaching assistant for Philosophy 130, said one thing he worries about is the fact that cheating has become easier, and as a result, more tempting.
Merli said that he warns his students at the beginning of every quarter, especially about the World Wide Web.”I tell my students that it’s always painfully obvious when you cut and paste a paper from a website,” he said.He added that many of the papers on the Internet are written by philosophers and the difference between a philosopher’s writing and a student’s writing is obvious.Merli has a second worry as well.”Oftentimes, students don’t have the critical skills to determine what is sound reasoning and what is not,” he said.Students have turned in poor material because it was based on inaccurate information they obtained from the Internet, Merli said.One term paper Web site, Academic Term Papers, promises to have the Web’s largest selection of term papers on file. Its subject index contains 25 topics, ranging from anthropology to women’s studies.Those interested also have the option to customize their paper. These papers cost considerably more than the on-file papers and take longer to do.In addition, the website promises that, “Most of our staff of professional writers and researchers possess advanced degrees,” and “all reports are copyrighted by Academic Term Papers and are sold for research and reference purposes only and may not be submitted either in whole or in part for academic credit.”Unfortunately, the warning doesn’t stop everyone. Kisker said that there have been a few cases reported when the student was accused of using information from the Internet and not citing it.Merli also said that he knows of cases when students submitted papers directly from a Web site, but couldn’t comment further.Megan J. Smith, a senior child and family studies major, said, “This day in age it’s almost impossible not to cheat. There’s so much information out there. I think it just depends on the person and the standards they uphold.”Smith also mentioned that the individualization of academic misconduct to each class may cause confusion among students.Sarah Hadacek, an undecided freshman, thinks everybody has cheated at some time, “not necessarily on exams, but on everything else,” she said.Hadacek mentioned that files that the greek system and athletic teams have access to can be considered cheating. She also said that many Web sites download specific texts so students can access problems and answers unique to their class.”I think if you’re smart enough to find the information, you should use it. If you don’t do the problems before you look up the answers, you’re just cheating yourself,” she said.Teri Casperson, an academic counselor in the Department of Athletics, said she is not aware of any files that exist to aid athletes.A representative of the greek system could not be reached for comment on files that may be in their possession.Both Kisker and Merli stressed that cheating is cheating no matter what, and that the best defense is to cite all sources used.
