Reading!

Missouri Professors: Merrill's Offense Was Plagiarism

Let me just start by saying, that poor girl. She just made a mistake and I really don't think she meant to plagiarize at all. She's a student, she's learning. That's part of education, isn't it? Making mistakes and trying to correct them? By just pulling her column completely, they are not giving her the opportunity to do better. I understand the school wants to set and maintain journalism standards, but they have to remember that students are there to learn. They don't know everything going in. If they did, they would not be there.

It's important that she and other students learn the responsibilities of their actions, but it is also important that they get the right education before they can even make the mistakes. If she had been told about how to properly attribute someone else's quote (which can be tricky, and doesn't always look as pretty as it would if you just left it out), she might not have even made the mistake in the first place.

I agree that what she did should be labeled as plagiarism. Using another person's writing, ideas or quotations, is essentially stealing. If I spent my energy and time writing something, then saw it used elsewhere without attribution I'd be pretty angry.

I still feel bad for her though. They could have handled the situation better.


Carelessness is not plagiarism

And poor John Merrill! He clearly did not mean any harm. The man was 83 and was a professor! He knew what he was doing for the most part but made one little slip and killed his credibility. His post was so sincere and I really feel for him. I am astounded that the school administration didn't stand up for him. Absolutely astounded.

He makes a very good point about semantics and the lack of a clear definition of plagiarism. There really is no absolutely, clear-cut definition of the word. That paragraph, to me, puts him on such a higher level than the people who pulled his column. This is something that he has definitely put a lot of thought into. I highly doubt the Missourian editor has thought as much as Merrill has about plagiarism.

Miller just didn't see using other people's quotes as plagiarism. It wasn't in his definition of the word. And how was this story not edited and checked before it ran? Someone should have caught his flaw somewhere along the line before it was published.

Some of the comments people wrote on this story were incredibly harsh. I understand that using the quotes without citing the source is inaccurate and that he simply could have called and got new quotes himself. Maybe his apology was just so heartfelt. I don't know. I can see both sides. I know that what he did wasn't right, but I still feel for him.

Maybe it's the fact that he's 83. In my head I am probably meshing who he really is and a little, lost old man. Maybe if he said he had Alzheimer's he would have gotten off easier.


Places Journalists Should Go for Politics

Well this is nice? I really don't know what to write about it. It increases my stalker capabilities, that is for sure.

"It can be fun to run their home through Census data to get a description of their neighborhood."

I have definitely done that...but not with political figures. More like people who I like to creep on. The best way to start a conversation is definitely, "So is it true that 98% of your town in Caucasian?"

The sites given here are pretty crazy, things I would never dream of. Project Vote Smart seems really cool, esp. how you can search speeches and public speeches. There are SO many sites. SO much information available.

This just furthers the point that you really can find almost anything you want/need on the Internet. I often forget this, or simply do not know where to look. But with this stalker's handbook provided, I will forever know where to look.

By the way, my town (Medway, MA) is approximately 3.6% Asian and 2.3% of individuals are under poverty level. And about 1,067 citizens are under age 5. These are all facts that you NEED to know.