The elephant in the room, plagiarism in America

Tu nihil invita dices faciesve Minerva, translation: "You will get nothing written or created unless Minerva helps." Horace 65-8 B.C.

While the Roman goddess of wisdom and patroness of the arts might have helped Horace and his peers in ancient Rome, praying to the goddess in our own time to produce an essay or paper certainly won't work. Actually, Horace might have been waxing poetic, something he did quite well in his Odes, for he had been practically educated by the "best Roman grammarian" as a young man, after which he enrolled in the University of Athens. William Rose Benét, The Reader's Encyclopedia.

Thus, Horace did not actually require the aid of Minerva but learned the art of writing painstakingly resulting in his practicing it artfully. The name "Horace" put after Horace's writing meant that Horace actually wrote the piece, a fact that comforts us if we read his writing. Yet you don't have to be Horace to provide this comfort, this may be said of anyone who writes.

Modern student writers might not have Minerva to turn to, but rather, the Internet, and it is not for inspiration but for the practice of plagiarism. Put in the key words "essay writing help," and you will find ingenuous parties willing to teach the art of writing. Put in "Moby Dick essay help," or "Moby Dick paper help," or "Death of a Salesman essay help," etc. and you will find plenty of services willing to either sell you a paper or compose one for you. An example promotion from such an on-line service follows:

"Over 40,000 of our high-quality term papers, essays, book reports, course works, and research papers are available for SAME-DAY, email delivery at only $39.99 each—regardless of length! To place an order, please use our...." and more,

"Our premium search engine enables you to browse thousands of unique term papers, essay topics, reviews, book reports, research papers, and Moby Dick coursework essays that are NOT available through our $39.99 service."

We assume the service adds this latter information to indicate that it is leading the purchaser to "helpful resources." Perhaps, but also leading to resources which one may conveniently plagiarize, and why should not the student be trained to accomplish this feat on his/her own? The essay service quoted above offers a link to a website attempting to legitimately confront the problem of plagiarism called Essayfraud.org. Yet, one need not be a cynic to view this linking by the essay service as a self-serving ploy for credibility.

At a time in the United States when "math & science" mastery is urged, we should not forget mastery of the language in written and oral form. Is linguistic literacy equally important to math & science numeracy? We argue a firm "Yes," and add rhetorically, what are the qualities we desire in citizens living in a market economy and political democracy? We may add with emphasis, what are requisite qualities of worthy "citizen/consumers?"

Recently, one of the better private schools in Los Angeles experienced a cheating scandal resulting in the expulsion or suspension of students who had stolen a test. Observed the headmaster of the school, "I've been at the school for 21 years, and I have never heard of an exam or test being stolen." One wonders how many headmasters, principals, classroom instructors, or parents realize how many papers are not written by students but plagiarized. Here, we are not referring to those students who work earnestly with their teachers or tutors as apprentices learning an art, but rather those who simply order their paper off the Internet. This is the "elephant in the room" no one speaks of.

The Josephson Institute of Ethics in Los Angeles revealed in a recent survey that "young people display deeply entrenched habits of dishonesty." Additionally, the "2006 Report Card on the Ethics of American Youth" (a survey conducted every two years) found high rates of cheating, lying, and theft...(and that) 60% of students said they had cheated on a test, and one in three used the Internet to plagiarize an assignment" (emphasis mine), (Carla Rivera, Los Angeles Times).

Post Script: Recently, we learn in a headline: "Bush aide quits over plagiarism" James Gerstenzang, Los Angeles Times). Sub headline: "White House liaison to conservative groups admitted lifting material for newspaper columns he wrote." This individual, who wound up in the highest level of federal government, undoubtedly was one of the three who cheated earlier on in his "education." Oddly, one of his essays included the plagiarized words: "The goal of education is to form the citizen." "The citizen" indicating an ethical person who makes wise decisions.

To return to Horace, it was said of him that "his personality was always evident" in his writing. What are we to think of those "one-in-three" who cheat. What is their personality? What do they really think? Do educators believe they are "forming" two out of three ethical "citizens"? If so, is 66% a worthy goal?

While skipping the Latin, we end with Horace: "You will have written exceptionally well if, by skilful arrangement of your words, you have made an ordinary one (piece of writing) seem original." We may add, the skill having been learned by the writer of the original piece as well as the earnest apprentice. Horace would flinch at skilful copying. Attributing proper recognition to those who originate intellectual materials is a seemly approach toward cultivating good citizens from every crop of students. Citizens, who in turn, help formulate decent cultures.