Plagiarism

Plagiarism is not something to be taken lightly. It is stealing. After reading about plagiarism in the KU Handbook, I realized there are many instances that you could plagiarize someone without intention. The consequences a student must face make plagiarism very unappealing to me. You run the risk of being thrown out of school. Citing your sources is helpful because if someone that reads your essay wants further information on the topic, they use your references to find more information. It is simply rude to pass the ideas of others off as your own. No one would like this kind of action to be taken against them. I find it best to generate your own thoughts and ideas. Isn’t that what we are all in school for? I think it is awful, but plagiarism actually happens often in the workplace. One of my favorite series on TV was “The Riches”. It was about family gypsies (travelers) that assume the role of a wealthy family. The father has a new job as a lawyer, which he knows nothing about. Instead of coming clean, he tricks the paralegal into doing his work, by asking her questions about cases and she thinks he is testing her for some kind of promotion. Although it was very entertaining, I assume this has happened to someone at work, and it is not funny in that case. Bottom line is that everyone should be given credit for their own ideas or expertise.