El Presente

Letters to the editor:
plagiarism: An important message from the administration
To the editor:

As many know, the university has decided to suscribe to a service which provides software designed to detect plagiarism. The service checks a student's work against over a millon other sources to reveal the amount of matching text. More than 8000 academic institutions in 90 countries use thisservice.

With the rise of the internet, plagiarism has become more (1) PERVASIVE and problematic on campuses worldwide, including our own. A recent survey found that 54 percent of USA students admitted to plagiarizing from the internet. In many cases, students do not intend to deceive. Rather, they are unclear about the concept of intellectual property and about the seriousness with which suchissues are taken in academia. Plagiarism is not a (2) TRIVIAL matter. It is a serious and illegal from of stealing. We cannot depend on students (3) TATTLING ON EACH OTHER to expose cheaters; nor can we rely only on professor's intuition and experience to identify plagiarized work. Therefor, this administration feels we have no choice but to use a tool specifically targeted to detect and battleplagiarism.

- Janet Miller, Dean of Academic Studies, Midlake University

Cartas al editor:
plagio: Un mensaje importante de la administración
Sr. Director:

Como muchos saben, la universidad ha decidido a suscribirse aun servicio que proporciona el software diseñado para detectar el plagio. El servicio de cheques de trabajo de un estudiante en contra de más de un millon otras fuentes revelan lacantidad de texto correspondiente. Más de 8.000 instituciones académicas de 90 países utilizan este servicio.

Con el auge de Internet, el plagio se ha convertido en más (1)penetrante y problemática en los campus de todo el mundo, incluyendo la nuestra. Una encuesta reciente encontró que el 54por ciento de los estudiantes de EE.UU. admitió que el plagio de Internet. En muchos casos, losestudiantes no tienen la intención de engañar. Por el contrario, no tienen claro el concepto de propiedad intelectual y sobre la seriedad con la que estas cuestiones son tomadas en el ámbito académico. El plagio no es un asunto (2) TRIVIAL. Se trata de un grave e ilegal de de robo. No podemos depender de los estudiantes (3) acusar el uno al otro para exponer los tramposos, ni podemos confiar sólo en laintuición del profesor y la experiencia para identificar los trabajos plagiados. Para ello, este gobierno se siente no tenemos más remedio que utilizar una herramienta específicamente para detectar el plagio y la batalla.

- Janet Miller Decano de Estudios Académicos, Universidad de Midlake

Plagiarims: A professor speaks out
To the editor:

I would like to take this opportunity to respondto dean miller's editorial regarding the administration's decision to invest in anti-plagiarism software.
First, I feel it is important to acknowledge that plagiarism is a problem not limited to the college or university campus. Even gobernments sometimes (4) mislead the public by plagiarizing others' work, as when the british government plagiarized a student's doctoral dissertation in a documentit submitted to the united Nations. Or we can recall the embarrasing case of jayson Blair, the new york times reporter found guilty of copying his work directly from other newspapers. Blair maintained his (5) Veneer as a respected journalist for years before his crime was uncovered. So, as you see, this problem affects many parts of Society!
When it comes to plagiarism in academia, why areadministrators engaged in such a (6) relentless pursuit of cheaters? Is that really their job? I suggest that the administration give professors the main responsibility for dealing with this problem. First, professors can give "plagiarism-proof" assignments which require original research, first drafts, and creative problem solving. They should also avoid using the same easy or exam questions year...