[Vision2020] Melynda Huskey Charges John Harrell Falsely With Plagrism

Melynda Huskey melyndah@wsu.edu
Tue, 01 Jul 2003 08:49:19 -0700


John writes:

>I pulled the quotes off of another bulletin board. . . . And so what 
>anyway. If I had found that
>website, I would given the link, because I really don't care who first
>compiled them. So actually Melynda did me a service.

Ah, the old "Well, it's not plagiarism if I steal it from someone who's 
already stolen it" argument--also popular among fraternity men using the 
house files.  This is your second strike, John:  the Academic Misconduct 
committee would be seeing you if you were my student.

I'd suggest that if you hope to use quotations to bolster an argument, it 
behooves you to collect your own, and to be sure that they are accurate and 
germane.  That's how grownups argue.

Of course, if your opinions are acquired in the same way as your 
quotations, perhaps it doesn't matter.

Anybody missing a derivative and unsupported claim?  John's got a Lost and 
Found Ideas box you might check.

Melynda Huskey