Stealing Words at the University of Toronto

By Ai Lung Nguyen

I plagiarized this article about plagiarism. Just kidding, I only partly plagiarized it. I plagiarized part of the title.

Not the whole title. Just part of it. Technically just the word "Words" is still the same, along with the concept that words have been stolen. Everything else is original. Except the statistics, which I found.

Call it the beauty of the internet. Plagiarism is so easy now that you can steal the title of someone else's work, change the title in some way, and claim it as your own witty way of writing an idea.

It is a bit like taking a song like "War" and making a new song called "War, huh? What is that good for?"

And now I have an excuse to include the following video...



Anywho, back to my main topic.

Let us pretend that you are an university professor or TA at the University of Toronto, and you are certain one of your students submitted an essay that they did not write.

But you can't prove it because you cannot find an identical essay online or at any other source.

It might even be blatantly obvious that the student did not write the essay - and when asked might say something like "Oh my boyfriend helped me edit it." Which is technically nothing wrong with that. Asking a friend to edit your essay is perfectly legit and even recommended.

And you might ask "How much of the essay did your boyfriend write for you?"

"None. He just corrected the spelling errors and grammar."

Spelling errors and grammar. Services that are easily provided by software these days, making such editing and proofreading services obsolete.

I know this because years ago when my aunt and uncle moved to Canada they were having problems with their son learning how to read and they ended up buying a better version of MS Word that had grammar and spellcheck software that would help him in school. They bought it and his grades went up dramatically.

What that proves is access to quality software can improve a student's grades very easily.

Likewise having access to friends and family that know how to edit, proofread and provide suggestions on how to fix your essay would also be valuable.

There are a plethora of essay writing companies in Toronto, many of which even have offices within walking distance of the University of Toronto campus. One such company is MastersEssay.com, which provides a long list of services from writing Masters and Ph.D. dissertations / thesis essays, doing your math homework for you, resume writing, CV and cover letter writing, editing and proofreading, heck they would probably even do creative writing / poetry assignments for you...

None of which I need, I just find it amusing that people would hire other people to write their poetry for them.

And then the professor reads your essay, thesis, poetry, etc. and thinks to themselves "This is way too well written - it has to be plagiarized!"

Which begs the question, if you are going to hire someone to write an essay for you... maybe you should ask them to deliberately make mistakes while writing the essay so it isn't "too good".

Another factor to take into account is students who don't hire someone else to write their essay for them, but instead just steal someone else's essay that they find online.

Which is often the professor's first guess, I imagine. So they go scouring the internet and either find something that shows the essay was ripped off, or they come away empty handed.

If they cannot prove the essay was plagiarized (without a doubt) then they cannot accuse the student of wrongdoing without undeniable proof.

Instances where students get caught committing academic dishonesty are rare at the University of Toronto - but there are about a dozen companies operating solely on selling essays to University of Toronto students, to say nothing of individuals who are selling their essay writing skills on Craigslist.

So we KNOW there are literally hundreds of students at the University of Toronto who are cheating on essays and other class projects, but they are not getting caught for whatever reason. To say nothing of students who are plagiarizing their essays off the internet from various sources.

Some classes might even have a very high percentage of plagiarized essays (purchased or found online), to the point that half the class or more might be using plagiarized material.

At which point the professors really are guessing as to which essays are faked because half of them might be plagiarized and they don't have a clue.

What I find funny is how students really don't need to plagiarize at all. One of the things I loved doing during university was quoted things. I would quote large chunks of other people's work, state who made the comments, and include everything in the references / bibliography. All perfectly legit and it takes up a large part of the essay in a hurry when you are trying to get all the extra "words" in a 3,000 word essay.

I could basically write the essay introduction, find 5 examples of quotes by other people (noted historians/etc), explain why their view was valid and important, and then conclusions at the end of the essay. Then add the books or websites where I found the quotes in the bibliography and done! Easy peasy!

Note - I Googled "easy peasy" to make sure it was spelled correctly.

So yes, the internet does make it very easy for students to cut and paste and plagiarize sources for their essay... but if they just put quotes around the parts they are cutting and pasting, add footnotes and a bibliography then what they are doing is perfectly legit.

My essays back in university were literally covered in footnotes. I would even stick funny little anecdotes into my footnotes, thinks I thought were ironic, pop culture references, making fun of politicians, whatever added extra body to the essay. My essays had PERSONALITY!!!

Another trick I loved to do during my essays in university was to contact and interview someone who was still alive. Then I could use the interview and lots of quotes during the essay. It would definitely be original then - and in the case of a phone interview I might even record it over speaker phone and hand in a recording with the essay.

Another one I loved doing is statistics. I would put them in larger letters for added emphasis. See further below.

Thus I was never accused of plagiarism myself. My professor knew my essays were original because I was just so darn awesome that there was no doubt I wrote it.

But let us pretend for a moment you have a nitwit in your class room who submits a high quality essay worthy of someone applying to become a Ph.D. student. You KNOW they did not write it because it has none of their personality in it, uses big words they probably don't even know how to spell, and is so well written it deserves a Pulitzer prize. Their boyfriend/girlfriend wrote it, they hired someone to write it, or they stole it from a source online.

Some people also like to blame a variety of reasons (other than the internet) as to why plagiarism is so prevalent these days. Reasons like:

Getting rid of Grade 13 in high schools.
Destreaming Advanced, General and Basic level classes in high schools.
Dumbing down the projects assigned in high schools.
High school teachers not teaching essay writing any more.
Universities not requiring students to write an essay to get into university.
TV and internet is making students dumber and dumber.

But is cheating really any more common than in the past? Or are people just getting better at catching cheaters?

According to a 2006 University of Guelph study of more than 13,000 undergraduates at Canadian universities, a little more than half of students admitted to having cheated on written work.

So that is pretty common if roughly 51% of students have cheated at some point.

Back at the University of Toronto, the number of official cases of plagiarism (people caught cheating) climbed to 403 in 2005-06 from 92 twelve years earlier. The increase also coincides with an almost 50 per cent increase in enrolment - which means that U of T is enrolling more students that are less intelligent and possibly have never even written a single essay in their life because teachers in high schools don't teach essay writing any more and don't assign essays either.

Obviously more research needs to be done to determine exactly how many people are cheating.

Or better yet, U of T should hire graduates to go undercover and work for essay writing companies - and report back to U of T as to which essays are purchased. An expensive solution to the problem, but it would open an eye into the world of buying and selling essays.

A proactive approach to catching cheaters would get far more results than professors having to do the leg work themselves - which is pretty hit and miss and a bit like trying to prove rape in a sexual assault trial (rape trials have very low conviction rates).

Toronto Schools to host the largest solar project in Canada

CANADA - The Toronto District School Board has approved a $445 million deal to add solar panels to almost every school in Toronto over the next 20 years, at no extra cost to taxpayers. It will be the biggest rooftop solar project in Canada.

The company (AMP Solar Ltd.) installing the solar panels will spend $121 million to repair and renovate school rooftops, and in exchange will gain the exclusive rights to put solar panels on the rooftops. AMP Solar Ltd. will be responsible for construction, technology, power generation, financing, roofing, operations and maintenance. Furthermore the Toronto school board will get a share of the profits from selling the electricity and will be paid rent for leasing the rooftop space.

AMP Solar Ltd. will install panels on up to 450 of the board’s 524 roofs, fixing the worst roofs in the first three years. Once installed the solar panels are expected to generate 66 megawatts of green energy per year, enough for 6,000 average Toronto homes.

The school board is now getting phone calls from other educators around the world for details, hoping to get a similar program at their schools.

“This is groundbreaking; this reduces greenhouse gases and provides a learning opportunity for our students and leaves a legacy for more than 20 years — this is extraordinary,” says Toronto District School Board Trustee Howard Goodman.

“Our students will not only be able to track the relationship between sunlight and electricity production, they will be going to school every day in a working power plant,” says Goodman. “This will make abstract concepts tangible and inspire many of them to build their own small-scale model power plants, look into the work of Einstein, ponder the mysteries of quantum physics, investigate the economics of power production and consider the relative environmental and health impacts of different energy sources.”

COMMENTARY

We think there is potential here for what we might term "Responsible Sponsorship". Some schools in the USA are accepting sponsors in an effort to keep their athletic programs, but sadly these sponsors are often promoting junk food and sugary drinks.

Responsible Sponsorship would mean only accepting sponsors which fulfill a helpful purpose that benefits society. ie. Tobacco = Bad. Bicycles = Good. Evidently local companies would be preferred. Even neutral companies like "Local Furniture Ltd." would be better than say McFattyBurger... and the furniture company could build all the desks, furniture, etc. for the school, but in exchange get advertising space in the school and any school publications (which parents would then see, and think "Hey, maybe we should buy our next sofa there.").

Food for Thought.

1 in 4 university students regularly cheats

CANADA/UNITED STATES - According to surveys conducted in the USA and Canada, 1 in 4 American university students actively cheats on a regular basis and 1 in 5 Canadian university students also regularly cheats. How do they do it? Hidden notes, hiring other people to write essays and a variety of other methods.

Here's some examples from the University of Toronto, which has become beset by a plague of cheating students:

1. One U of T female student paid for an essay, but left the credit card bill among the pages when she handed the essay in.

2. One U of T economics student was caught whispering questions to a forbidden cellphone taped to his arm which was transmitting answers from a friend sitting at a computer.

3. One philandering male U of T student convinced his two girlfriends to write his essays and tests for him, but when they found out he was cheating on them they turned him in. He was accused of cheating 67 times and expelled from the University of Toronto.

4. An U of T tutorial assistant charged three students $1,500 each to slip them the answer sheet when he escorted them to the washroom during the exam. The TA was suspended for five years.

5. One U of T student plagiarized an essay, forged a doctor’s letter saying he was too sick to hand in a second essay on time, which he also plagiarized, followed by a third plagiarized essay. He was recommended for expulsion.

6. One U of T student agreed to write an essay for $120 for a female classmate, but then plagiarized the essay so his classmate failed the course. When she tried to get a refund, they had a fistfight and the university learned he had been selling essays for years. He was suspended for five years.

7. One U of T student plagiarized an essay from a website for a course called Philosophy of Language, in the same term as she plagiarized an essay for another course. Essay topic? Artificial Intelligence. (Talk about dumb eh?) She was suspended for three years.

8. One U of T student submitted an essay written originally by a professor at Purdue University. She was suspended for two years.

Unfortunately cheating at the University of Toronto is so rampant they only bother to expell the people who are caught in the most severe cases. They are turning a blind eye to students who are getting away with cheating.

But severe cases of cheating are on the rise. In 2008-09 there was 38 severe cases, up from 21 cases in 2007-08. A new report is expected out soon which will show the rise during 2009-10.

According to another report, “Liars, Fraudsters and Cheats” by the Canadian Council on Learning, three out of every four Canadian students admits to cheating at least once.

Part of the problem is the internet. Its far too easy to find someone else's academic paper, change the title, the name and then hand it in without changing anything else.

U of T has become proactive in their attempts to discourage, detect and deal with everything from plagiarism to paying for papers. They've even hired a full time watchdog to help instructors catch cheaters. In the last three years since the watchdog has been on the job campus charges for cheating have more than doubled to 388 in 2009-10 from 182 in 2006-7.

"Cheaters never prosper? Bullsh*t. They get away with it so much and are rarely punished its reached a point that we're basically rewarding their bad behaviour by ignoring the problem."

America's Education System gets a 'F'

POLITICS - EVERY PARENT IN THE UNITED STATES SHOULD SEE THIS DOCUMENTARY: "Waiting for Superman".



America's education system is seriously messed up and out of 30 industrialized nations American children are ranked last or almost last in every educational category except one: Confidence.

The problem however is that confidence doesn't necessarily help you succeed in life if you lack the basic skills of math, science and reading. If you're illiterate and confident you can't even get a driver's license because you won't pass the written exam.

The film "Waiting for Superman" is an eyeopener for American parents and an educational system that has coddled children for the last 30 years. America's children are spoiled rotten and apparently getting dumber and dumber.

Go to WaitingForSuperman.com to learn more about how America's education system is falling apart.

Are Private Schools the Future?

TECHNOLOGY - As the gap between the rich and poor grows there is increasing number of parents who opt for private schools for their children's educational needs.

There are benefits to private schooling, namely:

#1. Networking with other well-to-do people.
#2. Better teachers.
#3. Better equipment / computers / etc.
#4. More money for extra curricular activities.
#5. More extra curricular activities. ie. Ski trips, etc.

However there are other issues to worry about. Snobbishness and naivete, having been in a pampered and sheltered atmosphere for learning.

There's also religious-oriented private schools, which leave the students with a biased opinion on religion... a tendency to be an intolerant religious bigot.

However there is new "specialty schools" which are becoming increasingly popular. Artsy schools, drama schools, ballet school, tech schools, etc. It rather assumes that the children already know what they want to be at a young age... unless of course their parents have decided this for them.

Helicopter Parents Vs Negligent Parents

There is also two more reasons why parents would be tempted towards private schooling. Parents who hover and often control their children (often called Helicopter Parents) want their kids to be successful, pampered and live vicariously through their kids. These kids however are often so spoiled they don't know how to take care of themselves without their parents helping them constantly.

For the complete reverse however... parents who care little about their kids and don't want the stress, there is the temptation to send their kids to private boarding school because it eliminates the need for them to spend time with their children. The end result is children who feel like they've been rejected and weren't good enough to make their parents happy. If its an all girl or an all boys school there is also the added problem of being socially inept around the opposite sex.

Fashion

Seriously, who want to wear a school uniform? Its one step away from military school. I wouldn't be surprised if most of them graduate with a poor ability to dress themselves properly or match colours.

Tiered Education

What seems to be happening in wealthy countries is a system whereby students are being segregated into different tiers of special schools.

1. Public Schools, general purpose.
2. Publicly funded Religious Schools (ie. The Ontario Catholic School Board).
3. Publicly funded Specialty Schools (ie. Rosedale Heights School of the Arts).
4. Publicly funded Schools for the Gifted (students with high IQs).
5. Privately owned Religious Schools.
6. Privately owned Specialty Schools.
7. Private / Boarding Schools for Girls / Boys / Unisex.
8. Private Schools for the well-off.
9. Private Schools for the super-rich.
10. Uniquely prestigious Private Schools (ie. The National Ballet School of Canada).

So assuming our society continues to grow in wealth, with a growing middle class / higher standards of living we could see a lot more parents opting for special schools in an effort to pamper their kids.

The problem with this system however is how it has a tendency to decimate the public school system, resulting in cutbacks in funding and a lowering of standards. Governments in North America seem to be chopping education, meanwhile in Europe and Asia the competition is so fierce that parents are sending their kids to special aftershool institutions and hiring private tutors.

See Also
Five Reasons why Private Schools Produce Tomorrow's Tech Leaders
Disaster Capitalism in Brazil's Education System
Privatizing Education in New Orleans
Privatizing Education in China
The Impact of Disaster Capitalism on England's Education System
The Impact of Disaster Capitalism on Hong Kong's Education System
Privatization in Sweden's Education System
The Commodification of Ontario Students
Disaster Capitalism in the United States
The Erosion of Public Schools in Ontario
Funding Ontario's Schools

An Education at the Toronto International Film Festival

By Dennis Kucherawy - September 2009.

See other reviews by Dennis: Reel Injun, Creation and The Road

ENTERTAINMENT - With two awards from this year’s Sundance Film Festival and pre-Oscar buzz, An Education received its Canadian premiere last Thursday night to a rapturous reception from the Toronto International Film Festival opening night audience.



This is a charming, coming-of-age, romantic comedy/bittersweet drama that features a stellar, break-out performance from 22-year-old British newcomer Carey Mulligan. Some of England’s finest talent including Alfred Molina, Emma Thompson, Rosamund Pike and American actor Peter Sarsgaard are just a few of the wonderful performers who make this movie so enjoyable.

Set in 1961 in the London suburb of Twickenham, this movie tells the story of 16-year-old Jenny (Mulligan), an intelligent, schoolgirl who loves to play the cello and all things French, including listening to Juliette Greco records. She dreams of attending Oxford University. A single child, she lives with her parents in a conservative household. One day, she meets David (Sarsgaard), a wealthy and handsome gentleman twice her age and begins to date him. He introduces her to an entirely new world of jazz nightclubs, concerts, fancy restaurants and art auctions in the company of his arty friends, the handsome Danny (Dominic Cooper) and the beautiful but dim-witted Helen (Pike).

David suggests that he and Jenny take an overnight trip to Oxford where, David claims, he studied with C.S. Lewis. Despite initial opposition from her stodgy father, Jack (Molina), and her cautious mother, Marjorie (Cara Seymour), Jenny leaves with David for their first trip together, thanks to David’s convincing charm. Soon, some of David’s questionable business dealings arise, but naive Jenny doesn’t let them cloud the great time she is having.

Back at school, her English teacher (Olivia Williams) becomes concerned with this romance and how it is affecting Jenny’s plummeting grades and behaviour. The school headmistress (Emma Thompson) also worries that this development will affect her chances to be accepted at Oxford.

As Jenny’s 17th birthday approaches, David proposes a trip to Paris where Jenny plans to celebrate by losing her virginity. Then, a sobering plot twist reveals who David really is, much to Jenny’s shock and heartbreaking disappointment. She learns there is more to life than the glamour, fun and high life to which David has exposed her.

Based on London Observer journalist Lynn Barber’s memoir, An Education is really the tale of two English eras meeting, said adapter and screenwriter Nick Hornby (High Fidelity) and (About a Boy). Jenny’s life with her family in Twickenham represents post-war Britain with a generation, including Jenny, which still recalled food rationing from WW II. David represents the incoming revolution of the Swinging Sixties, Carnaby Street, the Beatles and the British invasion.

Mulligan’s performance is sweet and charming as she portrays Jenny’s progress from an insouciant naïf to a wiser but sadder young woman facing the future with a newly acquired touch of cynicism and heartbreak. She is in almost every scene, acting with an attractive aplomb. She radiates intelligence and a thirst for knowledge. Her wonderful buzz already has observers predicting an Oscar nomination for her.

Peter Sargaard’s David is a suave, funny charmer as he sweeps Jenny off her feet and also shows moments of poignancy as their romance grows. Other standouts include Alfred Molina, a simple and well-meaning man who provides welcome comic relief as he tries to do what he thinks is best for his only daughter. Also, Emma Thompson, in a minor role, delivers a firm and caring headmistress who is looking out for Jenny’s welfare. Olivia Stubbs as Jenny’s English teacher Miss Stubbs is especially moving in the final confrontation she has with her gifted student. She is an attractive woman imprisoned by her “schoolmarmish” attitude and spinster appearance with her large glasses.

Lone Scherfig fills the screen with an energy that brings the dawn of Britain’s Swinging Sixties to entertaining life. The Danish director elicits great performances from her talented cast that should give An Education a successful run at the box office.

The film opens Canadian Thanksgiving weekend, Friday October 9th which is appropriate. It’s a film that the entire family will enjoy.