Plagiarism: Hot and Getting Hotter
Writing to the Crimson, Harvard grad Nicole Usher—a former Crimson editor herself—
takes the paper to task for apparently having "a small army of fact checkers now on board to catch Harvard writers and Crimson reporters for plagiarism."
In a sentence that does no credit to Harvard's expository writing program, Usher writes,
While fabulists generate national attention because of schadenfreude (and in turn, help Crimson reporters get their names in the national press), perhaps breaking stories that merit national stature, including about the presidential search or reforms to the Core would be a better use of resources.She concludes:
Finally, perhaps The Crimson should impose stricter standards on its own writers and cartoonists before allowing them to publish—in the old days, one had to actually compete to have stories in the paper.
I love that: "In the old days..."
This from a woman who graduated in 2003. Apparently it takes about three years for a Harvard grad to become a cranky old alum, twisting her hands and muttering, "Back when
I was at the Crimson...."
In any case, her argument is less than compelling. For one thing, it may well be because of the intense level of competition at the Crimson—and at Harvard—that people feel the need to plagiarize.
The Crimson has found four instances of plagiarism upon which it has reported—one by a Harvard law professor, one by a student novelist, and two by members of its own staff. I'm curious which of these episodes Usher thinks is not newsworthy.
Truth is, the Crimson should do more reporting on plagiarism at Harvard. If there are four examples, I'm sure there are more. And so far, the University has taken a pretty lax attitude towards it.....
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P.S. In all fairness, cartoonist Kathleen Breeden, the cartoonist who may or may not have plagiarized,
insists that she did not.....well, except maybe once.
