"The Rules of Attribution" - Deborah R. Gerhardt

I totally agree with the article "The Rules of Attribution." As a student I feel we are not  educated enough about what plagiarism is.  I mean don't get me wrong all throughout my high school career we were always told if we plagiarize there would be extreme consequences to pay. We were always told not to do it but not fully showed what would be considered plagiarism.  I know many of my friends in high school that committed plagiarism and were never caught. But then I had one friend that wrote her entire paper using her own words and only took five lines from a web site without siting it and got in a lot of trouble.  She told my teacher and the principle that she did not know what she did was wrong.  This happen because we were never correctly explained what plagiarism is.  When I was reading this article I felt horrible for Ms. Viswanathan because she too was not educated with the basic principles of plagiarism. Therefore from not being properly educated about the principles she finds herself not able to do something she loves such as writing. Also in the article they compare the situation to the sport basketball and I totally understand what they are talking about.  I play basketball and we are always aware of the rules that the NCAA added or got rid of before our season starts. It is sad to know that coaches take the extra time to go over the rules of a sport every year weather they are old or new rules but teachers cant take the time to go over the basic principles of plagiarism. 

When I came to college I really understood a lot more about what plagiarism is. I agree with Deborah R. Gerhardt that computers have made plagiarism easier to do. I feel like everyone has been guilty of plagiarism one time in there life whether they were caught or not. Many teachers are now starting to really crack down on students plagiarizing therefore it is important that we listen to what Gerhardt said about plagiarism. As students it is important for us to always "give credit where credit is due" such as Gerhardt states.