U VA's Semester at Sea sets two adrift after Wikipedia Plagiarism

This from the Washington Post:

An Education in the Dangers of Online Research

It hit Mark Gruntz all at once, while he was sitting flat-broke in an airport in Greece: He had lost credit for three summer courses, wasted $11,474 in student loans and gotten kicked off a boat. All because he hadn't cited Wikipedia enough in a paper about a movie.

Last week, he and another college student, Allison Routman, were expelled from the Semester at Sea program for violating the University of Virginia's honor code. The expulsions raised questions for some students about whether the school's more than 150-year-old tradition is too harsh -- and for others, whether students have a different understanding of plagiarism and research now that online resources make it easy to find information.

The debate is partly generational: those who grew up with the Internet vs. those who didn't. Many of Gruntz's and Routman's classmates were outraged by the punishment. They made "Save Mark" T-shirts, filmed Routman sobbing, signed a petition and wrote letters urging the dean to reconsider. Many argued that Routman and Gruntz hadn't done anything wrong. Others thought the penalty was far too punitive.

But the honor code at the university is absolute, and so was the verdict...

In rare turnabout, student accuses teacher of plagiarism

Mary Swenson struggled to finish her doctorate at Capella University. So when she found Sharon Bender, it seemed a saving grace.

A Capella business professor, Bender took an interest in Swenson's management research, even suggesting they team up on a book, Swenson said.

Instead, she charges, her mentor began lifting her work. Swenson said she discovered "thinly veiled" versions of her own writing on Bender's Web site and said that, when confronted, her mentor claimed she deserved some credit herself.

Bender said Swenson's claims are not true - and said it was Swenson who co-opted her ideas.

Passing off someone's work as your own is a cardinal sin in college research. Students can be expelled. Professional reputations can be wrecked. While student plagiarism grabs headlines, allegations against teachers happen more than people realize, experts say. Because students rarely fight back, most accusations fade in the grumbling over beers after class.

This time, though, the student is suing.

This from TwinCities.com.

Technology Sniffs Out Student Plagiarism

Plagiarism detection programs have become increasingly popular on college
campuses now that Internet research has become standard and students have
discovered the ease of cutting and pasting information.

The Center for Academic Integrity at Duke University reported that 10
percent of students surveyed in 1999 admitted doing so without properly
crediting the source. By 2005, the percentage was almost 40 percent. And 77
percent said they didn't think such cheating was a serious issue. "It's
endemic," [an assistant dean at Regent University James] Davids said.

See the story at CBS News.