"Using Somebody Else's Words..."

When i was a professor teaching language arts and communications, I discovered that there is a very distinct difference between generations.

On the first paper of the school season, I had my socks knocked off to see how many young people plagiarized much of their material; nor did they see anything particularly wrong with it.

There was a significant gap here between what we had been taught and what the current generation believes.

I have a theory on that.

If they see it on the computer screen, it seems it is fair game whether it appeared on the screen without credit or attribution.

That seems like a slippery slope.

It is dishonest to use other's words as your own unless you give attribution.

If you don't, that is plagiarism.

In the past fifteen years, I can recall several well known authors who were caught in plagiarism.

They tried to blow it off themselves by suggesting that it got confused in their notes....or they didn't interpret their notes correctly.

Is this credible?

Shouldn't you recognize your own writing over somebody else's; and they were of a generation to know better.

In these situations, using somebody else's words without attribution or an appropriate fun is still a crime.

Obama's use of his friend's words seem to strike a discordant note because if his gift of oratory and content is not his own, what is?

If nothing else, in the absence of experience, it casts doubt.

I explained to my students that you just couldn't download someone else's words and use them as your own. And after drum beating it into them, I think they understood.

Obama should have known better.

Since right now, his strength is his words.

Les Aaron