No, she's breaking the rules. It's called a lack of integrity and cheating, not intelligence. She is taking advantage of the curriculum rather than expanding her knowledge. Just because multiple classes give you opportunities to expand your knowledge doesn't mean it's ok to break the academic code of integrity and re-use old projects. The rules SPECIFICALLY STATE YOU MAY NOT DO SO WITHOUT PERMISSION. This is cut and dry. This is EXTREMELY CLEAR. You are cheating when you do this, it is not "smart", it's doing things in a half assed manner. You don't deserve your degree if you obtained it this way. You need to re-take the courses you cheated through because you minimize the efforts of the people who actually did the work and you come out less qualified. You are a fucking dick. I'd quit or fail before I'd cheat, FUCKING PERIOD. I will NEVER sacrifice my integrity in such a manner, fucking cheater.

4/28/2010 9:53:52 AM

This was the hidden beauty of CHASS. Sure, it was worthless otherwise and prepared you for a nice 35K salary upon graduation. However, so many of the papers were so open ended that you could tweak almost any existing topic to a suitable paper for that class.

4/28/2010 9:55:24 AM

I did this once. Made an A on the paper I used for another class then reused it for a different class (I talked with the teacher about it first) and made a D when he graded it. Lesson learned.

[Edited on April 28, 2010 at 9:57 AM. Reason : .]

4/28/2010 9:56:42 AM

i have used chunks of old papers before, but have never had an assignment that was identical to one from a previous class

nothing wrong with using older stuff, but IMO it is best used to supplement the material in a new assignment as opposed to using it as the main argument

4/28/2010 9:57:53 AM

my mentor at an internship one summer said "yeah, in school they want everything to be original and new and all this stuff, but at work, you learn that if it worked before it'll work again"

4/28/2010 10:07:26 AM

You guys are seemingly arguing using the same exact paper, when the smart kids used the same 80% core and altered the other 20% or so to fit the needs of that particular assignment

History paper about the Greensboro sit in - 20% + 20% new material = A speech on how the civil rights movement transformed the southern states both culturally and economically

4/28/2010 10:09:43 AM

^exactly.

4/28/2010 10:11:55 AM

Quote :

"quagmire02exactly my point...if the program curriculum is so poorly designed that you can successfully use work you've done in one class in another, it's not the student's fault"

For the most part, that's not the case. It's not where two professors give the exact same assignment.

The chances that I had to do it (which I didn't take) were when a professor would give a very broad topic for a paper or presentation. They want us to research something we're actually interested in so they make it open-ended, and then we thank them by "tweaking" and turning in a paper we wrote two and a half years ago.

If you were so confident that you did the right thing, why didn't you ask your professors about it? Just say, "Hey, teach, I got this exact same assignment last year...is it cool if I turn in my old paper?"


If you don't talk to your professor about it, this is straight up dishonest. And I think SaabTurbo is right that your attitude, quagmire02, is in line with someone who actually copies someone else's work. You are asserting that there was no way you could "expand your knowledge base" and the "curriculum was so poorly designed" that you practically had to reuse your papers because you were just too damn smart for the class... You've rationalized your behavior in exactly the same way that plagiarizers do: Well, I already know the material, and I shouldn't have to take this class in this poorly diversified program anyway so whatever...

Quote :

"NeuseRvrRat: my mentor at an internship one summer said "yeah, in school they want everything to be original and new and all this stuff, but at work, you learn that if it worked before it'll work again""

Your mentor is a genius! If it worked before it'll work again??? Wow, I can't wait to get to work so I can "learn" gems like that...

If only there was some way to learn this stuff before you get a real job. Like, some sort of pithy phrase that your parents could teach you as a child... Maybe it could be something about "reinventing the wheel."

[Edited on April 28, 2010 at 3:17 PM. Reason : ]

4/28/2010 3:17:05 PM

Bridget's intellect makes me hot

I'm AstralAdvent and i approved this message.

4/28/2010 3:20:51 PM

Quote :

"Bridget's intellect makes me hot"

4/28/2010 3:21:17 PM

Quote :

"If you were so confident that you did the right thing, why didn't you ask your professors about it? Just say, "Hey, teach, I got this exact same assignment last year...is it cool if I turn in my old paper?""

why would i do this? just so that, if the discussion took place on tww, i could come into the thread and jump up and down and pretend like i give a rat's ass?

Quote :

"If you don't talk to your professor about it, this is straight up dishonest."

i am proud of you for having your own opinion on the matter...i have my own opinion, too

Quote :

"And I think SaabTurbo is right that your attitude, quagmire02, is in line with someone who actually copies someone else's work."

anyone who equates taking credit for someone else's work to taking credit for their own work is too far beneath me, intellectually, for me to care about their opinion...it's a shame you really can't see the difference between two things that are nearly opposites

Quote :

"too damn smart for the class"

girl, i can't tell you how many times i've thought this...fortunately for me, my academic record speaks for itself and i really AM pretty damn smart, so instead of arrogance, it's really confidence

Quote :

"You've rationalized your behavior in exactly the same way that plagiarizers do: Well, I already know the material, and I shouldn't have to take this class in this poorly diversified program anyway so whatever..."

again, i pity you that you can't see the difference, but then, jealousy can make a person blind to common sense

4/29/2010 9:50:44 AM

I'm still not seeing ANY reasoning for why using one's old work constitutes cheating, plagiarism (the 'self-' prefix cracks me up. Let's just totally negate the definition of the word!), or dishonesty.

What I see are lots of arguments for not doing it, but none that address integrity.

The only ones that even come close to addressing the perceived integrity are 'well, what would your professor think?' And being that professors tend to want their students to capitalize on opportunities to learn, of course they're not going to approve. That doesn't make it cheating or dishonest, though.

I'll save you some time:
"It's cheating because the honor code prohibits it". Why does the honor code prohibit it?
"If the professor isn't okay with it, and you do it anyways, that's dishonesty". Eh, close enough. I would say a better word is disapproval, than dishonesty, but I see the point. However, one's professor is not the final arbiter of morality, nor is it their role to make the most of your college experience.

These two reasons don't address why some of you seem to think that resubmitting (for the sake argument, a barely re-worked) paper is an action that lacks integrity, is wrong, and should not be done. I will agree it's lazy and one is likely to be shorting one's self by doing so, but that's the student's prerogative.

4/29/2010 10:17:15 AM

Judge ambrosia1231 rules in favor of the defendant; you CAN reuse a paper, you're just lazy.

4/29/2010 10:38:08 AM

Quote :

"you're just lazy"

this implies that a person is unwilling to do ANY work at all...if they choose to spend that same time doing something else of equal (or greater) import, then it's not laziness; rather, it's successfully managing one's priorities

4/29/2010 2:24:52 PM