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Letters to the EDITOR

To: Editor, The Gargoyle:

On March 11, 2004, Americans watched as eerily similar pictures to our own 9/11 emerged from Spain. Terrorists struck exactly 911 days from 9/11/01 creating Spain's 3/11/04. While most of the world, to the mortification of liberals, is engaged in a war against terrorism, it amazes me that the only big thing on The Gargoyle's small mind is how one student took personal offense to Folio Weekly borrowing a quote she obtained from another source. (Plagiarism: Don't be tempted; it's just plain wrong, March 16, 2004)

After being very ambiguous as to what exactly the Folio Weekly author plagiarized, a logical person must ask, was this truly plagiarism? According to Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, plagiarism is defined as: 1) "taking someone's words or ideas as if they were your own." The author of the Folio Weekly article did cite the original source giving the quote. In fact, by her own words, Ms. MacPherson of The Gargoyle admits this saying, "Sure, the statement was attributed to the person who said it, but what about the person who obtained the quote, not to mention the publication in which it was originally published?" Since when is one required to cite the person who obtained the quote or the publication in which it was originally published for it not to be plagiarism? The fact of the matter is that one does not commit plagiarism by failure to cite who obtained the quote first or where it first appeared. The author of the Folio Weekly article did all that was required by citing the original source of the quote.

So, was this a case of plagiarism or a case of misappropriated aggression at not being recognized by Folio Weekly for her "ungodly amount of effort"? To say, as Ms. MacPherson did, "Plagiarism is not fair" is correct; to say, as Ms. MacPherson did, "it's devastating to those who become victims" is senseless. Devastating is what took place in Spain on 3/11/04 and in the US on 9/11/01. And she is devastated for not being recognized in Folio? Devastated?!

She continues to describe her feeling of "devastation" from the "plagiarism" by saying, "You may never realize how it feels until it happens to you." I'm sorry, but was she talking about plagiarism with that statement? Describing in detail the devastation of being falsely plagiarized against pales in comparison to, say, terrorism. This student feels it is high time for other to quit whining about spilt-milk items and focus on the truly important issues of life. And maybe, just maybe, we have gained a little more insight into what plagiarism truly is, or should I say, is not.

Ryan Alderson, senior

Editor's Note: The Gargoyle meant in no way to minimize the extreme tragedy that occurred in Spain and welcomes opinion pieces about such occurrences. The Gargoyle solicits submissions from the campus each issue. The plagiarism quote in question was lifted, without permission or attribution, from an article published in the St. Augustine Record (a copyrighted publication) and written by MacPherson. Her point, about how devastating it is that another publication can be so casual about stealing other people's work, speaks to a disregard for ethics and rights.

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