MY HS Principle Plagiarizes!!!

[freshnesschronic]

Ok, this is/was my high school. Check it out, and see if you can BELIEVE IT!!! THIS WAS MY HIGH SCHOOL! I WAS PRINCIPLED BY HIM!!!!
From the Chicago Tribune.... http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...tory?track=rss

The principal of Naperville Central High School on Friday admitted lifting large sections of a speech he gave at a Tuesday ceremony from a Central graduate who now teaches at the school.

Jim Caudill, who has been principal at the prestigious west suburban high school since 2003, said he found the speech written by Megan Nowicki on Monday night in a file after feeling dissatisfied with a speech he had written for a commemorative ceremony set for Tuesday night. He was impressed, Caudill said, and lifted large portions of the 1997 address, intending to phone Nowicki, who teaches in the school's Communication Arts Department.

After noticing that it was almost 10:30 p.m. Monday, Caudill said he felt it was too late at night to call his colleague and decided to send her an e-mail notifying her of his intentions. But, he said he decided an e-mail was too impersonal for such a request and wrote himself a reminder to talk to Nowicki, a 1997 Central graduate, the next morning.

Tuesday morning he tried to reach Nowicki, but she was in class, so he decided to talk to her later, he said.

"It's no excuse but I just got busy and I forgot to do it," Caudill said. "I'm in the middle of my speech and I paused and I thought, 'Oh my God, I have not talked to her before.' "

He said he decided to forge ahead and looked for Nowicki after the speech to explain, but she had left the ceremony. The next morning, he phoned the school superintendent and Nowicki, acknowledging his actions, he said. Caudill also said he met personally with Nowicki that morning and met with four school board members about the incident.

"I spent three lunch hours Thursday talking with the department" about his error, he added, and is planning to speak to the entire teaching staff Friday.

<<shakes head>> Are you kidding me? The pledge of our school district 203 includes stressing never plagiarizing. Holy shit dude.

Edit: What a bunch of fucking posers at the top of our administration! No respect for my school district...

[TheMercenary]

"What a bunch of fucking posers at the top of our administration! No respect for my school district..."

It doesn't get any better as you move into the working world. Politicians are masters at it.

[Spectacle]

Public education. No better than private.

[Sundae]

Question - would he have accepted this excuse from a student? No? Then he deserves to have the book thrown at him (figuratively speaking). Mistakes are understandable, an excuse that goes into more than one sentence is not.

[DanaC]

I think there's something of a difference between a student plagiarising someone else's work, passing it off as their own and getting graded on it.....and someone swping a few words to use in a speech. Not saying the guy shouldn't have cited his source, but the two really aren't the same thing.

[Sundae]

and lifted large portions of the 1997 address

(bolding mine)
And it was uncredited at the time of the speech, effectively passing it off as his own.
Unfair if he holds students to a higher standard. I doubt he would accept it in a speech by a student.

[xoxoxoBruce]

He was probably standing at a podium, where the audience couldn't see his foot notes.

[Cicero]

He swiped a few words from a colleague....and forgot to call. I really don't see the big deal. My bosses have always used my stuff with wild abandon. I don't give a crap. At least he didn't make the teacher write it for him.

People seem to be seeing it as a naive student when it's really a co-worker, ex-alumni. I think he got really busy and made a huge gaffe. oops. Forgot to credit the writer. There are ways to apologize for this without making a big stink.....I mean come on...it's a high school speech......He wasn't going to have it printed and put his name on it.....

Of course don't rely on me for my opinion. I rip things left and right. Not writing, but I do think about it as I Print Screen, capture, then alter or not.

[freshnesschronic]

Really? You guys don't see the big deal? I dunno but my school district stressed so much APA, MLA formatting of citation so you wouldn't plagiarize. That's why I feel it is so incredulous that our principle did it--to a faculty member who was in the crowd at the ceremony.

At the University of Illinois plagiarizing leads to a minimum of a 0 on the assignment/test. The professor can even turn the plagiarism of the student into a failure of the course, or even expulsion from the university-----On the FIRST offense! It is all based upon w/e the prof wants.
I guess that's why plagiarism is such a big deal to me...

[Aliantha]

If he was any sort of public speaker with any ability to think on his feet, why could he not have used the phrase, "and in the most eloquent words of one of our former students and now valued colleague..." or some such thing.

That came to my mind immediately. Why not his? Then there would have been no issues of plagiarism what so ever.

[tw]

The point is not that he did not call the original author. The point is that he gave a speech without informing the audience of what he was quoting. Look at freshnesschronic's topmost post. He plagiarized the Chicago Tribune because he did not call them? Of course not. He told us which paragraphs come from the Tribune. The principle's excuses forget to mention what his real mistake was - not crediting those quotes when he used them.

Stealing another’s work is normal. We all do it. But then we credit the original author when we 'borrow' their work. That is also normal and expected. Calling the author to ask permission is neither done nor necessary.

[Urbane Guerrilla]

Oh, do let's spell "principal" correctly -- while understanding the principle of the thing!

[Spectacle]

Ah, the technicalities. I didn't even notice and I bet half the others posting didn't either.

[Cicero]

Good one Ali, 'tis true. But I think it was a dumb gaffe. Certainly he expected that person to be there. I don't think he was trying a sneaky plagiarism.

I think it is just as the article says, and "plagiarism" was added. And if it is just as the article says, I'm not sure why it's an article. It really is tough to find news in small town, Illinois.

[freshnesschronic]

Originally Posted by Cicero

Good one Ali, 'tis true. But I think it was a dumb gaffe. Certainly he expected that person to be there. I don't think he was trying a sneaky plagiarism.

I think it is just as the article says, and "plagiarism" was added. And if it is just as the article says, I'm not sure why it's an article. It really is tough to find news in small town, Illinois.

Actually Naperville is the 3rd largest city in Illinois, next to Chicago and Aurora.... We're breaching 160K.