How many times have you seen someone cheat? Just google “plagiarism in college” and you may be shocked to see how many articles come up.

Brittney Barham, senior communication major, feels that plagiarism will never get you anywhere in life.

“It is not going to get you far in your career and especially in your major,” Barham said.

Plagiarism isn’t confined to the classroom. For example, KENS-5 weatherman and news columnist for The Express-News, Albert Flores, was fired from his job when the story broke that he had been copying his weather columns from Tom Grazulis, owner of TornadoProject.com.

“I think plagiarism is wrong, if you don’t know about the subject, do your research and give credit to the original author,” Misha Sterling, senior information systems major said.

In England, students are copying application essays to get accepted in to prestigious British universities.

The United Press International reported that “almost 30,000 students copied their personal statements verbatim from internet sites.”

The truth is that most of us have cheated a time or two, whether it was looking over our shoulder at someone else’s math problem or copying an essay verbatim.

Some students feel that cheating is bad, but if you are in a bind, then it is okay.

“I think cheating is bad, but if it is necessary to pass a class, then just do it,” Sierra, sophomore, said.

Some students have been downright dumb when it comes to cheating, according to Dr. Ellis, head of the French Department.

“One student cried when I showed her the email that was mistakenly sent to me by her boyfriend who had written her essay for her,” said Ellis. “They were just shocked to get caught because they assumed teachers have better things to do than worry about academic dishonesty.”

Marguerite Newcomb, associate director of the Writing Center, says that just last semester she had to refer students to Judical Affairs.

“I actually had to turn two people in just last semester,” Newcomb said. “They both admitted their carelessness, but the cases were just too blatant to ignore. I wanted to make sure the lesson was hard learned so they would remember.”

Some students find plagiarism to be nothing more than pure laziness.

“I’m very much against plagiarism. It is lazy, unprofessional, disrespectful, and unoriginal,” Fellicia Cisneros, sophomore English and Mexican American studies major, said.