Random thought for the day: Lyoto Machida is completely unbeatable.
*I am saying this as he prepares for his first title defense on saturday, he better not lose now because I said that.*
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
Plagiarism?
So, as you all know, Justin and I don't take very many things seriously. School is one of those things. Sure, we're working hard to complete our degrees, but... uh, wait, that's not really true either. We do what we need to do to get by. Sometimes we like to have a little fun while we're at it. It keeps it more interesting.
One of the fascinating classes Justin and I are attending together is called "Communication Theory." To be honest, I'm still not sure what it's really all about. Basically, we talk about how people communicate and why. We just turned in our first paper a little while back. The topic was on plagiarism. Justin and I have gotten the distinct feeling that DSC has had some issues with mass plagiarism among students in the past. Here is the paper explanation from the syllabus:
Mzik (2009) writes, "Any time we talk about research or theories we have to explore the idea of plagiarism. For this paper, I want you to do just that, really explore what it means to plagiarize. So, start with our policy here at Dixie, and in your own words, tell me what it says and what it means to you. Then, I want you to go some research on plagiarism (yes, that means you have to have citations!). I want you to find two sources that talk about plagiarism. This paper needs to be at least 3 pages (900 words) or longer, typed, double spaced, proofread, and handed in on time with two references cited APA style. There is no right answer here, but this is to help you understand what it is and what the consequences of academic honesty are when writing" (pg. 6).
I know! It sounds like such an interesting assignment! I can just imagine our professor reading paper after paper about naughty plagiarizers, such fun! Thirty students spewing the regurgitated evils of stealing and cheating and citing inappropriately. Gag me.
The next class after we turned in our papers, our professor had read through the papers. She didn't hand them back but she informed us that everyone but two people had plagiarized their plagiarism papers. I assumed that she meant citing errors. No one would blatantly plagiarize in a paper like that. I also assumed that Justin and I probably made some citing errors, too. I mean, it took me a long time to try and figure out APA style, and I wasn't 100% sure about it. Our professor promised she would go easy because it was the first paper. A couple class periods later, our professor handed our papers back. Everyone perused their mistakes, and that's when Justin and I realized that we were the two that hadn't plagiarized. All our citing was completely correct. Oh, and I forgot to mention that Justin and I decided to argue FOR plagiarism. Here are our papers if you want to read them:
Jesse's Paper
Justin's Paper
So, the two people who were arguing that plagiarism is a-ok are the only two people who didn't plagiarize on our papers. The irony is delicious, isn't it? So, we get our papers back and in way of discussion, our professor says this: "There are people in this class who think it's perfectly okay to plagiarize off of your work. What do you think about that?" Basically, for the entire class, we sat back, listening to everyone say how horrifying this thought was. One guy said he believes that "Plagiarizing on a paper is one step away from cheating on a test, which is one step away from cheating on your taxes, which is one step away from cheating on your spouse." In that case, I guess we better watch each other closely. Our professor prodded the conversation on, trying in vain to get us to jump to plagiarism's defense. I have never been in a college classroom and had such an obvious one-sided debate happening for such a long time. These people were feeding off of each other, bolstering each other up in their amazing points. And the teacher kept egging it on, hoping to stifle any dissension in the ranks.
Justin and I could tell that our approach to this paper had greatly offended and angered our professor, and we knew she wanted to eat us alive with debate. It was fantastic, hilarious, mindboggling. We felt pretty powerful, to be honest. We didn't participate in the discussion, we didn't really feel it was necessary.
We took a test in that class a few days later. The last question on the test was, "True or False. Sometimes it is okay to plagiarize." Passive-aggressive much?
References
Mzik, Kellie. (2009). "COMM 1050 Introduction to Communication Theory Fall 2009 MWF 11 AM; Hazy 204."
One of the fascinating classes Justin and I are attending together is called "Communication Theory." To be honest, I'm still not sure what it's really all about. Basically, we talk about how people communicate and why. We just turned in our first paper a little while back. The topic was on plagiarism. Justin and I have gotten the distinct feeling that DSC has had some issues with mass plagiarism among students in the past. Here is the paper explanation from the syllabus:
Mzik (2009) writes, "Any time we talk about research or theories we have to explore the idea of plagiarism. For this paper, I want you to do just that, really explore what it means to plagiarize. So, start with our policy here at Dixie, and in your own words, tell me what it says and what it means to you. Then, I want you to go some research on plagiarism (yes, that means you have to have citations!). I want you to find two sources that talk about plagiarism. This paper needs to be at least 3 pages (900 words) or longer, typed, double spaced, proofread, and handed in on time with two references cited APA style. There is no right answer here, but this is to help you understand what it is and what the consequences of academic honesty are when writing" (pg. 6).
I know! It sounds like such an interesting assignment! I can just imagine our professor reading paper after paper about naughty plagiarizers, such fun! Thirty students spewing the regurgitated evils of stealing and cheating and citing inappropriately. Gag me.
The next class after we turned in our papers, our professor had read through the papers. She didn't hand them back but she informed us that everyone but two people had plagiarized their plagiarism papers. I assumed that she meant citing errors. No one would blatantly plagiarize in a paper like that. I also assumed that Justin and I probably made some citing errors, too. I mean, it took me a long time to try and figure out APA style, and I wasn't 100% sure about it. Our professor promised she would go easy because it was the first paper. A couple class periods later, our professor handed our papers back. Everyone perused their mistakes, and that's when Justin and I realized that we were the two that hadn't plagiarized. All our citing was completely correct. Oh, and I forgot to mention that Justin and I decided to argue FOR plagiarism. Here are our papers if you want to read them:
Jesse's Paper
Justin's Paper
So, the two people who were arguing that plagiarism is a-ok are the only two people who didn't plagiarize on our papers. The irony is delicious, isn't it? So, we get our papers back and in way of discussion, our professor says this: "There are people in this class who think it's perfectly okay to plagiarize off of your work. What do you think about that?" Basically, for the entire class, we sat back, listening to everyone say how horrifying this thought was. One guy said he believes that "Plagiarizing on a paper is one step away from cheating on a test, which is one step away from cheating on your taxes, which is one step away from cheating on your spouse." In that case, I guess we better watch each other closely. Our professor prodded the conversation on, trying in vain to get us to jump to plagiarism's defense. I have never been in a college classroom and had such an obvious one-sided debate happening for such a long time. These people were feeding off of each other, bolstering each other up in their amazing points. And the teacher kept egging it on, hoping to stifle any dissension in the ranks.
Justin and I could tell that our approach to this paper had greatly offended and angered our professor, and we knew she wanted to eat us alive with debate. It was fantastic, hilarious, mindboggling. We felt pretty powerful, to be honest. We didn't participate in the discussion, we didn't really feel it was necessary.
We took a test in that class a few days later. The last question on the test was, "True or False. Sometimes it is okay to plagiarize." Passive-aggressive much?
References
Mzik, Kellie. (2009). "COMM 1050 Introduction to Communication Theory Fall 2009 MWF 11 AM; Hazy 204."
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Fun Fact
There are 23 gun related homicides in Great Britain PER YEAR! There are 32 gun related homicides in the U.S. PER DAY! Great Britain has some of the most strict gun laws in the world. Hmm...
Thursday, September 24, 2009
I Love Sitting Back While Other People Work
Right now, there is a nice gentleman named Jeff scurrying in and out of here, with wires and papers and tools, and I'm sitting on the couch watching "Judge Alex." It's a nice moment. It reminds me of just the other day when Justin and Jake were tirelessly putting all my nice furniture together and I was playing solitaire on my laptop.
And the reason for Jeff? Well, a picture is worth 1000 words, so unlike my last post, I think I will use a picture, instead of carrying on for 1000 words. This is the reason for Jeff:
And the reason for Jeff? Well, a picture is worth 1000 words, so unlike my last post, I think I will use a picture, instead of carrying on for 1000 words. This is the reason for Jeff:
First, note the really nice looking TV stand, courtesy of Justin and Jake. Nice, right? Moving on. As you can see, this is how I'm currently watching "Judge Joe Brown." On top of the TV are our rabbit ears: one ear bent, while the other is perched precariously on top of some shelves, which are on top of a crock pot, which is on top of a box filled with DVDs. This is the only way to get sound, along with the wonderful picture that you see here.
Right now, Jeff is in the attic that I didn't even know I had. If you haven't already guessed, Jeff is here to bring us the wonderful gift of SATELLITE TV. This is what it must have felt like when Prometheus stole fire from Zeus and gave it to mankind. (http://ancienthistory.about.com/cs/grecoromanmyth1/a/prometheus.htm). I'm very excited, because Justin and I have never had real TV together. There are even less channels at this place than at our last place. And soon we will have 100+ perfectly clear channels to choose from! Thank you, Jeff, thank you.
Sometimes Missing School Pays Off
Is there anyone out there who enjoys/enjoyed doing group projects and presentations in school? I'm actually very curious because I have never met anyone that liked them, or even saw the point of them. I think I can speak for Justin (as we have talked about it many times) and myself, that doing group projects and presentations are one of the WORST things EVER. We HATE them. (I would also like to point out that presentations, even solo ones, are also one of the worst things ever.)
One of the things that teachers/professors claim is that group projects are to better socialize their students...that group projects help everyone to get to know everyone else, and isn't that nice? They say that group projects teach students what it's going to be like in the "real" world, where everyone has to interact with other people in the workplace. If pressed, I might say this is true for young kids, in elementary school and middle school, you know, the kids that never say a word to anyone else...who never have any friends...who end up bringing a gun to school and shooting up the place...Maybe if that kid's teachers had forced him to do a group project with other kids, he would have met other kids and learned to love them, not want to kill them. Hmm...something to think about.
However, I am an adult. I am raised. I am socialized. This is college, people! We are at a university for higher learning! HIGHER learning! So, when Justin and I looked at the syllabus for our Script Analysis class, and it said "Historical Presentations" on it, we decided if it was a group thing, we would bail on the way to research in the library. If you're going to treat us like children, we are going to act like children. It comes very naturally for us. Well, it WAS a group thing.
Okay, okay, the situation can still be salvaged! Come on, Teach, you know the one thing that will make this better! Come on, let us pick our own groups! Ugh
(please imagine, if you can, the most annoying and exaggerated voice you possibly can) "Now I'm going to count you off, starting in the back, to put you into groups! 1, 2, 3, 4. 1, 2, 3, 4. etc. Okay, okay, now I want all the "ones" up here, the "twos" there, the "threes" there, and the "fours" back there! yea!" Then he handed out the "topics" and we were stuck. No way we could bail on the way to research in the library. Our groups had seen us, it was too late.
dun
Dun
DUN.
Hm...so, I don't know if you've noticed but, I can get pretty dramatic in my story-telling. I probably could have told you all this in about 3 sentences, but where's the fun in that? It is getting pretty long, though. Maybe I can speed up the rest of the story. Here we go!
so, justinandi were in differentgroupsBLEH and there wasnoescaping. Wedidn'tbail, weplannedand researchedwithour groups. Therewasone moreresearchday beforepresentationsstarted. But,ohhowilovemyhusband,JustinwasSick the nextclassperiod!! Darn! don'tyouhatewhenthathappens? wemissedclass,missedthepresentations,missedthestupid stupidgroupassignment! Yea! imeandarn!
Now, this is a very tricky business, as you all probably know. Missing a big assignment like that can have huge consequences that you might never be able to make up. But, from the title of this post, you can probably surmise that this wasn't the case for us. We went up to our teacher after class on the day we returned and he gave us a new assignment to make up for it. And the assignment was to write a 3-page paper on how Shakespeare's "Hamlet" has been translated into movies. And best of all, NO presentation at all! It was all we could do not to skip out of there in glee! So, the lesson learned is that sometimes missing school pays off.
One of the things that teachers/professors claim is that group projects are to better socialize their students...that group projects help everyone to get to know everyone else, and isn't that nice? They say that group projects teach students what it's going to be like in the "real" world, where everyone has to interact with other people in the workplace. If pressed, I might say this is true for young kids, in elementary school and middle school, you know, the kids that never say a word to anyone else...who never have any friends...who end up bringing a gun to school and shooting up the place...Maybe if that kid's teachers had forced him to do a group project with other kids, he would have met other kids and learned to love them, not want to kill them. Hmm...something to think about.
However, I am an adult. I am raised. I am socialized. This is college, people! We are at a university for higher learning! HIGHER learning! So, when Justin and I looked at the syllabus for our Script Analysis class, and it said "Historical Presentations" on it, we decided if it was a group thing, we would bail on the way to research in the library. If you're going to treat us like children, we are going to act like children. It comes very naturally for us. Well, it WAS a group thing.
Okay, okay, the situation can still be salvaged! Come on, Teach, you know the one thing that will make this better! Come on, let us pick our own groups! Ugh
(please imagine, if you can, the most annoying and exaggerated voice you possibly can) "Now I'm going to count you off, starting in the back, to put you into groups! 1, 2, 3, 4. 1, 2, 3, 4. etc. Okay, okay, now I want all the "ones" up here, the "twos" there, the "threes" there, and the "fours" back there! yea!" Then he handed out the "topics" and we were stuck. No way we could bail on the way to research in the library. Our groups had seen us, it was too late.
dun
Dun
DUN.
Hm...so, I don't know if you've noticed but, I can get pretty dramatic in my story-telling. I probably could have told you all this in about 3 sentences, but where's the fun in that? It is getting pretty long, though. Maybe I can speed up the rest of the story. Here we go!
so, justinandi were in differentgroupsBLEH and there wasnoescaping. Wedidn'tbail, weplannedand researchedwithour groups. Therewasone moreresearchday beforepresentationsstarted. But,ohhowilovemyhusband,JustinwasSick the nextclassperiod!! Darn! don'tyouhatewhenthathappens? wemissedclass,missedthepresentations,missedthestupid stupidgroupassignment! Yea! imeandarn!
Now, this is a very tricky business, as you all probably know. Missing a big assignment like that can have huge consequences that you might never be able to make up. But, from the title of this post, you can probably surmise that this wasn't the case for us. We went up to our teacher after class on the day we returned and he gave us a new assignment to make up for it. And the assignment was to write a 3-page paper on how Shakespeare's "Hamlet" has been translated into movies. And best of all, NO presentation at all! It was all we could do not to skip out of there in glee! So, the lesson learned is that sometimes missing school pays off.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Update
Hello all! The last thing I posted was pretty vague, mostly because I was exhausted when I was writing it. I thought I should write a more in-depth update on what's going on with us, especially since our phone charger is one of the few things that is still at the other apartment. Our phone is dead and so I can't call anyone to tell them what's going on. We're going to the old place tomorrow when we don't have school or work to get the rest of our stuff and finish cleaning it all up.
Justin and I feel like we have been "moving" for a long time, and just about a week ago, we realized that we've both been so stressed out that we've been floating through life like zombies. The relief in finally finding a place to live and getting moved has been huge. As you all know, we were planning on moving down to St. George until about a week ago. We were trying to find a place down there that we could afford and it just wasn't happening. When we decided to stay in Cedar City, we found our new place almost immediately after we started looking. We fell in love with this little duplex pretty fast. It's in a newer part of Cedar that is way off Main Street, which is one of the perks for us.
Part of moving for me was trying to purge absolutely everything that we don't like or need out of our lives. We have acumulated so much junk furniture in the two and a half years we've been married, most of which we absolutely hate. It was all bulky, huge, and heavy. We've been very grateful for everything we've had, but it was time for a change. We used some of our student loan money to buy a new couch that we love and that will last a long time, a new TV stand that is much smaller than our entertainment center, and new bedding. We really wanted to simplify things, and you should have seen all the stuff we dropped at D.I. We're not even done yet, either. The only big things we kept were our bed, 2 bedside tables, one chair, our TV, and our treadmill. In the future, we hope to be able to buy a kitchen table and chairs, a new case for our DVDs, and far in the future, a new TV. Of course, we may have to invest in some baby furniture first :)
I want to thank Jake for coming down and helping us move a LOT of stuff, and for helping us put together our new furniture. It wasn't easy, and we really really appreciate it.
Other than moving, Justin is still working at Hollywood Video, which is better now since he got a raise. And we're both going to school three times a week in St. George. Commuting isn't so bad, and our classes aren't too demanding. We are taking Mass Communication, Communication Theory, Interpersonal Communication, and Script Analysis. It sounds daunting, but it hasn't been too bad yet.
What else? Well, I'm 10 weeks along today. The morning sickness is almost nonexistent now, thank goodness! and I have my next doctor's appointment in a week from tomorrow. The more I read about how our baby is growing, the more it strikes me as a complete miracle, and I can't imagine how anyone could throw this miracle away. Justin and I are so excited, maybe too excited, since we have quite a long wait ahead of us.
One more update to go, and then we're done! I just want to say that The Book Club is on hold for now. I want to say sorry to Nic for it all kind of falling apart in the middle of his month, and we will get back to Macbeth, I promise. Like I said, we've been pretty overwhelmed, and we're still recovering. Hopefully once we get completely moved, unpacked, and settled, The Book Club will be reinstated. I'll let everyone know when that happens.
We love you all, and we'll try to get everyone better updated on what's going on with us down here in southern Utah!
Justin and I feel like we have been "moving" for a long time, and just about a week ago, we realized that we've both been so stressed out that we've been floating through life like zombies. The relief in finally finding a place to live and getting moved has been huge. As you all know, we were planning on moving down to St. George until about a week ago. We were trying to find a place down there that we could afford and it just wasn't happening. When we decided to stay in Cedar City, we found our new place almost immediately after we started looking. We fell in love with this little duplex pretty fast. It's in a newer part of Cedar that is way off Main Street, which is one of the perks for us.
Part of moving for me was trying to purge absolutely everything that we don't like or need out of our lives. We have acumulated so much junk furniture in the two and a half years we've been married, most of which we absolutely hate. It was all bulky, huge, and heavy. We've been very grateful for everything we've had, but it was time for a change. We used some of our student loan money to buy a new couch that we love and that will last a long time, a new TV stand that is much smaller than our entertainment center, and new bedding. We really wanted to simplify things, and you should have seen all the stuff we dropped at D.I. We're not even done yet, either. The only big things we kept were our bed, 2 bedside tables, one chair, our TV, and our treadmill. In the future, we hope to be able to buy a kitchen table and chairs, a new case for our DVDs, and far in the future, a new TV. Of course, we may have to invest in some baby furniture first :)
I want to thank Jake for coming down and helping us move a LOT of stuff, and for helping us put together our new furniture. It wasn't easy, and we really really appreciate it.
Other than moving, Justin is still working at Hollywood Video, which is better now since he got a raise. And we're both going to school three times a week in St. George. Commuting isn't so bad, and our classes aren't too demanding. We are taking Mass Communication, Communication Theory, Interpersonal Communication, and Script Analysis. It sounds daunting, but it hasn't been too bad yet.
What else? Well, I'm 10 weeks along today. The morning sickness is almost nonexistent now, thank goodness! and I have my next doctor's appointment in a week from tomorrow. The more I read about how our baby is growing, the more it strikes me as a complete miracle, and I can't imagine how anyone could throw this miracle away. Justin and I are so excited, maybe too excited, since we have quite a long wait ahead of us.
One more update to go, and then we're done! I just want to say that The Book Club is on hold for now. I want to say sorry to Nic for it all kind of falling apart in the middle of his month, and we will get back to Macbeth, I promise. Like I said, we've been pretty overwhelmed, and we're still recovering. Hopefully once we get completely moved, unpacked, and settled, The Book Club will be reinstated. I'll let everyone know when that happens.
We love you all, and we'll try to get everyone better updated on what's going on with us down here in southern Utah!
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Thank you!
Thank you "InfoWest Customer" for not securing your network! I am sitting in our new place, on our new couch, on the internet! Yay!
We got mostly moved, but not totally, which is okay for now because I could care less about anything right now. I am so excited about all the new things we're experiencing.
Justin and Jake are sitting on the floor, watching football, putting together a very complicated TV stand, and I'm playing online...mmm, life is good.
So, even though Justin said that you would be rid of us, I guess not!
We got mostly moved, but not totally, which is okay for now because I could care less about anything right now. I am so excited about all the new things we're experiencing.
Justin and Jake are sitting on the floor, watching football, putting together a very complicated TV stand, and I'm playing online...mmm, life is good.
So, even though Justin said that you would be rid of us, I guess not!
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