The rule is the rule, you did your job.
Paining over the implications of your discovery do nothing but bring unnessesary guilt upon you.
I would assume that if you did not report the offense and it was discovered by a peer, YOU would be the one
facing dismissal.
Legally, ethically, and morally, you did what you had to do.

Now if more people would do the same.............................

Sir Peter, I have appreciated the British educational system. Whilst I will not pass judgements on British children, particularly the "peasants" who egged me last Halloween, I would say that yes, this is a larger problem with kids thinking they can weasel their way out of tight spaces and parents who seem to support them (I'm thinking hockey dads who kill other hockey dads aren't setting great examples for their kids, but hey, maybe that's the American Dream). So, Sir Peter, there is a note of truth to your hyperboleic post. (Are you actually British? I haven't read your blog enough yet, but your spelling would seem to confirm it.)

I'm American, but I went to Oxford, and have traveled the isles and generally enjoyed the place. My fiance and I are looking into moving there once we marry. It's refreshingly un-American. What part of the UK are you from?

-T.

Angloesque--
It's tough not not sympathize with somebody when they are in a bad situation, it's hard to keep a level head and to know what is right in general and what is right for them. It's tough to have empathy but no sympathy. It's the difference between keeping somebody from making mistakes and facing the consequences and by doing so, keeping them from succeeding; verses allowing them the chance to fail, therein allowing them the chance to eventually succeed. You did what was right for her, and if she is wise, it will help her down the line. : )

Can someone clarify if it actually is so difficult to write their own 'original' material? I've never had that problem and it baffles me that people would plagarize short of being lazy..

I'm for any punishment that offers no opportunity for redemption. Hell, why not just break all her fingers too? God damn cheaters. Everyone in the class should get to beat her with their bookbags for an hour or you could make her into the class spitoon for a week.

Seriously, though, I remember teachers like this and the only lesson I learned was to cheat smarter. It took other teachers later in life a lot of effort to convince me that I was only cheating myself. In other words, they weren't lazy (like you) and taught me integrity and self-worth as well as the coursework.

Oh, and don't get me wrong - they punished me as well, but that was unavoidable and not vindictive (like you).

It's also funny how you blame others for your dishonest actions Matt. It's a shame nobody ever taught you accountability for your own actions.

1) Maybe rather than blame teachers for not teaching children (in college) integrity and honesty, maybe you should blame your own parents. They're the ones who are supposed to teach their children integrity and honesty. Too many people want others to raise their children and then they wonder why their children end up so screwed up?
2) I never knew students who plagiarized were helpless and had no other alternative, like doing the work (even on the night before its due) or not doing it and just suffering one bad grade. I guess I should have plagiarized so that people would pity me. Instead, I just didn't do the work for that one assignment (or did it but really half-ass) and still got an A.
3) Let's see. You expect a teacher to teach. This English teacher teaches English as it is an English class, and you see something wrong with that? Is every college course supposed to spend half the time teaching students about honest and integrity lest the students didn't learn about it from their parents when they were children?
4) If college students really are expected to be as naive and ignorant of the world as you make them out to be, maybe we need to raise the age of adulthood to 30.
5) If I were to steal from my company, would they be wrong in firing me on the spot even if they didn't teach me about honesty and integrity in the workplace because they expected me to learn it from elsewhere (which I might have, except I didn't listen in the first place because I wasn't taught how to listen by all my professors at Yale).

Oops, I messed up the numbers there. Well, you'll figure it out.

Unless by making this mistake you now think I should be banned from writing on the forums. *giggle*

Matt, you accuse Super Baby of being on a high-horse when you call Angloesque "lazy" because they didn't try to 'rehabilitate' the student. This poor unfortunate student is in for alot more trouble than just plagarism, as Angloesque mentioned..But the professors should accept this kind of behavior? Jeebus, what a landslide in society in general!
Angloesque, powertrip away. Some people deserve it beyond compare.

You know the rules..you break them, you get punished. How isn't it that simple?

I simply can't believe it is okay to willingly break a rule and whine when you get caught and punished for it.. That's outrageous.

What's bothering me is the idea that somehow the teacher is a bad person for disciplining somebody for a serious offense (and no, it's not the teacher's responsibility to raise one's children), and that the plagiarist is some victim who didn't intend to plagiarize and didn't understand why plagiarism is wrong. If a college student actually still doesn't understand what's wrong with plagiarism, then perhaps that student should be sent back to the third grade because he clearly is too stupid for his own good.

Angloesque - My main base is in Gloucestershire. Where abouts are you thinking of settling after your marriage?