Chicagoist: Naperville Principal Out After Plagiarized Speech

sparky

Fri, 30 May 2008 13:56:53 -0600

OK, so the people that do not think the punishment fit the crime: what do you think is an appropriate punishment? For an administrator plagiarizing a speech? For a student plagiarizing a paper? For a journalist plagiarizing other's work? I know if my words were copied without credit, I would be pretty upset. To me, it's the same as cheating. If your ideas were copied without attribution, how would you feel?

matilda

Fri, 30 May 2008 13:44:30 -0600

"The truth is, schools in general make way too big of a deal about plagiarism. It really shouldn't be such a heinous crime." One of the main points of education, at least ideally, is to train young people to think for themselves, to be citizens, and this requires original research, not theft of ideas. Yes, this is a very idealized view, but such a view would make plagiarism a huge deal. If this guy was so good, why did he not know any better than to steal without attibrution? All he needed was to give proper credit to the writer. What is so difficult about that?

Percy

Fri, 30 May 2008 13:35:58 -0600

What a load of intellectual property bullshit that is all too common in the overall education system in this country these days. Sickening. Over-punishment. Since he's a principal, he should go through extensive punishment and maybe even temporarily be demoted, but not fired after 34 years for one mess up that's not even really that important. The truth is, schools in general make way too big of a deal about plagiarism. It really shouldn't be such a heinous crime.

smussy

Fri, 30 May 2008 11:21:56 -0600

but they said he KNEW it was the student's work and that he didn't get a hold of her because it was too late and he didn't think email was an 'appropriate way' to ask her if it was okay to quote her. first of all, since when is it necessary to ask someone to quote them? second of all, how hard is it to attribute someone's words to them if you are lifting them word for word? not to mention this is an easy one ... "as our own alumna and current teacher blah blah said over ten years ago ..." that's not nearly as good as i would say it, but i'm working on the fly. yeah, firing is harsh. but a lot of people get Fs and booted from schools for outright plagarizing in colleges. it's a real lesson for the kids. i liked zorn's column on this.

Ingrid

Fri, 30 May 2008 10:41:54 -0600

There must be something in the air, because the superintendent of Oak Park River Forest High (in Oak Park), Attila Weninger, has also been accused of plagiarizing part of a speech written by John McCain. They claim that Weninger gave credit to his own brother who served in the armed forces. Attila claims, however, that it was a slip-up and not plagiarism. In other news at the OPRF High front...vandals,this week, covered the school with graffiti. The graffiti included drug and gang references, profanity and ethnic slurs directed at Supt. Attila Weninger and an OPRF football player. This is a busy end of the school year for the folks at OPRF.

Dave!

Fri, 30 May 2008 10:05:03 -0600

It's kind of BS. I understand the idea that student's must understand the consequences of wrongful actions, but if he has *34 years* as an outstanding educator, that _is_ a mitigating circumstance. As is the fact that the original author was in the audience. Zero tolerance type policies don't do any good to anyone. There *IS* a difference between failing to credit someone in an inspirational speech to students and lifting a chapter in a dissertation. The two are simply not equivalent. And while I don't think his transgression should have gone unpunished, firing an educator with over three decades of good over this seems overkill, to say the least.

jenniferexacto

Fri, 30 May 2008 09:57:23 -0600

Clinton and Obama have been "plagiarizing" unattributed quotes from famous speeches and documents. The New Yorker and NYT both ran stories on this recently. No qualms; they were simply drawing from political history. For a stellar take on the topic, Jonathan Lethem's "The Ecstasy of Influence": http://www.harpers.org/archive/2007/02/0081387

sparky

Fri, 30 May 2008 09:25:41 -0600

Would a man of good character plagarize,knowing full well the definition of plagarism, and not credit his source?

magikist

Fri, 30 May 2008 09:02:56 -0600

According to all the papers, Caudill gave this speech knowing full well that the original author was in the audience. This leads me to believe that it was not an intentional thing to do. My views are admittedly biased because when I went to NCHS (before Caudill was principal), he was known as an exceptionally fair person who worked tirelessly behind the scenes and supported every kid in the school. I'm not just saying he's a nice guy, I believe his character is such that this truly was an error in judgment. I see why this action was necessary, but it is still a shame to me.

mepps

Fri, 30 May 2008 08:56:40 -0600

I think we all know where Kevin stands on this one http://chicagoist.com/2008/05/21/whats_next_for.php

sparky

Fri, 30 May 2008 08:09:43 -0600

Firing is absolutely appropriate. How can we expect students to abide by rules and standards when the administrators are not abiding by those same standards? If they didn't fire them, they would be giving a pass to all students that plagerize. "Well, Mr. Caudill did it and it was okay. Why can't I?"

UTV

Fri, 30 May 2008 07:44:27 -0600

Honest mistake my ass. He chose to plagiarize, got caught, and now he's paying the price. I'm sure he taught his students that this is what happens when you do things like this.

matilda

Fri, 30 May 2008 07:00:10 -0600

Ward is 100% right on this one. The guy shoud have either known better or been more careful, two traits all good educators must have.

claimtofame

Thu, 29 May 2008 21:01:09 -0600

Seems like the punishment did not fit the crime.

Ward Up

Thu, 29 May 2008 21:01:08 -0600

He may be a good guy but his offense required a swift response. There should be no ambiguity. Thousands of present and future Naperville North students and their families, along with people elsewhere in Chicago area, are observing this case. Students need to know clearly that offenses like this are serious. And that honesty and integrity must be upheld. Nice guy or not, firing was the right thing to do.

magikist

Thu, 29 May 2008 18:14:36 -0600

That's pretty crummy - after reading the details, I believe it was an honest (although large) mistake. Caudill is a good guy.