I catch a few plagiarists each semester, but this semester, I caught seven, a record high for me. This is not a record I enjoy, though I'm glad I caught these students. But man, does plagiarism bother me. I teach English and writing, so plagiarism bothers me for the obvious ethical reasons. Beyond that, it bothers me because if the plagiarists would have put as much effort into doing the work as they put into avoiding the work, they would've at least had a shot at passing. Let me explain. In one particular case of plagiarism, a student copied and pasted an article from the Internet. The original article was semi-interesting in its concept, but failed to execute well. It was something about legalizing prostitution. Anyway, in a strange move to avoid getting caught, I guess, the student mixed up the paragraphs of this copied piece. I suppose the student then realized that the paragraphs ...

In my first full-time position, I dropped by to see a senior colleague in another department. I saw that his door was cracked open, so I knocked and called out his name as I opened the door slowly. I was shocked to see him coming out of what I had thought was a janitor's closet but now saw was a bathroom! He had his own private bathroom in what I then began to think of as an office suite. I mentioned this to my department chair later that day, and he smiled and said, "Seniority has its privileges." I am mindful of how some celebrity contracts will specify perks that must be offered, things like a particular color of M & M's or a particular brand of beverage. I'm wondering, during this insanely tight budget cycle, what kinds of dream perks faculty and staff would like to include in their contracts if funds were no consideration? What kinds of unique perks have you actually heard of folks...

According to the Web site Livestrong.com (yes, my students' research habits are rubbing off on me), carrots are an excellent source of vitamin B. I think about that sometimes when, as a writing instructor, I hold out the B grade as a kind of carrot before the horse, to use a hoary old metaphor. Okay, so in this case it's also a pretty tortured metaphor. But I think you get my drift: I use the B grade, whenever possible, to try and motivate my writing students to learn and achieve more than they might otherwise. My basic philosophy is that not everybody can get an A--more on that in my next post--but most students are capable of getting B's if they work hard enough. True, statistically speaking, most of them are C-level writers, but I make it clear from the beginning of the class that I'm going to do everything in my power to make it possible for them to get B's. I don't try to...

You hear about an exciting job opening. Intrigued, you review the job posting line by line. "I can do that. I've got experience on that front. Yep, I’ve got that one nailed. I’ve done that before. I’ve got great examples to share to demonstrate experience in that area. Oops, I don’t have this qualification ... or that one. I’d better not waste anyone's time by pursuing this.” Is that you? Or, are you the more likely to say to yourself, "An 80-percent hit rate? I own this job!" Certain people, and to my great frustration they are more likely to be women than men, wait to be perfectly qualified for a role before pursuing it. There are others, however, who tend to think about their potential capacity for success and assume they can conquer the demands of a role with a little time on the job. So, who’s right? While I would never encourage anyone to be reckless in applying for role for...