Plagiarism

            Plagiarism is a problem that is becoming widespread throughout society. By simply searching through newspapers one can notice increasingly more articles involving plagiarism. This particular article, "Age no excuse for plagiarism," written by David Zhou is very thought provoking. The conflict is Harvard's decision to revoke Blair Hornstine's acceptance to the university for plagiarizing an article. In my eyes, Harvard University should not have taken away Hornstine's acceptance because of a few important points.
             Blair Hornstine was accused of plagiarism in an article that she had submitted to the school newspaper. In my opinion, school newspapers are not as important as papers written for classes. An article in a school newspaper does not count for a grade in a specific class. It is an extracurricular activity in which Hornstine wished to participate. If she were accused of plagiarizing an essay that was mandated for class and a grade, my viewpoint would be different. Because she had plagiarized a section of a school newspaper and not a paper to be graded, Harvard should have stayed out of the ordeal. .
             I think Harvard should have looked at Hornstine's overall "academic" success. It is not an average student who gets to be named the valedictorian. This obviously shows that she is an outstanding student and as a result of her hard work was initially accepted by Harvard University. Even though I do not agree with plagiarism, I think that is was wrong of Harvard to deny Hornstine's initial acceptance. The University should ultimately look at how well Hornstine did in her classes, and not how she plagiarized on a non-graded newspaper article. If any consequences were to occur, the high school should have taken away her status of valedictorian. .
             Harvard University should not have taken such serious action considering the fact that Hornstine's plagiarized work was not even for a grade.