Student plagiarism is advancing at the rate of technology. Buying term papers has progressed from having a contact who will sell you a paper to buying customized unposted papers online.

Research papers began to appear online when the Internet was introduced to the public in the early 1990s. Plagiarism is available in every household equipped with a computer.

Paper providers sell copies of generic works such as, "The True Meaning of Shakespeare," or "Rousseau vs. Hugo."

When Internet papers first hit the market, providers were indifferent to quirks that could occur, for example, that two students might be in the same class or that a professor might get seven copies of the same paper.

Students getting caught because of mass production of identical papers caused paper providers to raise the bar on cheating. Companies are now providing papers with customized information, on any topic, any length and with the correct number of references.

"It's wrong to use other's work and get credit for something you don't deserve credit for," said Anel Garza, undergraduate business student. "It is unethical. I would never buy papers online because I don't trust other's work. There is no way to tell whether it's right or wrong and I don't trust people who write and sell papers online."

In an effort to ensure students are less likely penalized, paper providers no longer post papers online.

"Never Resold, Never Reused, Never Distributed on the Internet," states the Web site Paper Masters.Com.

Not posting information causes problems in catching plagiarism.

Web sites like Academic Integrity.Com sell papers to students under the pretense that they are only to be used as guides. Academic Integrity is part of a larger chain of paper distributors.

Despite what is said in the disclaimer, the site offers both customized and unposted papers for sale.

"There is a high penalty for plagiarism, it is not worth the risk," said Lorena Gonzalez, graduate psychology student. "Students can be taken out of school, it could go on your record or you could be expelled."

"When a student is suspected of plagiarism, the faculty member discusses a penalty with the student," said Darlene Biggers, associate vice president of student services. "If the student agrees, one copy goes in the student's file, and one copy goes to the dean of the school.

If the student disagrees they go before the Academic Honesty Panel which is comprised of one student and one faculty member from each school, the assistant dean and myself. If it is the student's second offense they go directly to the Academic Honesty Panel."

Biggers said UH-Clear Lake has an average of five cases of academic dishonesty reported per year.

"In my opinion, students who plagiarize are guilty of academic dishonesty and potential violations of intellectual property laws," said Gary Kidney, director of instructional technology.

"I believe that they should be prosecuted for both. I encourage faculty to use tools like turnitin.com to help identify Web-based plagiarism and then to take strong disciplinary action against the guilty student. Faculty should be forthright in stating their objections to academic dishonesty in course syllabi and mention that they will use tools like turnitin.com to help them catch cheaters."

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