what to do about plagiarism by emigres

[Emil Draitser]

Dear Emily:
That's what we do at Hunter - we have a few hundreds of emigres from
Russia. Choose a specific topic which they would have hard time find in
Soviet books. If this does not help, ask them to retell at least part of
their paper in your office. As a rule, they are incapable of it. The
technique I use with such students, that I tell them that I am not angry
at them, that I understand that the culture they grew up with encouraged
them not to think themsleves. I offer to rewrite the same essay in their
own words and promise not to lower grade if they do an honset job. So
far, it worked with every one of them. They know that they stole it, and
instead of getting F, an opportunity to redeem themselves looks very
attractive to them.
All the best,
Emil

On Fri, 3 May 1996, Emily Tall wrote:

> Have any of you ever let any emigres write on any topic they wished and
> then have them turn in papers that look as if they were copied from a
> Soviet publication? When I confronted the first student about her
> Dostoevsky paper, she said "but that's the way I think, that's the way
> they taught us." In the future of course I will safeguard against any
> such occurrences by setting paper topics myself or by having them be
> about subjects not covered by the Soviets (such as, for example, dissident
> literature...) I would really like to hear about others' experiences.
> Thanks again, Emily Tall mllemily at ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu
>