Plagiarism

According to Webster's Dictionary plagiarism is defined as ARE YOU KIDDING ME? If I read another English 101 level (Freshman Comp) analytical essay that starts with a hackneyed dictionary definition of a word(s) so common, rife and rampant, I will puke. Actually, let me consult my dictionary for a definition of "puke" in-case the vast population of readers following my blog are having brain-freeze...Yeah, so students routinely rely on trite little openings like the above to "capture the reader's attention" at the start of an essay. But is that plagiarism? Of course not. A source is cited for the borrowed reference. Was the student too lazy to come up with something more compelling to launch the essay, undoubtedly. Still, that's no crime. Lifting wholesale passages from a State of the Union address or entire paragraphs from some psychologist-of-the-moment to explain "forgiveness" is, however, a crime. I don't even need to ask why students do it. A more perplexing issue for me is why they actually turn it in. Maybe my syllabus is not intimidating enough when it reads "Violation of integrity of any type by a student provides grounds for disciplinary action by the instructor or college." I think I will adjust this language (mandated by our college for inclusion on all faculty syllabi) next semester to read something more deprecating and menacing: "STUDENTS WHO RESORT TO EXCERPTING THE THOUGHTS/WORDS/IMAGINATION OF A WRITER SMARTER, CLEVERER, MORE FAMOUS AND PROBABLY RICHER THAN SAID STUDENT AND SHAMELESSLY APPLYING ONE'S NAME TO A PIECE OF PAPER OSTENSIBLY TO PASS THE WRITING OFF AS ONE'S OWN WILL BE TASERED IMMEDIATELY."