Recently I found out that some people have been turning in 
assignments copied from this site for major grades.  This is 
plagiarism.  There is a reason why there are copyright © 
symbols next to copyrighted works: it is illegal to copy them 
without the consent of the author!!!  I have not given permission
to anyone to copy the works that I marked ©.

     This matter should not be taken lightly.  It has already 
resulted in punishment for various individuals.  The copyright
symbols for various documents mean that they should only be used
as a reference- not as an assignment to be turned in!  People who
copy are depriving themselves of a learning experience; how are 
you ever going to learn if you just copy somebody else's work?  
What are you going to do when you are unable to find work to copy?
Let's think about why people do well in school- not solely 
because of their intelligence.  Nobody can pass without putting in
effort.  How are you going to do well on tests if you don't do the
work?  
     
     Everybody wants to take the easy way out.  Some people are so
busy with activities that they must copy from time to time (if they
are that concerned with their grades).  But by the time that they 
copy & paste, change the format of the document, and erase all of 
my advertisements, they could have done the work by themselves 
already!  The true efficient way to use this site is only to consult
it for answers when you're unsure or stumped- the intent of the site
in the first place: so students may help each other and share notes 
if somebody was absent.  

     I always wonder what the plagiariser thinks.  Does he care about
getting caught?  Does he realize that he MAY get caught?  Well, let's
see... when you hand the exact same assignment with four others to the
same teacher, who will probably look at all of them in one day, the 
teacher will probably notice.  Does the plagiariser think that the
teacher won't notice?  This is a common mistake in chess: one plays 
his opponent like a fool and almost always ends up losing.  The person 
who checks the paper has to be hallucinating to not notice repeating 
papers- especially if it is a writing assignment.  

     Does the plagiariser think that nobody will care because this is
merely high school work?  Well... there ARE people out there who take
high school very seriously.  High school should be taken seriously...
it is the transition from childhood to adulthood; it is when people
must learn to take responsibility for their actions; it is when people 
learn that a mere "sorry" won't suffice for misdemeanors.  The recent
incident where various individuals plagiarized is a good lesson, that
teachers are not stupid and DO care.  

     But what if you are still insistent on copying and taking the 
easier way out?  I'm sure there are many people who will completely
disregard the above paragraphs.  My say to them is, "Never, ever be
stupid!  Do NOT turn in a copied assignment because you will be
caught!"  Everone has seen the cop shows on television.  The criminals
are always confident that they're not going to get caught when they 
commit their crime, but they always end up in jail.  Plagiarism is a
crime, and there have been numerous significant cases in the past
regarding plagiarism.  

     I guess I made a mistake of not having enough warnings (although
there IS a warning on the page and a copyright phrase in the 
assignment).  I spent so much time working with this site only to
be slapped with trouble.  I have some serious considerations regarding
this site in the future.  

     I guess no good deed goes unpunished, eh?
                                               - Ji Zhang, 2/11/1999