We love the Internet.

As American college students, there’s something about the ‘Net. Its ability to provide information to and from the entire world, to bypass forms of oppression and to be easily accessible resonates inside of us. We don’t know where, but the power of the ‘Net is something we’ve grown up with.

But there’s no such thing as a one-sided coin.

With all the benifits the Internet lavishes upon us, it also provides temptation. No, not the plethora of adult Websites. That’s a different topic.

The other side of this coin is the destruction of intellectual property. No, not the Napster arguments. That, too, is a different topic.

The face of this particular coin is plagiarism. And what a poorly-minted face it is.

Let us first consider the tail side of this coin. The Internet’s ability to provide information is unparallelled. A foray into the Jerome Library for information about the Chambers of Rhetoric in the Netherlands is a tall task.

If you were to move from the computerized card catalog to an Internet station, however, the tune is different. The results screens come up with list of sites, many of which contain a treasure of information, as well as the occasional bibliography.

Not only that, but you can find the opinions and beliefs of those who have already studied the topic. You can weigh the sides on a topic, possibly viewing a subject in a new light.

Here’s where the other side of the coin rears its ugly head.

Most college students are not only in love with freedom of speech, they are extremely busy. The Internet is an island that also provides them with the temptation of sloth. Why struggle for hours or days on an original thesis, when there are plenty on the Internet that are ripe for picking?

This is a temptation that must be avoided at all costs. Not just because the Student Handbook tells us so, but because we are stealing someone else’s property.

Even if they approve of your theft, expressing somebody else’s opinion as your own is the antithesis of college. Of course, that depends on how you define this university’s purpose.

If you are paying $20,000 to $60,000 for the sole purpose of having a degree, go ahead. Middle management and a mediocre life is patiently waiting for you.

Hopefully, you see BGSU as a place where you can learn. Granted, that sounds cliche, but how are you going to seperate yourself from the formless mass of people with degrees?

By learning how to think for yourself. By taking advantage of every little part of this University.

Plagiarism negates that learning. If you don’t get caught, you’ll get your degree. Congratulations.

But you will have lost the ability to think for yourself. Instead, you’ll have become a sheep, capable only of copying and conforming.

That’s a coin that few employers will honor.