Plagiarism Reverberates Beyond Harvard Walls

To the editors:



The dissenting opinion “On Campus, Off Campus,” by Emma M. Lind and Ramya Parthasarathy (May 4), seems hermetically myopic. And that is about the best thing that can be said about it.

Plagiarism is an intentional act that is far beyond “reprehensible.” Its offensiveness reaches far beyond “the authors and publishers of the plagiarized works” and has touched the community of words and ideas at large. The authors of the opinion seem unaware of how far the impact of Kaavya Viswanathan’s actions has extended “off campus.” This is not an on-campus, off-campus issue.

Furthermore, plagiarism is not a seepage problem. The author did far more than overstep her bounds. Harvard is bound up with Viswanathan and has been since before the plagiarism story came out. Not taking disciplinary action would smack far more of “elitism,” Harvard “ivory tower”(ism), and even arrogance than the authors seem to understand. The university is part of the off-campus world and needs to act like it.



WALTER H. HOWERTON JR.

Austin, Texas

May 4, 2006