The dorm-store sales have begun. Sooner than later, colleges will be back in fall session.

I’m already working on my speech for the first day of class. Last year, some students said I scared them with my warning about cheating — specifically, plagiarism. I believe my choice of phrase was “I will nail you to the wall.”

The New York Times recently reported that more than half of all universities use some sort of plagiarism detecting service. I have my own plagiarism detector — I’m a copy editor. We can spot when sentences are not your own.

The Times piece, by Trip Gabriel, had an eye-opening analysis: A slightly smaller percentage of students report having cheated, but that’s probably because they no longer think of what they did as cheating. (That’s according to who conducted the survey.)

Let me repeat that: The students do not think what they are doing is cheating.

And when those students head off as young journalists, for some reasons, they don’t see it as plagiarism. And they don’t see it as wrong.

Yes, writing is frustrating. I did 25,000 words of it just last week, on a single research topic. There were definitely times when I wanted to quit. Those times made me wonder how many unethical people get to the same point in their work, feel overwhelmed, and simply steal from others. **shudder**

I hear from both students and parents that high schools are not critically examining written assignments. Copy-pasting from the Web is accepted practice. Some of my freshmen got to college having never learned how to cite a source!

With our mission of protecting journalism, we cannot relax our standards. We have to pass on the ethical understanding that credibility is at the crux of what we do. I like what SPJ Headquarters staffer Scott Leadingham (the illustrious Quill editor) recently blogged about mentoring and helping each other out. (Read his comments here.) How can you make a difference in the outcome of future journalists?

I’m from a tiny town in northern Alabama. A graduate of my alma mater, Glencoe High School, went on a journey after graduation that led to his becoming the president of the PGA.  His name is Ken Lindsey. On his way to the PGA presidency he was the Air Force golf champion, wrote the professional golf rule book, served as a judge at the world’s most prestigious tournaments, was secretary, vice president, chairman of many committees, and inducted into the PGA Hall of Fame.

You may wonder why I’m telling you about this golf guy, but the point is coming real soon, I promise.

Lindsey came back to Glencoe High School a couple of years ago and talked to the golf teams. I went out and listened to his oration and wrote a story about it for the paper. His number one lesson, his if-you-only-remember-one-thing-I-tell-you point, was this: whatever your goals are, whatever profession you may choose, get involved with the professional organization and stay involved, don’t be a passive due payer.

I’m a graduate of the 2010 SPJ Reporters Institute. Before the experience I was a fairly passive due payer. I read the SPJ Leads email, read my Quill, and paid my dues. The Reporters Institute experience got me excited about SPJ and the possibilities it offers. Those possibilities are nil, though, if you don’t get involved.

Hello, Gen J-er’s! Kris Wellesley here, and I’m the latest addition to the Gen J committee. Before I dive right in, I thought I’d introduce myself and share how I became involved with SPJ.

Last February, Aiesha Little and the Greater Cincinnati SPJ chapter hosted a Speed Pitch event (not to be confused with speed dating, mind you) for Gen J-er’s who were either about to graduate or were looking for freelance opportunities. Afterall, no one is hiring, right? The idea was each person had  five minutes to talk individually with editors from local media outlets, including newspaper, magazine and radio. You could use those five minutes however you wanted, whether it was to pitch stories or pitch yourself. The turnout for the both editors and young journalists was pretty good.

Not knowing what to expect, I went to the event and walked out having had interesting conversations with great contacts, one of which led to my current position at the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Breaking into journalism isn’t like it used to be, so I would encourage everyone in the local chapters to create events and opportunities like these. Even though it may not lead to your next gig, you’ll undoubtedly make great contacts.

Has anyone done something similar in their chapter and can share their ideas?