P'burg principal denies plagiarism It's not plagiarizing if there's no grade, says Mary Jane Deutsch. Column similar to other's. Thursday, November 15, 2007 • By DOUGLAS B. BRILL • The Express-Times PHILLIPSBURG | Phillipsburg High School Principal Mary Jane Deutsch doesn't believe she plagiarized when she copied the work of a Texas therapist without permission for her column in the high school newsletter. Six paragraphs of her column in October's edition of The Messenger are practically verbatim what Jeffrey Murrah of Pasadena, Texas, wrote close to a decade ago. Deutsch said the excerpt from Murrah's "Modesty: A lost virtue?" likely made it into the newsletter after she copied it from a Web site. But copying the essay is not plagiarism, she said, because, "I'm not being graded. I'm trying to provide messages for parents." Deutsch said she's "not taking credit" for the column, which has her name on it. Murrah, who said he wrote the essay eight or nine years ago, is not cited. "I just don't get where this is plagiarism," Deutsch said. Murrah said he wrote the essay for the Pasadena Independent School District, which includes the Houston suburbs where Murrah works as a therapist. Murrah checked his e-mails for correspondence from Deutsch but said he didn't find any. Murrah said he routinely lets people duplicate his work when they ask. He said it helps draw traffic to his Web site. "My understanding is when you reprint (my work), you use my name and give me credit," said Murrah, who did not recall a request from Deutsch. From Murrah's essay, Deutsch changed two words, deleted two words, omitted two sentences and struck the opening paragraph. Superintendent Gordon Pethick and School Board President Paul Rummerfield did not return phone messages asking whether Deutsch's column violated the school district's plagiarism policy. Plagiarism, according to the Phillipsburg High School Stateliners 2007-2008 Student/Parent Handbook, is "copying another's work and submitting it as your own." The definition is under the heading "Honor Code," which says "Honesty is critical to academic study." The honor code also states, "Cheaters rob others of their rightful opportunities by presenting someone else's work as their own." Deutsch said she routinely checks Web sites of other school districts for ideas to improve hers. In the future, she said, she'll be more careful to cite others' work. "If I'm doing something wrong, I'd like to straighten it out," she said. "Maybe I'm missing it, and if I did, I apologize." Reporter Douglas B. Brill can be reached at 610-759-0508 or by e-mail at dbrill@express-times.com.