02 “Every flower is a soul blossoming in nature.” GÉRARD DE NERVAL, FRENCH WRITER AND POET I t’s not surprising that time-starved students reach for the web to copy oth- er people’s work, but introducing more creative writing tasks can help them rely on their own skills and avoid the copy- and-paste habit. Here are a few fre- quently asked questions on plagia- rism and how to deal with it answered by English professor Deepti Nanda... How would you define the copy-paste syn- drome? The copy-paste syndrome is a sit- uation wherein students tend to rely more and more on the easily-available digital content. This is a universal problem that has to be addressed effectively, especial- ly with the rapid adoption of the digital platforms. Weber refers to it as the Google-Copy-Paste-Syndrome, which ac- cording to him, will drastically affect the quality of scientific publications, lead- ing to a degradation in the quality of life. The expansion of non-verified digital content together with an emerging so- cial learning ecosystem could result in even more devastating implications. Plagiarism continues to be a problem all over the world. What is the solution? The first step is to set aside any moral indignation and ask yourself — why do I do it? Am I lazy? Or do you think plagiarism is the last resort? Ask your- self — do you not have the language or the skills to research a topic, collate and organise the information, para- phrase it and present it in an appro- priate format or style, in writing or speech? Once you have identified your problem, talk to a teacher about it. The teacher should then customise the ac- tivity according to your learning needs. Can you give us an example of how a teacher can play an important role in curb- ing this plagiarising habit? I had a group of science students who had submitted plagiarised accounts of great scientists and their discoveries. When I saw this, I changed my methodology and asked them to present a report based on a sci- ence lesson. I gave them headings and leading questions to elicit sentences. They had to submit one section per week, and were strictly told, ‘no pla- giarism’. Students realised they could actually do a good job on their own. These queries were asked by Bal Bharti School students of Noida. Creator of copy and paste com- mand in the keyboard, LARRY TESLER, died on February 19. The Stanford University graduate worked for blue-chip firms, including Apple, Amazon and Yahoo. Tesler began his Silicon Valley career at pho- tocopying firm Xerox’s Palo Alto Research Center (Parc) before being recruited by Apple’s founder, Steve Jobs. Help! How do I get rid of copy/paste syndrome? OMG Contagion: When info is as potent & contagious as the virus itself WHO’s prescription for Covid19 prevention Even as there are many myths and non-clinical cures doing the rounds on social media, the WHO has issued an advisory to guide people on when to worry & how to take care of themselves LET’S REVISIT THE FILM THAT HAS A LOT TO SAY ABOUT RUMOURS AND FAKE NEWS IN THE NEWS FOR... C ontagion’, the 2011 film about a deadly virus outbreak that spread across the world, became an instant hit, raking in $135 million world- wide. In the wake of the corona virus outbreak — first reported from Wuhan, China, on 31 December 2019 as per the World Health Organisation — people are revisiting the flick again. In fact, the movie broke into the top 10 on the iTunes movie rentals chart on Janu- ary 28. Apparently, many people are turning to the movie to make sense of what’s going on, and to understand how fake news can spread faster than the virus amid troublesome times. Many interpretations of corona ‘PERSPECTIVES ARE WELCOME... THEY HELP IDENTIFY FAKE NEWS’ T he movie por- trays a world wrecked by not just a virus, but a whole set of ills that come along with it — disorder, so- cietal breakdown, the difficulties inherent in finding a cure, in- dividuals who refuse to follow rules, peo- ple who selfish- ly protect their loved ones over others. It all seems real today with coro- na becoming a scare world- wide. It feels like live reportage. ‘Contagion’, the film is horrifying but also a little comforting as the scien- tists do eventu- ally find and re- lease a vac- cine. Also, though a lot of people die, most of the world’s population manages to survive,” says soci- ologist Dipankar Gup- ta. According to Gup- ta, when watching ‘Contagion’, what’s most striking isn’t re- ally the central virus itself but the lesson in it for us. It teaches us we should usher in and read multiple in- terpretations (about the virus and its im- pact) and be wary of fake news. Every event can be per- ceived in a different way by different indi- viduals. You should not shut your eyes to it. Rather... read every- thing. It will help you to identify what is not true.” Every event can be perceived differently by different individuals. Read every interpreta- tion and then form an informed opinion GUEST EDITOR Why we should consider all interpretations, not be swayed by FAKE NEWS “A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a moulder of consensus.” - Martin Luther King, Jr. A belief of consensus gives lead- ers the power to not only lead their teammates towards the path of collaboration, but also gives them the opportunity to learn and be inspired from one another along the way. The idea of collaboration shows an exchange of new ideas and shar- ing of knowledge that can mediate student learning and enhance criti- cal thinking as they work through in different collaborative learning en- vironment. I am a collaborative leader, and I can’t begin to elaborate on how much I’ve learned and grown on my journey of ed- ucation by engaging myself in multiple collaborative writing tournaments and debates. Before I discuss my experiences as a collaborative leader, I would take this opportunity to further elaborate on the importance of collaborative writing. In simple terms, the collaborative writing is an activity that involves two or more people working together to pro- duce a written document by shar- ing ideologies and interpreta- tions with each other. Mul- tiple perspectives to one ques- tion are welcome in a collab- orative environment. Solutions are brainstormed among team members and facilitated by the management. They recognise the power of a group approach in solving a problem. Moreover, this activity helps in building student confidence, especially among those students who are lower-level writ- ers. Collaborative writing opens the door to more creativity and ideas as brainstorming begins and the syn- ergy builds. Working together pre- pares students for real world employ- ment where writing in teams may be a routine expectation. PARISHA BHUTANI, GD Goenka World School Calling... Collaborative writers who want to write and shine 1 Select your team of writers 2 Select a theme 3 Send us your collaborative writing at [email protected] 4 Please send original copies only 5 The best team gets featured in our pages ➤ When we welcome multiple perspectives, there is no room left for fake news — we can then check citations and sources, vet the publisher’s credibility and also weed out old articles that have been refurbished. What Is Collaborative writing? Collaborative writing is an activity that involves two or more people work- ing together to pro- duce a written docu- ment by sharing ide- ologies and interpre- tations with each other. Multiple per- spectives to one ques- tion are welcome. PLEDGE TO STOP PLAGIARISM Times NIE invites student queries on this habit to copy paste. Send your queries at [email protected] or log on to www.toistudent.com for more on this pledge Sonal Srivastava: How to address anger? What gov- erns it: ego or mind? ■ Acharya Shivender Nagar: Anger has a domino effect, but sometimes you have to use your anger with intellect and awareness. Spiritually evolved people don’t get an- gry. The mind is the seat of emotions. When my desires are fulfilled, I will have greed; if my desires are not fulfilled then I will have anger. The cause of all our anger is unfulfilled desires. There are weak desires and there are strong desires. For instance, if you have a strong desire that your son becomes a doctor, you will be disappointed if he does- n’t, and if you have a weak de- sire, then you will not be af- fected by the outcome. Desire is the root of all our emotions. The stronger your desire, the more you are afraid of losing acquisitions that re- sult from that desire. Fear comes when you fulfil your de- sire. You become fearful; you become arrogant. For instance, if you score 50/50 and others score 40/50. You will become arrogant. If you score less than the rest, then you feel jealous. It’s because of desires. ■ Acharya Shivender Nagar is founder of the Gita Foundation Two men were rid- ing on a train for the first time. One of them offered banana to his friend and began to peel one for him- self. Just then, the train entered a tunnel. “Have you tasted your ba- nana yet?” asked the first man, very alarmed. “No, I haven’t,” replied his friend. “Well, for heaven’s sake don’t!” said the first man. “I took one bite and went blind.” Two drunks were riding a roller coaster when one turned to the other and said, “We may be making good time, but I’ve a feel- ing that we’re on the wrong bus.” ht t p:// www .spe akingtr ee .in TRUE LOVE IS BLISSFUL Desire is the root of all our emotions. The stronger your desire, the more you are afraid of losing YOUR INTELLECT AND AWARENESS ONE BITE WRONG BUS SACRED SPACE Infinite Love As you live deeper in the heart, the mirror gets cleaner and cleaner. Jalaluddin Rumi ✥ Love is a longing to include someone as a part of yourself. It is a possibili- ty to become more than what you are, by inclusion. Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev ✥ Unarmed truth and uncon- ditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant. Martin Luther King, Jr ✥ Love recognises no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences to arrive at its destination full of hope. Maya Angelou Ezekiel Isaac Malekar W hat is love? To love is to accept, adopt or recognise. Love should make you happy, joyous, harmonious, and not miserable. The relation of God to His people is con- ceived as a union marked by love on one side and demanding a correspon- ding love on the other. This reciprocal love of God and people is expressed in cate- gories of familial or social unit, and we should not for- get love for our country. When you love some- body, it is just enough to be with him, even if we don’t say anything. We also know that just being in the pres- ence of someone we love, is enough. You don’t really have to do anything. God tells us that ‘I love you’ ‘I care for you’; God is always with us and He loves us. We all live in six di- mensions of north, east, south, west, up and down, but there is a seventh di- mension also in the world, the spiritual dimension. In physical dimension, we have to create things, but in the spiritual dimension we have to create positive atmosphere in our homes and in our relationships. True love demands sac- rifice, mutual sacrifice, happiness and joy. Let us all hope and pray that all of us will only love and project positive love, so that truly we will be wor- thy of God’s love. ■ Photo: GETTY IMAGES Is it safe to receive a letter or a package from China? Can regularly rinsing you nose with saline help prevent infection with the new coronavirus? Can eating garlic help prevent infection with the new coronavirus? Does the new coronavirus affect older people, or are younger people also susceptible? Are antibiotics effective in preventing and treating the new coronavirus? Can pets at home spread the new coronavirus (2019-nC0V)? Yes, it is safe. People receiving packages from China are not at risk of contracting the new coronavirus. From previous analysis, we know coronaviruses do not sur- vive long on objects, such as letters or packages. No. There is no evidence that regularly rinsing the nose with saline has protected people from infection with the new coronavirus. There is some limited evidence that regularly rinsing the nose with saline can help people recover more quickly from the common cold. However, regularly rinsing the nose has not been shown to prevent res- piratory infections. People of all ages can be infected by the new coronavirus (nCoV-2019). Older people, and people with pre-exist- ing medical conditions (such as asthma, diabetes, heart disease) appear to be more vulnerable to becoming severely ill with the virus. WHO advise people of all age to take steps to protect themselves from the virus, for example by following good hand hygiene and good respiratory hygiene. At present, there is no evidence that companion animals / pets such as dogs or cats can be infected with the new coronavirus. However, it is always a good idea to wash your hands with soap and water after con- tact with pets. This protects you against various common bacteria such as E. coli and Salmonella that can pass between pets and humans. Garlic is a healthy food that may have some antimicrobial properties. However, there is no evidence from the cur- rent outbreak that eating garlic has protected people from the new coronavirus (2019-nCoV) No, antibiotics do not work against viruses, only bacteria. The new coronavirus (2019-nCOV) is a virus and, therefore, antibiotics should not be used as a means of prevention or treatment. However, if you are hospitalised for the 2019-nCoV, you may receive antibiotics since bacterial co-infec- tion is possible.