who tried that excuse. She turned in a paper that was obviously plagiarized. When confronted with the evidence, she first denied it - evidence notwithstanding - and then, to the astonishment of my friend, said,

"I didn't do this - my grandmother did it."

As if, somehow, that fact that someone else had written her paper using un-sourced material made it okay.

She failed. Perhaps her grandmother should have failed, also, since she didn't cite the material. But she wasn't taking the course and the responsibility lay with the student.

The staffer did poorly by failing to cite - but Mr. Williams is ultimately responsible for the words he claims as his own.

Throwing grandma under the bus