Someone should sit down with Stephen Veselelak of Goldsworthy Chiropractic and explain to him that it’s better to have wonder about a possible lack of ethics on his part than it is for him to repeatedly publish plagiarized articles and remove all doubt about his ethical lapses.
I previously highlighted one of Veselak’s Family Primetime literary misadventures in this blog – http://antigobuzz.com/blogs/2010/04/08/more-chiro-plagiarism-in-the-antigo-daily-journal-by-albus/
You’d think after that, especially since it came after my exposure of Stacy Bula’s plagiaristic affront, the local chiro mafia would spread the word around their clan that their days of unfettered literary scamming are over. Look, guys and gals, you may be able to pull one over on Fred Berner, but then so could the average chipmunk. However, you can’t slip your crap past anyone with half a brain and an internet connection (a description sometimes leveled at me).
Veselak’s latest gaffe is in the July 2010 issue of Family Primetime, brought to you by the wonderful journalism wannabes at the Antigo Daily Journal. His… er… their piece is on page 5, and is titled “The back of cereal boxes offers good reading”.
Notice, first, that once again Veselak has ventured into unfamiliar ground for him, the universe of common knowledge about breakfast cereals created for and marketed to kids. Guess what, folks? They’re loaded with sugar! Heavens to Betsy, who would have thunk?
Veselak’s solution to this horrendous problem is, “So, next time you’re strolling the cereal aisle deciding what’s best for your family to eat, spend some time reading those nutrition labels on the back of the box before tossing it into your shopping cart. Remember, the ingredients list will tell you a lot more about what’s inside the box than the colorful characters and happy messages on the outside ever will!”
Good advice, and… Wait a minute. That sounds a bit out-of-style for Stephen, doesn’t it? Sounds like it might have been written by someone else, don’t ya think?
Sure enough. See the article “What’s in you cereal” at the To Your Health web site at http://www.toyourhealth.com/mpacms/tyh/article.php?id=1167
Here’s a sentence from the concluding paragraph of the To Your Health article: “So, the next time you’re strolling the cereal aisle deciding what’s best for your family, spend some time reading those nutrition labels on the back of the box before tossing it into your shopping cart. The ingredients list will tell you a lot more about what’s inside the box than the colorful characters and happy messages on the outside ever will.”
My, what an amazing coincidence!
The web site article starts out, “The conscientious parent tries to make the best choices when it comes to what their children eat and are willing to say “no” to the overly fatty, sugary or salty foods kids seem to gravitate toward.” After an introductory badly-written paragraph and a half, the Veselak article reads, “The conscientious parent tries to make the best choices when it comes to what their children eat and are willing to say no to the overly fatty, sugary or salty foods kids seem to gravitate toward.(And that I gravitate toward!)”
Gee, Stephen, thanks for the personalized parenthetical interjection. Veselak continues, “Instead, a parent will provide their child with a well-balanced diet, starting with the most important meal of the day, breakfast, which commonly includes, among other items, a wholesome bowl of cereal.” The To Your Health article at this point reads, “Instead, a responsible parent will provide their child with a well-balanced diet, starting with the most important meal of the day, breakfast, which commonly includes a wholesome bowl of cereal.” So, Stephen cut out the word “responsible”, probably because the word made him feel uncomfortable in the current circumstance, and injected “among other things” probably to show his commanding expertise in the subject and throw the plagiarism detectives off the trail. It didn’t work, Stephen.
The next 304 words of Veselak’s article are a word-for-word copy from the To Your Health article. Veselak invokes his privilege as a plagiarizer at the end of his collaborative piece, tacking on this tacky sentence, “And don’t forget to consult a nutritionist, your medical doctor or your chiropractot for their input on these matters, as they are willing to help!”
Yeah, Stephen, we already know what chiropractors are willing to do, thank you very much. By now, Fred Berner, alleged “Editor” of the Antigo Daily Journal and co-copyright violator, must be muttering to himself, “Fool me once, same on thee. Fool me twice, shame on me!” And that’s about it, too. Shame on Stephen Veselak and Fred Berner both for thinking that persisting in unethical behavior will somehow elevate their shabby activity to the level of social acceptance.
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Damn, this chick doesn’t really get it. I think she should just stop putting “her words” in the paper altogether.
“This chick” is Stephen Veselak. He may be journalistically unethical, but he’s male. The other chick fond of plagiarizing is Stacy Bula. I don’t think she’ll plagiarize any more. The prolific chiro “author” in Family Primtetime before her was Nicole deBroux. I’ll bet that If I could get my hands on Primetime archives, we’d find voluminous “accidental” text borrowing in her stuff, too. She claimed to cure colic, ear ache, ADHD, asthma, and maybe even poor vision and bad breath, all by jiggling vertebrae. With entertainers like these, who needs “America’s Funniest Videos”?
Albus, did you send “To Your Health” editors a link to your statement above? No? That’s okay–I did, after reading their EULA. Why? Because it pisses me off when someone steals MY intellectual property. I’d rather they steal my car. At least my car could be returned with no questions asked. Stealing copyrighted material is the theft that keeps on thieving.
Alfalfanator, there’s a lot of “nudge-nudge, wink-wink” plagiarism and recycled “informational pieces” in the chiro community. I doubt if there will be any action from the “To Your Health” people, though one can always maintain hope. The really shameful part is that Veselak and Fred Berner both are aware that (1) this activity is really crappy journalism, and (2) they can count on me to point our their obnoxious transgressions as soon as they happen. Yet, they persist in this anti-professional, unethical behavior.
Hey, guys! Steve, Fred — In my opinion, you’re unethical scam artists, inept at your chosen scurrilous professions, and bound, ultimately, to be tripped up by your own incompetence and disregard for community standards.