By CANDACE MIERS

Staff Writer

The end of fall quarter is the time of year when students get cold sweats, spend quality time with library books and try to comprehend what a bunch of late poets wrote long ago.

It is term paper time at Tech.

"It's just too much," Kyle White, a sophomore architecture major, said. "My term paper is due at the same time my architecture project and another final [are] due."

White said the paper would not be such a big deal if the last week of the quarter was not so full of other work as well.

Dr. Sim Shattuck, an assistant professor of English, said the stress of term papers is just part of college.

"Writing term papers is what makes [college students] different from high school students," Shattuck said.

"College students are supposed to be able to gather information effectively and use critical thinking skills to find the truth. A society that no longer cares for the truth or teaches students the means to find the truth, is in big trouble."

The truth for detecting original papers has been easier for teachers thanks to http://www.Turnitin.com, a Web site that scans the Internet and other published works and compares them to students' submitted term papers, checking for any signs of plagiarism.

Shattuck requires his students to use Turnitin.com. He said the service of the Web site is given to the English department from the textbook company.

"It is quite effective in searching the Web for finding plagiarized materials," Shattuck said.

Effective, but stressful for some students. "This is the first year I have ever had to use Turnitin.com," Christopher Hart, a sophomore business major, said.

"Even though I know I don't plagiarize, the thought of a computer checking over my paper still makes me nervous when I have enough to worry about."

White agrees with Hart.

"I guess I will just have to start working early on my paper in small amounts until it's done," White said. "All the work isn't easy."

Shattuck said the stress of a paper can be eased on an individual basis by working with students who often panic.

"College is not easy," Shattuck said. "If it were, everyone would have a college degree. Surviving in college is not at all just about brains; it's about having the will to overcome problems and fears."