The technological marvel of word processing should greatly improve teaching effectiveness in the writing class, but this beneficial technology also brings its potential dark side: unethical activity, from plagiarism to the manipulation of a writer's words and, potentially, thoughts. Naive computer users may view the machine as a passive provider of electronic games, not realizing its potential for questionable activities. Teachers and business professionals must become aware of how this technological marvel could be misused.Computer word processing has been joyously embraced by many writing teachers and with good reason, for this technology encourages the generating of ideas and the writing of multiple revisions, two areas of major importance for all writers. Most recent academic conferences for writing teachers have allotted panels to speakers celebrating the wonders of this technology, and these sessions fill quickly with listeners who marvel at the power and usefulness of the computer in the classroom. In this article, however, I have come not to praise Caesar, nor to denounce him, but to describe possible abuse of computers used for word processing. While these machines offer the potential for students and teachers to develop stronger writing skills, they also increase the opportunity for major unethical behavior, both on campus and in the marketplace. As educators and professional technical writers, we must consider methods of dealing with these problems because students' behavior in the classroom almost certainly informs their behavior after graduation. 1 0 1987, Baywood Publishing Co , Inc.

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