6 U. THE NATIONAL COLLEGE NEWSPAPER FEBRUARY 1988 6 U. THE NATIONAL COLLEGE NEWSPAPER FEBRUARY 1988 CHEATING: Student survey Question YES NO Do you think there is a general attitude% 4''% on campus that cheating is OK as long as 53% 47 you don't get caught? Do you think it is easy to cheat on most %Of 6O% exams at this university? Have you ever cheated? 40% 6 % OTHERSURVEYS A GW Hatchet random survey... of 95 stu- dents concluded almost 66 percent of those polled have cheated to some degree on an exam at least once at George Washington U. Forty-four percent of those students have cheated more than twice and 20 percent of them said they cheat on 50 percent of the exams they take. Rich Katz-The Hatchet, George Washington U., DC More than 25 percent of students... engage in academic dishonesty on one or more occa- sions during their undergraduate studies, ac-ord. ing to a 1986 survey reported by the Pennsylva- nia State U. Collegian. The poll was conducted by Elizabeth Nuss, executive director of the National Association of Student Personnel Admi- nistrators in Washington, D.C. Carol Chase- The Collegian, Pennsylvania State U. Cheating is acceptable. .. in some situations, said 25 percent of 211 undergraduates poled by the Loyola U.Maon, and 97 percent of61tlaw students surveyed said cheating is never accept- able. Forty-six percent of the undergraduates said they rarely cheated, 44 percent said they never cheated and the remaining 10 percent cheated sometimes or often. Rich Zagrzecki-The Maroon, Loyola U., LA The number of academic dishonesty cases- . . especialy plagiarism -- reported at the U. of Southern California has increased 50 percent, said Valerie Paton, assistant dean of student affairs and director of student conduct. Last year, 38 percent of the academic dishonesty cases reported concemed plagiarism - an increase of 17 percent from 1985-86 when 21 percent invled plagiarismshe said. Plagiarism was the singe largest category of academic dishonesty in the 198687 USC schd year. Tommy Li- Daily Trojan, U. of Southern California *.* II Continued From Page 1 said. "I just thought it would be in my best interest to be honest and admit to it. "If someone were to come up to me with the same kind of situation as mine today, the bottom line is I would tell them not to (cheat)," he said. But if the person did decide to cheat, Steve said, "I would tell them to do whatever they had to do, or say whatever they had to say, to get out of it because the most important thing is to stay in school." The university's discipline process begins with an instructor who believes a student is guilty of academic dishones- ty. According to the university Code on Campus Affairs and Regulations Ap- plying to All Students, the professor notifies the student and allows him or her reasonable time to respond to the allegation. The instructor then decides what action to take. In Steve's case, the professor's recom- mendation for dismissal was a rare one. Rather than dealing with the complica- tions of the disciplinary process (Steve's hearing lasted about three months), most professors opt to give the studenta failing grade for the assignment or the course, said John Scouffus, executive director of the Student Senate Com- mittee. But behind every student that gets caught for cheating, there are many more who get away with it. At least two university students admit to having someone take an exam for them without much of a flinch. One student had a friend take an exam for her so she could leave early for a semes- ter break. The other student, Joe, said he took a couple of math exams for his roommate. "It's easy to cheat here," Joe said. "Probably because of the huge numbers of students." In Joe's case, he and his roommate both took the exam. When it was over, Joe handed the exam to his roommate and left. The roommate threw his test away, went up to the proctor collecting the exams, showed his ID, handed in Joe's exam and left. It was that simple. But because a friend of Joe's was dis- missed for taking an exam for someone else, Joe says he will not take any more tests unless they are his own. In all of these instances, the decision whether to cheat did not involve a ques- tion of right or wrong, but whether the student would get caught. At least a handful of administrators and profes- sors believe this attitude is a reflection of the nation's values today. "We are finding people lying and cheating all up and down our society," said economics Professor Marianne Ferber. "I mean we are seeing people on national television saying that they lied and people think they are national heroes." "It's a question of ethics," Scouffus said. "I'm sure there's a lot of pressure on students to succeed especially in an atmosphere like ours where we are dealing with students who have very strong professional direction." Engineering senior Ted said he would never cheat in a class in his major. For a class outside of the core curriculum, he may make a distinction. Scouffus said, "This idea undermines than your major. You can't be intellec- the whole purpose of a college educa- tually barren. If that's what you want, 4 tion. You must have an interest in more you should go to vocational school." How to run your mown show 4 The American Express' Card can plav a starring role virtually anywhere you shop, from'Tlsa to Thailand. Whether you're buying a'T or a T-shirt. So during college and after, it's the perfect way to pay for just about everything you'll want. How to get the Card now. College is the first sign of success. And because we believe in your potential, we've made it easier to get the American Express Card right now. 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