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Editorial: Cheating not worth consequences

Learn from Duke students, prepare for finals instead of cheating

By Tasha Riggins

Tuesday, May 8, 2007

With May beginning to bloom, most people think of flowers or warm weather. Students see these first few weeks of May as finals time. Cramming for tests, writing papers and making note cards, these are the attributes of the first few weeks of May for almost every student.

Last week 34 students at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business didn’t prepare for May. These students were caught cheating in the prestigious business school. According to a report in the Middletown Journal, “The average age of students in the first-year class is 29, and more than 1,140 people applied for only 411 available spots in the program.”

So not only are these students cheaters, but they’re deep into adulthood and have competitive test scores, resumes and academic ability.

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So not only are these students cheaters, but they’re deep into adulthood and have competitive test scores, resumes and academic ability.

So these “students” — using the term loosely — each compete for a spot in a competitive school, they spend nearly $50,000 a year for tuition and now they’re getting kicked out because they didn’t want to learn. These students went through an arduous process to get into this school and learn, and then they cheated to avoid learning; that’s irony at its wasteful finest.

Any good business student should perform a basic cost-benefit analysis before following through with a transaction. I’ll help them examine it: getting a C on a test is better than being at least $50,000 in debt with no degree and crime, like a big scarlet letter, on your permanent record for up to three years. Clearly, we would not want these people managing our money anyway. Not only do they lack ethics, but they can’t perform a basic business task.

Students, especially in large lecture classes with multiple-choice tests, can almost always find an opportunity to cheat. What University of Kansas students need to remember next week is that cheating not only cheats the academic system, but it also cheats that person using the answers written on her hand.

Getting caught cheating next week would be infinitely worse than losing a few points on a test. We’re all paying to be here — or our parents or the government are — so don’t waste all that money for a quick fix to something you could have controlled to begin with.

— Tasha Riggins for the editorial board

Comments

abcdefg (anonymous) says...

You should do better due diligence before reporting incorrectly:

http://tinyurl.com/3cttns

To summarize the AP story: 9 students face expulsion, 15 students could be suspended for one year and receive a failing grade in the course, 9 students are set to receive a failing grade, and 1 student could receive a failing grade on an assignment other than the exam. 4 others were found not guilty.

May 8, 2007 at 4:51 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

KUCatholic08 (anonymous) says...

I would like to point out this is the second time in around 2 weeks that an article has been written by Ms. Riggins for the Editorial Board which shows a lack of dilligence in research. Hopefully this will not be a continuing occurence. Our paper is one of the best college papers in the nation and therefore its writings should be accurate and reflect its prestigous reputation.

May 9, 2007 at 12:07 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

todd1007 (anonymous) says...

i disagree. this paper is poor to marginal at best. there are only four or five persuasive writers on the staff. the rest deserve to me mocked.

May 9, 2007 at 2:36 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

Eudoxus408bc (anonymous) says...

Tasha's problem is one of assumption.

It is assumed that the students were more than capable academically when in reality, of the 411 spots, surely there were some who cheated their way through their undergrad or just used straight up nepotism to get into the school.

It is assumed that these students didn't do a cost benefit analysis when my guess is they did. They probably assumed a .5 pecent chance of getting caught and an understanding of possible consequences. They might have been facing the loss of financial aid/parental support without adaquate grades make this a fiscally smart decision.

It is assumed that the person is cheating themselves. Haven't we all taken classes we don't care about merely to graduate. Haven't we all crammed for exams just to forget the information 24 hours later. What were they cheating themselves of if these were the case?

I think these business school students should be rewarded in all business classes (except ethics, of course) for the embodiment of all that is taught in them. You need to look to maximize gain while minimizing risk. Whoever is paying for school is your stock holder and they expect the best return on their investment and sometimes that means putting it all on the line for the big score.

May 11, 2007 at 9:37 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

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