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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 23, 1996)
MONDAY: Opinion TUESDAY: Politics WEDNESDAY: Opinion THURSDAY: Politics FRIDAY: Opinion editorials, letters, commentary and perspective BY MAIL: P.O. Box 3159, Eugene, OR 97403 BY PHONE: (541)346-5511 BY E-MAIL: ode@oregon. uoregon. edu IN PERSON: Suite 300, EMU Cheat and be damned - but not caught OPINION mm Sonja Sherwood UP AHEAD New academic policies are on the docket for a hear ing to amend the Student Conduct Code at 2 p.m., Nov. 1 in the EMU Walnut Room. The University is proposing to in crease campus participation in the judicial process by creating a review board comprised of students and faculty to hear cases of academic dishonesty. If academic integrity was taught at the University, somebody already would have the crib sheets There are a hundred ways to cheat in school. You can wear your baseball cap so it covers your eyes, stuff a cheat sheet into the holes of your jeans or write the answers on your desk the day before the exam. Have a big paper? Just phone up one of a number of “research assistance” companies around the country. Un sure of your ability to juggle your schoolwork with weekends at Ren nie’s? Join a fraternity and make hay with the house test-files. Still not convinced you’re damned? Go or der yourself a copy of “Cheating 101: The Benefits and Fundamen tals of Earning the Easy ‘A’,” the cheater’s handbook written by an undergraduate at Rutgers Universi ty — only don’t order it from the University bookstore (first lesson)! By all accounts, universities are brimming with cheats, thieves and liars. An abundance of studies by educators and ethics think-tanks all puzzle over evidence of the same problem: Academic dishonesty is rife. Even here!! In 1992, the Uni versity was included in a study of academic dishonesty in a number of public schools around the country. The percentage of students sur veyed from the University class of 1992 (some of you are still around — remember?) who admitted to cheating within the previous year was 91 percent. That’s higher than most students get on their tests even when they copy answers. 91 per cent wasn’t even atypical; the na tional average differed by only a couple of percentage points. What that means for the remain ing 9 percent are inflated overall GPAs and the knowledge that after college the good jobs will go to the ethical epsilons with padded vitae. Fair? No. Likely to change? No. Contemporary cheat rates are con sistent with those published 30 years ago, indicating that the prob lem isn’t growing, it’s merely self replicating. Which suggests that students’ moral fiber will continue to unravel at a steady rate, regard less of what punitive experiments are implemented. Like all things both social and bad, cheating is sys temic, and therefore just one of sev eral bad strokes on the big picture. Part of the problem is philosophy. American educators believe that do ing enhances thinking, when in fact it just as often substitutes for it. Ed ucators assign papers, projects, and presentations — sometimes all at once. This piles on the pressure and simultaneously cuts down on re flection, thus tempting students to take shortcuts while rendering the actual intellectual rewards of learn ing negligible. Work overload is a mindkiller. Ambitious students with high grades and a lot to lose are just as likely to cheat as the slackers. In addition, our social sys tem applauds networking activities, so that the typical student sets aside a few hours a week for at least one club or committee, sometimes even a sport. The only lesson many learn is that it really isn’t what you know, but who you know — and everyone knows a lot of people who know nothing. Another problem is that, verily, everybody’s doing it. Undergradu ates who cheat in school grow up to become adults who cheat on taxes, insurance, health claims, you name it. University administrators, too, have been known to inflate SAT scores to improve their reputation and lure new recruits. Some Califor nia high schools discovered a way to fleece the state of GPA-depen dent funding in the early ‘80s by re defining their student populations so that poor students weren’t fig ured into the calculations. Original sin, it turns out, is a little tricky to place. One thing that has come out of these studies is the hypothesis that the best way to treat temptation is to appeal to the conscience. Instances of academic dishonesty are typical ly lower at schools that have an honor code. These codes have ab solutely no authority beyond the ethical entitlement they bestow on you to give your inner child a sound spanking, but some speculate that codes have helped maintain the in tegrity of the private schools and military academies that use them. There’s no compelling evidence, though, that the conscience of a public school student is more hard ened than an Ivy Leaguer’s. It’s more likely that the high morals at private schools are simply the result of lower teacher/student ratios. Idle hands make mischief most merrily when nobody’s watching. If this is the case, then our post Measure 5, faculty-scarce Universi ty is in a hell of a bind. Which brings us to another of academia’s shortcomings, and probably the pri mary reason students cheat: They can get away with it. Sanctions ranging from failing the class to ex pulsion are in place but don’t do any good if the infraction is never detected, which — as 91 percent of the 1992 student body can attest — they usually aren’t. Sonja Sherwood is a columnist for the Emerald. Her views do not necessarily represent those of the newspaper. Sonja can be reached at cheers@gladstone.uoregon.edu LETTERS Useful Police This is in response to Simon Austin’s let ter, “Useless Police” (ODE, Oct. 16). He is highly critical of the Eugene police for not aiding him or his roommates after they were assaulted two weeks ago. I’m a cop here and believe we should be held accountable for our actions in this incident. Unfortunately, Mr. Austin is either ignorant of or lying about the truth in this case. We were called to 715 E. 16th Ave. re garding an assault at 1:37 a.m. on Oct. 6. The call was dispatched a minute later, and we arrived at 1:38 a.m. Officers detained an individual outside, but were informed by a resident who had been assaulted that he wasn’t the assailant. A six-page police re port was written, including Austin’s state ment that he didn’t know who the suspects were. Dozens of hours of investigation have taken place since that time, and three sus pects have been charged with felony counts of assault. A fourth suspect has been identi fied and will soon be arrested. Mr. Austin might be a “nice guy” and a heck of a good host; after all, he admits inviting four strangers into his house and giving them a free beverage. The 17-year olds appreciated the beer, Mr. Austin, but the police resent your inaccurate account and insults. Sgt. David Poppe Eugene police department Free party Those of you involved with student groups know the frustrations of getting your group’s name known on campus. Many clubs plan events to get the group name out, and although usually extremely successful, these events cost money! That is where the PARTY Fund comes into play. Your student group can apply for a mini grant to help with the cost of your fall event. We ask that your event/activity is planned for a Friday or Saturday night, and that it lasts until at least midnight. What is the purpose of the PARTY Fund? The Office of Student Life is providing these mini grants to encourage fun, safe, late night activities on campus. So how can your group apply? Pick up an application at the front desk of 364 Oregon Hall and fill it out. You plan the event, and we give money to aid you. It’s that simple! Call 346-1135 for a list of fun, upcoming events! Misty Brown PARTY Fund Student Director Educate yourself Voting is your right in a democracy. Exer cise it, even though the mass of initiatives appears cumbersome. Just choose a few to vote on that are important to you. Get to know something about a few of the candi dates and vote for them. Just receiving the huge voter pamphlet in the mail may be enough to turn you off. Reading it can be a daunting experience for all of us. You will get more information from the Eugene Weekly and the “other paper” than from the garbled language in the city/county/state publication. Be sure to note who is for and who is against a measure or candidate. If Monsan to wants the toxic right to know measure de feated, or the Coca-Cola people want the bottle bill voted down, you can figure out yourself where to put your vote. It’s easy. There are lots of opportunities to hear the candidates speak on campus. Take time out to learn from them what the issues are about. They are your future! Vote! Be in formed! Hilde Cherry Eugene Bin. Cl.INTON’S UUUIGE Bob Dole s Bridge... P.O. BOX 3159, EUGENE. OREGON 97403 Editor-in-Chief: Steven Asbury Managing Editor: Jennifer Carter Night Editor: Doug Irving Community: Jennifer Schmitt, editor. Jean Bond. Christion Hill Entertainment: Nicole Kreuger, editor. Jesse Stephenson Higher Education: Kristine Sohnrey, editor. Tamyra Howser, in depth Benjamin Kwasney Opinion: Ashley Bach, editor. Chris Hutchinson, illustrator. Brian Diamond. Larry Haftl, Sonia Sherwood Politics: Shana Cohn, editor. Doug Irving Special Projects: Tiffany Smith Student Activities: Kristin Bailey, editor. Angie Suchy, Tom Potter. Laura Cadiz Sports: Mark McTyre, editor Andrea DeYoung, assistant editor. Chris Hansen, Ryan Frank, Ryan Halvorsen Copy Desk: Thom Schoenborn, copy chief. Sarah Kickler, Mike Schmierbach, Kendra Smith. Paul Meznarich Presentation: Dennis Bolt, editor Cosmos Corbin, Matt Garton Photography: Mathew Stiffler, editor Andrew Brackensick, Joe Bunik, Amanda Erickson, Shannon Kilduff, Chad Patteson Freelance: Lara Pittman, editor On-Line: Nicholas Stiffler, director. The Oregon Daily Emerald is published daily Monday through Fri day during the school year and Tuesday and Thursday during the summer by the Oregon Daily Emerald Publishing Co. Inc., at the Uni versity of Oregon, Eugene. Oregon A member of the Associated Press, the Emerald operates independently of the University with of fices at Suite 300 of the Erb Memorial Union. The Emerald is private property. The unlawful removal or use of papers is prosecutable by law. General Manager: Judy Riedl Advertising: Becky Merchant, director. 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