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Making amends
Thirty-four years have passed since I
graduated from the University. It was to
have been a time of celebration since I was
the first of my immediate family to gradu
ate. Though family and friends came, there
was no joy for me. Instead, I only had the
memory of my tightly-held secret "that I had
cheated in order to receive my degree.
It all began during fall quarter of my se
nior year. I was faced with taking U.S. Histo
ry, a class I had dreaded and put off. I took
an incomplete to avoid the final exam. But
when spring quarter came around, the exam
could no longer be avoided. What a surprise
it was when, arriving at the professor’s of
fice, I was told I could go wherever I wanted
to write the exam. Knowing how unpre
pared I was, I walked into the women’s
lounge, opened my book, took out my notes
and wrote the exam.
For years, I tried to justify my behavior by
blaming the professor for giving me the op
portunity to cheat, but in my heart I knew I
was responsible and had violated my fami
ly’s standard of honesty. Though I was suc
cessful in my profession, I often thought “if
only they knew the truth. ”
After two years of taking an intense moral
inventory, I was challenged by the truth that
one day I would stand before God and give
an account of my life. I also realized that I
had violated a sacred trust with my family,
friends and university. I knew that I not only
needed to tell the truth, but also make resti
tution in order to be set free from the conse
quences of cheating.
With this resolve, I called the University,
told the truth and requested a plan of resti
tution. Immediately, I experienced great re
lief and deep peace.
The writing of this letter, as part of my
restitution, has given me a new understand
ing of what happened when I cheated.
Cheating is not a single act without conse
quences. For when I cheated I had to cover it
with a lie and deceive others into believing I
was someone I was not. I had also set in mo
tion the principle of “sowing and reaping,”
for when one cheats, lies and deceives, he
or she will be cheated, lied to and deceived.
Recently a psychologist, after hearing my
story, told his listening audience I had ab
normal guilt that would require years of
therapy. Because I was never able to balance
out one bad thing with all the good things I
had done, he said, 1 couldn’t come to peace
with my action. What an outrage. He totally
ignored the truth that what I had done was
wrong and that I was responsible for my be
havior.
The psychologist publicly gave permis
sion to do whatever we want as long as we
balance it out with doing good. This is a
lie that has permeated our society, and I
am living proof that it does not work. Fol
lowing his advice would keep us living the
lie, deceiving others and ourselves in or
der to believe it. There is only one way to
get freedom from the consequences of
cheating. It is by telling the truth, seeking
forgiveness and making restitution.
Linda Russell
Alumna, ‘62
Teens need reason
I commend Brian Diamond on his wise
column regarding drug education (ODE,
Dec. 2). He clearly understands one of the
fundamental problems with this country’s
failed attempts at reducing the problem. If
our leaders who create our drug policy were
as understanding as Mr. Diamond is of teen
drug use, they could perhaps become more
useful in their efforts.
To add to Mr. Diamond’s observations, I
would also like to say that conflicting mes
sages also hurt drug education. For exam
ple, amphetamine prescriptions for stu
dents who allegedly suffer from “attention
deficit disorder” do no one any good. This
and other socially condoned uses for “good”
drugs lead young teens to an inescapable
conclusion: certain drugs can be useful to
enhance your life or solve a problem.
Kids are better learners than we give them
credit for. I can understand how many may
lose faith in society’s often arbitrary and
even hypocritical position that says drugs
are okay. Until we create a reasonable ap
proach to drug use in this country—includ
ing “legal” drugs such as medications, alco
hol, nicotine, and caffeine — our children
will continue to be confused and suffer from
ill-informed decisions.
Brendan Kane
Law