Cheating proves wrong, disrespectful

Answer the following questions about your academic integrity. Be honest and no looking at your neighbor's Exponent.

1.) True or False? You have cheated or been academically dishonest while at Purdue.

2.) Which of the following is a form of academic dishonesty?

A. Copying another's test

B. Using an unauthorized test aid or "crib sheet"

C. Substituting on a test for another student

D. Working through difficult problems with a study group

E. All of the above.

The answers? Well, according to a workshop on cheating last week, most if not all of you should have answered "True" for the first question because the answer to the second is "E."

Cheating exists at many levels. Just as there is a difference between a "little white lie" and an act of perjury to prevent your removal from office, there are different levels of cheating.

According to the University Senate's policy, any work you submit that is not entirely your original ideas or the properly cited ideas of others is cheating.

Still, when someone in a study group helps you learn what the correct answer is and why, academic dishonesty runs dangerously close to learning.

Higher learning is higher difficulty and higher competition for a grade. Thus, the temptation to cheat, at any level, is powerful.

Cheating damages Purdue. Though some damages are greater than others, many — if not all — of us are suspected of sacrificing our integrity and the integrity of the University for a grade.

Take some time to study so that your grade doesn't need unethical help. Respect yourself enough to keep your eyes on your own paper.

Editorial Board: Keith Thomas, Tom McHenry, Melissa Davis and Laura Pelner.

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