Headline: Commented [M1]: Add a headline

Name, major, graduation year:

It’s a problem that finally caught the attention of administration administrators and faculty Commented [M2]: Style note: typically, we try to keep
during the past wave of finals, but prevalence of cheating at the Cooper Union has long been a paragraphs short (around 6 line in MS word) because
they’re easier to read in column form.
point of contention among “honest” students. I say “honest” students because not all cheating is
of equal magnitude: copying homework and fabricating data for a cookie-cutter lab stands miles Formatted: Indent: First line: 0.5"

apart from cheating on exams,. which Cheating is especially heinous in certain curved classes, Commented [M3]: How so? Back up this point.
where undeserved high marks throw off the average, directly impacting the grades of everyone
in the class. Only by understanding why and how cheating occurs can effective preventative
measures be developed. Commented [M4]: Could be a good block quote when
we lay out your article
The thing that makes cheating so appealing is how hard it is to prove. It’s not to say that Commented [M5]: What about getting high grades?
nobody notices: with such a small student body, cheating is readily apparent and repeat Or how easy it is to get away with?
offenders gain a certain notoriety. Unfortunately, reputation alone just doesn’t cut it as evidence.
Notice how Snoop isn’t in jail despite being widely known as a botany enthusiast? Or, similarly,
how Al Capone had to be arrested for tax evasion despite being a well-known mobster kingpin? Commented [M6]: nice
Even “known” cheaters will never have a solid case behind against them … as long as they Commented [M7]: Do you mean cheaters know
never get caught, right? As it turns out, even being caught in the act isn’t enough. among the student body but not among faculty?
During last semester’s finals, one professor attempted to videotape students using their Commented [M8]: That’s intense. How did you hear
phones on the exam despite having already caught them cheating because in the world of about this? You don’t have to cite a source about this in
the article, but do make sure you’ve verified this.
academic dishonesty, testimonies are meaningless! Anything short of hard photographic
evidence runs the risk of turning into a game of he-said she-said. Formatted: Indent: First line: 0.5"
In theory, it makes perfect sense for accusations of academic dishonesty to require
rigorous evidence; otherwise, a professor with a personal vendetta can easily get a student Commented [M9]: Or another student, right?
expelled over a baseless accusation. In practice, the scary-sounding consequences of
academic dishonesty are a vicious dog with no teeth. Only the most blatant, heavy-handed
incidents actually result in punishment, with the vast majority of cheaters effectively granted
amnesty. The risks are low, and the rewards are high. Personal integrity is the only thing at
stake, really, and when you consider the value that most people give to their own integrity, it’s
no surprise that cheating is such a widespread disease.

Knowing that it’s effectively impossible to punish cheating after the fact, professors need
to take a more proactive approach: by making it harder to cheat in the first place. The fact of the
matter is that, a lot of cheating occurs simply because of how easy it is. Aside from the obvious
phone-under-the-table trick, one popular method is “the Human Centipede”, a staple of
Professor Wolf’s exams. A group of friends will sit together in a row, with the kid who actually Commented [M10]: I would take out any mention of
studied passing their answers up the row like a game of tTelephone. Multiple forms, even with Prof. Wolf’s name. Does it only happen in the Great
Hall?
scrambled question and answer orders, does nothing to deter this behaviourbehavior as long as
the questions themselves are identical between forms. Given that this method is entirely
dependantdependent on seating, it’s mildly surprising that Professor Wolf has yet to assign
seats during exams.
Another favorite is the “Better Late than Never”, usually used after short quizzes, in Formatted: Indent: First line: 0.5"
which a group will share answers and correct their papers together before handing it in well after
the time limit. This type of cheating could be curbed with strictly enforced end times, as well as
some basic attentiveness. Then you have the “Let’s Ask Yesterday’s Section Because They
Had Literally Thethe Same Quiz”, which… alright, let’s be honest, if a professor actually does
this, the blame’s on them for making it that easy. Commented [M11]: This is pretty harsh towards
professors. Maybe you could mention that the problem
is avoidable by making different exam forms
However, not all current measures are pathetic and ineffectual. One class’Some classes
have final exams had with several forms, where equivalent questions were only conceptually Commented [M12]: What measures have been
taken?
similar;. if you could extrapolate the answer to your own question based on someone else’s
exam, chances are you already knew the material pretty well to begin with. Even though writing Commented [M13]: I’m not sure what you mean here.
and grading this format of exam is presumably more work for the professor, it goes to show that
hard work gets results.

[Closing sentence about how the Student Council is drafting a letter with more suggestions for
professors to follow]