Cheating
(Note: This piece contains examples of bold-faced and unapologetic plagiarism. If that kind of thing bothers you, stop here.)
Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. It appears, as of late, that higher education is one very unhappy family. What with scandals ranging from rape allegations at Duke, to hazers gone wild at Northwestern (and elsewhere, if photos posted on Facebook pages are to be believed) to plagiarism at ________________ (you fill in the blank). Then, there’s that poor fool at Boston University who made the fatal mistake of irking visiting faculty member (and crack investigative journalist) Renata Adler and allegedly lying about his publishing record to the student newspaper.
Yes, friends, it was the best of times, it was the worst of times. At least that’s probably how Kaavya Viswanathan feels right now. The only worse thing that could happen to the Harvard undergraduate, who plagiarized parts of her debut novel, would be to have her name become a verb. “Oh no. I just got nailed for Viswanathaning.” Come to think of it, maybe having one’s name used as an adjective is even more hideous. “Young man, this kind of Viswanathanian writing may pass for undergraduate work at Harvard, but certainly not at the University of __________________” (you fill in the blank).
I have this sneaking suspicion that plagiarism is to higher education, what leaking radioactivity was to Chernobyl. I feel as if we’re viewing a catastrophic meltdown of higher education in the pages of the mainstream media. At Ohio University, evidently no one in the engineering department was paying attention while their students ripped off the research of others. Then again, a recent study released by the Center for Academic Integrity at Duke University says that 70 percent of 50,000 undergraduate college students polled admitted to cheating in college. Twenty five percent of those same students admitted to cheating on major tests and finals. Should we be surprised, then, when graduate students cheat? By the same token, should our mouths fall open when college faculty plagiarize? Who, after all, is going on to graduate school and into the professorate? Those same 35,000 undergrads who cheated their way into graduate schools. These same people go on to lift research from others and slide their way into peer-reviewed journals and scholarly book deals.
I have had some pretty interesting discussions recently about cheating. My kindergartener is very decided on the subject: cheaters should be punched (it’s a phase he’s going through, and we’re working with him). My eldest son is of the set-in-stone opinion that cheating is wrong, and that cheaters should receive swift and severe punishment. I think his idea is something along the lines of having one’s desk moved to the front of the classroom near the blackboard. “Eyes on your own paper” is the phrase that probably comes to mind for all of us who can still remember third grade. So, how is that by the time he and his classmates get to college, 7 out of 10 of them will, statistically, become cheaters?
Will we fail our children in some significant way, and turn them into the depraved plagiarists and exam stealers one reads about in the mainstream media these days? Will peer pressure be the trigger? According to an article published in the Seattle Spectator, “in an ABC News poll, college students across the nation cite the lack of ethics in today’s world as an excuse for cheating.” So, what this means is that kids are looking around and doing just what parents throughout eternity have warned against: “For Ra’s sake, Amenhotep, if all your friends were jumping off the top of a pyramid, would you jump too?”
In our September/October issue, we’ll have an interview with Mark Hyatt, the Executive Director of the Center for Academic Integrity. In that piece, the subject of cheating will come front-and-center for a full and honest examination.
In the meantime, let me tell you about this issue of the magazine. We have some splendid essays. To begin, Oronte Churm tackles the topic of hawking comp. copies of college textbooks. Are you selling yours? Is it ethical? Is it legal? Is it kosher? Oronte sorts it all out. Hold off on visiting eBay until you’ve read his piece. Essayist John Peter Daly writes about academic freedom from a unique perspective. He lost his job as an adjunct at a community college in New Jersey for sending a pointed email to a student concerning the war in Iraq. He’s teaching in Florida now–at a college where adjuncts are forced to sign a contract that includes a morals clause. Liz Carter writes about academic association policy statements in this issue. She argues that, for policy statements to be effective, there needs to be more biting (though no punching, of course).
Mike Kielkopf, in his first piece for the magazine, writes about California’s “80 Percent Proposal.” The state’s part-time faculty association backs changing the law so that part-time faculty can teach 80 percent loads on any number of campuses.
Finally, in this issue, you’ll find one of the most in-depth pieces we’ve ever published–a 7,000-word interview with five faculty union presidents. We asked them if part-time and full-time faculty should be represented together in their union locals (along with some other questions, as well). I hope you’ll enjoy reading this issue of Adjunct Advocate, and share your copy with a colleague. –P.D. Lesko
