Continued: Letters: Has cheating become the norm in academics?

Has cheating become the norm in academics?

While completing paralegal training recently, I found myself in a familiar situation. In the midst of an open-notes test, two of my classmates seemed to find nothing wrong with sharing notes and pointing out answers to each other. Finally, I turned around to face them and said, "I didn't know we could share notes on this test."

While my comment put an end to the cheating, there were no repercussions for the cheaters. The instructor simply looked up, observed what was going on and continued with his work. Likewise, when one of my classmates discussed the issue with the administration, no action was taken. Because the school was small, I likely would have noticed if the students were called into the office for a reprimand. To my knowledge, this never occurred. Additionally, the administration failed to address the class as a whole regarding this issue.

I have a long-standing familiarity with academic cheating. At my high school, cheating on tests and quizzes was widespread.

The institutions I attended have no monopoly on academic dishonesty. A 2002 survey by Rutgers Management Education Center of 4,500 high school students found that 75 percent of the students had cheated. In the context of a society in which cheating is pervasive, the behavior of my paralegal school classmates makes sense. They made minimal effort to hide what they were doing, which made it clear that they had gotten away with cheating in the past.

Is it possible, given the widespread nature of academic cheating, that the social norm has changed to allow students to cheat to obtain the grade they desire? A strong argument could be made for this point, if not for the fact that cheating is still confined to unscrupulous students and the instructors who complacently allow them to get away with unethical behavior. I have yet to see a school website or literature that exclaims, "Our instructors look the other way when students cheat," or "Students here are free to cheat."

The responses of my classmates following my comment to the cheaters were interesting to observe. The class was composed of students in their 20s, 30s, and 40s. From what I could tell, the students who were most upset about the cheating were those in their 30s or 40s. Is it possible that when my older classmates attended high school and college, this type of behavior was not tolerated?

CAROLINE DAYKIN

FALCON HEIGHTS

U.S. sanctifying torture is threat to everyone

Never has the United States government allowed torture as an official policy until now. In fact, our government, from the beginning, disallowed it, for it was and is a practice representative of tyrannies. Torture's availability is a threat to the human rights of all citizens. When it is condoned anywhere in our system, it sets precedents and gives encouragement to the worst aspects of human nature. It can seep down to your local jailhouse. It threatens every citizen, for it bears the message "conform, or this can happen to you."

Nothing the Bush administration has done has been more insidious than their changing the definition of torture, making what is universally considered torture acceptable practice for agencies of the United States government.

JOHN E. CHRISTENSEN

ST. PAUL

Why did Gopher go pro? Answer is obvious

After reading Patrick Reusse's column and doing a little checking around, it's no wonder Kyle Okposo ditched the Gophers to turn pro. From what I was able to see, an NHL rookie can earn $180,000 to $850,000 a year. Add to that a possible maximum signing bonus of $87,000, and you get a very strong incentive to go.

SCOTT SKEESICK

ST. PAUL

A real new strategy for Minneapolis schools ...

Here we go again. Public schools in Minneapolis must change. A new direction is urgent. The Minneapolis school board has adopted another strategic plan. It reads: Raise performance, develop staff, restructure schools, end perceived racism, eliminate the achievement gap, along with other noncommittal statements.

To me, this sounds like the same old rehashed claptrap they have espoused for the last 30 years.

Has any of that worked out yet? As long as you have to continue to deal with this federal- and state-sponsored monopoly, any changes will be minimal and ineffective.

The whole system should be dumped and opened up to legitimate competition. Our children deserve better.

JOHN R. PENAS

WOODBURY