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CHEAT: ‘Moral rationality’ hedges personal guilt ► From Page 1 ► One in three students labeled collaborating with another person on individual work was cheating, and 43 percent admitted to such action. ► 62 percent said cutting and pasting from the Internet was cheating, but one-third said they used the technique for academic work. ► Less than 20 percent said they lied when asking for an exten sion and 60 percent said it was cheating. The varying results aren’t igno rance, McCabe said, they’re a result of “moral rationality.” “The main problem is that students often develop this ratio nality that it’s not a big deal because so many other people cheat and get away with it,” he said. He also said students distin guished between various levels of cheating. Although two-thirds admit to conduct prohibited by most stu dent honor codes, only 22 percent labeled themselves as serious cheaters. What’s a serious offense? Copying a test, purchasing a paper online and turning in work done by someone else all earned a des ignation of serious cheating by more than 90 percent of those sur veyed. Maurer made a similar distinc tion. “I don’t really get upset when I see people cheating on daily class work,” he said. “There is so much work that I can understand why students resort to it, but cheating on a test that would bother me.” But there is no rationality clause in the honor code. It defines academic honesty as “performing all academic work without plagiarism, cheating, lying, tampering, stealing, giving or receiving unauthorized assistance from any other person or using any source of information that is not common knowledge without prop VAN: ACC police await more information on abductions ► From Page 1 “We know there were students who were given a ride home to East Campus Village in the same white van on the September weekend, but no one has called to give us details or a description,” he said. “I’d really like them to call.” Two women reported they were abducted in a white van in downtown Athens Sept. 8 and 9 of the football game week end. A man offered them a ride and drove each woman to the same Oglethorpe County road. One woman, a University DELTA DELTA DELTA ‘Bozoting Tournament ‘Benefiting The American Cancer Society Prizes for Top 3 Teams Student Cottages for Sale & Lease Gredl In-Town Locations & Resort-Style Pool {LANDMARK PROPERTIES^ 706.543.1910 * landmdrkdthens.com Leasing: TGross@LaudmdrkAltiens.toni Sales: Katie(^Landmarklens.(om erly acknowledging the source,” Maurer said. Deborah Bell, coordinator for academic honesty, said most stu dent violators had time manage ment issues rather than morally dubious intentions. “Students often feel backed into a corner and panic,” she said. And the panic is more preva lent. Reports of possible academic honesty violations have more than doubled since 2000. There were about 175 possible violations reported in the academic year of 2000-2001, and according to the Office of the Vice President for Instruction, that number spiked to about 425 during the last aca demic year. But according to McCabe, with more than 30,000 students at the University, that total is low. “There is now a heavier focus on catching cheaters,” McCabe said. “But odds are you won’t get caught.” Process a ‘hassle’ McCabe said the most consis tent deterrent for student cheat ing is not the fear of public embar rassment but rather punishment. Asa result, he endorsed an honor code as the most effective solution to combat cheating. When an instructor suspects an incident of academic dishon esty he or she contacts the Office of the Vice President for Instruction, and from there the instructor and student have a facilitated discussion. Bell said most cases are settled at this stage, with an appropriate punishment negotiated between the two. If no agreement can be reached, an academic honesty panel convenes to determine if a violation has occurred. A punishment for first offense is the lowest possible grade on the assignment and one more sanc tion, such as a final course failing grade, a dishonesty transcript notation, suspension, dismissal or expulsion. student, was raped. The other, a woman from South Carolina, escaped and called police. A third woman, a University student, report ed a similar incident occurred in May. In these incidents, the driver posed as a courtesy taxi service and offered rides to the women. Officers have been post ed downtown following the reported abductions, and several suspects were cleared. “If you’re downtown, just make sure you’re with buddies and don’t get into a car by yourself,” On a second offense, violators receive the dishonesty transcript notation and will be suspended, dismissed or expelled. Only 6 percent of all cases make it to a panel, Bell said. She also touted the rising num ber of cases as evidence more teachers are reporting cheating. However, Archie Carroll, a University management professor who teaches business ethics, said there hasn’t been a case in his department in the last few years. And it’s not because he feels the classes are cheat-proof. “Most professors lost faith in the system,” he said of reporting students to academic honesty. “I believe most professors find a way around bringing charges against students.” He added many instructors say the process is a “hassle” since stu dents “frequently don’t face pun ishment.” In the past, Carroll said he met independently with the student and might have had them redo the assignment or weigh the grade between the old and new versions of the work. “I know according to the sys tem we’re not supposed to do that,” he said. “But that’s my ten dency if there are no blatant charg es.” Last spring, 172 students were reported for academic honesty violations, according to the Office of the Vice President for Instruction. Of such, 66 percent admitted violation and the remaining 34 per cent were either withdrawn, dis missed or did not reach an agree ment in the facilitated discussion between the instructor and stu dent. When asked if she felt teachers were reporting academic dishon esty, Bell said she “would like to say yes,” but she “couldn’t imagine a better model.” A Lost Cause? Philosophy professor Edward Halper does not condone cheating Dickerson said. “Only use a legitimate taxi service. People will always try to make money downtown.” Organizations such as Safe Campuses Now and The Omni Club continue to offer self-defense class es to students throughout October and November. Safe Campuses Now will hold the annual Girl’s Night Out and Guy’s Night Out safety lectures at 7 p.m. Monday in the Student Learning Center. Anyone with informa tion can call ACC Det. Ben Dickerson at 706-613-3337, ext. 793. 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" Kli, n|L w. peachmac macs • . ipods • software • sWvice * 1850 Epps Bridge Parkway (across from Lowe's) • 706-208-9990 • peachmac.com - : ' NEWS Underage students found tunneling beer By CAROLYN CRIST The Red & Black Six University students were arrested at College Park Apartments at 2:15 a.m. Wednesday, according to Athens-Clarke County Police. According to ACC police reports: Thomas Cory Campbell, 19, was given a noise viola tion citation, and two peo ple, not University stu dents, were charged with underage possession. The following students were arrested and charged with underage possession: The Red a Black [Friday, October 19, 2007 TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE 4. Turning in the same paper twice for two different classes is fine. a) True b) False 5. Sabotaging a computer to avoid a graded assignment is cheating. a) True b) False 6. Turning in a paper you bought online might be lazy, but it’s not plagiarism. a) True b) False - Quiz compiled by Matthew Grayson Answers: 1) and, 2) and, 3) and, 4) b, 5) a, 6) b but said the attitude in many classrooms fosters an environment where it can thrive. “Too often, classes are just hoops that students jump through to get to the next big thing,” he said. “We’ve got to get students really excited about the intrinsic value of an educa tion.” He said jt comes down to ratio nal choice, explaining students cheat if they feel they will not be damaged. “If the grade is all that matters and you cheat and don’t get caught, it’s an easy decision,” he said. Halper said teachers who try to spark a learning environment of critical thinking rather than reci tation often lose students because they are so concerned about grades. “Not exactly what I imagined when I entered the teaching field,” he said. As for Maurer, he smiled and shook his head when asked if edu cational value will ever outshine grades. “First and foremost will always be grades,” he said. “That will never change.” CRIME NOTEBOOK Campbell, Kate Christine Banghart, 18, Morgan Ashley Hayward, 18, Elizabeth Mackenzie Lewis, 18, Holly Morris, 19, and Kati Ann Odom, 18. Officer F. Troche of the Athens-Clarke County Police Department heard people yelling and talking and saw them sitting out side drinking beer from cans and a funnel. This was the second time Troche had issued a noise violation for the apartment and the third time he had been called to the same location. Council proposes ‘echo’ to Ga. plan By KRISTEN COULTER The Red & Black The University Council’s Executive Committee unanimous ly passed a plan Thursday proposing full domestic • partnership benefits for University System of Georgia employees. The plan, passed by Georgia State University’s faculty sen ate on Oct. 4, calls for health care benefits for domestic partners of University System employees. “We are proposing an echo” of Georgia State’s plan, said Adrian Childs, chair of the University Council’s Benefits Committee. The plan, which states domestic partner benefits are a signifi cant incentive in faculty recruitment, will be proposed to the Board of Regents. The council passed a similar measure in 2002, but the BOR did not address it at the time, according to The Red & Black’s archives. Childs said when the council made the proposal in 2002, about 200 schools offered domestic partner bene fits. Now, he said, about 300 schools provide these benefits. The University gives “soft benefits” to its employees’ domestic partners. These benefits include UGA ID cards and access to the Ramsey Student Center, libraries and other facil ities. Health care benefits are offered by the University System of Georgia and require approval by the Board of Regents, according to the proposal. In other business, the Executive Committee approved a plan to make notations on transcripts of stu dents expelled from the University for violating the academic honesty policy. The University Council will vote to approve these measures in its Oct. 30 meeting. 7