You're in the middle of an econ test that you think you're bombing, so you sign online with your T-Mobile Sidekick cell phone and IM your roommate, asking him or her to explain comparative and absolute advantage to you, ASAP. Welcome to cheating in the new millennium.
Though text-messaging technology provides students with a new way to cheat, attempting to do so in some classes at Tufts would be a problematic endeavor.
History Professor George Marcopoulos said many history exams are written ones that involve conceptualization, and it's "virtually impossible" to transmit concepts via text messaging.
In departments which focus on quantitative analyses, such as the biology and engineering departments, text messaging is well suited to cheating. Professors safeguard against these possibilities, however. In biology exams, "the first time you pull out your phone you would definitely be under questioning," senior Alyssa Lillo said.
More old-fashioned methods of cheating, however, have increased on the Tufts campus. Dean of Students Bruce Reitman said that academic dishonesty cases involving plagiarism have tripled during his four years as Dean of Students.
The abundance of academic information on the Internet raises intellectual property right concerns. As more and more students use the Internet to research information, the distinction between plagiarism and original work has been blurred.
The Tufts Academic Integrity Pamphlet defines plagiarism as ranging from word-for-word copying of texts to cutting and pasting phrases of someone else's writing. Because of the complexities of plagiarism, students often forget that not citing properly or simply rephrasing others' thoughts is actually cheating.
"There's a distinction between plagiarism, which is being honest but not recognizing sources, and fraud," Reitman said.
Although no university-wide honor code exists, Tufts faculty expects students to maintain the highest level of academic integrity. If suspected academic dishonesty does occur, however, it is up to the professor to decide whether they want to handle the matter individually, or to report the case to the Dean of Students. Punishments for cheating vary depending on the gravity of the infraction.
Students agree that some degree of cheating does occur on campus, though it is generally in the form of copying problem sets or homework problems. Grades on these assignments usually have less impact on a student's final grade than papers or tests.
When it comes to situations where individuals have to show their proficiency in a subject, many Tufts students pressure themselves into self-sufficiency. "That's why during exam periods, people are holed up in the library," Lillo said.
For others, though, laziness may be a determining factor in the decision to cheat. "Some kids waste time and don't study, but want the good grades," senior Kate Rosenbaum said.
Humanities professors like Marcopoulos minimize cheating on in-class exams by mandating that students sit at least one seat apart from one another. Also, when Marcopoulos assigns take-home written essays, finding plagiarism is easy: his small class sizes allow him to recognize each student's writing style.
Like many other faculty members, Marcopoulos trusts his students.
"I don't go in looking for cheaters; I expect students to maintain their own academic integrity." he said.
Public disclosures of cheating, such as reporter Dan Rather's mishaps with CBS, have made some Tufts students more aware of the consequences of dishonesty. Senior Tim Reardon agrees that cheating is "putting your career on the line."
Although corporate fraud and the downloading of free music may blur public conceptions of cheating and not cheating, to several Tufts students, these have no effect on their own academic honesty.
"I think that while other scandals affect the way we may think about piracy or white collar crimes, academic cheating is in a class by itself," junior Carrie Benjamin said.
Reitman said that the recent public mishaps are unfortunate, adding that "the most valuable thing that any of us have is our reputations, because they affect everything we do."
