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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (June 25, 2002)
riALio Do^i| OLD Vo, >tj$ Girl like Aggielife The Battalion Page 3 • Tuesday, June 25, 2002 Following the Code of Honor Tp 'I *-4Students, professors contemplate the effectiveness of the Aggie Code of Honor 3VETHA' I OIL CO WIAU- wow; zhck£h: k WHATU rHEYTt**;.' ;otiatic : 76 rs K e laiM mployee ieking t or a rre; im ploys .chedis eme r fc of i\ By Kelcey Rieger THE BATTALION Almost every Aggie has experienced this sce- jnario. It is the night before a killer exam and (sleep is beckoning. The choice of going to sleep (and winging the exam the next day has come to (mind, but it is the last exam of the semester and Ian A is the only way to pass the class. According to the Aggie Code of Honor, ■•‘Aggies do not lie, cheat, or steal, nor do they ■ tolerate those who do,” but there are students Iwho will make the choice to cheat on the killer ■exam to make an A, putting their academic ■ integrity in jeopardy. Aggies are taught the Aggie Code of Honor, laccording to the Texas A&M University Student ■ Rules Book, in an effort to unify the aim of all I A&M students toward a high code of ethics and ■ personal dignity. Matt Pickard, a senior journal- | ism major, respects and honors the Code and ■ agrees with what it represents. “I honor it because it embodies the ideals that I make our university special,” Pickard said, “1 I also follow the code because it is in line with my ■ personal beliefs. I believe that, just like me, a | majority of Aggies abide by the Aggie Code of | Honor. If not in their everyday lives, then in most [matters pertaining to their academic careers.” A&M uses the Aggie Code of Honor in place (of a University-enforced set of rules and regula tions to prevent cheating on campus. Although | there are consequences to being caught cheating, I the Code is a different approach compared to j other large universities. “I would not prefer a University-enforced set (of rules,” Pickard said. ”1 think that any abuses | of the Code of Honor are a consequence of stu- | dents abusing the trust the University has given | them. I believe that if students act like adults and I carry themselves accordingly, the Aggie Code of | Honor will be fine as it is.” Dr. Bill Kibler, associate vice president of I Student Affairs, has seen many cases relating to I academic integrity at A&M. Kibler said A&M does not do enough to emphasize the Code of Honor to bring it to the attention of all students in effective ways. “It is clear from interactions with and survey of the students that the Code of Honor has a great deal of impact on many individual stu dents, but you cannot necessarily extend that to the entire student body,” Kibler said. “Being familiar with the Code of Honor and it actually having an impact are two different things.” According to Kibler and a 1997 survey of academic integrity at A&M, 99 percent of students surveyed are familiar with the Code. In the same sur vey, more than 88 percent of TAMU students admitted to some form of cheating dur ing their time at A&M. That number is higher than the national aver age for large public uni versities, which is approximately 80 per cent. Kibler said most of the cases of cheating at A&M fall into the categories that would be classified as typical, such as plagiarism, test cheating, unper mitted collaboration and gain ing access to test materials in advance. “The most unusual case I recall is a student a few years ago that was found to have taken advan tage of a professor’s methods of turning in papers,” Kibler said. “He had managed to exchange his name for another student’s name throughout the semester. So rather than copying material from other tests, he had actually managed to steal the scores of another student for an entire semester. He was caught when the professor determined that the other student appeared to have not turned in any work for the entire semester.” Professors have many methods of preventing cheating in their classrooms, such as providing scantrons for the exams, checking student IDs or passing out different forms of the exam. Danny Long, a junior environ mental design major, J , has never cheated dur ing his time at Texas A&M because circum stances do not allow him to. “My major requires me to take a lot of classes in studios where the majority of our work is drawing or vir tually impossible to duplicate,” Long said. “Although I haven’t cheated in these classes. I’m not too X sure about the other students. People A can find any way to cheat, but of course I usually don’t notice because I’m too preoccupied with taking my own test.” Long would prefer to hold his tongue if he did catch another person cheating. “I wouldn’t tell if I saw another person cheating because it really is none of my business, unless they were cheating JEFF SMITH • THE BATTALION me ’ ^Ong said. “This is a highly respected University and if people feel they need to cheat to get good grades, then maybe they shouldn’t be here.” Julie Salanger, a sophomore business admin istration major, found her first year at A&M to be very stressful and thought about cheating a couple of times. “It is pretty hard to cheat with some of the exam procedures professors have, but it can also be easy with the large size of the classes,” Salanger said. “When you are sitting only a cou ple centimeters away from the person sitting next to you, it can be tempting to have a peek at their exam. Sometimes it might be that one annoying question that will drive you to the edge.” Salanger said she knows about the Aggie Code of Honor, but she does not always see her professors enforce it. “I don’t remember hearing it from many of my professors or always seeing it on their syl labi,” Salanger said. “Even if it was on the syl labus it was never made a big point in class.” Although Salanger may not have found it to be prominent in her classes. Dr. Richard Gallagher, professor of agricultural economics at A&M, makes sure the Aggie Code of Honor is embedded in his students minds when they take their exams. “I believe the Aggie Code of Honor can be effective in the classroom when the students are reminded of it,” Gallagher said. “I discuss the Code and put a reminder at the top the tests in bold. I also write a separate, color-coded exam for every other student to reduce the pressure of the Aggie Code of Conduct.” Gallagher believes the policy on cheating at A&M is strict enough, but students need to be exposed to it as much as possible. “The Aggie Code of Honor and other policies are not discussed enough with the students,” Gallagher said. “Sure the students have the stu dent handbook and rules about A&M policies and procedures, but how many of them actually read or know the rules and repercussions of breaking rules, like cheating on exams?” ome Fun lents i ngmire Experience The Townhomes At Canyon Creek Open House every Wednesday during New Student Conferences 9:00 am - 6:00 pm. 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