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The Battalion
Page 3 • Tuesday, June 25, 2002
Following the Code of Honor
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*-4Students, professors contemplate the effectiveness of the Aggie Code of Honor
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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?”
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