The Red and Black

Issue date: 10/13/08 Section: Opinions

A cheater meter

University faculty and students should work to eliminate cheating in classes

A University survey found 40 percent of students and 12 percent of faculty said it was acceptable to fake a bibliography. In the same survey, 45 percent of faculty admitted to ignoring an incident of cheating.

The Red & Black editorial board finds these results incredibly concerning.

We understand that in some situations, some students are going to cheat.

Though the ideal survey response would be 0 percent of students say cheating is OK, we recognize that is not the reality. But these results are much higher than the reality should be.

We also worry about the percentages of faculty who say they permit cheating.

The University is an institute of higher education, and its faculty members should be committed to promoting academic honesty.

Faculty who ignore cheating are enabling cheaters, allowing students to gain an unfair advantage and are not teaching students to learn.

We understand that the process of reporting cheaters takes large amounts of time that professors don't have, but the University needs them to respond to academic dishonesty.

Jere Morehead, the University's vice president for instruction, told a reporter from The Red & Black that the survey's results were "surprising." He said he will work with the school's coordinator for academic honesty to address the responses.

We hope Morehead takes the lead in shrinking the amount of students who say they find cheating acceptable.

If there is confusion on the policy, administrators should mandate that professors discuss the academic honesty policy in depth on the first day of class.

To be uniform, the professors should go through the academic honesty policy as it is written.

As an institute of higher education, the University should lead the charge in working to eliminate cheating in classes, and students should take it upon themselves to stop cheating.

- Kristen Coulter for the editorial board

Cats and dogs

Two University groups give back to the community working with furry friends

Animal Planet selected the faculty sponsor of the University's Cats on Campus group as a finalist for its Cat Hero of the Year award.

A number of students are working with the Athens area Guide Dog Foundation, training puppies to become seeing eye dogs in the future.

The Red & Black editorial board commends both organizations for their service to the community.

Cats on Campus raises money to care for the cats, and more than 100 have been adopted because of the group's help. The group's volunteers tend to feral cats without a home.

Participants in the Guide Dog Foundation commit to caring for a dog for one year to socialize it before it can lead the blind.

We would like to thank the students involved for their positive representation of the University and remind others of the multitude of volunteer opportunities around campus.

- Kelly Shaul for the editorial board

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