Cheaters...

[federated]

Just one, and it sucks because it was my closest friend in my program. I found out that she'd plagiarized much of a paper she'd written for a class we took together--though the prof didn't fail her; just gave her a C because it was a pretty crappy paper...don't think the prof wanted to get involved in dealing with any disciplinary drama since she was just visiting for the year...and then I later found out that her boyfriend was basically co-writing all of her papers for her. Of course she broke up with him once her coursework was done...shady.

I didn't say anything to the powers that be, but it irks me that she's still in the program. Maybe I should have reported her...

Edited February 22, 2010 by federated

[Medievalmaniac]

I would frankly be surprised if there weren't cheating going on at top programs, particularly in sciences and Maths. The pressure to succeed is phenomenal, even more so at major research institutions. There's a lot of money and prestige caught up in the work going on at those places, and it's usually not just your a%$! on the line but also your professor's and in some cases your department's. Grad students freak out - heck, full professors freak out - under continued and sustained pressure to publish first on major research projects. It doesn't make it right, but it is certainly understandable, in our results-oriented culture - we SAY the process is important, but in the end we want to see the bottom line, faster than we ever have before. It is a cheating culture. Look at the big stories in the papers about our government leaders, celebrities, etc. etc. - really, is it at all surprising that someone in America today would attempt to take the fast way out?

It is still wrong. I would absolutely turn someone in and demand that person be brought to line before the honor council. But it would be silly to think it doesn't happen, and more often than we would like to think.