Category: Uncategorized

Blogging has been an interesting experience for me thus far. I don’t really “blog” per se, but I do have a Facebook and Twitter that I actively use. This made writing short paragraphs for others to see feel normal to me. What I really enjoy is the incorporation of other media types like slideshows and playlists in to the blog. It, in a sense, breaks the barriers of what I’m used to.

As much as it prides itself on not looking like a blog, http://www.theverge.com is my favorite blog for that reason and many others. It breaks the traditional “blog” mold and its writers are all of the highest quality. It’s a technology-driven blog with writing that rivals the New York Times.

 

I have read countless articles similar to this one. Appointing to the problem of cheating. But I don’t believe that students understand how serious this is. If one is caught cheating they will face severe consequences. I don’t think the association of cheating and taboo has been stressed quite enough to students. As kids, most of my teachers have not enforced strict punishments to those who have been caught cheating. I think the teachers and students are at fault here. Once a student is caught cheating it is the job of the teacher, the more mature one to know whats right and wrong and to teach them that it is wrong to cheat. By enforcing a strict punishment it will teach the students to never ever do it again. However this doesn’t happen which leads students into believing its alright to cheat. But its not all the teachers fault. If students would just work harder to achieve their goals. Then this wouldn’t even be a problem.

At the beginning of the year for every class, every teacher went over the school’s policy regarding cheating and plagiarism. While most people seem to over look this topic thinking it’s not important, by the teachers reiterating them at the beginning, it shows the importance. The Baruch cheating scandal, although it isn’t a good thing for the school, also sheds light on something that is often over looked. Sometimes we don’t realize how much of a big deal cheating is until after it’s over. I think the school is doing the right thing by analyzing the problem from all perspectives, and then taking action. I also thought it was a good idea that the people reviewing the problem are not only teachers, but students too. Maintaining a good GPA can be very difficult to do especially with outside responsibilities as well. This cheating scandal, to me, just shows one type of problem the pressure of maintaining a high GPA can cause. The cheating scandal at Baruch is a problem that should be fixed as soon as possible in order to set an example for those in the future, while giving those accused of cheating the proper discipline they need.

Peer pressure and the obligation to do well in college is understandable, however there is a fine line that shouldn’t be cross out of dignity and honor. It frustrates me to have people bragging about cheating on the SATs or final exams and getting high grades, while I study my night off just to receive an average grade. I am not intelligent, but I work my ass off to get to places. Schools enforced policies and rules to have  consequences and punishments for cheating, and yet students still take a risk as an act of desperation and the fear of failing. The difference of a public school and a college also plays a role in the case of cheating students, the change of responsibility, pressure, and money have altered their understandings and recognize the importances to do well in school. Students need to be straightened up, we the students need to stop taking short cuts, work, and study to our way to our future and leave the school proudly knowing we deserved the diplomas.

In high school, cheating wasn’t really a big deal. You would see kids cheating left and right, even on state standardized tests. Letting students off the hook for cheating just lets them know that they can do it over and over again. Going into college, some of those students will still probably cheat. High school is supposed to prepare you for college and not just for us to get a certain grade on tests and push us into college. I read an article about cheating in Stuyvesant High School a couple of weeks ago. Students in this prestigious high school faced pressures of receiving high grades in order to get into their dream colleges. To relieve their pressure, they did anything to get high grades, even cheat. I believe that the students and the teachers are at fault for this. Students should not be cheating but teachers should have strict rules of punishment if one plagiarizes or cheats. This is how I feel about cheating.

What I was most concerned  about regarding the article was not only the cheating itself but the depection of the teachers attitudes towards online HW and towards some of the courses.  If a teacher walks into a class the first day of school and tells the students they are going to fail, that teacher is practically killing any confidence the student came into the course with.  The teacher is practically predetermining the students success in the course.  As a result of this some students who are less confident in their abilility to succeed in the course might cheat in order to get by.  Furthermore, online hw shouldn’t just be done and then tucked away.  The next day the teacher should open it up and review the questions to ensure that everyone is up to par and that everyone understands the material.  This might not only prevent cheating, but might also lead to improved understanding and grades.

While I was reading this article I found it a bit repetitive. School’s always have the same policy, cheating is looked down upon and students that get caught cheating will face severe consequences such as failing or expulsion. However it seems that some students don’t seem to care. In one of my first weeks here at Baruch, the professor said that he already caught one student plagiarizing and that he will be punished for his actions. I think as technology gets more advanced (smart phones, iphones, laptops) cheaters will find new ways to cheat. It is a constant game of cat and mouse. However I do believe cheating will not get you far in life and it is extremely risky and is a bad habit that should be eliminated.

To me this whole issue seems more like a small incident turned huge scandal thanks to the original article by the New York Post even though I haven’t seen it or intend to. And then the huge uproar over at the Baruch side of things is nothing more than adults trying to fix their image. Honestly, I feel like this is an insult to us students: the administration doesn’t respect us as students to not cheat and even goes puts in the effort to build a team to target this issue. I feel like witch hunt was a great term to describe this. Me, being the pessimist I am, don’t really believe in the rights that will be promised to us. If they don’t believe that we have the strength to not cheat, just like how we have the strength to pull ourselves away from the computer or phone to study, how would you, as a member of the witch hunting team, believe that a student is telling the truth when they say they are not cheating? I think that the school’s efforts are noble and all, for wanting to find a solution to the problem of cheating. But cheating is a global problem and in order to fix that you’d probably have to mess with some psychological aspects. A world without cheating and cheaters is like a utopia, in my opinion.

One thing that did piqué my interest, however, was the fact that the writer of this article pointed out that cheating relates to the flawed and useless system of high numbers that we take as a grading system. I hope that adults can understand that not everything is all about numbers and perhaps you should all take a step back and read The Little Prince and see how ridiculous the world of grown ups is. Though I guess I can’t really do anything but complain while I can since I’m going to be sucked into it soon anyways. My opinion about numbers, however, still stands. I’m not sure who said this quote exactly as I don’t remember, but a certain CEO stated that he would hire lazy people because they would be able to perform tasks the easiest way. I ranted a bit on this post but free writes are highly encouraged aren’t they?

I think the problem of cheating at Baruch is not right and needs to be corrected. Cheating gets people nowhere in life; especially in college where people are learning about what they want to do as a career. I think that cheating takes away the integrity of the person taking the information and the person giving it. It is degrading to both people knowing that one worked hard to earn their grade and the other person did nothing to earn the same grade. I think that everyone should do their own work so they are at least learning something even if their GPA doesn’t show it. Taking another persons information in order to keep your GPA up is wrong and won’t help you in your future, especially when it comes to getting a job and you don’t know what you are talking about because you cheated all throughout college.

Although I was never a blogger, I do enjoy and welcome the idea of blogging. I feel that thoughts are  better expressed through writing because writing gives the writer time to word out his/her thoughts. I also enjoy photo blogs and may possibly make photography  a hobby of mine in the future. Photo blogs are a great way to share inspirational photographs. A photography blog I follow is of a man who photographs New Yorkers on a daily basis and add unto them with witty or inspirational captions.

http://www.humansofnewyork.com