Universities nationwide are finding that cheating has become easier and perhaps more socially acceptable among college students.
As senior Daniel Britt put it, "Growing creatively and finding new ways to define your place within any rules system lends to the educational experience."
A 1999 study by the Center for Academic Integrity determined that 69 percent of college professors deal with one or more instances of plagiarism each year. The study also found a sharp increase in students copying information from Web sites without attribution, along with purchasing entire papers online.
"There are always one or two kids [who cheat]. It is not at all unlikely in any semester," said professor Bharadwaj Jayaraman, interim chair of the computer science and engineering department.
The prevalence of academic dishonesty was also noted in a recent survey by Rutgers University professor Donald McCabe.
McCabe's survey of 4,500 high school students at 25 high schools found that more than half admitted to either downloading a paper and turning it in as their own, or using information without attribution. A similar study of college students by McCabe revealed that 10 to 20 percent admitted to plagiarism.
With the advent of cellular phones, Palm Pilots and programmable calculators, there are now many more avenues for dishonesty in the classroom in addition to plagiarism, although traditional methods are still frequently used.
"I've seen people programming their calculators and people writing on their legs if they are wearing shorts or on their arms and wear a long sleeve shirt," said sophomore Kasie Clarke, a business major.
Professors employ various measures to ward off cheating including administering exams in rooms large enough to ensure that students do not sit next to each other, creating multiple exam versions to discourage wandering eyes, using proctors to monitor test-taking, and in some cases, having students with programmable calculators clear the memory before an exam is handed out.
"I think UB does take preventative measures against [cheating]. I know in bigger tests I've taken, we've been required to put all our bags in the front of the room," said Gavin O'Brien, a sophomore English major.
Despite precautions, students inevitably slip through the cracks of even the best systems.
"Isolated incidents, including a student attempting to break into the professor's workstation in his office early in the morning of the exam, or more frequently, a student substituting for someone else on an exam, have happened in the past," stated Richard Gonsalves, professor and chair of the physics department, in an e-mail.
According to Gonsalves, professors in the physics department rarely give multiple-choice exams due to their potential for cheating. Instead, physics exams require students to solve problems in full on paper, making it difficult to copy each step.
In large physics classes, Gonsalves said, students must present their UB identification card when turning in an exam, so "the course professor can deal with the situation before the student leaves the exam room."
"Some physics departments at other institutions ask students to sign some type of 'honor pledge' when they take an exam. ... This is an interesting approach, which we have not tried, however, in our department - maybe we will in the future," Gonsalves stated.
Richard Ellis, chair of the history department, cited the growth of online term-paper distributors as his department's major concern.
"The only thing that I suspect, and it is hard to come to terms with, is that students buy term papers," said Ellis.
Under New York state law, selling a term paper is considered a misdemeanor offense, punishable by up to 90 days in jail.
"I think cheating is bad no matter how you do it. I understand that it is hard to punish people when they try to cheat with cell phones and Palm Pilots because it is difficult to detect," said O'Brien.
