<p>Wise men call that a sucker’s maxim.</p>
<p>It means that’s a lame excuse. Put the MGD away and do your work.</p>
<p>This doesn’t seem that interesting in 2010. We’ve always required our students to have nothing on but a few pre-determined items are allowed before the exam arrives. We hire have plenty of people to watch. A student reaching into a bag or spending time staring into their lap would draw attention from someone behind them so it would be risky. And no one I know would use the same exam across different time periods in a term.</p>
<p>I (we) make it very explicit that if you cheat or facilitate someone cheating, you face expulsion. It is also unethical to observe and not report cheating. I’m sure some proportion of students get grades by cheating their way through school, and it is entirely unfair to the vast majority who are ethical and fairly earn their transcript. Cheaters are neither people we are interested in teaching nor ones we want graduating from our school.</p>
<p>My nephew was sitting for the NY State bar exam when a phone went off. The young woman was immediately escorted out of the room. Nephew said the screams and sobs outside the door were more distracting than the phone ring.</p>
<p>Cell phone jamming is illegal in the US.</p>
<p>West Point’s honor code is (paraphrase): I will not lie, steal, or cheat, not tolerate those who do. That pretty much covers it.</p>
<p>The idea that if you don’t get caught what you did was all right, seems to be prevalent today.</p>
<p>The college I attended had an honor code that was relatively simple - you cheat or observe someone else cheating and fail to report it - you’re gone. No failing the test, failing the class or some other type of academic probation, simply expulsion. I don’t know how “failing to report” was monitored, but actual cheating was dealt with severly. But, because of the honor code, teachers would often pass out a test and then leave, trusting the students to police themselves. It was nice to be trusted.</p>
<p>You go to college for a lot more than the piece of paper at the end.</p>