Severely handicapped class arrives - The Lowell

HEATIN
more ways than one to get an 'A'
Tk* U*tll. Hanh 7. 1936. hf I!
.IN DEPTH
Lowell 'scholars' beat the system (Cheating irks teachers]
11K preuurc it on. In today's succe«-©ricniid
society, students are
finding new, innovative ways to g*i
those all imnorunt. Berkeley*
qualifying grade* — new. innovitiv.
wayi or cheating.
Although the reasons aad methodc
may vary, most studcUs agree that
cheating Ucuremcly widespread. It
extends into ill depart meet t.
uVnughout «ll different grade levels,
and is prevalent in the honor*. Advanced
Placement (AP). and reguUr
programs.
"The cheater* docs nut fit into one
parwulav stereotype," uaici! one
sofi-iTnorc, "jutt about eveiyooc aJ
Lowell cheat*. No racial or social
group u utuffecial."
"I see it in *!I ray cUuc*.
' Everyone cheats in some form nr
A TA for A math clau admitted that
hi hzd easy access to tests, answers,
and t*ie teachen gmlc book. "It
(helping others cheat; wj!d be easy
enough to do. I just think it's
wrong."
Another TA who did gi\c nut
cop** of tests in H social studio class
for one scatrvcv explained. "I feel
so guilty if 1 don't help my friends."
Other common methods ol
cheating include changing ten
answers after getting them hack, finding
information abuit tests torn
students inettl«**cUues. and changing
grades or poitu in the teacher's
grade book. The*: tix.-th.ki* require
more forctltought a.Kl planning, thus
showing i tread toward* more
premeditation concerning cheating.
A recent article in tltc Sen t'randsro
Chrtyjelf brought up bow
".. .cheating is a direct resnli of
pressure and competition between students."
souther It's totally commonplace."
fchaittcd a senior.
Cheating at Lowell, however, u
net a new problem. What U chtng*
ing U the mot frequent ipplicaiton
of the we]]-planned anJ sophisticated
method. No longer don a student
merely look over at a neighbor'*
paper or write iofornutioo on his
hand; instead he might ohuin a *"opy
of the lest f.ooi r teaching assistant
i nxcsMty to pass on chemi\tr>> M>
I cheat jutt to keep up." A dtnc scconl
was social science classes. Studcat
D expUincJ, "It's art that ft
(tocial science dus> it thai hard. 1
just don't icel 1 acco-.n^Uh anything
by studying, so t cheat."
The no dep jrtments with the least
problems are Englbh and tcaih. Most
Mutknu agreed (hat becjtue of the
nxthnd of tcuing i.i Eflpluh ctai ev
— [.Smartly writing ciu>\ — it tt
nearly impouible to cheat. In rath
claret. howTvcr. the moti\Mion for
bonc\ry ii differcrr ^tvdent D offered,
"In math, it'i u» runnilAtivc
that -healing does more hann than
good in the lonf run."
The mint in^wrtam IJMJC conoernin|
ctxniing at Lowell or any other
school is mou likely the question of
vit-y do students cheat? The amwer
to ditt t; as equally complex a* the
variery nf mcu.od* uwd to beat dv
syucm.
Senior Mimi Lc«og thought. "It's
•jccauwr tho're too intcrcUcU in
C^Jr%. They juit caic abnui iKr 'A'
that gets them inrn Stanford.'
"I feel tlot cheating it a diteci
rnult o[ prciiufc and competition
fc.*t»ccn students." added «nUtr
Tanya Pollard.
I»rincip3l Abn Fftbh disagreed.
"The u i£f> cheat." Fihoh^jsl,' u
no* nxtai in rcaliry.« D average will
get a friil into a pr-id rnllegc."
rrrxirtoJ S> Ivu Rubin in her Oimn!ctr
aniclc. "Kid* Who n*f«."
In addinun to self-motivated
previze, (here U lots of prcuure
coming frtw: parents. "My did
wuuldktllmcirigoca'B.' "stated
otic tophamore. "1 was grounded for
one nwvu'i hecauw nf my lupon
card," admitted a freshman.
Ni* all rfudenu. huuevcr. curtkxe
cheating. "I really don't approve 'if
it oa a regular basis." irtmted one
scniur. Another vtij, *'| really can 1
deal with *.Scating." fiJikc ihcvr two
e\ceptiom. moil Lowell students
found nothing morally -ATIXIJ: with
braking the rules.
r-cw students agr-c lh*t cheating
iui't fair. Inucad. the common
tfLpoittc ». "Hey. lifr's not fair."
•Jjcc the initial moral barrier of
branding cheating as wrong or unfair
is removed, it Ixcomcs surprisiogly
eaiy. Sul-rt D commented. **The
flru time is tart, but it keeps getting
A T T E T I C3 IM
HIGH SCHOOL JUNIORS
| T. S T 1 M E TO PREPARE FOR THE SAT
.e S
e ot your elM»ca.
g
» *i«ia to
you t»Qfit ani*«». oM«*» t«to«» fMd«»Q •'"• Q'n«d tnouvtrvls ot students to beat the
mt»- SAT at cheat
mtHt in math, tctcncc und foreign
!anni>fc iliisc*.
"Cheating u |cs\ i>f a pmblcm in
mou cf the En^ith clais-t Kxauu:
a uudect ctn*t really cop> an*Mher
persons tbougiiu." cxpUircd Engli\h
teacher JoAnn 5'c*an.
"We mikr the qu.. KHIS SO tmerentnj:
and to pro\oc.Mi\r (Kit the
thouchu cannot be Iwrmwrd."
jjmxd Enplhh leadier Flouic l*"r^
Other teachers use vai icd methods
to prnent cheating.
One popuiar method is ha% ioy different
form* v( the same test. This
malxMtdilC- !t f