Honor Code

I strongly believe that in order for the honor code to work here at Ursinus huge obstacles would have to be overcome. In theory the honor code sounds like a great idea, having the students’ police themselves would not only save professors from having to “baby sit” during testing, but it would also help save the school money by eliminating the need to buy expensive anti-plagiarism software. Like communism, I believe this would only work in theory; no matter what students are going to cheat. Our society has in part helped continue this trend with the mentality that, if you aren’t the best then you are no one. When it comes down to it we are in college to learn, and even though getting good grades is always nice, they don’t necessarily mean you have learned something. If we wanted the honor code to work we would have to eliminate the competitive nature of people which is quite frankly impossible. Not to mention the notion that snitching out fellow classmates is frowned upon by the general population. I believe instead of putting the efforts into making the honor code work, the school should put that effort into beefing up anti-cheating measures. Time is money, and I feel like the school is wasting time just by discussing an idea that already hasn’t worked in the past. If the school is looking for a way to reduce cheating on this campus then I believe the best route is to make the punishments harsher for those who are caught cheating.