Students should be accountable for actions

To the point is an editorial selected and debated by the editorial board and written after a majority opinion is formed. This is the Collegian's official opinion.

As students, there is a sense of heightened responsibility when coming to college. With new freedoms come new expectations. And honesty will remain an important expectation carried throughout adulthood.

With that said, it seems obvious as to why cheating and academic dishonesty is taken so seriously at universities. However, each school faces a number of students who go against the honor code year after year. For K-State, the number of cases has been on the rise, with 61 people caught cheating since August 2011. More than half were reported during finals week.

It makes us wonder, why would you pay so much money to attend college only to cheat your way through the difficult courses? How is it that so many students fall into the temptation of dishonesty?

Students in years past have gone above and beyond to get away with cheating, forming new and unexpected ways to go unnoticed. Hats have been used to write answers on the bill, forcing teachers to ban hats altogether during test times. Students have pasted answers, formulas and "cheat sheets" on the inside of their graphing calculators, taking advantage of the luxury to have them in the first place. All this time spent creating these elaborate cheating schemes could be spent studying for the test itself.

In the same token, there are cases where professors have wrongly accused students of cheating, whether because a test score was too high or a paper was written beyond ‘the student's ability.' Should the accusation prove to be false, the only harm that does is to the student's confidence. All previous work should be heavily considered and weighed before making such a claim.

Unfortunately, with the Internet easier to access, it may be tempting to seek immediate answers through the web.

However, there are also available resources on campus to help a struggling student. Take for example the numerous tutoring and mentoring services. Every teacher has available office hours, and many are more than happy to help a student in need. Unfortunately, there are not as many bosses with the same attitude outside of college that are willing to mentor you through your job.

So take advantage of the services available and don't let yourself take the easy route of cheating. The safest bet would be to fight the temptations of peeking off someone else's paper. Sure, it may be easier to finish your take home test with classmate Jane Doe, but is it really worth the risk? Chances are, probably not.