Official UT Cheating Rumor Mill Thread

Okay.  So Ruth has mentioned it, as have some of the comments here.  What's going on with the 1L cheating at Texas?   There have been allusions to accusations, but we want hard, sexy, soundbyte-worthy rumors.

Cheating on law school exams is HARD.  Sure, you could all work together on a take-home exam, and I have my own opinions about the soft cheating that goes on when professors fail to properly define the word "prepare" in relation to old outlines. But is that stuff really that helpful?

I want to hear something about an elite squad of 1Ls using a stolen exterior key to break into the law school under the cover of darkness, sneak into their civpro professor's office, copy the answer key to the exam, and have the answers printed on #2 pencils, which they then sneak into the proctor's materials just before exam time, but still manage to distribute selectively in the exam room, securing them all A's (plus an A+ for the chick who thought up the plan in the first place.)

That would be a good story. 

Wait a second.  Where the shit is my key to the law school?

Tarlton...we have a problem.

Comments

[Sophia]

Hah. OK, here at UC Davis? The proctors just get up and walk out of the room, open book test or not. They don't look at what you brought in, they don't come in until ten minutes before the end, and basically only our desire to knock each other down the curve keeps us from colluding with each other.

I'm Ron Burgandy?

[Sara]

I was sitting in an undisclosed office at UT the other day when 2 students came out of a test and proceeded to discuss the multiple choice answers they had gotten. yes you could assume the test was over, or they were done with it, but it was about 2:20ish during a 1:30 test. not to mention they both then went back into the room and i didn't hear the door open or close again for at least 45 minutes. cheating? possibly. did i turn them in? no. my roommate says i should have walked out and asked for their names just to mess them up for the rest of the test. too bad i didn't think of that sooner.

makes you understand why a prof might write a test that is so time pressured that to pee is to fail

[Mr. P]

...which is why i bring a bedpan to all my exams.

bedpan takes time...just bring a change of clothes and hope they clean the seats...

[UT student]

I had a 1:30 test last week with both MC and essay. After the MC, we had a 20 minute "break" while answers were collected (and before the proctor handed out the essay part). Most of us took a bathroom trip, but it makes sense that some over-zealous students would spend their break agonizing about the MC answers...

[Anonymous Asshole]

So Sager's first official day on the job and he gets to deal with this...excellent.

[Anonymous Asshole]

I did see someone cheat on Goode's Evidence final a few semesters back. We were only allowed unmarked copies of the FRE/TRE, but the person sitting in front of me clearly had outlines, class notes, etc. that he/she was consulting. Considering that's my lowest grade in law school, I wonder if it's too late to turn them in?

[Waiting to pummel the cheater]

The latest rumor is that the test on which the offense was committed may become pass/fail. For those of us who worked very hard and reasonably expected a good grade, this is discouraging. The punishment for the cheaters, before expulsion, should be to allow them to be subjected to 10 minutes in a locked room with their classmates. No holds barred. As someone in that section, I can tell you many of us are VERY PISSED. And as for the person about who didn't report the cheater in Evidence, you're also violating the honor code, and screwing yourself at the same time. Why would you want someone who cheats on exams around you anyway?

Making the test pass/ fail is a horrible idea. Someone should stand up and tell Sager to get a haircut before making it pass/ fail.

[The Anti Cheater]

Why doesn't someone update me on what happened?

if the instructions are that you can use any written/printed material on the exam, that includes the chancellor's scantron next to you right?

The exam in question, Graglia's Con Law I, was three essay questions. Two of which were exactly the same questions he asked on the Spring 03 exam. No need to steal the exam when the prof gives it away.

The best part though, one of those two questions was based on a real case, which Graglia helpfully gave the cite to in the body of the hypo.

[IrishLaw]

My second year at ND, our Business Associations prof said she was giving a short answer exam with some MC. She gave out a few sample MC problems to prep with. Sweet. On the day of the exam, she hands out the test, which was all MC. Fair enough. The kicker is, (1) the sample questions she handed out were from a past Stanford exam which she found on the web; and (2) our exam consisted of those questions on the old Stanford exam she didn't use as examples, which were readily available on the web complete with answer key.

Of course, before the test, a bunch of people had Googled the sample questions, done the rest of the questions as prep, and breezed through the exam. The lovely administration at ND didn't even have the courtesy to make the test pass/fail.

So how in the world did people cheat? And what is the law school going to do? If it goes pass/fail is that fair?

[Cheaters (the TV show)]

It would be nice if someone would summarize how 15 people cheated and no one during the test or the proctor noticed.

If you ain't cheatin', you ain't tryin'

Philosophical issue: with the reward/risk ratio incredibly higher over the past few years with the astronomical pay raises for associates, is an "honor code" really the best way to monitor cheating?

We are all aware that cheating has been around for ages with much less possibility for reward. Now, with salaries so high, and the legal community being ridiculously addicted to GPAs, is it really suprising that this would occur?

[Bathroom Stall]

I saw some cheating and other shit go down.

I don't know anything about this, but I have to say that karma has a way of biting these types of people in the ass. They've already lost the respect of their peers--and their lack of character probably carries forth in other areas of their life.

It all evens out in the end.

That's a good though Earl, but I'd still kick their asses out of this school if true.

"We are all aware that cheating has been around for ages with much less possibility for reward. Now, with salaries so high, and the legal community being ridiculously addicted to GPAs, is it really suprising that this would occur?"

That's exactly the issue. It is so ridiculous that the big firms are going to pay their associates that much money. It doesn't surprise me that they cheated because the majority of the new associates at big firms walk around like they are God's gift to the practice of law and would therefore do whatever it takes to get that salary. God forbid a UT law grad wouldn't make 140k!

As long as the buggers end up working for J&G, it'll just be a sign that the universe is maintaining a steady course.

[Rey Ramos]

DING!
http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=420539&mc=47&forum_id=2#5829193