Who takes the blame?

Dear Loquitur editors, I am writing with regard to your editorial on "Hoodwinkers."

Although the topic is of dire concern to higher education and society as a whole, I believe you miss an essential point in your analysis. You call attention to parental pressures as a reason for cheating equation. However, what you fail to do is concentrate on the cheaters themselves! Whatever external pressures and factors may facilitate cheating and academic dishonesty, the question is how do we convey to students that they should not cheat? This question has very little to do with parents or professors and everything to do with students and their decision making skills.

To cheat or not to cheat has everything to do with student honesty, integrity and an understanding of the college experience and what it sets out to achieve. Your editorial points to a number of sit- uations whereby students may consider cheating (as either a standard or an alternative)-having to read a book 500 pages long, study chemistry and/or having an exam in the American Presidency. You allude that such demands may impede upon a big party or good spring weather; yet you miss the point-a college student's experience is about meeting and achieving those academic expectations.

Demands placed on students for their learning are ways to emich and encourage the pursuit of knowledge and are not simply placed there to limit students' opportunities to have some fun.

Furthermore, your elaboration of what faculty need to do to limit cheating is somewhat insulting and perplexing. Again, the focus for change should not be with us (as faculty), but with students. I am not stating this as a "lazy" faculty member who does not change exams from one semester to the other, but simple as to establish the focus of the problem-student cheating, not as faculty laziness. To suggest that faculty should receive "official training in the area of academic integrity," presumably to be the enforcer of academic integrity, begs the question, what are- students doing to be held responsible for cheating? Why have faculty now become the parental subsequently, that as adults, they are responsible for their own decision making?

Throughout life we are faced with choices and decisions, and ultimately those decisions are ours and ours alone. I believe the Loquitur does very little to convey this to students regarding cheating at Cabrini College.

Sincerely,

Janet Lohmann Department of sociology