At the same time the actors on this stage are human and prone to the same weaknesses as any other person. Progress in the disciplines stands in contrast to the lack of progress on the moral level. This presents a challenge that threatens the basic functioning of the academy. Ethical issues demand confrontation. In dealing with students this is a familiar problem.
Academic honesty is one of several important standards the teacher hopes to convey.
It is not only easy to see its value, but the question of fairness and accurate evaluation of the student's work make its role obvious. It is particularly disturbing then to realize that colleagues may fall short in this area so critical to academic life, particularly if we are close to them. We could, of course, pretend that we do not see. In fact, universities establish committees of varying names to manage and hopefully isolate the unpleasantness. They make the case that often we are forced to deal with the situation due to the closeness of the associations that exist in the academic workplace.