The real cost of cheating, of course, transcends penalties and ruined reputations. Last October, Smith's office held the first-ever academic integrity week at Manitoba. They get accused of cheating and they are most upset. In the battle against academic dishonesty, professors, meanwhile, are honing their own tactics. In exam halls, many now make students sit alphabetically-increasing the likelihood that they do not end up beside a friend.
Photo identification is increasingly common.
And many professors insist that teaching assistants, who know students well, be present. To guard against plagiarism, York's Webber now makes undergrads hand in papers in stages, from outlines to rough drafts to finished product. As universities step up their efforts to discourage cheating, Sahr, for one, has nothing but praise for them. And although he refuses to believe that his service encourages plagiarism, he contends the media attention paid to School Sucks and similar services has, if nothing else, forced universities to rethink shopworn ways of gauging the abilities of students. It is forcing mediocre teachers to give more creative assignments-not just the same ones they've been giving since the Kennedy administration.