Cheating

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What moral obligation does a student have if he or she witnesses cheating?

According to the dictionary, morality is defined as the distinction between right and wrong and the rules of proper conduct. Society tells us that cheating is wrong, therefore the moral obligation a student has when he or she witnesses cheating is to tell a person with the authority to discipline that student. Cheating can come in many forms such as copying someone's test answers, to plagiarizing papers. I think that although the student is obligated to tell someone, it really depends on the situation at hand. In many classes, grades are curved by how the test grades are distributed. If someone cheated and got a higher score than they deserved, other students may have to accept lower grades even though they may have studied harder. On the other hand, if the grades weren't based on other student's performances and the student was undergoing special situations, I feel like it may not be that big of a deal. For example, if someone studied hard and the class wasn't critical for his or her major, but needed the class to graduate, then it seems that exceptions can be made by the student witnessing the cheating. Overall it would be the moral obligation of the student to tell someone since it would be too hard to tell what the situation of the student who cheated is in the first place.

Media Project

Before coming to CSM I didn't even bother opening a news paper, or changing the channel to CNN or Fox News because I thought what was happening outside of my life was not important or interesting to me. Now that I am more concerned in the well being of others around the world, and fascinated in reading and also learning about the events that impact other people's lives, i've started to distinguish the ways that I'm being being told the story by different news sources.

I've realize that some news sources are leaned to the left (liberal), the right (more conservative), or some like the New York times are objective and tell you the story without opinioins and at all angles. Many times some news sources want us to see a story in a certain way whether it's supporting or going against different political views, ideas, or actions. The media has control on how we view and understand things, so in order to get the whole truth i need to view a story from more than just one news source in order to get many different angles so I can visualize one clear picture.
When researching articles on the presidential campaign i saw a clear distinction on how some news sources favored Hilary Clinton and how some like The Wall Street Journal were against her, and at times tried to make her seem smaller than the other candidates. In seeing how biased some news sources can be i am now more conscious and aware in how i absorb information from the media, and i highly advise everyone to do so the same because not everything is how it appears.

Ethics of Deception

Hi Everyone,

I expect a strong response to this blog (and the last one) this weekend.

Is there such a thing as a "white" lie? What does Bok think? What do you believe? Let's think about it in two different situations.

First, when are the lies we tell ourselves harmful to ourselves? Are these rationales we concoct for ourselves beneficial or are they to our detriment? Think about the particular area of schoolwork and whether you give it all you could?

Second, after reading the essay on Ethics of War, discuss how as a country whether or not you believe we are lying to ourselves about the war and the consequences of our actions in Iraq?

These are tough ethical questions. Try to persuade others to accept your perspective.

Have a good weekend.

Tim

on the media

On the Media….

I thought the media projects were pretty cool. I think I speak for everyone when I say it opened our eyes more to question what the reporters are telling us and how their telling us. I learned that the news is told in ways the people are wanting to hear it. It isn’t told to us raw and uncut like it should be. The reporters are leaving out details and facts, leading a lot of people to create their own opinion on the subject and getting all the facts. Doing the project I learned that even if the resources think that their telling us the facts that some sources don’ t have the correct facts. Like our article had 3 different numbers for how many people were killed. Also the presentations about the torch were interesting to hear how different places were reporting what was happening and who gave sympathy to who. I think it is still somewhat important to watch the news still. Even if the whole story isn’t there people should still have some kind of idea what’s going on around locally and internationally. It is up to the person if they want to expand and do more research on the topic to be more informed. I still don’t really watch the news except for weather and traffic, but now after these presentations I will be more cautions about what I’m hearing because it could just be what I want to hear.

Presentations

What have you learned about the news and how it's told? What surprised you in your own research or in others' presentations? Be specific in supporting your answers.Also, argue (to your peers) how important (or not) it is to follow the news and be critical of its sources. Again, use specific illustrations to support your argument.Entries should be a least a page long and may include responses to others.

What i have learned about the news and how they are told is that news are not always true. That what i see on television is not always told with our bias and that i should always try to get a second openion, which is always look for another source and get the information coming from a different perspective, point of view and in this case several reporters or media sources.

What surprised me in my own research was that although i was expecting a biased stories, i found out that the parts where the stories seemed very biased were those that should be treated with the most respect and most true coverage because they were very serious and the accusations and proofs that sources give are very critical to the public. I found that in order for one have a true point of view one must fill themself with a lot of information coming from different news sources, otherwise one will just become a muppet of the reporter or their choice of media.

It is very important to follow a lot of news sources because it give us the capability to know more and sometimes even to know what we dont know. The media can many times take over our brains and with the stories that they deliver they can change us and many times make us believe what they want us to believe and what we take as the truth. Many media sources take advantage of the loyalty of the viewer or reader and sometimes only think about delivering to the reader or viewer only those parts of the story that are of their liking.

I guess that there is no way to make the media a unbiased source of information or news source, that is why we should make our own source of unbiased information and that is by gathering information from many sources and putting it all together to then conclude with what best fits the event or story but always takig under consideration that a story always has two sides and just because one side of the story is not of our liking this side should not be omited.

News Article Presentations

Through studying how news is presented to us, in this media presentation project I have learned that there are a lot of gray areas. I have also learned that through different countries news, I got completely different stories. For instance, I found a few articles on Fox News about my groups topic of the Haditha massacre in Iraq in 2005 that told the story as if they were truly opposing the actions of the United States Marines. In another YouTube video I found, however I don’t know the source in which it derives, had an English accented news caster, which was portraying our country negatively as well, but he had no intent of giving us any credit as a country for anything whatsoever, as the American news casters eventually did. Overall, there was mostly only negative feeling after watching and reading all of these articles, but the American casters had the most positive comments and facts on the situation.

I found and noticed in others presentations that a lot of the news was portrayed to give us, as viewers, a negative effect. All I got out of reading Fox News, CNN and YouTube for my own presentation was negative feedback from all of the reporting newscasters. While listening to others presentations, like the Olympics protesting, it was all a negative cloud over my head, and that was from my own classmates that were listening to the news. During the presentation of the man who is pregnant, however, it had a somewhat positive feel after watching Fox and CNN reports from the internet, but it did have a negative report feeling when the interviewers went to the neighbors houses instead of his. For these stated reasons, I believe it is extremely important to check all your sources, because stories change so much between sources. To not follow the news in our world dates yourself back to before we had radio or television, you won’t know what is going on around you if you don’t watch the news for a few reasons; our country trades globally, we fight in world wars now a days and there is a possibility one of you and I will be fighting in this war if it gets more serious, the world Olympics are turning to protesting and who knows what else will happen, maybe Brittany Spears will be sacrificed in South Park, Colorado for their next successful harvest.

What have you learned about the news and how it's told? What surprised you in your own research or in others' presentations? Be specific in supporting your answers.Also, argue (to your peers) how important (or not) it is to follow the news and be critical of its sources. Again, use specific illustrations to support your argument.Entries should be a least a page long and may include responses to others.



Based on the media project, I learned that different sources have different ways of delivering these stories in the news. MTV News for example, targets the younger crowd because they are the majority of its viewers. If you try going on the MTV News website, the first headlines you would see are about Miley Cyrus or Kanye West. They put these stories as their headlines because they know that this will attract their readers who are mostly teenagers.

While researching for our presentation, I realized that these sources have different outlooks on these issues. When I read about the gas issue in the Chronicle, I found that I got more information while reading the newspaper than looking at the New York Post or watching MTV News. The Chronicle gave a more in-depth perspective on the issue by including the opinions of different analysts who had a theory about the price of gas decreasing if the demand for it decreases first. The New York Post gave a brief summary of how much the price of gas rose without explaining to the reader what the reason could have been. MTV News pretty much blamed Exxon, and advised people to buy Hybrid cars.

I would say that it is very important to follow the news, because we should all know what is going around in the world. In my opinion, I would say that as teenagers, we don’t really follow the news because we are only concerned about what affects us right now such as issues like gas prices. However, when it comes to issues in foreign countries such as Zimbabwe, we don’t pay as much attention to them. Some teenagers, especially those who go to school full-time or go to school and work at the same time, also have no time to watch the news.

Cheating

What moral obligation does a student have if he or she witnesses cheating? Write a PIE paragraph in response

I believe that as a student one does not have any moral obligation if cheating has been witnessed. I think that in order to maintain a well balanced campus, students must be united. I believe that as students no one has the obligation to do or say anything, because even before that teacher came into the classroom, the students first became classmates just for sharing the same room and the same goal of persuing a passing grade in the classroom. I think that before being students directed by a teacher, the students are classmates and friends. I think that it is on one's moral to admit one has been wrong and it is the teacher's job to be in charge of what goes on in the classroom, making sure the rules are followed. Although i do not believe in cheating i do not believe in snitching, i believe in one's personal space and i believe in respect. I think that one should not intervine in other's actions if these are not harming one's space, environment, future or self in general. I think that everyone has their little concious and that it is not in ones responsability or capability to change some one's values and morals unless it is in their own minds. As a student I would not say anything if i witnessed cheating, because i respect the decisions my classmates make, because i understand how serious cheating can be but yet it is not in my hands to teach them or let them know the concept of cheating. I think that it is the professors responsability to keep an eye in the class, and the responsability of the student to attend to class, learn and study the material given and be ready for exams. If either or both of them fail, then the problem is of two the iresponsable instructor and the iresponsable student, not of the one who witnessed the incident.

Tibet discussed on Colbert

Hey,

I thought you might enjoy Colbert's satirical look at the Tibet/flame controversy.

Let everyone know what you think.

Tim

On the media....

Hello Everyone,

In addition to your entries on cheating (and thanks to those who've already posted!), I'd like you to reflect in some depth on the media project.

What have you learned about the news and how it's told? What surprised you in your own research or in others' presentations? Be specific in supporting your answers.

Also, argue (to your peers) how important (or not) it is to follow the news and be critical of its sources. Again, use specific illustrations to support your argument.

Entries should be a least a page long and may include responses to others.

Tim

Cheating

What moral obligation does a student have if he or she witnesses cheating? Write a PIE paragraph in response.

In a classroom, there are students who cheat and do not cheat. If a student is witnesses another student cheating on a test, quiz or homework assignment, it all depends on the morals of the witness what they should do. I can't speak for any other person on this matter so i shall give my own opinion based on my morals. If someone was visibly cheating off my test to where I noticed and the teacher was aware, then I would feel a moral obligation to discuss this matter with the teacher after class privately, mostly to cover myself and not get blamed. If I saw someone cheating off another's test or quiz, I would not say anything and let nature take it's course with whomever may be involved. I believe in these circumstances because if someone was cheating off of my test, I would not want to get blamed for something I did not condone, and if another couple or group of students were cheating I feel it would be in no way my responsibility. I feel it is the teachers responsibility when it comes down to catching the cheaters, accept if you are indirectly involved, in their classroom where proper conduct should take place. However, people cheat every day, and it would be impossible and would effect the teaching process to greatly to take the time and catch all of these cheaters.

Cheating

BLOG:
What moral obligation does a student have if he or she witnesses cheating? Write a PIE paragraph in response.

The duty of a student on witnessing another student cheating is to inform the instructor. But this happens rarely because students are concerned about their own self esteem in the class and they obviously do not want themselves to be called a "snitch." Many of them are friends with these cheaters and so might not choose to complain. Many do not take any interest if his/her fellow students are conducting an act which is morally wrong. But at this point, I only think of Mark Twain's quotation that,"Always do right-this will gratify some and astonish the rest." He gives out a message that no matter what others think of an individual, one should always be honest with his/her actions. This will in turn stand good for those who cheat by becoming aware of the ethics in the society.

Cheating....

BLOG:
What moral obligation does a student have if he or she witnesses cheating? Write a PIE paragraph in response.

The right thing to do for a student who catches another student cheating is to inform the teacher. Students rarely snitch on other students for many reasons, and one of them being that they do not want to be labeled as a “tattle tale” or a “snitch”. Some of them just believe that they have no right to get involved in another student's business, so they just leave the situation alone. Some students may also be friends with these students who cheat, so they clearly do not want their friends to get in trouble. In my opinion, cheating is very common nowadays that students don’t even care when they see another student cheat. Most students have cheated at least once in their lives in some way, so to tattle tale and snitch would make them a hypocrite. Students may also feel the same pressure as other students, so they understand the other student’s situation.

What's Been Going On

Hello Everyone,

I'm sure you have all been wondering what happened to your instructor these past few days. I'm terribly sorry to have missed class on Wednesday and Thursday and not to have notified your earlier. My young son has been in the hospital, and, to make matters worse, I've been sick with a fever myself. Finally, my son seems to be getting well again, and I am feeling much better. And so, back to work.

I will collect Essay 3.2 on Thursday. Those of you who have it done will have an extra few days to revise and edit. I will be available in office hours this week to discuss your work. We will finally have our peer workshop tomorrow, so bring your three copies for review.

We are moving on to the next unit starting Tuesday. This will get us looking at how we consume news and media. I will be providing you with some key handouts tomorrow that will guide you in our in-depth analysis of the news media. Starting next Monday you, i small groups, will be presenting on how the media tells a particular story. I will make adjustments to the schedule tomorrow afternoon.

Thank you for your patience, and I'll see you tomorrow.

Tim

CHEATING

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/30/INJ2VMKST.DTL

I thought this article was interesting because it probably brought out into the open that it is almost necessary to cheat these days. In the article some teachers already know that and they don't even want to punish the students. Students feel so much pressure now days to get into college because society forces a sucessful person to be well educated. Older people don't understand that work can just be as stressful as school. younger people have the same problems as older people. And i do not get why they can not understand that because they were young once

• US EMPLOYEE KILLED IN BAGDAD'S GREEN ZONE
• This week in Bagdab an US employee was killed in a green zone and four others were wounded. There has been several rocket attacks on the area and McCormack, a state department spokesman, said that it has been happening for day and blamed the attacks on "extremist criminal elements." The killing in the Green Zone took place the same week the US casualties hit the 4000 mark. I took a look at this article because I soemtimes feel that I am pretty much oblivious to what is going on over seas. We all tend to live our lives and not think about what is really going on in Bagdad. I think we should all be more appreciative of what our troops are doing and what they are dying for. "Was it the right move to go to war?" well thats up for you to decide for yourself but we all should stop and take a break from our busy lives to maybe reflect on the war. We should give mroe thanks because without them we would have busy lives to live. http://www.javno.com/en/world/clanak.php?id=135453

Tour of prison reveals the last days of saddam hussein

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/03/27/hussein.journal/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

There werent many things in the news today that intrigued me like this article did. I wouldve never imagined that I myself personally would give a "rats ass" about saddam. However, in this news article I wanted to read about one of the cruelest rulers on earth, and how he spent his last days of life. The excerpts and knowledge of this mans life were cunningly surprising. Journal entries, a small garden that he was allowed to exercise, philosophical words coming from such an ugly name intrigued me to continue reading the article, where I continued to read how bodyguards had a special nickname for him. I find it interesting how people change once they face serious consequences, or thier life becomes in jeopardy. Such serious consequences make you realize how short life can be, and definately makes you question how you might be spending life, after death.. Also, how saddam may have had a side to him that was never revealed in such a light as the things mentioned in this article because of all unfortunate choices made in killing his own people. He made bad choices that would leave him as un ugly man in history, like hitler. but in his last days he speaks an unknown language that many people (like myself) find hard to take seriously, or believe coming from such a man :
"Dear nation: Get rid of the hatred, take the clothes of hate and throw it into the ocean of hatred," he wrote. "God will save you and you will start a clean life, with a clean heart."

Pretty crazy, huh?

Pilot Placed on Leave After Gun Goes Off During U.S. Airways Flight

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,341697,00.html

This article shows exaclty why certain people that do not have jobs not using a weapon or practicing with one every day will handle it. Commercial airplane pilots now carry guns, and its not just the pilot, but his whole crew. Its claimed that they know how to use them until this incident occured. For some reason or the other a pilot accidentaly shot his gun in the cockpit during a flight. The gun was a very powerfull one and was able to peirce a whole from inside of the plane to the outside. The pilot is now under questioning to solve why the gun really went of. The funny thing about it is that the pilot is probably being questioned by the people who gave it to him, and is going to have to explain that he just didnt know what he was doing with the gun.

Bush, in Call to Chinese President, Notes Mistaken Arms Shipment to Taiwan, Voices Concern Over Tibet

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,341829,00.html
well, in this article what i found interesting was another mistake by Bush and his horrible communication skills. he had sent a shipment of electronic bomb fuses to Taiwan, instead of China, I really don't know why he did this in the first place, but he wanted to. China had a huge upheaval and began rioting on the streets. The public officials were then worried about the public safety and distress caused to China's civilians. Bush commented once Taiwan elects Ma Ying-jeou, it will release tension and create a good opportunity to reach out and dissolve differences with each other.

High School Cheerleader Dies of Breast Surgery Complications

Blog:Visit Google News or the New York Times or FOX News or Commondreams.org or SFGate.com or The Guardian or The Onion or any other news source on-line and choose a story there that gets your attention (makes you want to read it) and read it; and then on blogger provide a link to the site where you found the story, summarize the story briefly, and explain why you found it interesting. Read others' entries to get an idea what people are finding interesting. Entry due by 10:00 pm.

High School Cheerleader Dies of Breast Surgery Complications
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
By Catherine Donaldson-Evans

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,341313,00.html

The reason why this article got my attention was because the story line says it all, I was very astonished to find out that a person as young as to be attenting to high school could already be getting a breast surgery. I thought that I was going to read about some spoiled girl who just wasnt happy with herself and wanted such a surgery. Once I read the article i realized that although it seemed that this surgery was done trully for the looks, the reason was not fully based on that, but it also has a personal value. the reason why this girl was getting the surgery was because she had an inverted nipple. I supposed that getting the surgery would give a lot more confidence and would help her accept herself although as far as I know she did not have any selfsteem problems. I guess that this girl was just waiting to turn 18 in order to get this surgery but it seemed like looks were not all she cared about since she was also a straight A student. The hospital were she was attented has not given any answers to the press to why the girl died, but it has been claimed by the family and the lawyer that the anesthesia applied set her body in shock which later lead to her death. This was an interesting article and once again it is great if anyone seeks for any of this surgeries it would be a smart thing to research on the hospital and the chemicals used during the surgery.