It shouldn't matter to you if you are one vs. the world. If these individuals' comments are making you upset, then part of you feels guilty about it. With what you put out there, how could you not expect some to call you out on it?? I make a very good living helping people write their resumes- I'm sure some people out there feel that this is a form of cheating. Look at it this way: I help someone write a resume, and they get an interview over another qualified candidate who had a mediocre resume. Should my client have had an advantage in having paid for my expertise to help get that interview? Does that make him or me a cheater? Or did that client make a wise business decision? I have clients complete exercises that reduces the "I-wrote-the-entire-resume" dilemma (in-depth questions in which I extract their words verbatim so that it is not all my work), but still, shouldn't these people write their resumes completely on their own? It's something that I struggle with, the ethics of it all. I justify it to myself, and I don't consider myself or my clients cheaters, but I can see where some would call us such, and that's their right. Can't take offense to it because they may have a point.
Well, yes...but not sure if you went through the whole thread. I had mentioned the reasoning behind it. Usually, every week, we have a number of quizzes, homework assignments, and exams...on top of the 45+ hours of lecture and lab. There really isnt much time in a given day to learn everything. I could sit there and do the whole homework assignment while my classmates are studying for an exam the next day OR I could do what everyone else does, check my email, get the answers, and begin studying for something that is much more critical. In dental school, you have to prioritize all the different things that are thrown your way. Yes, I could spend hours doing the homework assignment, but I'd be losing valuable time doing things that are more important. There is no reason for me to fall behind while every other person in my class takes a step forward.
Nothing happened to Big Mac in his hey day. Everyone knew he was on steroids and he was embraced as a national hero. Look at Lance Armstrong. He is one of the most inspirational figures in America. The only people who have been tarnished from the steroid scandal in sports are those people who were generally jackasses to the media. The likes of Barry Bonds, Rogers Clemens and so forth. Look at Bagwell, he was on steroids and he is generally held in a positive regards around these parts to this day. I don't think the public cares too much if their athletes are cheating as long as they are helping their team win.
Saying that cheating is bad...thats one thing...but calling someone a scumbag or a liar or lazy...thats ridiculous when you dont know what is actually going on behind the scenes. But thats really not even the root of it...my issue is that its people that havent stepped foot in that kind of environment that are speaking out like that. How could I be called lazy when I spend day in and day out working my ass off studying, doing projects, treating patients, etc...? Im lazy because I took a look at a file? So not taking a look at it would mean Im hard working? It just doesnt mesh with my line of reasoning. I dont feel guilty at all and if I had to do dental school over again, I'd be doing the exact same things. Its really the only way to survive. The 15 people in my class that got the boot after 1st year probably wish they were more involved with the class.
Ok, but I think what most of the people who have issues with what you are trying to say believe that there is never any reason to cheat. You believe that having any disadvantage at all, no matter if it be 2% or 20%, is a good enough one for cheating. I don't.
I agree- some of that is uncalled for- but like I said, I have to wrestle with that question frequently: am I helping clients get an unfair advantage? The one time you could say this is the case is if an employer called in one candidate over another based on their writing skills (which would largely be my writing skills). In those instances, maybe I am contributing to a form of cheating. I can justify it, but I have to accept the fact that some would call me or my client a cheater.
This comes back to the issue of not fully grasping what it is like to be in an intense curriculum that I mentioned. Sure, when I was in undergrad, I could have very easily made the same comments as those here because I had never cheated and I never saw any reason to do so. Then you step foot into a completely different environment and the purpose of the curriculum is to challenge you in every way possible...mentally, emotionally, physically...you get pulled into a thousand different directions at once. And its really hard for anyone to say theyve experienced that without actually having gone through it.
Well, your job is unique. You arent lying or cheating, although some may feel that...but you are bringing out the best in someones resume. Before we graduated, we had an assignment to make a resume. Then we got individual help to improve our resumes. Its all about the language...I dont consider that cheating at all. Everything on my resume is true; I did everything I said I did in my resume. Only difference is that someone helped me express it differently. You shouldnt have to justify anything.
I will say that the one type of project I will not take on is writing a resume for someone whose primary job function is writing, like a columnist or technical writer. Those type of clients will tell me, "yes, but writing a resume is different than writing a whitepaper"- but I still don't feel it's right for me to write a resume for someone who is being judged throughout the hiring process primarily on their writing skills- diction, syntax, etc. Also, being here in Lubbock, I get tons of requests to help write term papers, and I turn down every one. Just doesn't feel right.
Well, seems like youre pretty grounded morally. Nice. Well, just charge them money and it'll definitely feel right. For everyone waiting to pounce on me, Im just kidding.
HA! Nice one. Got your back- but for those that don't agree with you, hey, that's OK. But I'm always cautious about certain labels some tend to throw around. I mean, seriously, practically anyone who drives a motor vehicle has probably "cheated" the law 1,000s of times in their lifetime- but as long as we're not caught it's OK, right? I do agree with you and think there are degrees of cheating, but I have to be honest and say that for someone like Mulder, I can also understand why they would be angry about what they feel is a completely wrong act. (conveniently straddling both sides of the fence...) I'm out, Clutchers. Everyone sleep easy- with a clear conscience. :grin:
It's really not that bad, you're just spoilt. Rezdawg is worried about hitting up the clubs on a friday night and copping some dome when he could be reading. What happened to prioritizing, homefry? "I have a life guys". You're not supposed to have one in med school! Going to med school, especially if you're a slow learner, means sacrificing your life and free time for a big payout at the end. This is the struggle mediocre overachievers have to deal with. Like I said in my first post, cheating is the norm. I've seen it at every level and deal with people who make no effort to hide it. But the excuses, the justifications, and the "you don't know what I'm dealing with" mentality is what I do not agree with. I've talked with so many people in med school, in a number of different countries, and they would never dramatize their life to the extent you guys do. "Harrowing" experience. LOL. I want you both to say it with me. I have shortcomings. I'm lazy. I'm a slow learner. Therefore, I cheat incessantly. That's all this thread asks of you. You're still going to be a "productive" member of society in a country with the most inflated health care system for general care doctors. Think back to when you made the decision to go to med school... it wasn't about helping people, it was about laughing all the way to the bank for most of your adult life. And giving up a few years in your 20's for this isn't a big deal.
The posts in this thread that are equating athlete steroid use to minor academic cheating are a little unfair. If you say all forms of cheating are equal then would you say that about stealing? Well if you've ever listened to a burned album, illegally downloaded a song, or watched a pirated movie then you are a thief. If you say you've never done any of those things then I call BS. You may say that I'm trying to blur the lines but the fact is there are various degrees of everything. In the case of athlete steroid use I would say that would be like cheating on a big test such as a board exam and I would never condone such behavior. There is just too much risk involved. With minor things such as online homework I would say that is the equivalent of hand checking, flopping or camping the lane for over 3 seconds in basketball because the refs are oblivious or taking a blind eye to it. Those types of things are just part of the game that you play. Professors would be nieve to think that students doing online homework assignments where answer choices are A,B, C, or D are all working independently. These profs know whats going on but that's also why its usually a small part of the grade.
By this statement I'm not sure if you really know what you're talking about. I know this is completely off topic and I am not a doctor but I have friends that are in med school or are doctors and I can tell you that their two biggest motivations are that they truly enjoy what what they do and they want the prestige of being a doctor. Think about it, if you are smart and all you want is money you would do investment banking where you can get hired right after undergrad without a ridiculous amount of student loans and get into private equity or venture capital after a couple of years making 250k. After paying off student loans, malpractice insurance and all the other expenses to practice medicine a doctor doesn't make insane amounts of money.
If you broaden the definition of cheating to include favoritism, social/cultural bias and selective memory, then every manager in the world does it. The best defense of cheating isn't directly that everybody does it; but that at some point in your life, you'll have to do it to, or stand by while someone else does it on your behalf. No one has enough self-confidence, unselfishness, perpertual competence and pure luck to go through life without doing it. So yeah, go slit some throats and get your bonus.
This is the major inconsistency that I see in rezdawg's argument. Either GPA matters or doesn't, unless your stating that after you graduate you now realize GPA doesn't matter. As for homework not mattering and professors know it, why do they assign homework and count it towards your grade? I think everyone is just waiting for a "Hey I cheated in dental school to lessen my workload" instead of how we don't know what it's like.
Grades matter to those that want to specialize...for instance, I dont need to go to a post doctorate program because Im focusing on cosmetics and trying to get into the business side of things. For those that want to become orthodontists, endodontists, etc...they have to be in the top 10% of the class. That is why, when there is something like a homework assignment and its emailed out to the class, you will see a lot of people jump on the chance of getting a 100. The reason I jump on that chance isnt because I care what grade I get, its because I see it as an equalizer and a way to move on to the next priority on my list as soon as possible. Its not an inconsistency...I continue to repeat the same things, but with new details because you guys havent been there, so I need to continue breaking it down further and further. As for your 2nd comment...yes, Ive said this about 204 times this thread. One of the reasons to copy the homework assignment is so that I can get that out of the way and focus on an exam or a project. You know why they assign it? To make sure we are stretched to our limits. The intention behind the assignments isnt to learn...if you saw how much other stuff they gave us to do and what that stuff was, then you'd very clearly see that the homework is nothing more than just fluff to annoy the students.
Wow..I guess everyone in this thread that is hammering on rezdawg has never cheated or gained some sort of an advantage, in a less than moral way, in ANYTHING they have ever done in life. Otherwise you wouldn't be so overcritical about every word he says
Woah...you just blew my mind, man. It's settled then. Snitch on the cheater. Because if you don't, he will kill your grandfather.
