Academic dishonesty taken too far.

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by SurfDoctor, May 21, 2010.

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  1. SurfDoctor

    SurfDoctor Moderator

  2. Maniac Craniac

    Maniac Craniac Moderator Staff Member

    Well- I'm sure you would agree that ANY accademic dishonesty is way too far; this story is so wrong and so bizarre. In the end, the only reason why he ever got caught is that he just couldn't stop lying. It seems to be a pathology of his (I can't wait till I start taking my psych courses, btw :))

    I posted this same story in the off-topic section the other day, along with 3 other links to this story and we have a few members reaction to it (including mine) there.
     
  3. SurfDoctor

    SurfDoctor Moderator

    Oops, sorry to duplicate. And, of course any dishonesty is too far; maybe I should have worded that differently.

    You are going to love your psych courses. I had a few and they were hard but fascinating.
     
  4. Maniac Craniac

    Maniac Craniac Moderator Staff Member

    http://forums.degreeinfo.com/off-topic-discussions/34256-student-lies-his-way-into-harvard.html was my thread. This story is better posted here, as you did, anyway because more people will see it and I do think that it is an important story. In fact, it is DL relevant because stories like these allow us to point to well-known examples and when someone mentions the rare DL cheat as if it is the norm, we can say say SEE, IT HAPPENS TO THEM, TOO!!!

    Hard is exactly what I want, and I feel sad for the people like Adam Wheeler who may never understand why.
     
  5. SurfDoctor

    SurfDoctor Moderator

    I actually started out as a psych major way back when in my undergrad days. I originally planned to by a clinical psychologist. And it was TOUGH! I regret getting involved in other academic pursuits and dropping my psych degree. It's one of the things I kick myself for many years later.
     
  6. Randell1234

    Randell1234 Moderator

    Don't kick yourself. Just think if you were some high-dollar fancy-pants shrink you may never have found this board!:cool:
     
  7. SurfDoctor

    SurfDoctor Moderator

    LOL. But I would have been filthy rich. I would have bought Degree Info from Chip for millions and then paid all the mods 6 figure incomes!
     
  8. Maniac Craniac

    Maniac Craniac Moderator Staff Member

    After making me a mod first, right? [​IMG]

    Michael, I think you may be the first degreeinfo member ever to hijack his own thread :D
     
  9. AUTiger00

    AUTiger00 New Member

    Lets clear this up, the kid wasn't cheating in his classes, he was embellishing his resume, taking credit for work he didn't do, did in collaboration with someone else then took full credit, on his resume in order to get grants and scholarships. He got caught because he was dumb enough to apply for a Fullbright and they look into EVERYTHING on an application.
    Had he quit while he was ahead he would have walked out of hear with a degree next week. I'm not condoning what he did, it was terrible, but he wasn't cheating on his homework which seems to be what is being implied on this board.
    At any rate, here is a link to the resume he submitted for grants/scholarships with the falsehoods highlighted. What is really amazing is that there are kids at Harvard with resumes that look like this and are completely legitimate.

    http://www.thecrimson.com/media/pdf/WheelerResumeMark.pdf
     
  10. Shawn Ambrose

    Shawn Ambrose New Member

    According to the comments on the resume, he withdrew from school due to academic dishonesty allegations, correct?
     
  11. AUTiger00

    AUTiger00 New Member

    Not for cheating in his classes, for lying on his scholarship/grant applications.
     
  12. SurfDoctor

    SurfDoctor Moderator

    Congratulations on the cool Harvard credentials! Way to go; wish I had them. But, no, I was not implying he was cheating in class. In fact, they say he was a pretty decent student. He was just stupid to take it so far, and as Maniac said, liars have a hard time stopping. Lying on applications is reprehensible, sure, but taking it so far is adding stupid to reprehensible. It was my understanding that he was applying for a Rhodes scholarship and he plagiarized the work of another as a submission required for the application.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: May 21, 2010
  13. AUTiger00

    AUTiger00 New Member

    I believe you're correct, it was his app for a Rhodes Scholar, not a Fullbright, my mistake.
    And again, I wasn't condoning what he did, just pointing out that he wasn't cheating in class.
     
  14. Maniac Craniac

    Maniac Craniac Moderator Staff Member

    The story I linked to from Yahoo said the reason he had to leave Harvard was because he was suspected of plagiarism. Clearly, his dishonesty is compounding and, at this level, dangerous. This is the type of person who forges an MD and does plastic surgery in his basement.
     
  15. SurfDoctor

    SurfDoctor Moderator

    Hey, I did hijack my own thread, didn't I?

    You would be the first person I would hire, but I could only start you out at $99,000. a year, sorry.
     
  16. Maniac Craniac

    Maniac Craniac Moderator Staff Member

    I guess I'll have to keep bringing my lunch to work in order to make up the difference :).
     
  17. b4cz28

    b4cz28 Active Member

    What gets me is all the stuff that he did do, which is a heck of a lot more than I will ever do..lol (if by the items not being in red, means they are true)
    Did this guy ever earn any real degrees?
     
  18. AUTiger00

    AUTiger00 New Member

    No. He would have graduated with a BA from Harvard College next week. He transferred in from Bowdoin College (which is another great school, for what it is worth) two years ago. Turns out his letters of recommendation from professors at Bowdoin for his Harvard application were fake.
     
  19. SurfDoctor

    SurfDoctor Moderator

    I do not condone his actions, but it's amazing to think that he could have possibly pulled this scam off if he hadn't gotten greedy and applied for the Rhodes.

    The amount of work he had to put in to fake all the paperwork must have been huge. He might could have made it legitimately if he would have used that effort and intelligence in the proper way.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: May 21, 2010
  20. Dave Wagner

    Dave Wagner Active Member

    Without suggesting a specific mental health diagnosis, the long-term plagiarizer might experience cognitive dissonance in increasing magnitudes over time and actually want to be caught; thereby reducing the magnitude of the dissonance.
     

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