From the ACM "Ubiquity" magazine: In Defense of Cheating Snippet: I was disturbed by [a previous] article because the emphasis was on cheating by students and possible counteractive measures. Never did he ask the more fundamental questions: What is the purpose of an examination; Why do students cheat? Instead, he proposed that faculty become police enforcers, trying to weed out dishonest behavior. I would prefer to turn faculty into educators and mentors, guiding students to use all the resources at their disposal to solve important problems. ... Consider this: in many ways, the behavior we call cheating in schools is exactly the behavior we desire in the real world. Think about it. What behavior do we call cheating in the school system? Asking others for help, copying answers, copying papers. It's fortunate that Prof. Kennedy is now retired -- else he might go into cardiac arrest over this concept!
I'm reminded of that moment in "Catch-22" when Yossarian does something especially outrageous, and Major Major Major says, "But what if everybody did that?" Yossarian replies, "Then I'd be crazy not to."