Monday, January 19, 2004
THE CHEATING CULTURE. I've been meaning to take a look at this book for a few weeks now. Cheating is, obviously an endemic and important problem in universities. My general sense is that those who regard cheating in school as a serious issue are shrinking in numbers and based on the blurbs the book would appear to bear this out. Now, I just discovered that the author, David Callahan, has a blog. Some snippets:
Check it out.
In jury selection for the Martha Stewart trial, prosecutors sought ordinary New Yorkers fed up with lying by corporate leaders. The government will also be on the lookout for such jurors in impending trials involving WorldCom, Enron, and Healthsouth. Yet while many Americans are angry about corporate scandals that have cost investors dearly, such ire may not be enough to lead jurors to condemn former executives who previously led upstanding lives. American society is filled with what a sociologist once called "law-abiding lawbreakers" -- or cheaters if you drop the tongue twisting. And plenty of ordinary jurors, strangely enough, may actually be able to relate to the sins of fallen corporate titans.
...
Most of us will never get the chance to loot a big company or cash in on insider stock tips. But millions of otherwise law-abiding citizens routinely break the rules for a little extra something. Lawyers overbill clients, doctors take dirty money from pharmaceutical companies, homeowners carve out illegal apartments in their basements, car owners lie on insurance claims, legions of taxpayers make up deductions, and on and on.
This is nickel and dime stuff compared to multi-billion dollar frauds. Still, jurors who break rules in their own lives may hesitate to cast the first stone. Jurors won't relate to zipping around in private jets, but they will connect to that very human impulse to cheat for extra gain when you think no one will ever know. Or to lie under pressure to make a problem go away. Or to cut corners because you believe that everyone else is doing the same thing.
Check it out.
