Dec. 7, a day which Franklin D. Roosevelt predicted, lives in infamy as the anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, now has another strike against it in the minds of Mississippi State University students, faculty and administration. Dec. 7, 2001, marked the beginning of one of the most widespread cheating scandals MSU has ever seen. University officials suspect just under one-fifth of the 800 students taking the final algebra exam may have had access to a stolen copy of the test.
MSU sent out a press release Dec. 17 stating that warrants had been issued for the arrest of four students connected with the incident.
In the release, MSU Vice President Roy Ruby called the scandal “a most unfortunate and embarrassing situation.”
“It’s a situation every educational institution faces, and none wishes ever to see repeated,” he said.
By Dec. 20, four suspects had been arrested.
Michael Pearson, associate head of the department of math and statistics, said the exam was stolen while being printed at MSU printing facilities. Wayne Reed, assistant chief of MSU budget and finance said a new policy on the handling of sensitive material, like exams, is underway.
He said that the details of the policy will not be available until the policy proposal is in final form and ready for review by the president and executive council. He said once that happens, the proposal will be reviewed before any new changes will take affect. Reed said he expected a new policy to be in place by the end of February.
Paul Ammerman, of 1580 Longview Rd., Starkville, was charged with theft of intellectual property.
Corey Barnes, of 110 Lincoln Green Apt. in Starkville, Cameron Farmer, of 3517 Kings Hwy in Jackson, and Ryan Hutchinson, of 638 Wellington Rd., Jackson, were charged with receipt of stolen property.
The four were released on a $500 bond after being held briefly in the Oktibbeha County Jail.
According to the Oktibbeha County Justice Court, Ammerman and Barnes will have a primary hearing Jan. 15, while Farmer and Hutchinson are set to go to trial some time in March.
The students involved in the incident will also face a student judicial board Jan. 17 and may be subject to a variety of possible penalties, including receiving a failing grade in the course, suspension and expulsion.
The students could not be reached for comment.
All algebra final exams were thrown out, and the university sent out a letter giving the 800 algebra students options as to how they would like to be graded. Their choices were to have their grade based on their former work or opt to take a re-test given Jan. 17.
Pearson, professor and associate head of the MSU math department, said the department would also be offering review sessions for those students who chose to take the makeup exam.
Pearson said he could not remember ever facing such a widespread cheating incident.
“Nothing of this scale, that I know of, has ever happened here before. We’ve been giving departmental exams for 20 years, and if somebody has gotten any kind of advance knowledge in the past, we never knew about it,” he said. “This one was very obvious, and it got way out of hand.”
Most of all, Pearson said he was saddened that so many students were involved in the cheating scheme.
“I’m disappointed that as many people participated, and did so apparently with no real qualms,” Pearson said. “I have to wonder just how widespread the problem of academic dishonesty is-not just in this department, but campus wide.” University relations director Joe Farris said Vice President Ruby plans to hold a public forum in the near future for MSU students and faculty to address the problem of cheating. Ruby was out of town, and unavailable for comment.
MSU students indeed have a lot to say about the cheating scandal.
Emily Fesmire, a senior in education, said, “I can’t believe anyone would steal a test. They should have just studied harder!”
Nikki Collier, a freshman in pre-med, was among those who will be retaking the test Jan. 17.
“The people that did it were irresponsible,” she said. “They should have known someone would be caught.”
Sophomore Abbey Williams, an accounting major, will be taking the test for the first time Jan. 17. She was scheduled to take the test the following Monday after the incident, but word had already spread that the test would most likely be thrown out.
“I never heard anything until the day I was supposed to take the test,” Williams said. “I’m really irritated that I have to take it later.