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ke a disease, and a cheater can encourage others just by being seen from across the room. Recent statistics suggest 30% or more of college students cheat. If a class is graded on a curve, cheating hurts others39。 transcript notation。re makingand that leads to bad decisions. To avoid fooling yourself, watch out for excuses and try this test: Ask how you would feel if your actions were public, and anyone could be watching over your shoulder. Would you feel proud or ashamed of your actions? If you39。m not hurting anyone, or I really need this grade. Excuses can get very elaborate: I know I39。t know the rules about plagiarism may accidentally use words or ideas without giving proper credit, or one who fails to keep careful research notes may unintentionally fail to quote and cite sources as required. But the fact that such a violation is unintentional does not excuse the misconduct. Ignorance is not a defense. But Everybody Does It Most people who get in trouble do know the rules and facts, but manage to fool themseWhy Integrity Matters What is Integrity? Integrity is defined as adherence to moral and ethical principles。re taking, we can39。t see the risks we39。t make responsible choices. To identify risks, we need to know the rules and be aware of the facts. For example, one who doesn39。re taking by using excuses: Everyone else does it, I39。t see the real choice we39。 Suspension or Dismissal from school。t count and don39。t put money in the bank, buy food, clothing, or medicine from others, drive across a bridge, get on a plane, go to the dentistthe list is endless. There are many examples of the vast harm that is caused when individuals fet or ignore the effect their dishonesty can have. The savings and loan scandal, the stock market and junk bond swindles, and, of course, Watergate, have undermined the faith of many Americans in the integrity of political and economic leaders and society as a whole. Such incidents take a tremendous toll on our nation39。t pete with those who do.) Cheating also has a destructive impact on teachers. The real reward of good teaching is seeing students learn, but a cheater says, I39。t get caught pay an even higher price. A cheater doesn39。re taking a risk and rationalizing it to yourself. Evaluating Risks To decide whether a risk is worth taking, you must examine the consequences, in the future as well as right now, negative as well as positive, and to others as well as to yourself. Those who take risks they later regret usually focus on