<p>As a student it may be surprising that I would agree with the professor’s decision. Plagarism is such as heinous evil that it must be punished to the greatest extent. The reason why plagarism and cheating is so rampant in all levels of education - elementary, high school, and college - is that the punishements are often rare and weak. For example, even giving the offending student a F for the course often do not prevent cheating. </p>
<p>Hence, I think that anyone who’s stupid, idiotic, and insane enough to cheat should be punished. In this case, the punishment is less than severe enough. Why? Because, given that students know there’s only a tiny probability that their cheating will be detected, only a heavy penalty will suffice. It’s the inverse of lottery tickets, given the low probability of winning a several million dollar reward is needed. </p>
<p>“Failing the course plus academic probation is plenty in my book”-Hanna. If professors can detect cheating all the time that would suffice. What about if I have a paper due tomorrow that’s worth 40%. If I don’t cheat, I have 100% chance of getting zero. But if I cheat, there’s only 5% chance in which I get zero, but 95% chance of getting 80%. Cheating seems like the pretty good deal.</p>
<p>Now, I guess the bigger issue is whether or not his form of punishment is valid. There are several reasons which posting on his blog is valid: </p>
<ol>
<li>He stated on this syllabus that he would “publicly fail and humiliate anyone caught lying, cheating, or stealing.”</li>
<li>What he posted was facts. He made no attempt to ridicule the offenders. </li>
<li>He did not violate the law. He revealed who cheated, not their grades. So FERPA was not violated. </li>
<li>He clearly, comprehensively checked his essay to make sure it was plagarized: </li>
</ol>
<p>" After I (Young) first discovered a plagiarized essay, I had my staff search the Web and flag for me postings that were possible plagiarism violations. I reviewed each case and construed every ambiguity in favor of the student. I approved some essays my staff flagged, either because the student had sufficiently cited the source material or because I thought it was too close a case to warrant a failing grade."</p>