"Everybody's doing it," according to Michael Moore, author of Cheating 101: The benefits and fundamentals of earning the easy 'A.' In the Jan. 23 issue of the Collegian, Moore's book was discussed with an attitude that I found to be insulting to the majority of students who achieve their grades honestly. The article's position seemed nothing short of congratulatory toward Moore and his "accomplishments."

Apparently no one has done Moore the courtesy of informing him that an "easy A" is not earned, anyway, not in the traditional sense of the word. What Moore is earning is a lot of money; a reward bestowed partly for his audacity, and partly for his cleverness in avoiding detection.

According to a popular singer ". . .everything is legal just as long as you don't get caught." Legal, and in this case, lucrative. Obviously, popular opinion toward dishonesty is two-faced. Like many of the atrocities I read in the newspaper concerning the erosion of values, this story failed to shock me. However, this is a subject which strikes very close to home.

We, as students, operate under the pretext that our honesty concerning academic matters is valued and admired. The great majority of students I discuss this issue with tell me they would rather fail a class than cheat to obtain a grade. Not everyone "does it" as this book would have us believe. The light-hearted manner in which the Collegian discusses cheating makes our efforts, as well as our beliefs, seem foolish.