When teaching assistant Mario Ugoletti patrolled Arthur L. Welsh's Economics 4 -- Macroeconomics class last spring, he never thought he would have to fill the role of a police officer in pursuit.

During the final exam, Ugoletti (graduate-economics) did not recognize someone taking the exam. He asked the student for his student I.D. The student said he forgot it.

"I wasn't 100 percent sure because I am responsible for 120 students. I was a bit nervous," Ugoletti said. While another TA informed Welsh, the student ran for the door, almost disappearing among the swarms of students plowing out of Eisenhower Auditorium. Ugoletti grabbed his arm and the student said he wouldn't go anywhere.

Both students -- the one taking the exam and the one scheduled to take the exam -- were found guilty by the Penn State Hearing Board for academic dishonesty and dismissed from the University.

This case is not an isolated incident. Students are always finding innovative ways to cheat. According to Michael Moore's Cheating 101, some program their digital watches with cheat notes. Others wear ripped jeans and write the answers on their kneecaps in red ink, resembling blood. All in all, cheating has become a science and it may be going unrecognized.

The number of reported academic dishonesty cases, which include cheating, are recorded through judicial affairs, said Donald Suit, director of the Office of Judicial Affairs. In 1972, 40 cases of academic dishonesty were recorded. Between June 1, 1992, and May 31, 1993, seven cases were reported.

Suit said the current number is low compared to past years, but, "like rape, it does not mean cheating is not happening."

One student, who asked to be unnamed because of University cheating penalties, checked her test with her friend's answers in an economics course last semester.

"It's really very easy to cheat in the big classes," she said. "I mostly look off of other people's tests."

She said cheating is wrong, but her grades are more important.

"Besides, it's easy to do in a big class," she added. "I don't look at all the answers -- just the ones I'm not sure of. I'm not really cheating. I'm just getting their advice."

Andrew Nichols (junior-international politics) understands but cannot sympathize.

"I cheated only once and that was the last time," he said.

While taking a history test in fourth grade, he copied the name of a president from a girl next to him. After that, he felt so guilty he told the teacher. His teacher marked that question wrong and told him to finish the test.

Unlike Nichols' case, cheating is not normally reported, so to curb cheating, Barbara K. Wade, assistant professor of agricultural and extension education, advises professors to state cheating policies at the beginning of the semester and reinforce them.

For Christy Aulson (freshman-animal biology science), potential penalties are enough to prevent her from cheating.

"If I failed, my family would behead me on the spot," she said.

But Christine Tachibana, an instructor in biochemistry and molecular biology, refrains from involving the department for minor cases because she doesn't think they are serious enough.

If students are talking, she warns them. If they have "cheat notes," Tachibana allows them to take an essay make-up exam. If students switch exams, then she informs the department.

Welsh deals with cheating in different ways. If he has a "smoking gun," he immediately refers them to judicial affairs. Other times he demands the student's reason.

In Welsh's experience, students have passed tests down rows for others to copy and peeked over shoulders. Welsh suggests removing temptation -- books, notebooks and book bags.

Ugoletti said larger classes lend themselves to cheating because smaller classes tend to use essays and more individual exam forms.

And Richard F. Stinson, emeritus professor of agricultural education and horticulture, suggests an alternating seating pattern.

Tachibana instructs about 600 Biological Sciences 4 -- Human Body students in Schwab Auditorium. She uses proctors but has not discovered much cheating. She uses different test forms to avoid copying.

Wade and Stinson, in an article for the National Association of Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture last year, wrote that professors should legalize some forms of cheating. They suggested students be allowed to take notes written on a 3-by-5 inch card to the exam. This prepares the student for the test and reduces unfair advantages.

Tachibana said this may be good for some classes because students will spend more time applying concepts rather than memorizing formulas.

Jerrilynn Bush (freshman-human development and family studies) said an honor code could hinder cheating. Students could sign a pact each semester promising not to cheat and to report dishonesty, she explained. If someone is caught cheating, the class could decide the punishment.

Stinson said this won't work. Students who intend to cheat are not going to be stopped by a contract, he said.

But Wade believes this reinforces the instructor's cheating policy. With prevention and knowledge of different techniques, Wade said, "cheating can be reduced."