Professors aren't being as lenient with cheaters anymore. And there's nothing wrong with that.

The university's implementation of a policy on cheating and plagiarism has resulted in a variety of disciplinary actions for students who went against the standards of academic integrity, ranging from a simple warning to dismissal from the academic program.

Students who cheat or attempt to cheat have always been a part of university life. However, the fact that more than five times as many students went through the system for violating the university's academic integrity policy in 2001-02 year simply means that more of them are being caught and appropriately punished for their misdeeds.

Professors who in the past hesitated to turn in cheaters were perhaps worried about sending an otherwise "good student" to the Office of Judicial Affairs for one infraction that might have been an error in judgment. Now they can make the punishment fit the crime.

The process for investigating an allegation of cheating now goes through the academic college of the class in which the student breached integrity. This not only lightens the caseload of Judicial Affairs, but also allows varying scrutiny where it is necessary

In some majors, working on homework or projects in a group and coming up with similar or replicated answers is acceptable. In others, it's considered unacceptable and cheating.

It's also more appropriate to have a variety of punishments and sanctions determined by the college. The most common problem found was plagiarism, which might be purposeful or a thoughtless mistake, but is probably less serious than bribing a teaching assistant or selling test answers.

More cheaters being caught and punished also means deterrence for those who might consider cheating as an "easy" way to get a better grade with little or no repercussions. Stopping those who would breach integrity standards is more fair to those students who honestly put in their time on classwork and tests, and it increases the value of a Penn State degree.