27 February 2012

This article is about how SAT scores have become more than a requirement for college but now a requirement for some jobs. More and more employers are asking for SAT scores because they believe that it is a good reference on how someone will do at their job. It serves as a tool to wade out the large amount of people who apply for a job. Those who don’t have a high enough score get thrown out quickly bringing the number down from hundreds. These tests are so important because they test people on a verity of subjects. All different types of math, reading, grammar, syntax, and many more related groups are tested on. These tests tell colleges how much you know about simply topics. The better you do the smarter you seem. However some colleges don’t require the test scores, probably because some argue that it’s unfair to those who don’t test well.

                In my opinion it is very unfair to hire someone based on their SAT scores. Most of these people who are looking for new jobs are freshly out of college so why are we basing their knowledge on what it was 4 years ago in high school? The point of college is to further your education, to get a higher level of education, so giving them a job based on what they knew before they went seems stupid. I agree with Kristin Carnahan that employers should base their decisions on grades. They are a more recent display of someone’s abilities.

                Colleges take the SAT test into consideration because they believe that high test scores show that a student is willing to work harder to not flunk out of college. Colleges don’t like it when people drop out because they can’t get their money, so they want people who will stay in school to attend. Colleges look at more than just SAT scores though. They also look at different extracurricular activities you participated in, they classes you took, and your overall grades in school. In my opinion colleges should request scores for reference but a particular score should not be mandatory. Also I do not think that employers should ask for them. That just doesn’t seem right.

6 February 2012

Copy Cop is an article on a man who has created an internet based engine to eliminate cheating among high schooler and students in college. iParadigms works very simply; the students upload their papers electronically to the site, where is scans and marks any copied parts. It runs each paper against 3 databases. The first is one that it compares it to every internet site; the second is books, encyclopedias and even the classics like Moby Dick. The third is any paper that has been turned into them since day one or operation.

                I am not against teachers using this program. Why should kids get recognition for something they didn’t do? As Barrie said its “making sure all students are playing by the same set of rules”. Ever students should be graded equally so the work they turn in should be based on their own skills, not a stranger. Plagiarism is not okay!! It is perfectly acceptable to use information from someone else if you give that person credit for it. Using quote from a person, and work cited paged can greatly prevent plagiarism. I think the punishment for plagiarism should be a zero for the assignment and some sort of harsh punishment like detention for kids in high school and having to partake in some undesirable activity for college students.

                In my opinion institutions take this so seriously because they don’t want students to get grades for something they didn’t do. If a medical student is assigned a paper on the biology of the human body, and turned in someone else’s work, would you want them to end up being your doctor? I don’t know about you but that’s a without a doubt no on my part. That’s why I think institutions are so harsh on the subject. For Stetson University the punishment for cheating in an automatic failure of the coarse and then you must appear for student’s court. Other high level students will judge you based on your records at Stetson to see whether or not they want to expel you. Cheating can cause loss of scholarships, participation in athletics, and other consequences.