By Mohamad Yahia Hamade
LAU Tribune staff
Just one night before her midterm, a distressed student at the social sciences department checked her inbox and miraculously found a copy of her long awaited exam. Salma downloaded the document and tried to crack it, but eventually gave up on the bootleg document and went to sleep, hoping for a miracle to come her way in the exam hall.
The next day, an hour before the exam, Salma’s eyes were bloodshot from the lack of sleep and agitation. She found out that the exam she received by email was not the right one, but was in fact for another course.
“I got the email and tried to solve the exam but it turned out to be for my other class,” Salma said, sipping a cup of coffee and struggling to stay awake. “There was a mix-up, but my ‘contacts’ have access to the professor’s laptop. I can make it up with another exam.”
Exam theft might seem like an exaggerated plot of The Perfect Score movie; however, official sources at LAU and other universities told the Tribune that this is a problem all academic institutions face occasionally. In a recent incident at LAU Byblos, five students were suspended when investigations revealed that they stole exams from their department, a staff member who preferred to remain anonymous, said.
According to Provost Abdallah Sfeir, investigations of exam theft are conducted around twice or three times a year on average. “Whenever [we] suspect in such a fact, we immediately take action and an investigation is set to examine the case,” he emphasized.
“In theory, it’s very easy [to steal exams], all you have to do is [illicitly] get access to the professor’s laptop or flash disk,” Leila, an arts and sciences student, said. “It’s simple.” However, that action is not risk-free. Leila said one of her friends was apprehended by the administration and immediately expelled, after a pending investigation proved she was guilty.
Leila said she had acquired Salma’s aforementioned exam. She did so by illicitly accessing the professor’s flash disk files and copying all the Word documents labeled by the course number.
Computer software that can be downloaded online free of charge allow perpetrators to easily and swiftly complete this task. Leila did not disclose what kind of software she used, however, a Google search revealed over a million hits for the term “USB cloning software” online.
The Tribune tried to obtain the alleged exam but both Leila and Salma refused to give it out. When challenged, however, Salma gave us a set guideline manual that was to be distributed during a psychology class, almost a month after the theft had occurred. The paper that contained term paper instructions was not the midterm but was acquired though unethical ways by a “source” who accessed the professor’s files.
“Students think that [stealing exams] is shatara,” Samira Aghacy, dean of arts and sciences, said. Those students are paying immensely for their education. What’s the point when they do something like that? They will suffer immensely when they graduate.”
Aghacy said that LAU professors battle theft by changing their exams every semester. “This is the time for students to learn. It’s their fuel for the future. If you are not equipped then it’s a catastrophe,” she added.
Rabiaa Hobeika, an instructor who teaches German, has her own way of protecting exams. “I bring my students on Saturday to take the exam,” she said. “Everyone has to be in the classroom on time before we start.”
Hobeika has a strict attendance policy for more than fifty students in two sections. Exams are counted before and after class is over and then matched to the names signed on the exam folder. Hobeika also locks the door five minutes into the exam and does not allow any late students in.
Karim, a pre-med student, doubted any exams were being stolen in the natural sciences department. He attributed this to the highly competitive nature of pre-med students. “Everyone is trying to get a good recommendation,” he said. “Why would someone blow it [by stealing exams?]”
“It’s very hard to cheat or take out a phone during an exam,” R. M., a student who refused to be identified, said. “But I think it might be possible to steal an exam because some classes have forty students and the teacher can’t remember everyone in the classroom.”
Despite the moral and academic consequences, some students still try to get ahead of their classmates by soliciting help from people outside campus who are more than willing to help for a financial compensation.
Ali, a tutor for business majors, offers his services to students who have difficulties in class –if the price is right. The young man made a career out of tutoring (and stealing) service and it is a full time job that keeps him busy near campus, where students can seek his services out.
Posing for a student who needs help, a Tribune staff member called Ali to inquire about his services. “I can steal any exam, from any course or classroom,” he claimed confidently. His specialty, however, is business, finance and math. Ali asks for 100 dollars for the price of every exam.
“I guarantee you the A,” he said. “One of my students got a 104 over 100.”
When asked, Ali explained briefly how he steals exams. He claimed that, when possible, he sneaks into the room where the exam is held, swipes a copy and then heads to a location outside LAU to solve the exam. He then sends the answers via text messages or through BlackBerry Messenger to the students who paid for his services.
“There’s an instructor who allows the use of iPhones during their exams, because of an app that allows the phone to be used as a graphing calculator,” Ali explained. He said he uses this to his advantage because it makes it easier for him to text students without fear of them getting caught.
“Students just tell the teacher that their phones have the graphing calculator app,” he said. “Meanwhile, what’s really happening is that I’m texting them the answers.”
Reprinted and adapted with permission from the LAU Tribune. http://tribunelau.com/2011/05/09/exam-theft-on-campus. May 9, 2011. Photo by Yasmine Dabbous.