The honor system may have failed, but UH’s latest proposal to curb academic dishonesty might not be much better.
Students taking a test at the Center for Academic Support and Assessment must now have their fingerprints scanned and saved. When they come to take a test their print must match that of their digital double (See story, Page 1).
While somewhat unnerving, the system was created as a solution to a legitimate problem. In large classes, a student can easily have a bright friend memorize his or her identification number, bubble it in on a Scantron sheet and take an exam.
CASA was created to monitor test takers more closely by keeping their photographs on file and checking IDs. Since the center’s inception in 2006, only 10 incidents of cheating have been reported.
Either the center works or students are getting sneakier.
Serious action must be taken to prevent fraud, but 10 incidents are hardly enough to incite such a Big Brother-like action. Academic honesty is important, but so is privacy.
An article in Time Magazine from September 2007 about the use of fingerprint scanners in elementary schools addressed the concerns many parents had: identity theft and the fear that immigrants might be tracked by the government.
While the University insists the information will not be accessible, officials probably said the same thing before the Social Security numbers and grades of 259 math students were accidentally leaked by a UH professor in October 2005.
The Liberty Coalition, a nonprofit group whose "primary focus is on restrictions on privacy, autonomy and liberty-related issues," said search engine caches containing the information were not cleared until July 2008.
Individuals’ private and personal information should only be collected and stored when it is absolutely necessary. If information is leaked or a database is hacked, it is a severe invasion of privacy.
Scanners are already used in everything from amusement parks to banks, and it’s frightening that the practice has become so accepted, especially when it may not always work.
A 2005 U.S. News ‘ World Report article considered the question, "Can somebody steal your fingerprint?" Its response: "With phishers and other scam artists growing remarkably sophisticated, the answer almost certainly is yes."
A solution to cheating must be found, but it isn’t hiding in the ridges and valleys of one’s fingertips.