Being one of the most selective and academically prestigious schools in the nation, Stanford University is running an investigation in order to find students that have violated the Honor Code.

If today’s main source for information and school assignments is the Internet, why not use a “Fire versus fire” method, rather than waste time feeling offended because the so called “Honor Code” is violated.

If the problem has been persisting and growing in the last couple years, why hasn’t Stanford worked on something to decrease it?

A possible reason for this problem may involve personal struggles that students are facing.

Finding themselves under stress and pressure, it’s obvious that a percentage of students may cheat for fear of failing.

About 20 percent of the students at the university have been found guilty of cheating and the rate is growing.

Not a wise action coming from university students, but when finding yourself in a very competitive environment it’s pretty obvious you will always find cheaters.

Unfortunately, instructors sometimes don’t realize what students face in their lives outside school.

Don’t get me wrong, I understand that the idea behind “academic” is to leave the class with gained knowledge rather than having a boring routine at school everyday.

So what is the main problem here? Pride or cheating?

Instead of tracking down those guilty of cheating, the money and time that would be used to investigate should be invested in a new process to turn in assignments or scan them.

They could use some available and helpful sources such as turnitin.com where the students can submit their assignments, which are processed to make sure how much plagiarism is in the paperwork.

This allows the instructor to manage and keep an eye on the students progress in class.

The consequences for cheating range from providing 40 hours of community service and being suspended.

In order to keep an academic reputation, noticing a potential problem like this one should be treated before it becomes bigger.