Although a recent study by a California researcher reported many students have dropped their ethics by the roadside, cheating at NIU doesn’t appear to be widespread.

The 60-page study from the Joseph and Edna Josephson Institute for the Advancement of Ethics says that “an unprecedented proportion of today’s young generation lacks commitment to core moral values such as honesty, respect for others, personal responsibility and civic duty.” And because of this, the moral fibers that hold the U.S. together are weakening, the study said.

The study showed students between the ages of 18 and 30 are at the center of crumbling ethics because they have been raised in an “environment of greed, corruption, selfishness and dishonesty.”

The study stated about 50 percent of college students admit to cheating, compared to about 75 percent of high school students.

NIU Journalism Law professor Richard Digby-Junger said, “I haven’t observed anyone cheating, but that doesn’t mean it’s not happening.”

However, he said he thinks cheating is not as big a problem at NIU as it might be at larger, more competitive colleges and universities, such as the University of Wisconsin at Madison, where Dugby-Junger worked before coming to NIU.

“Schools that are harder to get into seem to attract more cheating,” he said.

Dugby-Junger also said he does not think students at NIU have lost their ethics. “It’s suprising. There are lots of opportunities to cheat, but I don’t see a lot of it happening.”

“Cheating is a serious crime, it’s one of the worst things a student can do,” said Assistant Judical Officer Jenine Povlsen.

A student caught cheating risks being suspended or expelled from the university she said. However, if a student is caught cheating, the professor of the course has the first opportunity to resolve the problem, she said.

A professor can give the student a failing grade on the specific project the student was caught cheating on. The professor also has the option to give the student a failing grade for the course, Povlsen said.

Only if the situation is not or cannot be resolved by the professor does the charge go to NIU’s judicial office, she said.