Columbia University School Notes Higher Levels of Academic Dishonesty

Barnard College, the all-girls college within the Columbia University undergraduate system of four schools, has recently released statistics revealing significantly higher levels of academic dishonesty than years past.

Moreover, the number of cases is more than likely much higher than the number cited by administrators, as cheating has become a pervasive trait in many of the nation's top universities and many of the perpetrators go unnoticed.

According to a recent article by the Columbia Spectator,

Some faculty and administrators cite as contributing factors stress, improper time management, and lack of understanding of what constitutes cheating.

The majority of Barnard cases are plagiarism, Blank said. The rest included charges such as cheating on an exam, inappropriate collaboration on an assignment, and illegal downloading.

With the rise of internet, access to other people's writing and the amount of writing on a topic available has vastly increased. Older norms such as plagirism have been warped as more and more students have come to see the internet as a "free" source of words and ideas, a place where copying the work of others happens all the time as opposed to, per say, a hard copy of a book.

Ex-Morgan Stanley Broker Receives Sentence

Interesting quote from Brooklyn district judge John Gleeson today in response to a case involving Salvatore Zangari, a 34-year-old ex-broker with a busy Wall Street resume:

Zangari’s case was “mystifying” because, with no dependents and making “north of a couple hundred thousand a year,” he didn’t need the money from the scheme, the judge said.

Why? Because cheating is never just about the money.

Greater age, Smaller Sentence

Should older white collar felons receive less time in jail? A recent Bloomberg article analyzes the nuances surrounding attempts by lawyers to use the "age card" in the courtroom.

So What is Insider Trading Anyway?

To the victor goes the spoils, right? Well, not, according to the SEC, if he has an unfair advantage. But what, exactly, constitutes an unfair advantage? The definition today is not the same as it was even in the '80s. Back then, it applied strictly to those in the company who used knowledge obtained from quarterly reports and the like when buying and trading their own company's stock.

Now, however, the SEC seems to be taking a more moralistic approach to its prosecution of cases, attacking everyone and anyone who it believes had an unfair advantage. This may be a cause of its drive to become a stronger regulating body following its numerous failures in the past decade. Or, it could be an outgrowth of the increasing complexities of the financial system, where the question of who knew what and when is much important, and complex, given the magnified value of small snippets of information.

Regardless of the cause of the change, it is clear that the SEC has widely broadened its definition of insider trading. To learn more about how people are reacting, check out this recent article by Andrew Ross Sorkin.

Transnational Group Questions How U.S. Settles Corporate Suits

The Paris-based Organization Co-operation for Economic Development recently lauded the United States for its significant increase in its efforts to combat bribery.

In the same document, however, the OCED noted that the Justice Department could do a better job explaining how and why suits brought against corporations are settled.