Article

2020-12-22 -Short Attention Span Theater-

West Point faces worst cheating scandal in nearly 45 years involving more than 70 cadets

[The Hill] More than 70 cadets at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point have been accused of cheating on a math exam, the worst academic dishonesty scandal to hit the military academy in decades.

Fifty-nine cadets have admitted to cheating on the final exam in May in a calculus course, which was administered remotely amid the coronavirus pandemic, USA Today first reported. All of the cadets made the same mistake in one section of the test.

West Point instructors initially raised accusations against 73 cadets, including 72 first-year cadets and one second-year cadet, West Point officials confirmed to The Hill.

However, two cases were dismissed due to a lack of evidence, and four were dismissed because the cadets resigned.

Fifty-five cadets have enrolled in a program for rehabilitation know as the "Willful Admissions Process," officials confirmed.

Within the process, cadets write journals and essays, are paired with a mentor and enroll in other programs, USA Today reported.

Four other cadets who admitted to cheating are not eligible for the program, which can last up to six months, officials confirmed.

The remaining individuals are facing administrative hearings over the accusations, and they could face a range of penalties, including being expelled, USA Today reported.

West Point’s honor code states, "A cadet will not lie, cheat, or steal, or tolerate those who do."

Posted by Besoeker 2020-12-22 01:52|| || Front Page|| [11129 views ] Top

#1 “Anyone who cannot cope with mathematics is not fully human. At best, he is a tolerable subhuman who has learned to wear his shoes, bathe, and not make messes in the house.” - Lazarus Long.

Posted by g(r)omgoru 2020-12-22 03:45|| 2020-12-22 03:45|| Front Page Top

#2 Endemic at the service academies. Won't stop until the ratio is more like 3 or 5 guilty cadets are put on probation and 55 are expelled, not vice-versa.

There is something deeply rotten about the way our country's elite academic institutions select and promote politically-ambitious young people. This seems to be the underlying reason for the unbelievably shitty political class of the last 30 years: the Clintons, Bush spawn W and Jeb!, McCain-Romney, Kerry, Edwards and of course His Nothingness Obama himself.

All of them intellectual lightweights but superbly skilled at manipulating the system to their advantage. Except for the silver spoon Bushes, most of them are just ambitious little scam artists of one kind or another who accumulated vast fortunes thanks to their political connections, status or ability, like Edwards the tort lawyer, to manipulate a broken political-judicial system.

Unlike the presidents, generals and other gearen produced by earlier generations, none of our recent presidents or presidential candidates gas shown any real executive ability or talent or gift for leadership.

So instead of Pattons and Eisenhowers, or men like Lee and Grant, we get morons like:
Spencer Rapone, the USMA Communist plebe;
that black USFA doolie who like Jussie Smollet faked being a victim of racist hate crimes;
and the passel of shitty little overachiever-cheaters clogging up all the academies from West Point to Annapolis to Colorado Springs.

Posted by Thor Claise4201 2020-12-22 03:59|| 2020-12-22 03:59|| Front Page Top

#3 ^And you haven't seen that it does to scientific research & academic scholarship.

Posted by g(r)omgoru 2020-12-22 04:18|| 2020-12-22 04:18|| Front Page Top

#4 Anyone see a demographic breakdown (and I doubt you will) of the accused, please pass it along.

Posted by Besoeker 2020-12-22 06:19|| 2020-12-22 06:19|| Front Page Top

#5 West Point started out not just as a military academy for the Army, but also a major participant in putting engineers into the nation and economy. It remained primarily an engineer school till after WW2 when other degrees were implemented. Being an accomplished engineer takes a certain mindset involving real world problem solving and low tolerance for mistakes.

Posted by Procopius2k 2020-12-22 06:53|| 2020-12-22 06:53|| Front Page Top

#6 Don't underestimate the damage done to standards as a result of Obama's social justice focus, which took root in the selection of whom to promote and embed at USMA.

But also don't underestimate the crappy state of the applicant pool.

Posted by Punky Clunk8901 2020-12-22 07:11|| 2020-12-22 07:11|| Front Page Top

#7 If I recall, Tommy Jefferson got West Point rolling and had more nobler ideas than what is going on now.

Posted by Clem 2020-12-22 08:10|| 2020-12-22 08:10|| Front Page Top

#8 Didn't Mike Pompeo graduate from West Point?

Posted by Thimp Clusort2035 2020-12-22 08:30|| 2020-12-22 08:30|| Front Page Top

#9 The system still produces some excellent young leaders - Pompeo's a fine example - but it fails to screen out ambitious grifters and all-around bad eggs.

To #2 TC4201's point, there is definitely something weird about our current era's crop of political or militarily ambitious characters. It produces people who are far more narcissistic than earlier leaders ever were.

Something about our cult of "identity" -- not just race gender etc BS but also people wanting to "be" somebody of their imagining rather than focus on actually doing things for other people.

Posted by Uleaque Johnson3363 2020-12-22 09:06|| 2020-12-22 09:06|| Front Page Top

#10 Maybe just shut down the corrupt institutions. That'll give the follow ons incentive to hide their corruption better.

/snark

Posted by M. Murcek 2020-12-22 09:17|| 2020-12-22 09:17|| Front Page Top

#11 #6 Don't underestimate the damage done to standards as a result of Obama's social justice focus, which took root in the selection of whom to promote and embed at USMA.

Summed up nicely.

Posted by Woodrow 2020-12-22 13:01|| 2020-12-22 13:01|| Front Page Top

#12 also don't underestimate the crappy state of the applicant pool.

True ... even before the pandemic, something like 75% of America's youth could not even meet the most basic physical, moral, and mental standards for consideration to enlist in the military. It's probably close to 90% disqualified now.

So those American 18 year-olds who can run a mile in 8 minutes, who don't know a cosine from a cosplay, who don't have alphabet diagnoses or criminal records-- those who get over the first most basic hurdle don't amount to more than maybe 0.5% or so of this nation's youth. Very disturbing. Slim pickings indeed.

Posted by Flunter Johnson7425 2020-12-22 13:18|| 2020-12-22 13:18|| Front Page Top

#13 I had to ask:
On the finals, or getting in?

Posted by swksvolFF 2020-12-22 14:59|| 2020-12-22 14:59|| Front Page Top

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