Where's the honesty?

There used to be an annual event, with local races all over the country culminating in a big nationwide deal, called the Soapbox Derby. It gave kids the chance to design and build a non-motorized "race car" and race it downhill against other kids and their homemade contraptions. Back in those days, kids used to find scrap wood (soap boxes) and used wheels from a baby carriage or something, and make a little car. It was good wholesome fun back when such a thing still existed. Kids built their cars and the winner won and the losers went home and drank a Yoo-Hoo and life went on.

The charm of the Soapbox Derby was forever ruined in 1973 when a kid, most likely with help from a father who was some sort of engineer, was caught cheating by using some sort of magnetic device to power his car over the finish line. In that same year, the president of the United States was caught sending thugs to spy on the competition in an election that he had about as much chance of losing as I have of being chosen Pope. And the vice-president was forced to resign when it turned out that he had been stuffing his well-tailored suit jackets with bribe money from paving contractors during his time as Baltimore County executive, Governor of Maryland, and Vice President of the United States. The delicious irony is, that man, Spiro Agnew, would have been sworn in as president the following summer when the incompetent incumbent president walked the plank, but he was already out on his asterisk* by then.

So, cheating is as American as apple pie and a broken-down Chevrolet. Still, it hurts to hear about things like this: 

Eighteen midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy have been expelled or resigned following an investigation into cheating on a physics exam in December 2020.

That was when 650 middies took the General Physics I final online. They were told verbally and in writing that they were not allowed to use any outside sources, including websites, to take the test.

Vice Adm. Sean Buck, the academy’s superintendent, found out that some students got outside help.  “Character development is an ongoing process and midshipmen must make the choice to live honorably each day and earn the trust that comes with a commission in the Navy or Marine Corps,” Buck says. “This incident demonstrates that we must place an increased focus on character and integrity within the entire brigade.”

104 of the 650 midshipmen (61% of them varsity athletes, 83% of them men) were found to have used unauthorized resources, such as opening tabs on their computers to look things up during the exam.

5 of the alleged cheaters were in the top quarter of the class and 66 are at the bottom.

The Naval Academy searches the globe to find men and women to lead our naval forces. By far, the great majority of midshipmen are men and women of honor, but it's nonetheless stunning to find that so many of them are willing to cheat to try to earn a commission.

The Naval Academy's honor code says, in part: 

Midshipmen are persons of integrity: They stand for that which is right.

They tell the truth and ensure that the truth is known.

They do not lie.

There must be a better way to screen people.