So I just wrote a much longer blog about the front page story on "cyber cheating" that somehow got erased when I tried to post it. I was so mad I almost threw my laptop across the room, but I do think the fine people at Mocha Madness would enjoy that sort of tantrum. That being said, here's the drastically condensed version of what I wanted to say:
   I find it pretty sad that  the Journal has nothing better to write about than cyber cheating on a week where 1,670 students at ISU will be receiving degrees.  I know every week is usually a slow news week, but wouldn't a week-long series profiling the people and achievements of this graduating class seem more appropriate?
    While cheating is a serious issue, it's not the real problem. The real problem is this generation of entitlement-minded brats that is on the rise. they have no concept of what real work is or what responsibility is. they simply want the grades, the corner office, and the salary and don't want to have to do a dolly thing to get it. I've personally noticed in organizations that I've been in at ISU that in the last year those freshman and sophomores that have obtained positions of power have done a woefully inadequate job in performing even the basic duties of such positions. Furthermore, when faced with criticism they fold like a bad poker player, and respond that it's "not their fault."
    This ridiculous mentality is due to the ridiculous path that public education has been treading as of late. This backlash against the use of red pens because they can hurt the tender egos of students is the most idiotic thing I've ever heard. Indeed, it is this very attitude of coddling and false praise that has some students thinking they can achieve great things when they are, in fact, stupid, and other bright students thinking they have to cheat to stand out because every Joe or Jane blow around them are being literally handed good grades.
    That being said, you can't completely blame the cheaters; they are simply a product of poor public education and false praise. Indeed, it is the teachers and parents of these cheaters that have lied to them their entire lives, telling them they are smart and special without requiring anything to prove such. They are liars, and those liars have cheated these students of accurate self-images and of a proper education focused on learning.