Poll: Should I Report Cheating?

[Prosis]

I'm currently attending one of the Universities of California. I'm taking an upper division course for the summer, and I joined a group on facebook which posts notes and explanations, things like that. The final exam is tomorrow.
However, someone managed to get a hold of the key, and has uploaded all of the answers to the final exam. I'm torn about what to do.

I'm not going to read the answers. Although my grade certainly could use the help, I don't want to earn it that way. But this is a curved class. That is, the average of the class sets the bar for each letter grade. And there's 100 people (out of maybe 300 total) in this facebook group who have access to the answers, and may be getting a better grade from them.

But if I report it, the guy who uploaded it is certainly going to be expelled. This is an upper-division course, meaning that he's put years into his education already. Was stealing the answers wrong? Absolutely. But I'm not sure if it deserves that.

It's a closed group, so none of the TA's or the professor are part of it. Also, I'm not sure if anyone else would report it.

Oh, and the final will most likely be disregarded. But that doesn't matter too much.

What do you all think?

 

[MasochisticAvenger]

I probably wouldn't. Considering you are part of the group, the authorities may believe you read the answers and you might get in trouble as well. It might also be in your best interest to remove yourself from the group as soon as possible.

 

[Jamash]

Don't report the cheating, but complain about the unfair situation that is going to lower your grades despite you doing everything by the book.

If it just so happens that in complaining about this unfair and irregular situation by disclosing that due to a leaked answer key, the grading average will be artificially inflated, some people get in trouble, then that's their fault for jeopardising your education and the educations that other people in the class have paid for.

You really have to look out for yourself at this stage of life and can't rely on other people to do the same. While the people who are cheating are also looking out for Number 1, they're doing it without any regard for how this will negatively affect the rest of the class, so you should pay them the same consideration by looking out for yourself and report the unfair situation without any regard for how that will affect the cheaters.

Remember, regardless of cheating, you're not doing anything wrong by voicing your concerns about a situation that will artificially inflate the class average and cause honest and hard-working students to wrongly get lower grades.

Conversely the people who have created this situation are definitely in the wrong by sabotaging the hard work of the majority of your class, irrespective of whether that was their primary intention or not.

University education is as much as service as it is a privilege and if you're not getting the fair service you're paying for, then complain and refuse to be graded under an artificially inflated average, or demand your education fees back since you're obviously not being afforded the secure and fair service you've paid for.

But if I report it, the guy who uploaded it is certainly going to be expelled. This is an upper-division course, meaning that he's put years into his education already. Was stealing the answers wrong? Absolutely. But I'm not sure if it deserves that.

The years he's put into his education are practically meaningless if he's been stealing answers and worse than that, if other tests he's taken are graded on this curved system and he's had the answers beforehand, then his years of "education" have been detrimental to the rest of the class. Perhaps there's students who have dropped out and/or suffered undue woe because they missed a grade by a few percent due to his cheating and raising the average.

Perhaps the best thing he'll learn from his years of education is that you can't do something illegitimate that fucks with the futures and financial security of a majority of people and expect to get away with it, especially if you don't keep it to yourself.

Who knows... that valuable life lesson may someday save his life.

 

[Broady Brio]

I'd leave this group ASAP. It can be possibly found out due to another person who may perhaps feel the same way you do.

As for the answers themselves? Are you sure they are the right answers for the right paper? How would you go about remembering these "answers"? Best not do it. These "answers" could be for a completely different paper and could cause you to do worse than if you didn't cheat. And you cannot get done in for something you didn't do.

 

[Prosis]

UPDATE: I actually spoke with a friend who was taking the class about it. The key is from the exam from Winter Quarter. The guy had uploaded keys for the other tests, but he had also labled them as being from winter quarter.

So no problems really.