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An interesting documentary on Russia.
TVO - Human Edge: The Rise And Fall Of The Russian Oligarchs (Part 1)
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Re: The rise and fall of the russian oligarchs
Excellent !!!! I give it 5 stars. Having been there and seen Russia in 1993 I can say that what you are watching reflects what was going on very accurately. Especially the comments of the people. In short, THEY WERE ROBBED.
Most in the West will not understand Russia and Eastern Europe as some of the fundamental anchors of their thinking have nothing in common with the Western mentality. This is due to the history and the systems under which they were brought up IMO. This is not something that can be changed in a decade or two. I think it take centuries if the direction of change is whole hearted desired.
Corruption is a fundamental trait in this part of the word. I am not saying that there are no honest people there. Corruption simply is one mechanism of survival which is a necessity there.
Let me give an example of this which to me shows the fundamental problem of why change will not come soon.
When I was at one Politechnical University in Saint Petersburg I entered a lecture room where I was to have a Russian lesson (this was at the end of the semester). It was a mess but what caught my eyes were little pieces of paper on the floor. I picked up several to have a look and realized that they were cheat sheets. My teacher told me that it was nothing. NOTHING I thought. If cheating is TOLERATED in a higher learning institution than this does not bode well for moral standards I thought !!! Don't get me wrong, there are brilliant people there but they are not in the majority ( as is true everywhere). The average Boris or Olga that comes out of here has probable practiced this earlier and sees no problem in do it here. Hence they internalize that this is a way of getting something done, not a good lesson for the rest of ones life but a necessary one in their system.
I saw exactly the same thing in Poland where I managed to make the connections to be able to go to Russia. Here I had the pleasure of proctoring an exam and seeing that at least 30 % of the students were trying to cheat on the exam. When telling about this to my uncle who was a professor, I was informed that it wasn’t a problem as these people would be “weeded out later” in their academic career. I remember think that he had something screwed up in his had as in the US any hint of cheating could result in expulsion from the university.
What am I trying to say? Habits of the past do not change easily. Observing the corruption in Poland and Russia I can see where its roots are and do not see anything on the horizon to change it. The young learn from the old. The young get older and pass their knowledge on.
fter my first trip to Russia in 1992 I happened to pickup a book titled “Journey for Our Time” by Marquis de Custine. It is about Russian politics and society as this French diplomat saw in the 18th century. What I found amazing in reading this book was how accurately it portrayed the Russia that I saw. Highly recommend it !!! -
Re: The rise and fall of the russian oligarchs
Not quite true - From a 1994 article Forum: The complete guide to exam cheating - John Croucher reveals some developing techniques in the hope that this will speed detectionOriginally posted by Shakespear View Post
Also from a 2007 item "Cheating scandal snares nearly half of IU dental class Students cracked password to see test items early"Of course, there's nothing really new about cheating in exams - it's just that it has reached such a fine art that it's becoming increasingly difficult to detect. The new electronic era has put some sophisticated gadgetry into the hands of exam candidates. These, together with the creativeness of the students themselves, are leaving examiners gobsmacked.
It is not just a question of deviousness, though. In recent years, the amount of cheating has increased too and, in some Australian universities, it seems to have reached epidemic proportions.
I first became aware that academic cheating may be an international problem in 1991 when I visited 25 universities in Europe and the US during a sabbatical year. At almost every university, colleagues shared my concern about the increase in it but it was difficult to come by any hard evidence. They were willing to admit privately that there was a problem, and that the number caught was probably the tip of the iceberg. No one was willing to provide figures and thus allow their reputation to become tarnished in bad publicity.
I did, however, find a few reports of studies that attempted to quantify the level of cheating in colleges in the US and these reveal a steady increase. In 1980, a paper by the American psychologist John Baird appeared in the journal Psychology in Schools which reported that, in 1941, 23 per cent of a sample of college students admitted to cheating. By 1960, the figure was 38 per cent, and in 1980 75 per cent. A survey last year by two American psychologists, Donald McCabe and Linda Klebe Trevine, found that up to 95 per cent of college students in the US admitted engaging in some form of academic dishonesty.
Also of interest - "Why Russian students cheat"Nearly half the students in the Indiana University School of Dentistry's second-year class have been disciplined for their roles in a cheating scandal in which students broke into password-protected files to view exam material before tests.
The school's Faculty Council voted Friday to dismiss nine of the students, suspend 16 for periods ranging from three to 24 months and issue letters of reprimand to 21 students for violating the school's professional conduct code. The class has 95 students.
Academic integrity experts say dental students, who spend four years in school, are no different from others when it comes to honesty.
"I see this as being a widespread problem, not just in dentistry," said Dr. Anne Koerber, an associate professor of dentistry at the University of Illinois at Chicago who has written about the ethics of dental education.
"When you have persons in high places who clearly lie about what's happening with weapons of mass destruction, or CEOs who lie about where the money is going, I think the general public gets the idea that anything that makes money is what's right."
Jane Keeler raises an interesting topic on cheating at Russian universities. Some explanations should be added:
Almost all exams in Russia are oral. At the start of an exam first five or ten students enter the room where they pick randomly so called “billet” – question cards. A typical card includes two questions on theory and one or two “practice” problems. A student is given about half an hour to get ready and then for another twenty minutes the examiner and the student talk on the topics from the card. All cheating is done during the preparation phase of the exam. Although cheating is definitely illegal examiners usually wink at it. Reasons are simple:
1. The exam is oral so it doesn’t really matter if a student wrote down correct answers from cribs. Examiner can ask any number of questions and it’s very easy for him to prove that the student doesn’t know anything on the topic. It’s almost impossible to get a good grade cheating. The whole thing is just a somewhat hypocritical tribute to the 19th century traditions of university examinations. Nowadays many examiners allow students to bring textbooks and notes to exams and I think it’s a good idea.
2. Russian higher education system is “lecture – seminar – laboratory”. At lectures students listen, take notes and ask questions. Lectures are followed by seminars where they discuss with the same professor the topic of the previous lecture. This way the professor (=examiner) has plenty of time to get to know students. Long before the exam he knows who is good and who is bad. Students who skipped classes had no chances at the exam no matter how brilliantly they cheat. For Russian students it’s very important to be liked by professors – always asking smart questions, showing up good knowledge of professor’s books and articles, participating actively in discussions at seminars. But again even the best should work hard for exams. When a good student at the exams shows his ignorance it’s considered offensive. That’s real cheating! “Did you think I like you so much that you get A just by showing up at the exam?!”
3. Russian (or Soviet) higher education system puts a lot of pressure on students. Actually only the few are up to the mark. If you follow official standards than 80% of students should be kicked out immediately. Not that they are bad – standards are too high. This way Russian (Soviet) education system produced some A-students who were times better than their American or European counterparts and about 80% who were below average. And almost no one in the middle.Comment
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Re: The rise and fall of the russian oligarchs
That is excellent.Comment
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Re: The rise and fall of the russian oligarchs
In my case I went to the University of Wisconsin-Madison and received an advance degree in Petroleum Engineering at Texas A&M.
At Madison cheating was not even on anyones mind (in my group and department at least) as the test/exams were monitored tightly. Any hint of cheating ( I recall couple of case) meant that the student was asked to leave the exam room and was given a fail grade ( 1/5 or 1/4 of the total grade). In one case the student tried to take out the exam by pretending to be in a different section. He nearly flew out of the school and the ONLY thing that saved him (I suspect) was that he was from Saudi Arabia.
What I saw in Poland was simply not tolerable anywhere I went to study. In Russia I did not see this done in the class. I just saw the evidence that it was going on and was told that it was so.
I can not imagine how anyone can justify this for what ever the reason. If the standard is too high lower it some but do not condone cheating. Cheating in my opinion leaves a residue that will be with the individual for the rest of his life.
"Wow, I got a "B" , heck next time I will need to write smaller and pack in more info" :-(
Maybe things are different today :-)Comment
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