"Why do students cheat?" is a silly question, because the answer is obvious: to pass the test. Indeed, a lof of kids cheat because they couldn't pass the test otherwise, no matter how hard they study, but that's not the case in New York City's flagship public school Stuyvesant, where most kids are already very, very, very smart.
No, they have their own calculus on why they should cheat:
At Stuyvesant, the alma mater of four Nobel laureates, students say the social currency is academic achievement.
Although students enter the school knowing they are among the best in the city, they must compete with hundreds just like them. And, they say, the pressures only grow: they are convinced that they are bound for bright futures, yet not all are equipped for the work that entails. They are trained to hand in every assignment without always believing in its value. They described teachers as being relatively sympathetic, discouraging cheating, but not always punishing it as severely as school policy dictates.
All this makes for a culture in which many students band together, sharing homework and test advice in a common understanding that they simply have to survive until they reach their goals: dream colleges and dream jobs.
“I’m sure everybody understood it was wrong to take other people’s work, but they had ways of rationalizing it,” said Karina Moy, a 2010 graduate of the school. “Everyone took it as a necessary evil to get through.”
Vivian Yee of The New York Times has the story: Link
Comments (1)
Do not cheat in Mr.O's class.
Water doesn't go bad as long as it is clean, and something you will need a lot of.
There is salt, which doesn't go bad and can be used to preserve stuff that you've killed to eat post apocalypse.
Grains, beans, and pastas last about 8 years as long as they are stored properly and are away from bugs.
Also, don't forget about a first aid kit. None of that stuff is useful if you nick yourself and get gangrene and die.
Also, I would like to say that I am not prepared for the apocalypse, I just researched for like 10 minutes.
I'm told canned meats last a long time, but they're heavy, and salty.
Potassium iodide can sanitize water if you're willing to suffer the awful taste. And hey! Bonus nuclear fallout radiation protection for you thyroid. Vitamin C can help with the taste, double bonus!
I'd put multivitamins in my apocalypse kit, but I haven't looked into how long they're really good for... easily thrice their expiration date which is already many years. Vitamin deficiencies can become big problems with limited food varieties. Multivitamins aren't ideal, but they can suffice.
Powdered milk lasts quite a while. Yeast does too, but not flour so much.
Lab-grade ethanol is cheap (~$10/gal. for 90%), lasts forever, makes a good sanitizer, and it'll getcha obliterated in a pinch if you're so inclined.
But I had a jar of honey that was pushed back behind other things ..and it went dry and crystallized. You can't say it lasts forever.
Lard keeps for a long time and can be used in any application requiring fat or grease. Aside from cooking/edible uses you can make soap, use it for skin protection and for any mechanical polishing or lubrication purposes. This really applies to any natural fat, but if we're picking pre-packaged then, lard it is.
Grain alcohol or ethanol, which was already mentioned. Sanitizing, and fuel (for fire starting or engines.)
Failing that, I think they're making Twinkies again and there's always Spam.
My dad was a Master Beekeeper and this is what he did with honey. Honey will crystallize but you can easily re-liquify it by placing the glass jar on a cookie sheet and put it in the oven at the lowest temperature an oven will go - somewhere between 150 and 200 degrees until liquid again (3-4 hrs). Or liquify it in the jar in a pan of hot water. It will take a while because you need to keep reheating the water. Don't boil the honey.