PostYourTest.com

A new Web site allows students to share previous class exams, materials online

If you had unlimited access to your professors’ former tests, would you take advantage of it?

One Web site, launched earlier this year, aims to provide just that. PostYourTest.com allows students to anonymously share materials and tests from current and former classes.

So far, the University is not one of the schools featured on the site, but The Red & Black editorial board is concerned about the implications of such a service.

Would sharing this material violate the University’s academic honesty policy? It could be argued that such a Web site constitutes “giving unauthorized assistance” – prohibited action, according to A Culture of Honesty, which can be found at http://www.uga.edu/honesty/ahpd/culture_honesty.htm.

PostYourTest.com claims to be a study tool – to afford all students the opportunity to use old exams to prepare for tests. But we think this idea quickly would be disregarded.

The potential for this Web site to escalate into a campus-wide version of the Greeks’ test files is enormous. And not to pick on Greeks, but just because they do it doesn’t make it right.

Many professors already offer copies of previous exams to students. Others rarely rewrite their tests and students are required to return them after receiving a grade.

Though this site could cause an inconvenience for professors, they do have the right to request their material be removed from the Web site.

In this digital age, students need to take more care than ever that their actions don’t land them in hot water with University officials.

Let’s stick to the old-fashioned method of studying: cramming in the SLC (now only until 2 a.m.) and reviewing our own notes and any professor-provided study guides.

- Shannon Otto for the editorial board

Text-savvy politics

Obama sent an unprecedented text this weekend to announce his running mate

People across the country were roused from slumber early Saturday morning by a text message.

No, there was not a nationwide epidemic of drunken texting. Many people found they had received a message from Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. Supporters who signed up to receive the text message discovered early Saturday that Delaware senator Joe Biden was chosen as Obama’s running mate.

In what already has been an historic campaign, Obama made an unprecedented move by using text messaging to announce his choice for running mate.

We think alerting his supporters via text was a clever campaign move on Obama’s part. Through texting, Obama was able to reach out to a very important voting demographic – us.

College students, who often use texting as a primary source of communication, may have been stirred from their apathy toward politics by the texts.

By reaching out to young adults in such a relatable way, and by alerting his supporters of his decision instead of the media and political pundits, it wouldn’t surprise us if Obama garnered more support.

- Kelsey Blair for the editorial board