I expect you might see this one move to be a compulsary essay on the next few Duke application forms.

I don't know, 3und. Yes, it looks bad and I am sure there is much hand-wringing going on. But the people who are in the know -- other schools, current students, recruiters, b-school alums, etc -- are going to be well aware that that sort of cheating goes on all over, especially in b-school. I hate to sound like a cynic, but we've all read the articles claiming that over 50% of b-school students admit to cheating. My feeling? Every last one of these schools has the same dirty laundry. Duke is simply airing theirs. My hope as an incoming student is that my classmates will be watching their Ps and Qs.

I must clarify I am not for a second questioning Duke's stance on this situation, just that the argument this cannot reflect badly on the school.

As for the fact that Duke is doing the washing in public? The story clearly reflects that they hoped to keep this quiet, and it escaped. They had no intention of engaging in the publicity they have, and are reacting because it became a story (ethics code mysteriously pops up on the website on the 27 April, months after busting the students).

I am sure all schools kick people out for cheating when evidence is there - it needs to be evidence beyond suspicion, and many cheats only ever arouse suspicion.

Duke are unlucky their story got a lot of press. Maybe partly because it is 10% of the class on one course, maybe someone had it a bit in for them - whatever. But how can it be a good thing to label 10% of the people you selected, at an oversubscribed school on a high profile course, as "cheats"?

I feel sorry for the rest of Dukes students, potential students and alumni that a class has misrepresented the school so badly.

Tip of the iceberg phenomenon. Fair to say that more than half of all b-school students cheat in some way or another, just they have been lucky enough not to be caught. This article made headlines simply because it was focused a name brand school. Most readers would care less if a tier two school like BU was accused of a similiar scandal.

That's kind of why I said earlier that I feel sorry for the people that were caught. If this was simply a case of bad luck & bad timing, where they were caught for doing something that goes on everywhere all the time, then they are paying a really heavy price for it - perhaps millions of dollars worth of damage to each individual.

On the other hand, follow-up articles have clearly pointed out that the judicial committee carefully reviewed a series of events, and that their conclusion was definitive. If these students knowingly cheated, then they should be punished accordingly. To me, knowingly cheating in this type of environment is trying to prosper at the expense of fellow classmates - gaining an advantage through cheating means it's more difficult for all those that don't cheat. This type of cheating and profiting at the expense of people that know you and trust you is the most despicable kind.

We don't know the full details. If it was simply bad luck, I feel really bad for them. If it went beyond the acceptable give & take of normal class life (as it seems that it did), then they should be punished and others should heed the example.