Thesis: A personal ethical commitment is part of what makes students a success. A lack of ethical commitment will ultimately result in academic failure. Therefore, academic ethics are vital and students should commit themselves to maintaining the highest personal ethical standards.
             I believe that I also believe that ethical behavior is essential to creating and sustaining long term personal and professional relationships. I think that students who are academically dishonest cheat themselves out of an education and harm their fellow students by skewing the grading curve for the class as a whole. As students, I think that each of us have the opportunity to lead by example. The example we offer is based on our actions, statements and attitudes.
             I think plagiarism is a serious problem in school. Plagiarism involves using the either the words or the ideas of others without proper citation. I believe that widespread access to the Internet has made plagiarism one of the most common and most serious ethical temptations for students, and one of the most common and the most serious problems for teachers and administrators. I am aware that students sometimes feel they have no choice but to cheat either to get a good grade or because time constraints prevent them from completing their own work in the time allotted to them. However, it is obviously unethical for students to present or submit work containing information taken from other sources without appropriate and detailed attribution.
             Respect for others is an important aspect of ethics. I am committed to the principle of treating every member of the educational community with respect and dignity. Among other things, this involves a personal commitment not to discriminate or to harass other students on the basis of their race, national origin, religion, skin color, age, medical condition, sexual orientation or disabilities.
             As a student, I will at times be involved in research eithe...