The following is a personal reaction to the book The Cheating Culture by David Callahan. I was required to write this paper for my Freshman Seminar class. Please feel free to comment, argue or critique anything you see fit. It is suggested you first read the book and form your own opinions.

The Cheating Culture by David Callahan has been praised by many as a great book, revealing the flaws and problems within today’s society when it comes to cheating. I on the other-hand was not so fond of the book.
Many of the facts and stories presented by the book were just a written repeat of the information reported on the news in the past 5 years or so, not much of it was eye-opening, shocking or surprising. Steroids in baseball and other professional sports along with the fall of Enron were perfect examples of this. Both of these have been highly publicized in depth on the news (of course one more recent than the other). It was dull and boring to go through and read page upon page of the same material that I had already learned about through the media in the past. Many of the other types of cheating were what I considered “common sense.” It’s widely known how young lawyers looking to move up in the business over bill to keep up with competition, just like its common knowledge that CEOs and corporate executives will cut corners and cheat shareholders by taking large, unnecessary “bonuses” home with them. As I said before, most of the book was simply a repeat of well known, highly publicized public knowledge.
One bit of information that I found very interesting was the bank fraud conducted by thousands of American’s in the weeks and the months following the 9/11 tragedy. I had heard briefly of the fraudulent withdrawals which people were making from ATM machines, but never heard or read enough to actually get a grip on what happened. Now, I do believe people were desperate enough to use this exploit during a time of tragedy to take advantage of what they thought was free money. What I couldn’t believe is that people were so low, ignorant and dumb that they wouldn’t pay back the money they literally stole from the banks. When confronted by banks and their lawyers it amazes me that so many people would still refuse to payback what was not rightfully theirs, especially when the banks offered no retaliation if the money was returned promptly.
The reading was decent and interesting at times, until I reached chapter five of the book. Chapter five, in my opinion, changed the entire outlook of what David Callahan was trying to get at. I felt the David Callahan changed the theme of the book from cheating in society and getting ahead unfairly to attacks on the republic party and conservative followers. Upon finishing this portion of the book I found it very difficult to keep an open-mind to his ideas. Staying focused on his points and statements also became more difficult for me.
Just to clarify, I am an avid follower and supporter of the Republican Party, I also consider myself to be a strong conservative, although not an extremist. The attacks made by David Callahan on right wing views on business and laissez-fair government completely turned me off from his literature, although I continued to read the book. David Callahan tried to convey a message of carelessness and selfishness in the eyes of the Republican Party, claiming that an unregulated or lightly regulated market is more damaging to society today than drug use, pornography and violence.
Two chapters later, chapter seven, also pushed my aggravation level over the top. David Callahan goes on to describe cheating in the school system, especially in high school and points out on specific school, in one specific area – both of which symbolize extreme wealth. I myself am from an area associated with large amounts of wealth, I have friends and acquaintances that live in Riverdale and attend Horace Mann. While they attended Horace Mann, I attend another private school, a school which was considered “elitist” but not nearly as much as HM is. I also have many friends in the public school system in very poor areas, where education takes a backseat. The cheating methods in all 3 of these schools were the exact same. Downloaded papers from the internet, hand signals for test answers and “special” pens that contain cheat sheets are the norm at all 3 schools. What I do not understand is why David Callahan feels the need to go on the limb, exclude one specific school, and attack them in a way which makes it seem like these cheating tactics are exclusive to this one establishment. Not only am disgusted with this, but if I did attend Horace Mann myself I would be greatly offended.
I’m not trying to say that there is no cheating in a well-off high school, or that David Callahan is wrong in saying there is, what I have a problem with is him signaling out this one establishment and trying to convince the reads that they have some extreme cheating tactics that are available to no one else. At this point in the book I am sick of hearing his banter and have a true struggle to continue.
After the last 2 chapters which I discussed, there was only one topic which David Callahan was able to interest me in and get me involved with as a reader, which was chapter eight, “Crime and no Punishment.” Unlike David Callahan I do not believe white collar workers who commit fraud should be put in jail, whether it’s a high security prison or a country club style federal penitentiary. I do believe however that all financial gains should be returned to those who were affected by it, including shareholders, employees and investors. On top of that I also believe heavy fines should be introduced, therefore setting the person who committed the fraud back, possibly millions of dollars. I believe this is the most effective and reasonable way to punish for these crimes.
All-in-all I am extremely disappoint in the book The Cheating Culture. By the time I finished the book I was uninterested and ecstatic that I had finally finished the book. I wish Bentley had chosen a better book to assign for its summer reading but I do understand what the school was trying to do and the message they were trying to get across. If an enjoyable summer book was their goal, they failed. If putting an emphasis on a specific topic and a code of conduct which they want us to base our business principals on was their goal, then I would say the college did a fine job.