One of the e-publications that I receive is from EDUCAUSE. They were just reporting on the 153-odd business school applicants who were no longer being considered for admission because they had used a hacker’s instructions to gain access to the university admission records to see if they’d been accepted or not.
Some of the rejectees are whining now and claiming a “lapse in judgement” and similar excuses. As far as I can tell, one thing we need less of is unethical business people. Kudos to the universities for their stance!
**Update** it turns out that some of the Universities have backed off of this bold stance. They have decided to use this incident as a black mark against the student’s permanent record and will consider it as part of the overall evaluation process. But the students will not be discounted out-of-hand.
While I’m no fan of zero tolerance policies, I can’t help but wonder if this is sending the wrong message to these folks. i.e. do something illegal and get caught and you *may* get punished. And if you don’t get caught – hey, congratulations! 🙁