Desperate times call for desperate measures: where are we in addressing academic dishonesty?

Recent headlines about the Columbia University student who openly plagiarized a valedictory speech, stealing his remarks directly from a comedy routine, serves to further underscore the fact that academic dishonesty has reached epidemic proportions (ABC News, 2010). Dishonest actions have almost become the norm, rather than the exception, as they represent the necessary price to pay for survival in a high stakes environment where progression through a program, enhancing one's resume for graduate school or honor society induction, and maintaining grades for scholarships and loans have taken precedence over behaving with integrity.