But Harvard does not need an official honor code in order to stop proctoring examinations. I have always understood that we are expected to behave honorably at all times. Forcing us to sign pledges smacking of McCarthyite loyalty oaths would be no better than watching over us directly.

IT IS NO SECRET that Harvard students are competitive. And although it is fashionable to say that what we learn is more important, grades do matter. Good grades can mean high-paying jobs, scholarships, prizes and admission to the best grad schools. But would leaving us to ourselves initiate a whirlwind of cheating? I think not.

First of all cheating on the type of test we take is simply not that helpful. Smuggling in a cheat sheet or peeking at a neighbor's paper just doesn't help that much on essay questions in the humanities, where you are graded on the ability to quickly string together an argument from a semester's worth of reading and lectures. In many science exams, professors allow you to bring in a page of notes, but I have never found that too helpful. You have to be able to apply the formulas to the problems, a skill that can only be gained by months of problem set drudgery.

Secondly, most Harvard students are too chicken to cheat. We're not willing to jeopardize our Harvard diploma just to raise that B+ to an A-, especially when we know that in every class lurks a few curve-protectors who would gladly rat out a cheater, honor code or no.

Of course, any class, at any school, no matter what the safeguards, will have some cheaters. The guys at Salomon Brothers who bought too many bonds probably swapped answers in business school take-homes. This type eventually gets nailed somewhere down the line.

But I believe most of us are basically honest people. If we are expected to hold respected and trustworthy positions when we graduate, we should be held to the same standards now. Judging by the scandals that daily fill the front page, learning to resist the temptation of breaking the rules may be as an important a lesson as anything we learn in class.

William H. Bachman '92, former photo chair of the Crimson, would not be averse to installing hidden video cameras in exam rooms.