Hacking Into Harvard
By hacking into the universities’ system to acquire their result, the applicants have made an unethical action which caused them to be rejected from entering the universities. They could have been able to enter the universities successfully if they had not done so. Not only they have lost their chances of studying in reputable universities, they have also gained a bad reputation or image for themselves. This might make it difficult for them to enter other universities too due to their record of being unethical.
As described by Harvard Dean Kim B.Clark, the applicants who hacked were said to be unethical and lack of integrity. Harvard also concluded that these potential students are not tomorrow’s leaders and Harvard only wants to educate honorable leaders with sense of righteousness and morality which they do not possess. (Gloeckler.G and Merritt.J, 2005) Due to their unethical actions, they have lost the trust that people used to have on them and it would be very difficult to gain back them again. For example, other universities that the applicants might doubt whether the applicants would repeat their actions again or companies which these applicants apply jobs to might also worry if they would hack into their system to acquire confidential documents.
Besides that, these applicants have also disappointed their families which put a lot of hope in them to enter prestigious universities. Not only would their family members have to learn the fact that their child has been rejected from entering the university not because of their qualifications but their unethical behavior, they would also have to face criticisms about their child’s action from the public.
Reasons that may have caused the applicants to hack into the system to acquire their results could be because they were too impatient to wait for the official announcement that is weeks away. So out of curiosity, they clicked the link that the original anonymous hacker provided on some websites. The
As described by Harvard Dean Kim B.Clark, the applicants who hacked were said to be unethical and lack of integrity. Harvard also concluded that these potential students are not tomorrow’s leaders and Harvard only wants to educate honorable leaders with sense of righteousness and morality which they do not possess. (Gloeckler.G and Merritt.J, 2005) Due to their unethical actions, they have lost the trust that people used to have on them and it would be very difficult to gain back them again. For example, other universities that the applicants might doubt whether the applicants would repeat their actions again or companies which these applicants apply jobs to might also worry if they would hack into their system to acquire confidential documents.
Besides that, these applicants have also disappointed their families which put a lot of hope in them to enter prestigious universities. Not only would their family members have to learn the fact that their child has been rejected from entering the university not because of their qualifications but their unethical behavior, they would also have to face criticisms about their child’s action from the public.
Reasons that may have caused the applicants to hack into the system to acquire their results could be because they were too impatient to wait for the official announcement that is weeks away. So out of curiosity, they clicked the link that the original anonymous hacker provided on some websites. The
References: Gloeckler.G and Merritt.J (2005) An Ethics Lesson for MBA Wannabes [Online]. America: businessweek.com. Retrieved from: http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/content/mar2005/bs2005039_7827_bs001.htm [Accessed 15th June 2012]. Weisman.R (2005) Harvard rejects 119 accused of hacking [Online]. America: The Boston Globe. Retrieved from: http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2005/03/08/harvard_rejects_119_accused_of_hacking_1110274403/[Accessed 16th June 2012].