The Compleat Cheat

"When you sit down to take an examination . . . look around," suggested the editor of the University of Texas Ranger. "Over two-thirds of your classmates will probably be cheating."

The editor of Texas' humor magazine was not kidding. Ex-G.I. John Bryson Jr. had polled his fellow students and found that 66.8% admitted to cheating at one time or another during their schooling. The dean of men, said Editor Bryson, agreed that t -e student body--now swollen to 17,500 students--was too big for effective supervision.

The most common ways to cheat: 1) the "timehonored practice [of] extending the Good Neighbor policy to the next guy's paper," 2) smuggling notes into class written on saddle shoes ("indispensable . . . they last forever"), on cuffs (now that white shirts are back), on fingernails, or in the palm of the hand.

Most foolproof method, but unfortunately limited to women, Editor Bryson wrote, is "the silk stocking system." It involves hiding prepared notes "in the tops of stockings directly beneath the skirt, which is shyly and slyly raised when help is needed" and then modestly pulled down whenever a proctor passes. "The professor is obviously stymied in the matter of proof or investigation."

The most elaborate equipment for cheating is a wristwatch without any works inside, "fitted with a small spool of paper which rolls through the watch, displaying a semester's notes for any examination." The watch is guaranteed ("instead of passing the time, it passes the student"), costs about $35.

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