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Turn on the news any night, and there’s another story of some cheater – a law-breaker – finally getting caught. Enron, Martha Stewart, Jayson Blair. These are names we’ll remember. But it makes you wonder just how many people don’t get caught.

I hate cheaters. And I’m an equal-opportunity hater. I hate the guy who crosses the double-double-yellow line of the carpool lane just as much as I hate the corporate executive who stole grandma’s pension. It may not seem fair, you may think the guy on the freeway doesn’t deserve my hatred. But I hate him because he makes cheating possible, even probable, for the executive and everyone else.

The single most common reason given by cheaters who are otherwise honest people is this: “Everybody else is doing it.”

Sure, some people cheat for money, grades, social position, on their spouses and significant others – but the rest cheat because they think they need to level the playing field. How can an honest person hope to succeed against a cheater?

A lot of you reading this column cheated to get where you are today. How do I know? In a recent study, a third of all college students admitted to having cheated at some point.

Some of your parents may have even helped you cheat. One of the hottest new scams to cheat on the SAT is to be falsely declared disabled.

In 1999, Educational Testing Services, the company that administers the SAT, stopped flagging the tests of students who had been given extra time to complete the test because of learning disabilities. Psychologists have now identified an increase in parents “shopping around” for a diagnosis – trying to get that extra edge and extra time for their children as they no longer have to worry about the stigma. Not only does this degrade the already-questionable validity of the SAT; it’s also a disgusting affront to students who truly do require the extra time.

There are also less overtly heinous ways to cheat. We’ve all been tempted to look over on another student’s test or lift a line or two from a source instead of worrying about proper citation. It may not seem as bad, but it is.

Every time you cheat, you make it harder for an honest student to succeed. Every time you cheat, you devalue your education and yourself. Every time you cheat, even if you don’t think anyone is getting hurt, you are hurting everyone else.

The reason I have such a problem with cheating is it is absolutely one of the most insidious moral problems in America. And it is one of the few problems that we have the individual, immediate ability to change.

All you have to do is stop cheating.

Problem solved.

But there are plenty of reasons to cheat.

In the late 1960s, believe it or not, the most important goal of college freshmen was “developing a meaningful philosophy of life,” cited by over 80 percent of entering students. That number is now much lower. How high on your list is this goal? Or do you think earning a degree in order to obtain a higher-paying job is more important?

College certainly is more important these days – according to the U.S. Census Bureau, people with advanced degrees can expect to earn approximately 2.6 times the amount of people with only a high school diploma throughout their lifetimes. In 1975, the gap was 1.8 times.

And the competition is fierce. The difference between Wharton or Harvard Business School and Podunk University can be a couple of tenths of a grade point. And the difference in the opportunities coming out of Wharton or Harvard versus Podunk are immeasurable – the best firms with the highest-paying jobs cull their entry-level employees almost exclusively from top-tier schools.

So the temptation to cheat is strong, and it begins early in life. Don’t forget the totally bizarre lesson many have learned in childhood: “Nobody likes a tattletale.”

I have no idea why our parents and teachers decided this was a good lesson. Perhaps they were afraid someone would tell on them.

And in the real world, the penalties for cheating are often easily dismissed. Due to maximum penalties, the worst offenders can expect a few years in “Club Fed.”

On the other hand, men like Jayson Blair command six-figure advances to tell their stories. Many cheaters won’t even get punished because companies don’t want to risk the bad publicity.

It’s the same in schools. Many teachers won’t pursue punishment for students because they don’t want to risk lawsuits or fear a very real lack of administrative support. (Here at UCLA, there is a tough cheating policy. Cheaters face suspension or expulsion.)

But I don’t think the fear of getting caught is what stops most people from cheating. I think it boils down to character.

People who honor integrity don’t cheat. People who value success more than honesty cheat. And don’t fool yourself into thinking it’s any more complicated than that.

It’s not.

So take your pick. But if you have any kind of moral compass, I hope you’ll join me. I’m pretty sure that all cheaters are going to hell, if they aren’t already there.

Sutton was a 2003-2004 assistant Viewpoint editor.