Alexis, a gifted high school student, wants to become a doctor.

Because she comes from a poor

family, she will need a scholarship in order to attend college. Some of her classes require
students to do extra research projects in order to get an "A." Her high school has a few older
PC's, but there are always long lines of students waiting to use them during the school day. After
school, she usually works at a part-time job to help support her family.
One evening, Alexis visits the library of a private college a few miles from her family's
apartment, and she finds plenty of unused PC's connected to the Internet. She surreptitiously
looks over the shoulder of another student to learn a valid login/password combination. Alexis
returns to the library several times a week, and by using its PC's and printers she efficiently
completes the extra research projects, graduates from high school with straight "A's," and gets a
full-ride scholarship to attend a prestigious university.
Answer all the questions below in complete sentences. Please explain or justify your answer.
4. Did Alexis have an unfair advantage over her high school classmates? Please explain
your answer.
5. Would any of your responses change if it turns out Alexis did not win a college
scholarship? Please explain your answer.
6. Are there better ways Alexis could have achieved her objectives? Please explain your
answer.
7. What additional information, if any, would help you answer the previous questions?
1. Yes, ethically Alexis did wrong thing by using someones authentication
information to access the internet for doing her research projects in high school. She
used the information without that persons knowledge. So, she cheated both the
college authorities as well as that person.
2. Alexis is the only one who benefited from her course of action unless she decides
to use her knowledge to help the poor in the future.
3. No one was hurt by Alexis course of action. Although she used the other
colleges resources without their permission but she didnt used those resources to
harm anyone physically or emotionally.
4. Technically Alexis had an unfair advantage over her high school classmates as
she was able to access

4. Yes she did have an unfair advantage over her high school classmates, but on the same token
each of them are required to find ethical solutions to their own problems.

5. No, my response would not change regardless of her outcome as a wrong deed does not get
washed away by the success or failure. Her action will always be a reminder of her failure to
look for a more ethical solution & her willingness to take unethical shortcut to achieve her goal.
6. Yes, she should have begun with approaching her college to find a solution to her problems as
the college is primarily responsible for providing adequate resources to all students. She could
have founded a group of students from those same lines for the old PCs in her college to
brainstorm for a solution. She could have approached the other college she exploited and
requested them to let her use the computers etc. She could have bought a used PC or bought one
in instalments. The possibilities are endless as long as there is willingness to look for one.
7. Additional info like if she had access to a public library, her daily routine timings, if she had
some other means of transportation, her & her family income etc. Would have helped