Like a number of other institutions around the country, the University of Central Florida is waging a high-tech war against cheaters. UCF’s secret-agent-style strategies to monitor student during exams were detailed today in the New York Times. It sounds like something out of a Jason Bourne novel:

The 228 computers that students use are recessed into desk tops so that anyone trying to photograph the screen — using, say, a pen with a hidden camera, in order to help a friend who will take the test later — is easy to spot.
Scratch paper is allowed — but it is stamped with the date and must be turned in later.
When a proctor sees something suspicious, he records the student’s real-time work at the computer and directs an overhead camera to zoom in, and both sets of images are burned onto a CD for evidence.

If indeed Jason Bourne is the inspiration here, I shudder to think what UCF does to these kids after catching them.