Two students were expelled from De Anza College after using their instructor’s password for Catalyst, a computerized course management system, and using it to log into the system.

The students were both in Michael Hitchcock’s class.

“We only used it to check a couple of quizzes. The school knew this as well, due to the fact that they had each time we logged on recorded. They also knew what we did each time we logged on. They treated it like we hacked into the system and changed all of the grades or something along those lines,” said William Fessaha, one of the expelled students.

Fessaha said that they found Hitchcock’s password when he left his computer unattended. After being caught in the act, the two students were referred to the Board of Trustees where it was decided that they would be expelled.

Fessaha ended up getting a B- in the course and feels that this imperfection is sufficient evidence that he did not use the password to his advantage.

De Anza students interviewed are divided over whether or not the punishment the two students received was adequate or too harsh.

“It’s not fair because it’s the teachers complacency for leaving out the password. The teacher should been more careful. The case should have never made it to the Board of Trustees. It should have been worked out at the lowest level between the student and the teacher,” said Nader Mortavai, nano-science major.

“Even though they didn’t change their grades, it was still wrong, and obviously against the school’s policy. If they wanted to know how they did on their quizzes, they should have just asked the teacher,” said Troy Hunter, a computer science major.

The second student expelled was unavailable for comment. The school policy states that any student caught cheating is liable for expulsion. Hitchcock said he was informed of some students’ abuse of his password, but that he had no role in the disciplinary proceedings. Further comments from the administration were unavailable because of regulations about student privacy.