Wow. I say this with compassion in my heart: some people do not belong in college.
The being perfectly legal thing reminds me of an editorial I once read which argued something along the lines of, "Colleges have no right to penalize professors who sleep with their students, because they're consenting adults and it's legal, so they can do whatever they want; colleges shouldn't have rules forbidding things that aren't against the law." It's a total fail argument, because "legal" and "right" are not synonymous terms; that both parties are consenting adults does not minimize the power imbalance; there are very real, significant reasons why educational institutions do not condone teacher-student sexual relationships. Similarly, buying term papers is perfectly legal, but it's still dishonest, thwarts the educational purpose of the assignment, if carried out successfully, dilutes the value and legitimacy of the grade or degree, and is legitimate grounds for denying a perpetrator a passing grade, a degree, or the right to continue on in a program.
It's an amusing read, though. I can't approve, but it gives some insight into the part of the term paper purchasing industry I'd never given much thought. (I wonder what grades the papers generally earned? It's pretty damning if his exercises in formula earned good grades without the teachers noticing or caring that they were devoid of content, but I suppose neither the buyers nor the brokers would have cared or complained as long as the papers passed with Cs or above.)
I often wonder about the kind of people that go on to college when they're not interested in learning. Is it peer pressure? Parental pressure? How come that pressure hasn't extended to the classroom, then? You want to party? I mean, you don't have to shell out $10~40,000 a year to party (and really, if that's your specific aim, then skip the college and live on Cristal).
Anti-intellectualism is very much a part of American culture, and I think term paper buying is just a symptom, not the disease.
I don't know why I forgot to answer this, but I totally agree about it being a symptom of a larger problem, rather than the disease itself, and sadly, also that anti-intellectualism is solidly embedded in American culture.
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The being perfectly legal thing reminds me of an editorial I once read which argued something along the lines of, "Colleges have no right to penalize professors who sleep with their students, because they're consenting adults and it's legal, so they can do whatever they want; colleges shouldn't have rules forbidding things that aren't against the law." It's a total fail argument, because "legal" and "right" are not synonymous terms; that both parties are consenting adults does not minimize the power imbalance; there are very real, significant reasons why educational institutions do not condone teacher-student sexual relationships. Similarly, buying term papers is perfectly legal, but it's still dishonest, thwarts the educational purpose of the assignment, if carried out successfully, dilutes the value and legitimacy of the grade or degree, and is legitimate grounds for denying a perpetrator a passing grade, a degree, or the right to continue on in a program.
It's an amusing read, though. I can't approve, but it gives some insight into the part of the term paper purchasing industry I'd never given much thought. (I wonder what grades the papers generally earned? It's pretty damning if his exercises in formula earned good grades without the teachers noticing or caring that they were devoid of content, but I suppose neither the buyers nor the brokers would have cared or complained as long as the papers passed with Cs or above.)
no subject
Anti-intellectualism is very much a part of American culture, and I think term paper buying is just a symptom, not the disease.
no subject