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.)
This is very movingly written, but still makes me terribly sad. Every day at my college, I see people who truly do not belong there, and are not smart enough to be there. I mean that kindly and without judgment. They are sometimes very nice people, but they are just not intellectually ready for college. Some of them shouldn't have even graduated from high school.
There's this trend in all levels of education these days, of just passing students on from course to course, regardless of whether or not they've demonstrated that they've learned the material. This is something my mother complains about often; she's a professor at a community college and teaches basic reading classes. The classes are supposed to be for mostly ESL students, and there are plenty of ESL students in her class, but there are also a lot of kids who grew up speaking English and still can barely read at a sixth-grade level. How did they get out of high school? Who looked at them and thought that they should get a diploma? It makes me so angry, because it hurts everyone involved in the academic process and cheapens the value of higher education.
I don't know who's to blame for this. Everyone, I guess. The teachers, for not caring enough to actively enforce academic standards. The administration that pushes them to pass on students who aren't ready. Students, for having an attitude of entitlement and not being willing to actually work in college. And term paper mills for enabling them.
The reason all my professors have complimented my writing ability is not because I'm a /good/ scientific writer, but that everyone else is so /bad/. No joke, more than one prof has suggested I try my hand at textbook writing, and I've been talked into editing more papers for style and grammar than I care to think about. I guess tht against a background of crap, even a rhinestone stands out.
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He's also a good writer and everyone should read Move Under Ground and Under My Roof. ^_^
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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)
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There's this trend in all levels of education these days, of just passing students on from course to course, regardless of whether or not they've demonstrated that they've learned the material. This is something my mother complains about often; she's a professor at a community college and teaches basic reading classes. The classes are supposed to be for mostly ESL students, and there are plenty of ESL students in her class, but there are also a lot of kids who grew up speaking English and still can barely read at a sixth-grade level. How did they get out of high school? Who looked at them and thought that they should get a diploma? It makes me so angry, because it hurts everyone involved in the academic process and cheapens the value of higher education.
I don't know who's to blame for this. Everyone, I guess. The teachers, for not caring enough to actively enforce academic standards. The administration that pushes them to pass on students who aren't ready. Students, for having an attitude of entitlement and not being willing to actually work in college. And term paper mills for enabling them.
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The reason all my professors have complimented my writing ability is not because I'm a /good/ scientific writer, but that everyone else is so /bad/. No joke, more than one prof has suggested I try my hand at textbook writing, and I've been talked into editing more papers for style and grammar than I care to think about. I guess tht against a background of crap, even a rhinestone stands out.
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Still, it's good to know I can always make money on the side when I go back to school writing papers for other students.