File This Under Interesting Read

Now that finals season has wrapped for another semester in the academic sphere here are a couple of articles to take a look at while your brain is on hiatus.  If, you're a student or professor that is, otherwise these are just another thing to add to your (hopefully) already long reading list.

You may have caught wind of a recent essay in the Chronicle of Higher Education by a soon to be former term paper writer for hire.  His piece is worth reading, if only for its tone and lambasting of our system of higher education for failing the students it purports to educate (at least some of them).  If you brave the comments section (which, needless to say, is long and occasionally vituperative) your head may explode and you'll find plenty of folks questioning the truth of the story.

One of the more even keeled commenters pointed another essay by a former term paper writer from a couple of  years ago that hits on many of the same points.

Both authors say the students buying the papers are either simply unable to do the work, lazy students who can afford to pay for whatever they want, and non-native English speakers who are often just getting screwed by the system. The authors also discuss the writing process and what goes into writing 50 plus pages in a weekend.

Interesting, and potentially thought provoking reads if you're interested in writing generally and in educational and academic issues at an undergraduate and higher level.


The Shadow Scholar - The Chronicle of Higher Ed
The Term Paper Artist - The Smart Set (interview from On the Media)