Buying the grade

Paul Nemeth
January 23, 2006

Late on a Sunday night, Nathan Abma, freshman in physics, is pulling an all-nighter to get a big paper done. As deadlines loom, many students are ready to give up and find an easier way to get papers done, even if it means cheating. For those students a new temptation exists in the spring 2006 College Coupons book for Ames. Inside, an ad appears for $5 off a term paper written by a professional team of writers.

The coupon is for Uniquetermpapers.com, one of many Web sites that offer to write papers for desperate students who are willing to pay a hefty fee. Uniquetermpapers.com claims to offer 100 percent original term papers written by seasoned writing professionals who guarantee to write every paper from scratch and never recycle a paper. According to the Web site, the writing team cannot guarantee an “A,” but they do guarantee an impressive product.

“The students who do this are only cheating themselves,” said Lynn Treangen, graduate student and teaching assistant in English. “Somebody will find a way to figure out how to catch them at it.”

Treangen said she is not sure how easy it would be to spot a paper written by a team of professional writers, but she believes she could figure out if a student were to use a paper that was not of his or her capability.

Bethany Schuttinga, assistant dean for the Judicial Affairs Office, said plagiarism is a big problem at Iowa State. A student caught plagiarizing will go through the Judicial Affairs Office and the Dean of Students Office.

“When proof comes to our office, the most common types of reasons that they give for engaging in that type of behavior is lack of time management,” Schuttinga said. “Sometimes, individuals aren’t understanding the class material, so they feel that it’s a necessary thing to do in order to get a good grade in the class.”

Michael Whiteford, dean for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, said the punishments for plagiarism vary from case to case. The punishments range from receiving a failing grade on the assignment to suspension or expulsion. He says the most common excuse for plagiarism is the student didn’t know he or she was plagiarizing.

“Sometimes that deals with [students] thinking they are appropriately citing work, and instead of paraphrasing a concept or idea, then citing a source, they might either not cite the source at all or they might use it with only a few things changed, either not attributed to the author or taking more credit for their work,” Whiteford said. “It’s very often that they didn’t think they were cheating or that was plagiarism.”

Many professors are upset by the coupon. Matthew Hill, assistant professor of anthropology, said he remembers bringing the coupon back to his office to show his colleagues, who were upset the University Book Store would make the coupon available to students.

“We’ve had [the coupon books] out for a little while, and, of course, we’re not handing them out. We just leave them out for distribution,” said Lynette Seymour, general manager for the University Book Store.

Seymour said although the coupon book has local ads that come from an Ames coupon company, the term paper ad comes from a national company, with campuses all over the country likely encountering the same problems. Seymour said the coupon company apologized and has agreed to let the University Book Store see the book next semester.

“Most students will describe themselves as individuals of integrity, and the justification factors vary in how they justify violating their personal ethics to do something like that, but I think it’s a very important topic,” Schuttinga said.

What it costs to buy a term paper online

Prices offered by Uniquetermpapers.com:

7+ days notice: $15 per page

5 to 6 days notice: $18 per page

3 to 4 days notice: $21 per page

2 days notice: $24 per page

1 day notice: $27 per page

Overnight service: $30 per page

Prices offered by Samedayresearch.com:

3 days notice: $14.95 per page

2 days notice: $19.95 per page

1 day notice: $24.29 per page