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YouTube Stars Being Paid to Sell Academic Cheating

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Re: YouTube Stars Being Paid to Sell Academic Cheating

#241

I don't understand how this works. Surely you lecturers are going to know your unique voice, your skill level and your opinions and a random essay by someone else is not going to be passable as your own. Plus don't you have to discuss in seminars essays that you submit? Won't it become apparent that it's not your work when you can't defend it? Plus where do they find people skilled in the particular curriculums of ev…

It isn't sufficient to know that the student is cheating. You have to be able to prove it. Students, particularly the amoral, entitled students who are inclined to cheat, will cause an enormous amount of trouble for the professor/TA who accuses them of cheating without incontrovertible proof. The professor may dock the student's grade in some way, but you can't really fail them if it's clear the essay was written by someone much smarter or more fluent than they are.

Re: YouTube Stars Being Paid to Sell Academic Cheating

#242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My partner is finishing their masters in China currently (native Chinese). The levels of cheating that go on within her course alone are mind boggling: 1. Girls asking their would-be boyfriends to complete their essays and attend modules. 2. Purchasing completed essays from Taobao. 3. Copy pasting others work from Baidu with only name alterations. 4. Paying exam setters for exam questions. Of course this is anecdotal…

I've observed all of these in the USA. I suspect this sort of thing transcends cultural and international borders. Possibly amusing anecdote: I know a smart* technical colleague who wrote at least 2 PhD dissertations for former romantic partners. As in "best dissertation award" + famous people on committee + etc , etc. The former romantic partners went on to have distinguished careers in management. * Depending on yo…

The level of patent / trademark infringement disagrees a bit with your statement.

Re: YouTube Stars Being Paid to Sell Academic Cheating

#243
post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s because American universities don’t put your name on a list when you cheat. They expel you.

Actually, not usually for first offenses (from my experience as college instructor)

But usually only for first offenses (which in my experience still automatically fail that class).

Re: YouTube Stars Being Paid to Sell Academic Cheating

#244

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One community particularly harmed by academic cheating is foreign students, particularly those from China and India. Cheating amongst foreign students, particularly those from India and China, occurs at elevated frequencies [1]. But there is money to be made. Universities earn fat tuitions. And parades of scumbags take exams, write papers and falsify figures for a fee. The result is limited enforcement in the specifi…

When visiting a university in China, I saw a prominently displayed list of students who were caught cheating in the most recent term. I haven't yet seen such lists in American universities.

In the US what happens if someone on that list kills themselves? Lawsuit from hell probably, at the very least.

Re: YouTube Stars Being Paid to Sell Academic Cheating

#245

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When visiting a university in China, I saw a prominently displayed list of students who were caught cheating in the most recent term. I haven't yet seen such lists in American universities.

My partner is finishing their masters in China currently (native Chinese). The levels of cheating that go on within her course alone are mind boggling: 1. Girls asking their would-be boyfriends to complete their essays and attend modules. 2. Purchasing completed essays from Taobao. 3. Copy pasting others work from Baidu with only name alterations. 4. Paying exam setters for exam questions. Of course this is anecdotal…

I guess this might explains where there are so many cheaters in online games that are Chinese. Results are prioritized about integrity and self-respect I suppose.

Re: YouTube Stars Being Paid to Sell Academic Cheating

#246

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tens of thousands of subscribers isn't very many.

"According to The Economist, influencers with at least 100,000 subscribers on YouTube can get an average of $12,500 for a sponsored post, with payments going up rapidly if you have one million subscribers or more. But those figures refer to endorsements by people who are celebrities in their own right. Someone who's only well known on YouTube might not command that kind of pay." https://www.inc.com/minda-zetlin/even-…

Looks like if you scale it up from those numbers to the several million subs category you'll easily get 6 figures, possibly 7.

Re: YouTube Stars Being Paid to Sell Academic Cheating

#247

I paid my rent and living expenses when pursuing my Masters degree by writing papers for services that helped undergrads cheat on class/term papers. I don't regret it at all. It helped me become a faster, more efficient author, and in my experience, the sort of student that would pay someone else to buy a paper will end up failing out one way or another regardless. I knew people that paid for papers in undergrand, an…

Rather than abstaining from or attempting to reform an institution you find flawed, you exploit it for personal gain. If you ever come to find that exploits in your code are used for someone else's personal gain I hope you can be equally equanimous.

Re: YouTube Stars Being Paid to Sell Academic Cheating

#248
post #2

As a former University Librarian and Residents Director A) Cheating happens more then it doesn't. In a Philosophy Class which had a dozen seniors all cheated in Spring Semester. Professor flunked them all by giving them an F and told them they were lucky they weren't expelled. President Graduated the students and fired the professor. Then on appeal the President was fired and the Professor rehired with a raise. B) Sh…

>Then on appeal the President was fired and the Professor rehired with a raise.

That's hilarious. It's crazy that there was so much fallout from a case of cheating.

Re: YouTube Stars Being Paid to Sell Academic Cheating

#249

A bit of chatter here about "it eventually catches up to people anyway" that I think misses the point. You want people to learn when the stakes are low. This is better for them, and it's better for all of us. School should gradually go from low stakes to higher stakes, not be a low-stakes zone the whole time that then tosses people into the real world. Otherwise you're presented with terrible choices like expelling a…

One community particularly harmed by academic cheating is foreign students, particularly those from China and India. Cheating amongst foreign students, particularly those from India and China, occurs at elevated frequencies [1]. But there is money to be made. Universities earn fat tuitions. And parades of scumbags take exams, write papers and falsify figures for a fee. The result is limited enforcement in the specifi…

It isn't just students that are cheating, it goes all the way up to the top of academia. I know a professor that reviews for a major journal who says he can't even keep up with the submissions from Chinese researchers because most of the time the entire paper is plagerised, the submission is canned without a second glance. Fucking sucks for the legitimate Chinese students and researchers but I guess when, "if you can cheat, then cheat." becomes one of the most well known idioms in your culture, you can't be too surprised. Just have to try extra hard to break the mold, I guess.

Re: YouTube Stars Being Paid to Sell Academic Cheating

#250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My partner is finishing their masters in China currently (native Chinese). The levels of cheating that go on within her course alone are mind boggling: 1. Girls asking their would-be boyfriends to complete their essays and attend modules. 2. Purchasing completed essays from Taobao. 3. Copy pasting others work from Baidu with only name alterations. 4. Paying exam setters for exam questions. Of course this is anecdotal…

I've observed all of these in the USA. I suspect this sort of thing transcends cultural and international borders. Possibly amusing anecdote: I know a smart* technical colleague who wrote at least 2 PhD dissertations for former romantic partners. As in "best dissertation award" + famous people on committee + etc , etc. The former romantic partners went on to have distinguished careers in management. * Depending on yo…

Management huh? Sounds like they were training to take credit for others work all along.
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