Being on vacation does not mean I am not keeping up with the trends in distance education.  In fact, I found an article that made me quite angry.  “Case of the purloined term paper” from USA Today touches on something that can be a black mark on distance education.  People who buy term papers from the Internet are cheaters.  End of story.  These papers are offered by an underground operation that seeks to make money at the expense of others.  If you read further into the article, you will read one example where an on-line student from University of Phoenix found her paper available for sale and she did not even know how it was ‘leaked’ to these people.

I am not sure what to make of the people who offer the papers for sale.  Other than finding one with YOUR paper for sale, I am not sure what, if any legal action might be taken.  It may be legal, but it is certainly unscrupulous.  In my opinion, students who buy papers from these unprincipled vendors are doing two things:  Cheating themselves out of an education and the appreciation hard work and dedication will bring.  Also, they are essentially supporting these people by purchasing the product.  I think if people took responsibility for their own work and had the integrity that is expected by every institution, people who sell term papers would go out of business.

I don’t like to preach.  You are free to do what you want.  But believe me when I say cutting corners because you are too lazy to do the right thing is a bad deal.  You are cheating yourself.  If you didn’t really want an education, why are you spending all the money?  Take some time to reflect on this.  We have heard the old saying, “nothing is free”.  Academic work is no exception.  By purchasing and submitting someone else’s work, you are cheating yourself.