This past week has proven to be an interesting one since I accepted the assignment mentioned earlier. A colleague at work who had read my blog made note that he did not see the classist aspects especially for the price of the essay and also pointed out that there may be an ethnic factor - something I hadn't considered.
When my friend brought-over the assigment - completely bagged with instructions, an outline and a handful of research materials - I raised some of the questions I had about the assigment. Most interestingly, the structure of whatever organization I had become a part of was based on a cellular model. I only had contact with the friend who'd offered me the job (mainly because he had no time to do the project himself) and he received his offers from someone else who may or may not have originally 'solicited' the client. In Sopranos-speak, I'm getting my marching orders from a wiseguy who probably reports to a capo somewhere up the line and each receives a taste of the proceeds. My friend (or should I use the family "our") told me he started doing papers at $12 a page and knew that at least $8 was being kicked upstairs. Taking this into consideration with the classist argument from before, I think that $150 paper might well have retailed at $250 to my struggling wanna-be historian of a client. At this price I think I can definitely re-assert my original argument!
The second element I brought up had to do with ethnicity. I asked my friend if he had any idea of who the people whose work he was doing were. He replied that they were all Asian, at least in his experience of a dozen or two assignments. So how does race / ethnicity play into the cheating game? Many, but definitely not all, Asians who come to Vancouver are wealthy, so is it just a class arrangement or are poor but hardworking Asians compensating for certain handicapps (poor English skills; cumbersome family and work obligations) by seeking outside assistance; or indeed is it cultural, a realization that people should do what they can to get by, a rejection of WASPy guilt-complexes and mildewy do-it-yourself manuals. Certainly history has shown that money has allowed their White competitors get an unfair advantage...
I couldn't guess an answer but some new facts do weaken my original argument. For instance, student 'clients' request most often that the assigments reflect their grade average in the classroom (or perhaps only minorly improve it). I was instructed not to use "big words" and definitely not to ace the assigment. An anonymous B would be prefered. Good but not great; not poor either. Not the aspirations of a student that wants to get ahead. Is it caution or simply the fact that this assignment is being outsourced to save time in a pinch and not part of a strategic attempt to slip through school with minimal effort and good marks? An understanding that Karma might kick their teeth in later???
Too many questions. The only fact I know is that I thought writing it would be easy but instead its like I'm back in university. I guess the difference between being paid and paying to write a paper isn't that big after all. I should go and start it; but maybe I'll find another way to procrastinate. I still have a few more days until the deadline!
technorati tags: cheating, university, class, ethnicity, honesty, strategy
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