scholarly journals Essay mills and other contract cheating services: to buy or not to buy and the consequences of students changing their minds

Author(s):  
Michael Draper ◽  
Thomas Lancaster ◽  
Sandie Dann ◽  
Robin Crockett ◽  
Irene Glendinning

AbstractVery few parts of the world have legislation that prohibits the operation or the promotion of contract cheating services. This means that commercial companies providing such services can formally register and operate in most countries. If a student enters into an agreement with a contract cheating provider, what rights do they have to change their mind and what are the risks if they choose to do so? This paper examines the question through legal, institutional and societal lenses, showing that although a student has the consumer rights to withdraw from a contract with an essay mill, they may also be putting their future at risk by doing so. Contract cheating providers are now embedded within many institutions, using sharp practices to connect with vulnerable customers, but are also perfectly placed to blackmail students or threaten to report them to their institution if they ask to cancel their order. The paper argues that, while not condoning the practice of contract cheating, supportive processes need to be in place to help students at risk as part of standard institutional duty of care. This must be backed up by institutional policy that considers academic integrity as a core value for all.

Author(s):  
D. J. Greenland ◽  
P. J. Gregory

Several assessments have been made which indicate that if adequate inputs are used, the extent of land resources is sufficient to support a world population in excess of 8 billion (Buringh and Van Heemst, 1977; Higgins ct al., 1982; de Vries et al., 1995; Dyson, 1996). There have also been many dire warnings that the methods that must be used to produce the necessary crops will lead to soil degradation and environmental pollution, as a result of which it will be impossible to sustain the present population, let alone a much greater one (Brown, 1988; Ehrlich and Ehrlich, 1990; Myers, 1991; Ehrlich et al., 1993; Brown and Kane, 1995). The most detailed of these various studies is that by FAO, “Potential Population Supporting Capacity of Lands in the Developing World” (Higgins et al., 1982). Although the authors reached the conclusion that the soils of the world were able to support a population in excess of 8 billion, it was also concluded that, in 1976, 19 countries were “at risk” because they will not be able to produce sufficient food for their population in the year 2000, even at “high levels” of inputs; 36 were at risk because they could not do so at intermediate levels; and no fewer than 65 could not do so at low levels, which is all that most of them could afford. The latest estimate of the number of countries at risk at low levels of input is 82. Thus, while the world may not be on the brink of the Malthusian precipice, there are several countries that are. Rwanda, which has the highest population density of any country in Africa, appears to have fallen over the brink. At low levels of inputs, and with population pressure driving fanners to exploit soils, soil degradation and a decline in productivity are inevitable. Thus, there are many who believe that whatever practicable methods are used, it will not be possible to produce the crops necessary to support the world population. Borgstrom (1969), for instance, stated that “the world . . . is on the verge of the biggest famine in history. . . . Such a famine will have massive proportions and affect hundreds of millions, perhaps billions. By 1984 it will dwarf and overshadow most of the issues and anxieties that now attract attention.” The fact that this did not happen, just as the prophets of doom from Malthus on have so far been proved wrong, has led many others to assume that there is unlikely to be a continuing problem of food production, although many continue to predict massive famines in the near future.


Author(s):  
Lars Ylander

Ludwig Klages’ famous essay from 1913 is here translated into Danish for the first time. According to Klages, the planet-wide destruction of nature is a disastrous outcome of a runaway mad civilisation focused on progress. Famously, he finds the root of the madness to be an intricate entanglement of science, technology, capitalism and Christianity. Ultimately, these are all aspects of what he calls Spirit (Geist) – an alienating and life-disruptive power that tears man away from its original being interwoven with living nature. Its benign adversary, Soul, is characterised by caring for life. This elementary or cosmic love is linked to Soul’s way of recognizing reality through a dynamical flow of sensual pictures. On the other hand, Spirit’s drive to destroy and kill is related to its way of fixating knowledge of the world by means of concepts. Klages diagnoses modern ‘civilisation’ as an era of downfall of the Soul. The devastating events the following summer of 1914 may be seen as a consequence of the bad cultural standing. An anthropological ecology, spirit-dominated and with civilised man’s interest as its core value, is not enough to save nature. Only a deep ecology, where Soul dominates Spirit, can do so, moving the value focus away from man to Earth.


2000 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
Padeliadu Susana ◽  
Georgios D. Sideridis

Abstract This study investigated the discriminant validation of the Test of Reading Performance (TORP), a new scale designed to evaluate the reading performance of elementary-school students. The sample consisted of 181 elementary-school students drawn from public elementary schools in northern Greece using stratified random procedures. The TORP was hypothesized to measure six constructs, namely: “letter knowledge,” “phoneme blending,” “word identification,” “syntax,” “morphology,” and “passage comprehension.” Using standard deviations (SD) from the mean, three groups of students were formed as follows: A group of low achievers in reading (N = 9) including students who scored between -1 and -1.5 SD from the mean of the group. A group of students at risk of reading difficulties (N = 6) including students who scored between -1.5 and -2 SDs below the mean of the group. A group of students at risk of serious reading difficulties (N = 6) including students who scored -2 or more SDs below the mean of the group. The rest of the students (no risk, N = 122) comprised the fourth group. Using discriminant analyses it was evaluated how well the linear combination of the 15 variables that comprised the TORP could discriminate students of different reading ability. Results indicated that correct classification rates for low achievers, those at risk for reading problems, those at risk of serious reading problems, and the no-risk group were 89%, 100%, 83%, and 97%, respectively. Evidence for partial validation of the TORP was provided through the use of confirmatory factor analysis and indices of sensitivity and specificity. It is concluded that the TORP can be ut ilized for the identification of children at risk for low achievement in reading. Analysis of the misclassified cases indicated that increased variability might have been responsible for the existing misclassification. More research is needed to determine the discriminant validation of TORP with samples of children with specific reading disabilities.


2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leanne S. Hawken ◽  
Hollie Pettersson ◽  
Julie Mootz ◽  
Carol Anderson

Moreana ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 55 (Number 209) (1) ◽  
pp. 79-93
Author(s):  
Marie-Claire Phélippeau

This paper shows how solidarity is one of the founding principles in Thomas More's Utopia (1516). In the fictional republic of Utopia described in Book II, solidarity has a political and a moral function. The principle is at the center of the communal organization of Utopian society, exemplified in a number of practices such as the sharing of farm work, the management of surplus crops, or the democratic elections of the governor and the priests. Not only does solidarity benefit the individual Utopian, but it is a prerequisite to ensure the prosperity of the island of Utopia and its moral preeminence over its neighboring countries. However, a limit to this principle is drawn when the republic of Utopia faces specific social difficulties, and also deals with the rest of the world. In order for the principle of solidarity to function perfectly, it is necessary to apply it exclusively within the island or the republic would be at risk. War is not out of the question then, and compassion does not apply to all human beings. This conception of solidarity, summed up as “Utopia first!,” could be dubbed a Machiavellian strategy, devised to ensure the durability of the republic. We will show how some of the recommendations of Realpolitik made by Machiavelli in The Prince (1532) correspond to the Utopian policy enforced to protect their commonwealth.


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