men Robert. It's sad to think how many readers can't spot the glaring logical problems with arguments for selling plagiarism services. It's easy to demonstrate that cheating is not ethical, or even an optimal choice in terms of self interest, as being corrupt doesn't really help people.

On Fri, Sep 16, 2011 at 2:20 AM, Segal, Professor Robert A. <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Sept 16

Dear DG,

I am an academic.    You seem to gloss over the difference between secretly writing essays for others and doing so publicly.    Yes, most celebrities cannot write--or for that matter think--but surely their books acknowledge, even if doubtless understate, help from others.    That is fine.

What is shameful is anyone's helping academics or students without contractually requiring any public acknowledgment   I don't know whether you assist students as well as faculty.   But any student caught securing your kind of help, even if only stylistic, would face expulsion from any accredited university.   Your "service" would constitute cheating.

It is pathetic that someone breezily professing to harbor not a whit of competence in a field would presume to help write an essay on any topic in the field.  Ever heard of research?   I'd like to see you submit an essay, under your name or that of a client, to any course I teach.

That academics need to earn a living is no excuse for your being paid to help clients cheat.   Ever heard of the naturalistic fallacy?   Want an essay on it?

By the way, the word is COMPLEMENTARY, not COMPLIMENTARY.   Want some help with basic English?



Sincerely,

Robert Segal

Sixth Century Chair in Religious Studies
University of Aberdeen
________________________________________
From: Society for The Academic Study of Magic [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of [log in to unmask] [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Friday, September 16, 2011 9:55 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] FW: [Pagan Studies] Feature on what rituals may have sounded like at Stonehenge

The last one by DG also expresses a world view that largely negates the academic worth of anything......
Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange

-----Original Message-----
From:         Nicholas Campion <[log in to unmask]>
Sender:       Society for The Academic Study of Magic <[log in to unmask]>
Date:         Fri, 16 Sep 2011 09:50:10
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To:     Society for The Academic Study of Magic              <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] FW: [Pagan Studies] Feature on what rituals may have sounded like at Stonehenge

As I said, it's exactly the same as hiring yourself out to pagan or magical
groups with no particular interest in what they're doing, yet pretending
that you do.

Would this be acceptable?



-----Original Message-----
From: Society for The Academic Study of Magic
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of D G Mattichak jr
Sent: 16 September 2011 09:37
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] FW: [Pagan Studies] Feature on what
rituals may have sounded like at Stonehenge

As I said previously, I am a writer and not an academic. I accept writing
jobs from clients, they give me the specifications and sometimes the
references to use and I produce the document. What the client does after
that is not really my concern. I also do re-writes and ghostwriting- is that
fraudulent too? We all know that footballers haven't got the vocabulary to
write a book but they sell so someone has to write them, is that fraudulent?
In my experience many academics who may be brilliant in their field of study
are the worst writers and even more struggle with formal writing styles,
even simple ones like Chicago or MLA. If I can produce a more legible
document isn't that better?
I am sure that there are students that try and get around the system in this
way. There was a scandal here in Australia recently that a number of
students had gotten degrees with papers that they had cut and pasted from
the internet (unfortunately I can't recall which University it was). Since
then there has been an improvement in anti plagiarism software but I am sure
that lots must get through. How likely is it that a student that skates
through like this will go on to use that degree anyway? Won't the genuine
student be the one that continues in the field?
The actual work that the site offers tends to be more corporate research,
outsourced for in house publications, usually in APA style, not degree
papers for kids. It is the corporate publishing world's equivalent of
content writing.
Having said that, it has been really interesting to see how emotive an issue
this is among academics- to me it's just another writing job. :)
D


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