Jenifer Doane
Colorado State U. Collegian (CPS)
The end of the semester: Final exams and term papers loom menacingly on the horizon as student scramble to tie up loose ends from the past three and a half months.
But getting that "A" term paper may be easier than you think. Name your topic - the Civil War? $44. The effects of global warming? $60. The complex papers dealing with ethical theories behind a range of topics will cost you more.
They're all available on the Internet, and the Web sites that churn out the term papers are becoming increasingly problematic for universities around the country.
For a fee, in some cases just $3 per page, students can order complete essays from the Web. Hundreds of pre-completed papers are floating around the Net, and for $15 a page, students can even order a customized term paper on the topic of their choice written by professionals specializing in that subject.
"Students who don't want to do the work have always found ways to get out of doing it. This is just the newest way," said Kathryn Hochstetler, a political science professor at Colorado State University.
The firms that offer papers via the Internet can be incredibly large operations. A-1 Termpapers of West Chester, Pa., one of many firm names in a January lawsuit filed by Boston University, offers 20,000 pre-written papers at a range of prices and custom papers for up to $35 per page, plus shipping.
Some universities, like Boston, are fighting the onslaught of pre-prepared papers, while at other schools the cases are handled individually.
At the University of Denver last year, for example, two students were put on probation for using papers from the Internet after their professor went online and found similar papers for sale.
The professors are aware of the problem and are using the Web to combat it. Hochstetler cited two Web sites that list term-paper distributors, both of which professors nationwide find helpful.
Boston is the first school to have filed a major lawsuit against multiple paper clients. Its suit against four "paper mills" hopes to get a court order barring them from doing business in Massachusetts.
Most of the Web sites say their products are not meant to take the place of assigned work, but are rather intended for research material.
"I believe if students use the papers for research and cite where they got the paper from, then the Web sites are all right," said Colorado State freshman Crystal Presnell.
"But as far as using the papers as your own work, that is wrong."