College Life Today

I always appeal to the intellect of the nations youth when I read stories like the one from the Associated Press on ground up baby chickens. Are omelets, eggs over easy or my once beloved Huevos Rancheros really worth it? Undercover video was shot by Mercy for Animals showing how male baby chicks are ground up alive as a means of quick disposal of the unwanted chicks. Since male chickens produce no eggs and hatchery’s do not raise chickens for slaughter due to the length of time it takes to fatten them up, what else can they do but grind them to shreds alive. Some are pushed to the floor to be swept away and die slowly with the other debris in the hatchery. So what does this have to do with you, my college aged friends?

Everything. This story of the male chick is only one of the many ethical dilemmas that will come along as you move through college life. Do you recognize that every egg you eat contributes to the industry that carelessly disregards and wastes potential life. Whether it’s life for consumption and sustenance or life for the sake of being a living creature, the waste is unforgivable and there is something you can do.
Think about how bad you need that egg next time you go to the commons and choose your breakfast. Don’t support the industry that makes common practice of grinding baby chicks alive or sweeping them away like trash to die a slow death. United States Egg farmers should know better…send them a message that you know better too and you’re not going to stand for it.
Not convinced? Take a look for yourself – Hatchery video

College students across the country are returning to campuses and getting initiated with the same tired old speeches on how to study effectively, don’t party too much and, oh yes, don’t forget how to avoid swine flu. It seems college campuses across the country are concerned about the close quarters of college students and the potential havoc that swine flu could cause. Orientation kits include more than condoms this year; hand sanitizer is the hot item for the freshman class of 2010.
The nature of college dormitories and the propensity for young adults to be close to their friends and peers has health officials concerned about this high-risk population. Georgia Tech has already had 100 cases of swine flu. This winter is expected to be the worst of the flu epidemic in the United States and health departments are preparing themselves for turbulent times.

College campuses are advising students to do all the right things – eat right, keep your immunities up don’t share cups, razors or any items that germs can be passed upon. Basically common sense health care and diligence will keep college students safe from the spread of any flu virus. Swine flu isn’t that unique among flu viruses except for the fact that those with compromised immune systems can become extremely sick. Eat right, exercise and get plenty of rest and more than likely swine flu will not be a concern to any college student. Be careful of stress, as stress weakens the immune system and is responsible for a fair amount of sickness in young people today.

All dressed up and no place to go, maybe. The state budget impasse in Pennsylvania has left 172,000 college students wondering if they will be able to get back to school in two weeks. Without grant money, students cannot pay the tuition and fees at Pennsylvania colleges. Without students paying tuition, more state workers, i.e. teachers, will be laid off. Its a vicious cycle that has been getting Pennsylvania deeper and deeper in the murky waters of fiscal fiascoes akin to those in California.

The new fiscal year began July 1st, and still no resolution. State workers have seen pay reductions, forced days off and layoffs for the past two months. However, direct pain to the private sector has been minimal, until now. College financial aide offices have been overwhelmed with calls and concerned students and parents flooding the office in an attempt to determine if school will start for them without their finances in order. Read more…

If you cheat, there’s a chance it is your teacher’s fault, so says a CanWest News Service article by Amy Minsky entitled Cheating stats getting out of control: Researcher. The American Psychological Association met in Toronto this past Saturday and sited the problem of cheating as a growing concern. One of the statistics sited at the convention is that 75% of college students cheat, according to Eric Anderman, an Ohio State professor of educational policy and leadership . Interestingly, Anderman blamed academic pressure on on students to achieve as the source of cheating. This falls in line with the findings on plagiarism we reported on from Susan D. Blum in My Word! Plagiarism and College Culture.

Two unanswered questions stand out.  The first is, How is it that students are apparently unaware of the level of cheating that is going on around them?  Jordan (2001) found that students greatly underestimated the percentage of their peers who cheat.  Yet the literature shows that the majority of students are cheating.  Could it be that because students are aware that cheating is unethical they do not conceive of it being a widespread problem?  And if students believe they are in the minority when it comes to cheating, is there a level of guilt and or shame that they feel?  Could this be used somehow to decrease the incidence of cheating?

The second unanswered question is, Why is there so much cheating in colleges?  Jordan (2001) cites reasons such as extrinsic motivation and Stearns (2001) cites “mean” and “unfriendly” professors but cheating would not be necessary even in these cases if the students were familiar and comfortable with the academic material.  Therefore, the question becomes are students cheating because the material is too advanced for them or are they simply too lazy to put in the required amount of time and effort to write their own papers or take their own exams?  Or are there other factors involved such as the need to work to earn money to attend school or the modern day need for a college degree forcing students into college who might not otherwise have chosen to go?

Despite these unanswered questions, two very important and surprising facts are learned from the research.  First, students who cheat in college are more commonplace than students who never cheat.  And second, neither college administrators, teachers, nor the research experts know what to do to effectively stop the cheating.  My own viewpoint on this issue is that professors in each class should remind students of the dire consequences of cheating when giving out each assignment and before handing out each exam.  Students should be made to sign an honor pledge on their assignments and exams and understand that expulsion from school is the only consequence to cheating.

Given the amount of fraud one hears about everyday being committed by corporations and government officials though, it should not come as a surprise that there is so much cheating going on in colleges.  After all, the cheating students of today are the corporate moguls and elected officials of tomorrow.

Jordan, Augustus E. “College Student Cheating: The Role of “Motivation, Perceived Norms, Attitudes, and Knowledge of Institutional Policy.” Ethics & Behavior. Jul2001, Vol. 11 Issue 3, p233.

A while ago, we did a series of articles on the 5 most marketable degrees, according to an article in Encarta. We figured this would be helpful, especially in difficult economic times. However, in retrospect, it seems that even in the worst job market in 25 years, we were misguided. According to career specialists across the nation, marketability is not the key for success. What is? Doing what you love.

Career counselors that discussed hiring criteria with major employers found out that while resumes, education and grades are attractive, what employers really look for in college students is trust, clear thinking and the ability to show results on projects. An article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, cited a Human Resource Manager at Texas Health Resources, one of the region’s largest employers in Texas, as stating, “Do those results really support treating other people with courtesy, dignity and respect? And communicating clearly and earning people’s trust? And thinking before they act?”

In order to build trust, enjoy other people, communicate efficiently and have dignity and respect in your life, you have to love what you do. Your happiness is what drives results. Loving what you do is the only way to be good at what you do.

Marketable degrees are wonderful but if it is not what you love or want to do, forget it! If communications is your passion, look for a job in a marketable field such as engineering, in a communications sector of engineering companies such as human resources or technical writing. College students need to do what they love and earn their degree in what will fulfill them. That is a recipe for true life success.

Think I’m kidding? Absolutely not! In fact, one of our best writers told me over a beer last night that he got over 15 dates in college using the “Holy shit! I’ve a term paper due tomorrow and I don’t know how to do it” line on hot girls at the U of Wisconsin. Just like the cheesy guy at the laundry mat looking helplessly at the skid-marks on his underwear, Riley Musbach, professional term paper writer extraordinaire, shamelessly scammed brainy females into helping him with his already completed term papers! I thought I’d heard it all but Riley gave me new insight into creative college dating secrets and here is how he did it! Read more…

Another finals week is here and many students are looking for help from online services that write custom research papers for a fee. If you are not interested in pay services, there are some free research paper assistance services that are extremely helpful to stressed students. Many of the most helpful services come through social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter. We will cover just a few here.

Facebook provides one of the largest communities in the world of college students. Paper Masters has 24 hour staff monitoring our Facebook Profile to provide assistance to any of our friends, clients and students. Post a comment or question, ask for help with your finals week research paper or just say “hey, what is Paper Masters about”.

Twitter is used throughout education for instant advice and help for students from academia. Paper Masters is available via Twitter for advice and assistance for college students, 24 hours a day. No fee, just free, professional advice or help from professional academic writers who know research papers inside and out. MLA format, Citation questions, advice on choosing a topic and any other question you have. Or better yet, just say “hello”!

We discussed in last week’s post some easy ways to come up with a topic for a term paper. This week, we can take that topic and turn it into something that will blow your professor away with its insight and originality. Let me give you an example – You find Shakespeare dull and boring and you have a term paper on Romeo and Juliet. How can you relate Romeo and Juliet to what you love and write about something that will wow the professor? How about writing an English term paper that compares the All-American Rejects song “Dirty Little Secret” to Romeo and Juliet? That is what I mean by making the paper relevant and contemporary, no matter what the topic is. Read more…

According to the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, a recent trend in private universities is to offer a guarantee that if a student doesn’t graduate in 4 years, the 5th year is free! Pennsylvania’s Juniata College is one of several private schools to launch this program in hopes of attracting financially strapped parents. Since approximately only 1 in 3 college students actually graduate in 4 years, colleges like Juniata are hoping that parents will realize that two thirds of them will need to pay for an extra year they may not have budgeted for and be lured in by the 20% savings. Sound good parents? Well…wait just a minute…You have to have a bit of help from your college student… Read more…

Many graduate level students look towards Paper Masters in order to avoid these issues of plagiarism. In a recent discussion with one graduate student that was looking to order a research paper, the student stated that the sole purpose for searching out help and a model research paper was to have a sample of exactly how to cite properly.

Citation is confusing but as Thomas Holmes, director of the American Chemical Society (ACS) Exams Institute,  stated in regards to Bodner’s study: “I usually tell students if it’s more than four words you better be quoting them”. Great advice to live and trust your academic career on when writing a research paper at any level.