1. K
irk* anxiously found himself staring at
the slip of paper with an e-mail that a
friend of a friend had written out. The
deal was that if you sent a phone number to
that e-mail, someone would call back asking
a “yes” or “no” question.
He wasn’t waiting long before his cell started
to ring. His caller display flashed a random
Google Voice phone number — the number
was hiding where the call was coming from.
The first thing the voice on the other end asked
was if Kirk was sure about his decision.
Caught off guard, Kirk said yes but spoke
hesitantly. For all he knew, this was a set-up, but
he quickly realized that the voice on the other
end just wanted to cut to the chase. A course
syllabus, the essay criteria, a mark range, any
required sources and, most importantly, how
much time the job would take.
A negotiated amount of payment was then
wired to a bank account connected to the
e-mail and the call was over.
Kirk, a fourth-year Western Computer
Science student at the time, had ventured into
uncharted territory and had just hired a ghost-
writer to write a paper for him.
A week later, an untitled essay arrived in his
inbox with a small note. It dared Kirk to verify
for himself that the work wasn’t stolen from
someone else.
The e-mail ended with the phrase,“Find me
again.” It was like a calling card equivalent to a
variety store saying,“Thank you, come again.”
Without exchanging a single name, a paper with
sources, footnotes and a thesis was now Kirk’s
— and he hadn’t written a thing.
With a fistful of red Mackenzie Kings, Kirk
had slipped into the world of the faceless
scribes who could write about almost anything.
Today, professors have anti-plagiarism
software like Turnitin in their arsenal, mak-
ing it relatively easy to ferret out cheaters.
But that system fails to pick off students who
hire a “ghost” — a custom essay-writer, for the
uninitiated.
Sam*, a retired ghost, claims that after three
and a half years and 200 essays, he’s never been
caught. Speaking to The Gazette under the con-
dition of anonymity, the former Western stu-
dent said he rarely dealt directly with anyone
and probably walked right past his Western
clients in between classes.
“I did the legwork, I did the research for it.
So, no system ever gets tipped off,” he said.
The scope of what a ghost could be hired
to do ranged from something as simple as a
creative writing piece or as dense as a research
paper outlining the Syrian geopolitical crisis.
Sam also takes pride in claiming that the
majority of his clients were not slackers, and
could easily do the work for themselves.
“For [my clients], it’s a lack of time, more
than anything. Most of [them] weren’t stupid.
Some were, but a lot of them were just looking
for breathing room,” he said.“They were look-
ing for more time to focus on things they saw
as more important.”
Sam’s rates were primarily based on esti-
mated research, essay length and how soon
the client needed it to be done. An average
term paper could cost from $100 to $250, but
if the due date was soon or if the research was
difficult, that price would climb.
Sam also explained that not every negotia-
tion was as quick as Kirk’s, and often required
multiple consultations and negotiations.
“It’s my reputation on the line, so there were
no half-measures,” Sam said, adding that he
could not “half-ass” it.
“I had to use my whole ass because my cli-
entele would grow through word of mouth. So
if people were happy with their marks, they’d
find me again and hopefully recommend me.”
During his time at Western, Sam claimed
that finding clients was hardly a challenge,
despite his unorthodox marketing. Evidently
it worked, since some syllabi that clients sent
him came from other campuses too.
Last week, the CBC released a survey of
54 universities that found more than 7,000
students were disciplined for some form of
cheating in the 2011–12 academic year. But
considering the relative ease with which a stu-
dent could enlist a ghost, those numbers could
be greatly understated.
John Doerksen, vice-provost academic
programs and students at Western, said that
recruiting a ghost is academically fraudulent
because the name on the title page isn’t who
wrote it.
As far as Doerksen knows, the issue is
not rampant at Western. But, in his opinion,
students resorting to these services do so at a
disservice to themselves — it doesn’t matter if
they get caught.
“What universities offer is learning and an
increase in knowledge and ability. I think that
any action that decreases that learning oppor-
tunity is categorically wrong, and essay mills
that provide that service decrease the learning
outcomes for students […] it’s shortsighted,”
he said.
Amanda*, a fourth-year Medical Science stu-
dent, explained getting her essay written by a
ghost was just one small aspect of her academic
career. In her opinion, the increasing weight of
pressures facing students today are painting
more and more of them into smaller corners.
“If it’s a prerequisite for something but it’s
not important to you, you want to use less
energy for it to focus on courses that are way
more important and that you need,” Amanda
said.
“It’s nothing I’m proud of, but I just had
to get it done. I had no time — I just want to
graduate,” she said.“I just took care of one small
aspect of my life — I still had lab reports, study-
ing, exams and presentations to do,” Amanda
said.
Kirk, now graduated, said sometimes classes
are added to a curriculum arbitrarily. In his
view, for the courses where he hired a ghost,
they were courses he would never need in his
career and that he, in fact, felt cheated by the
school.
“I worked hard in everything else. I got all the
credits that supposedly make me a computer
scientist but then I have to take these random
credits because I didn’t meet some arbitrary
number? That to me is fraud — [the school]
just wants more money […] I had to save my
time,” he explained.
However, Doerksen said that those reasons
do not cut it.
“Time management is one of those critical
life skills. I imagine that many reasons could
be brought forward […] but in many cases, stu-
dents can go talk to their professors or their
academic counsellors if there’s a basis for aca-
demic accommodation,” he explained.
“We have on campus the writing support
>> see GHOST pg.2

2. Solution to puzzle on page 8
ARIES – Mar 21/Apr 20
This week you need to be the follower instead of the
leader. It may be difficult to go against your normal
grain, but it is for the best. Keep an open mind.
LIBRA – Sept 23/Oct 23
You don’t have all of the answers so don’t even
think about saying you do. Relationship concerns are
at the forefront of your mind lately.
TAURUS – Apr 21/May 21
Your confidence may wane sometime this week but
some friends will boost your morale to help you get
back on your feet. Saturday will be a big day.
SCORPIO – Oct 24/Nov 22
It might be hard to bite your tongue, but that’s just
what you have to do this week. Wait until you are
called on for help before you get involved.
GEMINI – May 22/Jun 21
Certain things that have to get done this week are out
of your realm of expertise. Do your best to tackle
these projects but have a helper on hand just in case.
SAGITTARIUS – Nov 23/Dec 21
Take a few days to get all of your affairs in order.
Use this time to adjust to some changes that have
happened over the last several weeks.
CANCER – Jun 22/Jul 22
You have a lot on your plate, but you don’t know
where to start. Make a list of your tasks, and it will
help you better tackle one thing at a time until you
are all done.
CAPRICORN – Dec 22/Jan 20
Burning the candle at both ends again? This is not
the best way to get things done. Take a more steady
approach, and give yourself time to recover.
LEO – Jul 23/Aug 23
Learn to laugh at yourself as a means to relieving
stress. Things can’t always be serious, so ligthen up
and take some time to relax.Work with Virgo this week.
AQUARIUS – Jan 21/Feb 18
You can’t put your finger on it, but something posi-
tive seems to be on the horizon. The truth will reveal
itself in the next few days.
VIRGO – Aug 24/Sept 22
Give yourself a much-deserved break. You’ve been
working nonstop for the last several months, and
now is a great time to take a vacation or enjoy a
weekend getaway.
PISCES – Feb 19/Mar 20
Fight against the current for something you truly
believe in. Unexpected events arise on Thursday.
This horoscope is intended for entertainment purposes only.
Your Weekly
Horoscope
The week of Sept 28 – Oct 4
FAMOUS BIRTHDAYS
MARCH 9 – Matthew Gray Gubler, Actor (34) MARCH 10 – Carrie Underwood, Singer (31)
MARCH 11 – Alex Kingston, Actress (51) MARCH 12 – Liza Minnelli, Actress (68)
MARCH 13– Danny Masterson, Actor (38)
Located in the Lower level
of the Community Center,
for all your travel needs.
Travel CUTS University of Western Ontario
UCC Building, Basement Level
Univ_Western@travelcuts.com
ON–4499356/4499372
2 • thegazette • Friday, March 7, 2014
CROSSWORD By Eugene Sheffer
The Cryptoquip is a substitution cipher in which one letter stands for another. If you think
that X equals O, it will equal O throughout the puzzle. Single letters, short words and
words using an apostrophe give you clues to locating vowels. Solution is by trial and error.
© 2002 by Kings Features Syndicate, Inc.
DESIGN YOUR
FLOOR CLOTHING
westernusc.ca/cs-promosvisit
ORDER YOURS TODAY
Caught on Camera
centre and it’s free,” Doerksen
added. “It’s for students being sin-
cere and who are looking for help
articulating their points as well as
grammar and all that. [Volunteers]
can’t write the paper for them
but they can provide advice and
guidance.”
Karen Ashford, a marketing
manager for Scribendi, a consult-
ing firm which offers paid editing
and proofreading, agreed with
Doerksen’s opinion. Ashford said
she has had to deal with students
who came looking for a ghost but
were curtly rebuffed.
“We earned our degrees, so you
should too,” she said.
However, for the ghost and his
clients, they thought firms that only
corrected grammar or suggested
tips don’t help students in a tight
bind.
When asked how he felt about
helping students to get away with
fraud, Sam said it all balances out
eventually.
“I could immediately tell if the
person was doing this because
they had no time or if they were
just lazy and used their money to
screw around,” Sam said.“The way
I see it, if they will need to be able to
communicate well in the real world,
you can’t fake that once you’re out
there. No grade I gave will help him
then.”
While Sam, Kirk and Amanda
all admitted to academic fraud,
each said the stigma wasn’t neces-
sarily warranted.They pointed out
the hypocrisy they saw in the fact
that ghosts often write for blogs or
Twitter accounts, but are forbidden
in academic settings.
“In the real world, politicians,
corporations or even authors can
get consulted or hire a ghostwriter
on what to say or how to say it and
it’s perfectly legal,” Sam said. “My
clients and I both benefited, but
if I or people like me do the same
thing and get found out, years of
academic work can be sliced to
ribbons.”
To Sam, it didn’t make sense.The
line between business and school
was arbitrary.
As March rolls around, he admits
that despite his retirement last
summer, he still feels that tingling
to take up the mantle of a ghost.
“This is the season we live for,”
he said. “That [feeling] doesn’t go
away.”
*Name changed to
protect identity.
Bill Wang GAZETTE
NETHER LANDED SO CLOSE TO WESTERN. Fans of fine art visit a current exhibit entitled Storms and Bright Skies:
Three Centuries of Dutch Landscapes at Western’s McIntosh Gallery. Prints and drawings by famous Dutch artists
such as Rembrandt and Jacob van Ruisdael are on display from the National Gallery of Canada.
Hired essay-writer
defends practice
>> GHOST continued from pg.1