Editor, the Gauntlet,
I’m writing to express my concern about the CustomEssay.com advertisement of the Gauntlet. As an instructor in the Effective Writing Centre, it has been my experience that this kind of service comes very close to plagiarism–that is, misrepresenting someone else’s work as one’s own. Even though the site claims to only provide “model” essays, they are proud to say that each essay is a “100% original custom written essay or term paper that will never appear anywhere on the Internet.” Why would they put this claim in unless they know that students are trying to avoid the problems involved with downloading papers from the Web–that is, the fact that they’re plagiarizing? They also provide basic and advanced editing and rewriting services, which are clearly plagiaristic, as someone else is doing the students’ work for them. Not only that, but they have the gall to charge students for the privilege of being put at risk of failing, disciplinary probation, suspension or expulsion.
While I understand that publications survive on advertising revenue, I would hope that the Gauntlet will find time to re-examine its advertising policy in the future. If refusing to run an ad like the one described about results in a loss of revenue, perhaps the university and the Gauntlet could work out an advertisement for the Effective Writing Centre, which helps students improve their own writing–a skill which will stay with them for the rest of their lives–at absolutely no cost.