Academic Scholarship

It is nice and feels great to be in academia. However, academia demands a high level of time, energy, dedication and passion. There is one thing that kills academia, and that is cheating.

In academic indulgence, scholarship, research, writing and publication, there is a lot of room for cheating. There are many ways in which university lecturers have used to cheat their way to the top. I have seen too many times and thus this warrants a write-up first-hand.

When lecturers first get research students at their door, the student is almost always in a self-pity state. It is derogatory to get a begging student, doesn't matter whether it is a male or female. I have often accepted them, but I find that these beggar students are not worth my hard work of toil looking and supervising them.

A sad and begging student is a falsehood of everything that academia needs. I should turned away all research students who come into this category. They may succeed in obtaining their postgraduate degree, but they are undeserving and often ungrateful souls. I don't ever want them back with me or working with me.

Why?

Here are some instances I can cite and you can judge how former students and lecturers cheat. Cheating is big time at university.

Scenario 1

A beggar student with a low CGPA comes to your door - begging to be your postgraduate student. He gets accepted for begging hard. He turns out to be aligned to other researchers with even bigger grants. So he is just registered under you, but actually works for somebody else on the faculty.

Scenario 2

A beggar student with a reasonably good CGPA comes to your door, begging to be your postgraduate student. She gets accepted for begging hard. She turns out to be inclined to make better friends with your head of department. After graduation, she continues her research with your head of department, while you are oblivious to their research. Somehow, technology shows their publication, which you found by surprise. Of course your name is not on any of their research while the research involves learning off your back.

Scenario 3

This is like from rags to riches. An average student barely makes through the grades and graduates. She become a research assistant. Then she found herself a lecturer job by befriending a head department whom she met earlier during her struggling days. She gets promoted and landed a job as a research director. Good job but a sick attitude. How in the world can one appreciate an almost dropout student to easily become a research director?

Scenario 4

A medical lecturer tired to overpower her subordinate and tries to take away his research to call it her own. He defends himself and refuses to give it all up for her. He transfers. She has another plan - to take up his residual research and make it big and as if her own. Since she is head, it is big time for her. She is acknowledged, but for what? People must be blind not to see how a medical lecturer with just an average pass in MMed can be a director of a specialised field of research that someone else did before her.

Scenario 5

This one is what I call a killing. You have a medical lecturer as your head of department. She only has an MRCP but no PhD. You have a PhD and lots of other skills that all tertiary academics should have. Of course and in due time, the head of department will make a sure kill - kill you in your sleep, kill you till you cannot claim your academic freedom, kill you and make sure you don't get your academic promotions.

Scenario 6

This one is an old man who refuses to quit. Yes, the retirement age has been increased to 60, so many lecturers stay on till bald and forgetful. However, they are meaner. They have a hand in every university affair and decision that you can't even have a breathing space. Sometimes you just wish that old man will wither and just die, so lecturers can live, wish and work well in the university.

There is so much madness in academia. It feels great to survive torture, but it feels even greater to win battles against such cheaters and nerds.