To catch a cheat: York U. targets bogus degrees

          Recently, York University has made changes to their degrees and transcripts to strengthen the integrity of the university's degrees. This has happened due to an investigation conducted by the Toronto Star which showed that "a former student fabricated dozens of its degrees." An undercover investigation conducted last December revealed how Peng Sun, a former York University student, was illegally selling almost perfect copies of York University degrees for three thousand dollars apiece. Mr. Sun also sold near perfect copies of transcripts on watermarked paper that contained the university logo. A star reporter allegedly bought an MBA and a sealed transcript of marks from Sun for only four thousand dollars after a series of meetings in parking lots around Toronto. During these meetings, Sun told the undercover reporter that he had manufactured hundreds of York University and University of Toronto degrees in the four years since he began this process. Sun also noted that his clients were mainly Chinese visa students who had done poorly in their school careers "in Canada and wanted to go home with a degree that would get them good jobs." Sun charged the same amount for a BA, MBA, and a PHD because he felt that it was all the same- pen ink on paper. After the transaction, two Toronto Star reporters confronted Sun in his car. When they demanded for the money to be given back, Sun obeyed and has never been charged. Sun's own degree, a bachelor's in human resources management from York University is real. He graduated from the Atkinson School of Administrative Studies in 2007.

          I find it unbelievable how this man has continued to sell these diplomas and has not been caught yet. Why didn't the reporters from the Toronto Star call the police when they met with Sun during their investigation? I find Sun's actions to be considered a crime. He is taking away jobs from those who are working hard and actually paying the full amount to earn a specific degree. How would you like it if some person got a job over you because they had a certain fake degree that you didn't? I would be furious. In life, I have learned that you must work hard to be successful. This certainly does not fall into that category. If I was one of the people who had bought a degree from Sun, I would feel extremely guilty and ashamed of myself for having taken jobs from hard working innocent individuals. By buying the fake degrees, the buyers are not doing themselves very many favours. Although they may have gotten a job because of the degrees, they have cheated themselves and have not learned the basic essential skills that you learn in university. If I were a director of Admission for a certain company, and had to hire some people to work, I would definitely thoroughly check the background of each person to make sure that their degrees were real. I would not want to hire a person who has cheated in education, because it is a sign that they may also cheat in the workforce. I hope that the police can find Mr. Sun, because he is taking jobs away from innocent people, and is a threat to businesses and companies throughout Toronto.