I get a few legitimate requests a year from graduate students. If it is in my field I generally answer. If there are too many contacts from one person, i arrange contact with the faculty adviser; that happened recently. It turned out the adviser was alright with it, so I continue to guide; at the same time, I do not want to have much contact, and I refuse to step between student and adviser. (note that the spelling is usually advisor, like doctor. it's wrong, but it's usual. Advisory is a real word).

On the other hand, a week or two ago I got a question from someone who wanted me to rewrite an optimization problem roughly in the area of linear programming. From what I could see, i was picked because the question had the phrase "quadratic form" in it. He then sent a heavily edited pdf, where no question could any longer be discerned. Clearly some attempt to cheat, possibly a test, term project. I really disliked the whole experience.

In particular, I don't want to proofread work by others. I do that enough for published articles. I'm guessing Jason is polite, but I find it hard to imagine that he wants frequent contact for the purpose of checking your work. What does he get out of it?

EEDDIITT: have you asked him (Jason De Vito) about this?

I get a few legitimate requests a year from graduate students. If it is in my field I generally answer. If there are too many contacts from one person, I arrange contact with the faculty adviser; that happened recently. It turned out the adviser was alright with it, so I continue to guide; at the same time, I do not want to have much contact, and I refuse to step between student and adviser. (note that the spelling is usually advisor, like doctor. it's wrong, but it's usual. Advisory is a real word).

On the other hand, a week or two ago I got a question from someone who wanted me to rewrite an optimization problem roughly in the area of linear programming. From what I could see, I was picked because the question had the phrase "quadratic form" in it. He then sent a heavily edited pdf, where no question could any longer be discerned. Clearly some attempt to cheat, possibly a test, term project. I really disliked the whole experience.

In particular, I don't want to proofread work by others. I do that enough for published articles. I'm guessing Jason is polite, but I find it hard to imagine that he wants frequent contact for the purpose of checking your work. What does he get out of it?

EEDDIITT: have you asked him (Jason De Vito) about this?

I get a few legitimate requests a year from graduate students. If it is in my field I generally answer. If there are too many contacts from one person, i arrange contact with the faculty adviser; that happened recently. It turned out the adviser was alright with it, so I continue to guide; at the same time, I do not want to have much contact, and I refuse to step between student and adviser. (note that the spelling is usually advisor, like doctor. it's wrong, but it's usual. Advisory is a real word).

On the other hand, a week or two ago I got a question from someone who wanted me to rewrite an optimization problem roughly in the area of linear programming. From what I could see, i was picked because the question had the phrase "quadratic form" in it. He then sent a heavily edited pdf, where no question could any longer be discerned. Clearly some attempt to cheat, possibly a test, term project. I really disliked the whole experience.

In particular, I don't want to proofread work by others. I do that enough for published articles. I'm guessing Jason is polite, but I find it hard to imagine that he wants frequent contact for the purpose of checking your work. What does he get out of it?

I get a few legitimate requests a year from graduate students. If it is in my field I generally answer. If there are too many contacts from one person, i arrange contact with the faculty adviser; that happened recently. It turned out the adviser was alright with it, so I continue to guide; at the same time, I do not want to have much contact, and I refuse to step between student and adviser. (note that the spelling is usually advisor, like doctor. it's wrong, but it's usual. Advisory is a real word).

On the other hand, a week or two ago I got a question from someone who wanted me to rewrite an optimization problem roughly in the area of linear programming. From what I could see, i was picked because the question had the phrase "quadratic form" in it. He then sent a heavily edited pdf, where no question could any longer be discerned. Clearly some attempt to cheat, possibly a test, term project. I really disliked the whole experience.

In particular, I don't want to proofread work by others. I do that enough for published articles. I'm guessing Jason is polite, but I find it hard to imagine that he wants frequent contact for the purpose of checking your work. What does he get out of it?

EEDDIITT: have you asked him (Jason De Vito) about this?