Fifty, a hundred, maybe thousands have been gaming the system of getting into universities for the past fifty, a hundred or more years. Everyone is supposed to be shocked that the rich are bribing coaches, scholars, test monitors and the like to give their kids a chance at getting into a better school than they would otherwise be entitled to get into.
Are we supposed to think that the situation has been on the level in the past? Are was supposed to believe that no politician ever made a call on behalf of a constituent to get a kid into a school; don’t you have to cozy up to a politician which usually means donating to him or her if you want to get your kid a recommendation to a service academy? Do you believe no rich person ever made a call to the university he supported to help someone else’s kid get in? Or that no uncle who knew a university president didn’t discuss his niece at lunch? You know, I know and everyone in the world knows that those with influence will use it to help themselves or their friends with kids to gain a step up on other kids for a university spot..
How do you think Jarat Kushner got into Harvard after his abysmal record at a Frisch School, a Modern Orthodox yeshiva high school, in 1999. Was it because of his skill as a linebacker in football? Or, did it have something to do with Harvard getting 2.5 million from his father.
Trump got into Wharton transferring from Fordham because of his uncle’s connections with an admission person; George W. Bush into Yale because of his father and grandfather. That’s the way the country operates. The select few who get selected for the select universities base on special circumstances.
How many Jarat Kushners do you think get into Harvard, Yale, other Ivies and other top schools each year? Is it all right for them to donate big big money to the school but not for others who don’t have the big big money but only the little big money to try to buy their kids a chance to go to those schools by supplementing the salaries of some of the coaches? BIG big money gets the attention of the university’s president, little big money is so ubiquitous few pay much attention to it except people at the lower levels like the coaches of effete sports like water polo or volley ball or soft shoe dancing.
There should be some outrage here against the parents who are indicted — the outrage should not be because they bribed people to get little Mike or Mika into college — rather because they corrupted their children. No children were indicted but every child seeking admission to a school who knew they lacked the qualifications needed for that school had to know that money strings were being dangled in front of others to buy him or her something they could not gain on their own merits.
What does a kid think who sits with someone else his parents have paid to take the test? Is Joan okay with that? What about the kid Joey who gets in because he is supposedly a skilled crew member and he knows he hasn’t even rowed a dinghy.
All, or almost all, of the kids know they cheated to get into school. Their parents have taught them that one way to get what you want is to cheat. That’s the great sin here. That’s the lesson in life that these parents have taught their children. You want to get ahead all you have to do is cheat. And, it’s best to have money if you want to be able to cheat. “So my dear children you must understand this first lesson in life – cheat to get ahead; cheat to get money; and use that money to cheat some more.”
Is anything worth teaching a child that lesson? Is that what they want their children to be: white-collar gangsters? How do parents justify bringing their kids into their sordid conspiring? Is that loving them?
How about pressure the other way, from the university to the candidate? The local minister that warns the parents that going to Ohio State instead of University of Texas will expose their boy to leftist, atheist, influences? Or the Supreme Court Justice who makes a phone call extolling the virtues of a Harvard education?
Matt and Khalid and Brian are all right on the money. Let’s strive for a society where there is social justice, judicial equality, equality in admissions . . . .let us all admonish those parents who teach children that cheating, money, can buy there way out of hard work, competition, equal treatment under the law.
It’s the same with the FED Black Robes and Prosecutors who treat the Congressman’s Wife with Kidd Gloves, and the nurse who laundered far less money with BRASS KNUCKLES.
I look forward to the day when Judges and FED Prosecutors are prosecuted not just for abusing power, ignoring the Constitution (equal protection) but also for any favoritism shown to those in power.
Another fallacy in colleges is the all mighty SAT . . . .INTELLIGENCE is not just measured by facility with words and numbers . . . .there is musical, artistic, athletic, social, skill with hands, craftsmanship, courage of soldiers and civilians, service, interpersonal skills, social skills, overcoming less fortunate backgrounds that college admissions folks should weigh, but they don’t . . . .they five heavy weight to SAT scores
Speaking of buying your way into college, many children of the many billionaires and multimillionaires in China are now being accepted at the best universitites in America . . . .some have difficulty speaking the English Language
WE DO NOT HAVE TO ACCEPT SOCIAL INJUSTICE, JUDICIAL INJUSTICE, OR INJUSTICE IN ADMISSIONS TO UNIVERSITIES . . . .FIGHT FOR THE RIGHT . . .FOR TRUTH, JUSTICE ADN WHAT SHOULD BE TEH AMERICA WAY . . . .HARD WORK, TALENT ARE REWARDED . . .THEY ARE THEIR OWN REWARDS , , , ,TALENTS ARE OFTEN GIFTS FROM GOD, BUT THE GOOD GUITAR PLAYER SPENDS COUNTLESS HOURS HONING HIS SKILL, HIS GOD GIVEN TALENTS
These kids don’t know they’re not competitively qualified for those elite schools because they’ve been living all thei lives in a cocoon designed to build their self-esteem.
The Chairman of the House Banking Committee, Watters grilled the CEOs of the major banks about student loan debt and asked them what they were doing about it. The bankers responded that they hadn’t made any student loans in a decade. Watters didn’t even know that the Feds took over the student loan program in 2009. What incompetence. 2. Colleges should only be allowed to admit 20% of their class. They can choose the athletes and legacy applicants. The other 80% are chosen by a computer program designed by the Pentagon. Get rid of the student loan program. Adopt the Silber plan which provides no tuition charge in exchange for 5% of your gross income for life.
Wa-llahi! The attitude of lazy rich kids whose bought their way into prestigious schools, is, generally, abominable. They don’t give a damn about academics. Coasting their way to the coveted diploma is the shallow objective of their college lives. Lucky for society, the young folks who earn their way to college (GI Bill, part time jobs, loans, etc.) take academic work seriously, and, strive to grow their minds. Matt is correct. Rich kids are taught a pattern of corruption they adhere to all their lives.
All praise to social levelling. All power to the dialectic!
…whose parents… My bad.
NC, makes sense.