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(Harvard Crimson)   Harvard revokes admission of girl who sued to be high school's sole valedictorian   (thecrimson.harvard.edu) divider line 501
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29471 clicks; posted to Main » on 13 Jul 2003 at 1:57 PM   |  Favorite    |   share:  Share on Twitter share via Email Share on Facebook   more»



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2003-07-14 03:21:02 AM
BlueGargoyle: you took the words right outta my mouth.

BARRRRRKKK!!!
 
2003-07-14 03:33:51 AM
Flinch,

I must commend you on maintaining a sense of humor. I believe now would be a good time for me to bid a good night to all, and move on.

Humility is something that we all need to learn. Perhaps she learned hers and will be the better for it.
 
2003-07-14 03:46:14 AM
I'D HIT IT!!!

(Oops - did I say that out loud?)
 
2003-07-14 03:48:17 AM
(sidenote, the philly daily new's cover story was her face with the words 'summa cum later' over it, haha)

i know i am late but i want to give the perspective of some from philly that is familiar with morrestown and the people living, cause there are a lot of misconceptions going on here regarding, her home-schooling, the community itself, the public school she went to, and the general background of the information provided.

firstly moorestown is one of THE most affluent and richest communities in the country. its filled with over-achievers, the parents inbreed it in their children and take their children's success to a whole new level of support and determination.

the person that found out that she plagiarized her news articles was not the authorities. it was a kid's parent, that literally went over all her old work LOOKING for it. THAT is the level of expectation that these parent's have for their kids.

now she did plagiarize, and once i read that three weeks ago i knew she wasn't getting into harvard. i don't think a lot of people on this thread understand the brevity of the offense that plagiarism is in the academic world. it is the highest intellectual crime a person can commit, and is taken very serious.

the public school she went to is not your typical public school in this country. it is one of the finest 9-12 schools in the country. competition there, and as i mentioned before, and in the community is fierce. the kids that go there are all over achievers, they all fret over gpa, they all do extra curricular activities. it is the element they were raised in.

now the boy that was her competition for the valedictorian had a 4.0-4.1 gpa, it was something like a point behind her own. and the only reason she had a higher gpa than that boy was because she had the advantage of being home-school during part of her day, by (what my guess would be) one of the best tutors money can by. this is not your typical home-schooling experience here. this along gave her an advantage cause she received extra help through part of the school day... what pushed her gpa up is the fact that she was omitted from taking lower rung course that would have lowered her gpa.

the school superintendent thought it be ok to mend the rules so that the valedictorian prize would be shared amongst her and the other boy, given the circumstances.

now the girls father, who happens to be one of the more powerful judges in jersey, decided 'no, this is not a good idea, she will receive the award alone. i will sue the school to do so"

and he did, and my guess is he didn't get much of a protest out of her, cause she went along with it. and personally, looked pretty damn smug in her photos.

more background about the two kids. she had been teased throughout the years by the other kids. the boy was one of the more popular students of his class. she has a fatigue disorder that makes her have to rest. yet as another farker pointed out, she has also done 2000+ hours of community service over her highschool career. doing so by coming to philly and working in poor urban neighborhoods.

since the incident she has received death threats, somebody through a brick through her window and her family has been ostracized by the community. remember these people take their kids futures very seriously. there is a farking fervor in that town over this girl.

that's all i wanted to add to the convo. i wanted to make sure you people got a better understanding of the background to all this.
 
2003-07-14 03:55:39 AM
oh and lastly, harvard really gave her the shaft on this one. not that they were wrong in denying her app but in that they did it so late in the admissions season that she wont be able to get into her other college picks either.
 
CB
2003-07-14 03:59:52 AM
flinch
You couldn't pour piss out of a boot if the instructions were written on the heel.
 
CB
2003-07-14 04:05:29 AM
noahs_fark
Harvard didn't "shaft" her. She bent over and farked herself up the ass. If I was a Harvard student I too would have signed the petition asking for her admission to be rescinded.
 
2003-07-14 04:12:09 AM
cb

this late in the game she wont be accepted at any of her other choices: duke, princeton, stanford, penn etc.

which of course is up to those school administrations if they accept her anyhow, given the plagarism. but the bottomline is there is no telling now until atleast the spring semester.

i'm not denying she made her own bed in this one. that she reaped her just deserts. but she still got shafted by harvard:)

and, not direct towards you, to harvard paper reported that her admissions was denied, harvard admissions wont comment on the matter.
 
2003-07-14 04:22:30 AM
ugh i forgot to add something:

a student petition not to accept her carries no weight with a college admissions board. if it did matter in the decision then harvard could verily be sued, cause its illegal.

its against the rules to make admissions decisions based on popularity contests.
 
2003-07-14 04:22:31 AM
I hope her daddy the judge could get removed from office. I dont know how it works in jersey, but in some states, judges are elected.If he is elected, I doubt he will last the next election....if he is appointed, hopefully somebody will get him for fraud, for faking a disability, so his daughter could get preferential treatment.

I dont imagine tax payers in Jersey are happy about providing tutors so this asshat judge can live vicariously through his kid. And if they say the cost is "negligable" then why have public schools to begin with, everybody can just have their own private tutors

what is totally sad and disturbing, her daddy is probably sitting at home masturbating in his own feces...wondering why everyone, every school, every newspaper, every website, and anything with a pulse is out to get his wonderful, perfect daughter
 
CB
2003-07-14 04:22:36 AM
noahs_fark
Once again, she shafted herself. As I said in an earlier post whether anyone likes it or not, Harvard grads are a generations movers and shakers and have serious influence. I am glad that this whiney little piece of work will NOT have that on her resume.
 
CB
2003-07-14 04:24:47 AM
noahs_fark
So a school should not listen to the voice of student opinion? Calling that a "popularity contest" is a shallow analysis at best.
 
2003-07-14 04:28:58 AM
32 on the ACT here, taken at the end of my junior year with no preparation, and only for my own amusement - since we are all sharing.

Cubansaltyballs: In the previously mentioned Weekly Standard article you will note that "Judge" Hornstine is retiring from the bench to accept an adjunct Professor job at Harvard. His son will be entering Harvard Law in the fall, as well. So we don't need to impeach him.
 
2003-07-14 04:33:35 AM
cb

you do know that ivy league schools keep things called 'walls of shame' which are basically hallways lined with pictures of former students that went onto success and uh 'suffered' ethical relaspes.

i don't disagree with you that ivy leaguers are movers and shakers and have serious influence (well the grad students)... but that is not always such a good thing given the state of our country's leaders regarding personal reponsibility and ethics.
 
2003-07-14 04:36:44 AM
cb

it most certainly is a popularity contest, for good or ill - it is wrong and illegal. i think you missed that point, if they didn't accept this girl based on, or in part on, a student petition; harvard could get sued out its ass. you can't do that, atleast not offically.
 
CB
2003-07-14 04:43:57 AM
noahs_fark
You keep bouncing around but never hitting the point. Let me ask you a straight question. Do you really want this kind of person having that kind of influence? As to suing Harvard because they listened or didn't listen to their student body; in case you have forgotten, this is America. Those students had every right in the world to express their opinion and the college was responsible to respond to that opinion. Once again to call students who are concerned about their colleges standards and put their name down saying so is poorly considered a "popularity contest"
 
2003-07-14 04:57:37 AM
first off, i am not jumping around the point. i am saying the exact same thing i said three times already.

the college administration is responsible to listening to its student body concerns, not the admissions office. the admissions office is responsible to answering to a college's mission statement that states whatever the college is going after: diversity on campus, a certain character of students, picking students that are projected to add to the campus community, that are projected to keep decent gpa's.

what a student body has to say about a particular college students admission is null to the abmissions office. whether its positive or negative. cause it is an unfair assessment of the possible student. a student enters a college based on their own merits. their character, their ethics, their extra circular activities, their gpa and standardized test scores, their class, their location, their race... all these things can play a part in a admissions decision. BUT a petition by the student body on the merit of enrolling a prospective students carries no weight because its an unfair and illogical assessment, and by law illegal. if the official decision by harvard to not enroll this student had anything in part to do with that petition they could be, successfully mind you, sued.

to put it in another perspective. if a student body in the 80's decided it didn't want a prospective student enrolled in their college cause he had aids and they felt that their health was at risk. and they made a petition to not have him enrolled based on that, and the admissions office took that into consideration for not accepting him - that school could be sued successfully.

and the same goes for a minority in the 70's.

you can't make admissions decisions based on popularity contest - which is exactly what that petition was even if it is based on this girl's unethical pratices. now admissions can make a decision based on that girls character, on an individual basis, where a petition carries no weight, it doesn't even enter the decision making process. that they can do.
 
CB
2003-07-14 05:15:50 AM
noahs_fark
You need to get away from the "popularity contest" thing bro. This wasn't about AIDS, or being a minority, or popularity. It had to do with plagiarism, lies, and cheating. Had she been admitted, every student at that colleges hard work to get there and work to graduate would have been cheapened by her very presence. They stood up and insisted on integrity and I applaud them for it.
 
2003-07-14 05:26:18 AM
no dude, the admissions board decided that her unethical use of plagarism would have cheapened rather than enrichened the college experience, the admissions board.

they make judgements based on personal merit.

offically a student cannot be admitted based on:

the fact that they have family who are alumnists
the fact that their daddy's bought the school a new building
or the fact that half the student population doesn't like you.

why? cause these are not decisions based on personal merit. to enter them into the decision process voids it, and therefore gives the complaintant the legitmacy to sue. plagarism, on the otherhand, standing alone, in regards to the prospective students personal merit - does and can enter the decision process.
 
2003-07-14 05:36:13 AM
The Petition had no official connection with Harvard. Yes, some of the currently 2788 signers were Harvard students or graduates. But statements in various news outlets like The Washington Times saying:
More than 2,700 people claiming to be Harvard students or alumni signed an online petition objecting to Horstine coming to Harvard.
demonstrate little grasp of the facts. (an earlier version of this story didn't even include the "people claiming to be" phrase.
 
2003-07-14 05:38:23 AM
Didn't the Weekly Standard article mention that she did indeed take two P.E. classes, but she petitioned to have the grades dropped because a 4.0 and a 4.3 woudl hurt her GPA? That's not meritocracy. That's someone getting ahead through unfair means. It'd be like if that Japanese guy limited his opponents in hotdog eating contests to just 15 total franks while he gets 20. Sure, eating more than 15 to win is impressive, but if you manipulate the system so that it's not possible for the other guy to win even with a perfect performance, then there's something wrong.

I can't prove that's the case here without more data, but I'll bet it would have been close. Remember, she won by only 1/20th of a grade point.
 
CB
2003-07-14 05:53:58 AM
noahs_fark
At this point it appears that you are being obtuse simply to draw out the discussion.

What I am glad of is that for once justice and/or karma seems to have been served. What is even funnier is that she wants to be a lawyer, you know, those bottom feeding, suck the life out of everyone and everything, asshats of society.
 
2003-07-14 07:32:05 AM
noahs_fark

Uh, wall of shame? As a former Ivy student, I can tell you that's urban legend. Geez.
 
2003-07-14 07:45:51 AM
 
2003-07-14 07:56:20 AM
Too many comments to read through with only a few minutes at work; otherwise great comments! The only answer, though, is to behead the parents......
 
2003-07-14 09:29:13 AM
BruinPi3-
http://www.studentrewards.com/r-winners/discover.html

ever notice in this discover scholarship article how many freakin exclamation points she used? like, wow! i just cant believe it! i am going to be a lawyer someday!!! andi get to be a journalist and write for a newspaper! yipee!
 
2003-07-14 09:29:58 AM
See.. There is a God!!
 
2003-07-14 10:11:43 AM
This is just a case of knowing when to just shut up. It's farking HIGH SCHOOL! It means nothing! She got into Harvard, whether she was the only valedictorian or not. That's the only thing that's important. But she had to raise a stink. She had to make noise. And in doing so, she attracted so much attention to herself that no one wants to be associated with her, including Harvard. Boy, I bet she's feeling stupid now.

 
2003-07-14 10:25:09 AM
flinch: They're all wrong, and I'm right.

...and it all becomes perfectly clear. You can label me a farking conservative ape all you want at the end of this, but I would like to share my feelings with other Farkers. There was a poster on my middle school wall with a quote: In an argument, try to remember WHAT is right, not WHO is right. This quote touched my heart the first time I read it. To this day, I still engage in arguments wanting to be right. But sometimes, like now, where an argument gets to this point, it is logical and intelligent to try and step outside of your box and really try to comprehend the other point of view. You remind me so much of my brother. Both hardcore liberals, both always right. He is always telling me 99% of the time people argue with me, I am right. Do I give a shiat if he is right? Or you? No, I really, truly dont care one bit if information comes out that proves you right and me wrong. I care what is right.

Everything else about Blairs case aside, it is obvious she does not have a real disability (many posts, and the article tell how she engaged in a great amount of community service and physical activity without fatiguing, so please dont be so petty as to try and refute this fact). Yet, she is continuing her ENORMOUS lawsuit of $2.7 million against a public school she did not attend. Might I remind you that this lawsuit is BASED on her being treated differently because she is disabled? Her side is basically saying that the school tried to change the rules because she had a disability. She does not have that disability. The whole case would have been thrown out already if the fathers money and/or political power didnt get him a doctors note saying the daughter has a disease that did not exist 3 years ago. If there was any sort of evidence proving she is not disabled, the school would already be counter-suing the fark out of that farking rich bastard family for reputation damages and previous court costs. The fact that she lied about being disabled is immoral enough for Harvard to be completely justified in not accepting her. I worked at a camp for physically and mentally disabled children one summer. Likely, most of them will not go on to do jack shiat throughout their whole lives. Most of them will probably just live in the hands of a caretaker and flip burgers. Since they are disabled, and also since they have nothing to look forward to, shouldnt they at least be able to have the benefits in education awarded to them by the ADA and other disabilities programs? Maybe they are retarded, but they do not have to be stupid. The Blair girl, by claiming disability, stole many opportunities which should have been afforded to people who are really disabled.

flinch, it is people like you, ultra-liberals, I hate more than anything in my understanding of the universe. You are on your own agenda to prove yourself right. Liberals, especially protestors, all think you are fighting for a cause. You think you are upholding merit. You are so thickheaded that you do not realize the truth: you live a pathetic, lonely existence, where the only way you can feel good about yourself is to fight for a cause. You cant wake up and be happy to be yourself. I know who and what I am. When I consider myself, an 18-year old college student who is mediocre at most things, but great at nothing, I am content. I dont need to go out fighting tremendous battles against the status quo in hopes that I will become famous for it. I have friends, I have a life. That is enough for me. Your group of people is the reason the political correctness movement is upon us, the reason I cant express my own OPINION about blacks or women without checking behind my back to make sure I wont offend anyone. I spend so much time worrying about hurting other peoples feelings that I dont have time to worry about my own. I loathe you with my full being. Nothing will ever change that. And as for the Blair family, I would just like to summarize my attitude by quoting Sam Jackson in A Time to Kill:

Yes, I think they deserve to die. I hope they burn in Hell!
 
2003-07-14 10:32:09 AM
Duckfeet, you're wrong. Bob and I is correct when used thusly:

"Bob and I are going to the movies."

It is incorrect to say:

"He gave the tickets to Bob and I."

It should be
"He gave the tickets to Bob and me."

Why? Well, you'd never say "He gave the tickets to I". Just because Bob is involved, it doesn't change.
 
2003-07-14 10:54:55 AM
She has an immune deficiancy that won't allow her to go to gym class, but she traveled to poverty stricken areas of China? Pfft, right.
 
2003-07-14 11:06:26 AM
Was she planning on being homeschooled at Harvard? If she's too damned weak to attend high school classes, how was she planning on navigating Harvard's campus? I remember reading about this chick a few weeks ago and dreamed of reaching out to biatch slap her. She needs to get over herself now. A little too Tracy Flick for my taste...

And hey! Don't knock community colleges. I proudly teach at one, and I can honestly say that most of my students (yes, I do occasionally get the whiny-assed entitlement biatch who complains about every grade) are vested in their education and work very hard to learn something. It's not where you go to college, it's what you do with the opportunity. I didn't go to a fancy Ivy-league school (state school, in fact), but I had great professors who were truly in love with teaching. They always encouraged me to take control of my own learning destiny and to not be afraid of bucking the educational system. I try to instill the same love of learning in my students now. Most of them understand that nothing is handed to them in this world.
 
2003-07-14 11:20:54 AM
It's been drilled into my head for years and years that plagiarizing work is the worst thing you could possibly do, academically. Just forgetting to put the name at the end of a quote is considered plagiarism, but handing in Dickinson poems for creative writing class?

I kept notes on what I had read, she wrote. When finalizing my thoughts, I, like most every teenager who has use of a computer, cut and pasted my ideas together. I erroneously thought the way I had submitted the articles was appropriate.

Oh, so that includes taking notes on poems, as in, copying them? BS. With an attitude like that, she wouldn't have gotten far anyway. Harvard would definitely have caught her and reamed her out for it. She got what was coming to her, and I will now laugh at her for it.

HAHA!

At this rate, she won't even make it to Vassar.
 
2003-07-14 12:21:52 PM
She is disabled. She suffers from Whiney Little JAP Syndrome.
 
2003-07-14 12:21:53 PM
She is disabled. She suffers from Whiney Little JAP Syndrome.
 
2003-07-14 12:32:38 PM
for the latecomers...
flinch and barred are obviously somehow related to this chic and want everyone to believe she is a saint, or just trolls....
everyone else sees her father's manipulation of the system and the chic's questionable disability and questionable ethics as a joke
 
2003-07-14 12:59:10 PM
My son scored a 26 on his first crack at the ACT.

He's 15, just completed 10th grade.

Pretty good, huh?
 
2003-07-14 01:08:45 PM
Ha ha ha....welcome to Brown.
 
2003-07-14 01:17:36 PM
Too lazy to read everything before this...

Since when does having "mono" qualify you for disability and special education?

Maybe she'll get the clap next and be able to invoke disability discrimination lawsuits.

Cackholster got what she deserved and her daddy needs to pull his head out of his ass.

/legal disclaimer: At least that is my opinion of the whole situation and personalities of who they are. All information like "clap" and "mono" could of course be erroneous and should be taken as hyperbole and is likely balderdash. While she may not be a literal cackholster the personality of one seems fitting based on my point of view. The judge of course may not suffer from a literal case of cranial rectumitis, but his actions speak loudly.

/please don't sue me

Yay free speech! :D
 
2003-07-14 02:31:42 PM
It doesn't matter where you go to college as much as how hard you work afterwards.

/Goes to apply to MIT for Master's
 
2003-07-14 04:51:46 PM
please

She *did* go to gym class, but she got the grades waived because they brought down her GPA, according to the article a few people linked to.
 
2003-07-14 05:32:03 PM
 
2003-07-14 05:34:13 PM
The Petition is kind of hard to take seriously, but it's a laffriot. ;)

"2061. Blair Hornstine You had all better LEAVE ME ALONE or else I'll sue each and every last one of you for.... ONE BILLLLLLLION DOLLARS"

- Petitioner #2061(http://www.petitiononline.com/blairadm/petition.html)

And I'm pretty sure most of the people who signed it aren't Harvard students/alum - I think my name is on there somewhere too, with my two cents, and I've not set foot anywhere near Harvard. :P
 
2003-07-14 06:16:37 PM
Boogerbrain,

I think you fail to comprehend Irony. By that point, Flinch had realized that his argument was difficult to stand by, as evidenced by his later comment,

":)

All my carefully molded arguments are being cut to shreds. It's too depressing to watch. I wouldn't be in this position if the girl had had a little humility. Damn her."

I believe he held on as long as he could and admitted the validity of those arguing against him.

If you spend so much time worrying about what other people think of you that you are unable to worry about your own feelings, then perhaps you have your priorities out of balance. To attack Flinch's motivation for fighting for something is attacking something of which you have no knowledge; it leads to easy refutation.

Now, I am curious as to what your opinions of women and blacks are, since you say that you are unable to voice your own opinion of them without looking over your shoulder.
 
2003-07-14 06:52:39 PM
Well, good.
 
2003-07-14 07:26:20 PM
that is one ugly biatch
 
2003-07-14 08:37:44 PM
"So you sued your previous school over a triviality for $2.7 million and now you want to attend mine? Um... let me get back to you after I consult our legal department."
 
2003-07-14 09:01:18 PM
haha you stupid cun+ wh0re, CHEATER LIAR WH0RE WH0RE!!!!
Where is daddy now? huh? who is going to protect and sue for you against big mean ol HARVARD? HUH? I HOPE YOU GET THE AIDS IN YOUR LEGS AND YOU DIE!!!!!
 
2003-07-14 10:00:50 PM
Arcanum

i think her name being blair is kinda coincidental by the way

No, they are related. I promise.
 
2003-07-14 11:00:31 PM
I would just like to say that I have nothing to say.

Thank you
 
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