Gyroscopic Investing

Largest College Admissions Scam Includes Hollywood Actresses and Coaches

This is a lulzy twit from one of the actresses charged:



Pretty wild though.

MangoMan wrote: ↑Tue Mar 12, 2019 5:11 pm What does v.th mean? A Google search was no help.

I guess she was creating her own rule-thing.

Most likely some kind of Illuminati attack signal.

I am so thrilled by this it is weird. People may actually do prison time!? If this ever extends to corporate people and bankers who fleece people, that will be awesome. 2008 was not good in that respect.

Maybe Trump should start attacking pharma and finance types with chances of real jail time vs. slap on the wrist fines. Would bring him up a notch in my book.

Will be interesting to watch.

**Also glad to see ND was not on the list**

Cortopassi wrote: ↑Tue Mar 12, 2019 7:12 pm I am so thrilled by this it is weird. People may actually do prison time!? If this ever extends to corporate people and bankers who fleece people, that will be awesome. 2008 was not good in that respect.

On the news they were saying that one of the charges, in Huffman’s case at least, is mail fraud.

So what's new? Isn't this just affirmative action with a different "favored" class?

So let me get this straight. Pay a college to curry favor for your child and you go to prison. Unless, of course, they put your name on a building, bench, or brick and it's all perfectly normal. Or turn it around and pay the parents of a college athlete who never goes to class, and that's also par for the course. Rrrright. I'm certainly not arguing that bribery is a good thing, but wake me when the endowments are implicated in the racket.

BTW, if paying organizations to accept your kid is a hot crime now, it would be funny if that's the thing that finally takes down the Clintons.

Well said, Tyler. Are we supposed to be shocked and dismayed to learn that the elite grease the skids for their kids when it comes to both college admissions and jobs? Makes you wonder who's on the grill to have warranted such a strange expose.

Endowments and names on building are out in the light, and yes, I'm sure it helps get kids into schools. But again, it is out in the open and legal.

Paying to have someone else take your kid's SAT or correct answers, and bribing coaches to get kids placed through athletic programs when they never even played the sport is fraud.

Both have the intention, likely, of trying to grease the skids for your kids, but one is obviously fraud and illegal. The other is not, but not necessarily much better.

I don't think it's quite so clear that what the parents did was illegal. Even the coaches who accepted kickbacks to pretend that applicants were playing for them may not have broken the law. Deserving to be fired, most definitely.

What is undoubtedly a legal problem is that the "advisor" guy set himself up as a nonprofit, and many of these parents deducted his "fees" as charitable contributions. As always, it isn't so much the crime as the tax evasion!

Some interesting thoughts in the first part of this Bloomberg column:

You Have to Pay the Right Person

Xan wrote: ↑Wed Mar 13, 2019 2:06 pm I don't think it's quite so clear that what the parents did was illegal.

That's interesting. So cheating on an SAT isn't technically illegal, you are probably right, but good luck ever getting into any school anywhere ever again with that on your record.

I feel sort of sorry for the kids who maybe didn't know, they are going to be harassed at a minimum and forced out as a maximum punishment. Those that did know get whatever they have coming to them. But for the most part it won't matter. Sure the families have enough money to live fine with or without a college degree.

Cortopassi wrote: ↑Wed Mar 13, 2019 3:44 pm

Xan wrote: ↑Wed Mar 13, 2019 2:06 pm I don't think it's quite so clear that what the parents did was illegal.

That's interesting. So cheating on an SAT isn't technically illegal, you are probably right, but good luck ever getting into any school anywhere ever again with that on your record.

I feel sort of sorry for the kids who maybe didn't know, they are going to be harassed at a minimum and forced out as a maximum punishment. Those that did know get whatever they have coming to them. But for the most part it won't matter. Sure the families have enough money to live fine with or without a college degree.

As long as your primary motivation is to give your kids a better life, then breaking laws and cheating the system is okay isn't it?

Isn't that the message we are all being sent by our immigration policy?

When I first read this, I thought it was something to do with what most colleges quietly refer to as "development cases". It's the 50 or slots per year that elite schools reserve for kids with families rich enough to donate millions. Then there's the athlete pass because sports is big money for some schools. So yeah, as Tyler says, wake me up when there's really something new happening.

The thing that struck me most though: was that actress really dumb enough to pay $500,000 to get her kids admitted to USC? USC???? Really? Harvard, Stanford or Berkeley I can understand, but....USC???? With the rich-Hollywood-parent advantage, they were pretty much guaranteed to get into one of the UC schools without having to bribe anyone to do it. I understand Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara, and San Diego are all very nice places to party, uh I mean go to school too.

Mark Hemingway with a good article today about the whole thing, and what the point of education is supposed to be.

If you really care about your kids’ education, you will be focused on cultivating their faith and character; making sure that they understand the accumulation of knowledge is ultimately a tool for improving the world around them, and not just about credentials and wealth; and give your children the confidence and capability to forge a path in life of their choosing.

https://thefederalist.com/2019/03/14/do ... ame-thing/

It's interesting, though, to speculate why all of a sudden this time-honored tradition is not only being called out, but prosecuted. It's always worth watching and analyzing the power dynamics at play, as there appear to be major shifts under way. Decades ago, I worked with a visiting physician/scientist from China. In her broken English, she explained that during the cultural revolution many (most?) of the physicians in China were sent out to labor in the fields--a kind of punishment for their perceived affluence. So when I hear AOC and others promoting what was described earlier this week as a Maoist ideology, it strikes me as more than a coincidence that the elites, up to now believed to be untouchable, are beginning to be thrown under the bus.

Maddy wrote: ↑Thu Mar 14, 2019 11:15 am time-honored tradition

Bribing and cheating is a time honored tradition? Or do you mean millions to name a building to get a kid in?

One is sanctioned. Might not be right, but it is.

The other is at least partially illegal.

About time untouchables get thrown under the bus.

FYI every single building at ND is named...

jacksonM wrote: ↑Wed Mar 13, 2019 8:23 pm

Cortopassi wrote: ↑Wed Mar 13, 2019 3:44 pm

Xan wrote: ↑Wed Mar 13, 2019 2:06 pm I don't think it's quite so clear that what the parents did was illegal.

That's interesting. So cheating on an SAT isn't technically illegal, you are probably right, but good luck ever getting into any school anywhere ever again with that on your record.

I feel sort of sorry for the kids who maybe didn't know, they are going to be harassed at a minimum and forced out as a maximum punishment. Those that did know get whatever they have coming to them. But for the most part it won't matter. Sure the families have enough money to live fine with or without a college degree.

As long as your primary motivation is to give your kids a better life, then breaking laws and cheating the system is okay isn't it?

Isn't that the message we are all being sent by our immigration policy?

I nominate jacksonM's comment as post of the year. So true. It's okay for poor people to do it, but not okay for rich people. Hmmm, what happened to equal justice for all? Where do we draw the line between poor and rich? Who gets to make that decision?

[deleted]

Thirded.

stuper1 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 14, 2019 6:03 pm

jacksonM wrote: ↑Wed Mar 13, 2019 8:23 pm

Cortopassi wrote: ↑Wed Mar 13, 2019 3:44 pm

That's interesting. So cheating on an SAT isn't technically illegal, you are probably right, but good luck ever getting into any school anywhere ever again with that on your record.

I feel sort of sorry for the kids who maybe didn't know, they are going to be harassed at a minimum and forced out as a maximum punishment. Those that did know get whatever they have coming to them. But for the most part it won't matter. Sure the families have enough money to live fine with or without a college degree.

As long as your primary motivation is to give your kids a better life, then breaking laws and cheating the system is okay isn't it?

Isn't that the message we are all being sent by our immigration policy?

I nominate jacksonM's comment as post of the year. So true. It's okay for poor people to do it, but not okay for rich people. Hmmm, what happened to equal justice for all? Where do we draw the line between poor and rich? Who gets to make that decision?

If nominated I will not run and if elected I will not serve.

Conflating the issue with illegal immigration may have sounded like a stretch but the connection is lawlessness. Those of us who are in the habit of obeying laws have to sometimes ask ourselves why only us?

https://www.propublica.org/article/the- ... to-harvard

"The Story Behind Jared Kushner’s Curious Acceptance Into Harvard"

Next question: were the colleges really the innocent victims they claim to be? Test scores get you on the interview list, but I can't imagine an experienced admissions officer talking to one of these kids for even 5 minutes without realizing they're not qualified and are lying about their athletic experience.

“They’re blowing this whole thing out of proportion,” Malcolm Abbott told the New York Post, while puffing on what the newspaper did indeed call “a giant blunt.“ “I believe everyone has a right to go to college, man.” Malcolm—whose rap name is “Billa”—punctuated the point by promoting his latest album: “Check out my CD, ‘Cheese and Crackers.’ ”

Jack’s sister, Lilia, tweeted a nebulous “Thank u for your support” on Wednesday; according to the Operation Varsity Blues indictment, Jane Buckingham also allegedly weighed paying to cheat on Lilia’s ACT, noting her daughter is “not a great test taker.”

Olivia Jade Giannulli, a 19-year-old USC student and vlogger who is one of the more notable children in the scheme, has yet to comment, but the breaking news of the FBI bust reportedly derailed her spring break activity: sailing in the Bahamas aboard the yacht of Rick Caruso, the chairman of USC’s Board of Trustees.

https://www.vogue.com/article/college-a ... eaking-out

+ 1 on WiseOne’s comment. Seriously, USC???

While I did not, I had some good friends who went off to some very top flight grad schools in various disciplines and we were discussing their educational experiences at the 10 yr HS reunion. We had all gone to the local state land grant school who lets almost anyone in. I asked them if they felt disadvantaged or behind when competing with students from the top elite schools where most of their fellow grad students were from and to a person they said not at all. In fact they were surprised at how well they were prepared and equally didn’t quite understand what the big deal was with those schools was anymore.

Obviously my friends were pretty bright or they wouldn’t have got into these grad schools but there are a fair number of studies that indicate the school doesn’t matter when predicting post graduation success...those predictors are a function of the individual’s personal characteristics. So super smart, immense drive, great problem solving, creative thinking etc. etc. leads to success not the graduation location.

WiseOne wrote: ↑Thu Mar 14, 2019 8:17 am When I first read this, I thought it was something to do with what most colleges quietly refer to as "development cases". It's the 50 or slots per year that elite schools reserve for kids with families rich enough to donate millions. Then there's the athlete pass because sports is big money for some schools. So yeah, as Tyler says, wake me up when there's really something new happening.

The thing that struck me most though: was that actress really dumb enough to pay $500,000 to get her kids admitted to USC? USC???? Really? Harvard, Stanford or Berkeley I can understand, but....USC???? With the rich-Hollywood-parent advantage, they were pretty much guaranteed to get into one of the UC schools without having to bribe anyone to do it. I understand Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara, and San Diego are all very nice places to party, uh I mean go to school too.

Those kids are apparently REALLY dumb.
But at least they came by their intellect honestly!