Posted on 04/09/2019 8:40:04 AM PDT by DUMBGRUNT
Felicity Huffman made her first court appearance since her arrest on charges she’d cheated her daughter’s way into college. The “Desperate Housewives” star stands accused of engaging the services of William Rick Singer to bribe an SAT proctor, who is alleged to have corrected her daughter’s answers to ensure a higher score. On Monday Ms. Huffman agreed to plead guilty to a single count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud.
Here’s the great unasked question: What’s the moral difference between Ms. Huffman’s getting her daughter into college with an SAT score she didn’t earn and Harvard’s institutionally elevating the lower test scores of whites, blacks and Latinos above the higher scores of Asian-Americans? In both cases the result is that some who earned high scores are excluded in favor of some who did not...
Specifically, with respect to Asian-Americans, black applicants effectively had their scores boosted by 310 points, Hispanics by 270 points, and whites by 140. Again, it’s hard to discern a bright moral line between Harvard’s giving some applicants an unearned point boost (or point penalty) based on race, and Ms. Huffman’s daughter’s allegedly getting a point boost from someone correcting her answers. Harvard, moreover, isn’t honest about its discrimination. That’s probably because the law tolerates such discrimination only when schools pretend they’re doing something else.
...The lessons are clear. Pay someone to change your daughter’s SAT score so she moves ahead of other applicants, and you may be arrested by FBI agents arriving at your home in the early morning with guns drawn. But when an elite university inflates or devalues applicants’ SAT scores based on race—even as it insists it is not discriminating—that’s just business as usual.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
The mayor is right that this is an appalling statistic. But it’s telling that he’s angry at the test and not at the city’s public schools, which he runs, for failing to provide black and Latino children with an education that would make them competitive.
The phrase "you can take the horse to water, but..." comes to mind. The public schools have failed but I cant help but think that in many cases, the culture has taught the horses to laugh at the thought of drinking.
They do it with “gifted” classes right down through the elementary school level.
Decades agao, I used to administer the SAT. And, the ACT, ATGSB and the GRE.
I have no doubt that people were sitting in for others on some of those tests.
Policies of institutions are separate from the Law, but this still strikes me as a violation (in spirit) of the “equal protection” concept.
I want my kid treated just like your kid. That’s equality.
If you game the system so that your kid gets treated in a special way, I feel cheated.
If the institution games the system so that your kid gets treated in a special way, I feel cheated.
The “two-level” system is now endemic in our society. I am a peasant. And I am unhappy with the Lords.
Just use the diversity card. It instantly makes your SAT scores irreverent.
The article talks about ‘Asian Americans’ but harvard also has a fair number of Asian students who are not Americans. Do they get a score boost or not?
My freshman year of college I met a guy who took tests for people. I was pretty simple. If you lived in town A you took a makeup test in town B. He made several hundred dollars and did better on his client's tests than he did on his own because he had more experience in it. This was in 1973.
Great point..!
If you can get fake ID’s for food stamps, SSN, green card, why could you not get the much lower bar ID’s sufficient for a high-schooler to take the SAT..?
I’ll bet this goes on on a Yuuuuuuuuge scale.
And it’s secret.
Who doubts Chinese and Indian people look into this?
What’s the moral difference between Ms. Huffman’s getting her daughter into college with an SAT score she didn’t earn and Harvard’s institutionally elevating the lower test scores of whites, blacks and Latinos above the higher scores of Asian-Americans? ...black applicants effectively had their scores boosted by 310 points, Hispanics by 270 points, and whites by 140... Harvard, moreover, isn’t honest about its discrimination. That’s probably because the law tolerates such discrimination only when schools pretend they’re doing something else.
“I have no doubt that people were sitting in for others on some of those tests.”
Just curious...what were your typical “tells”?
Do they ask for ID?
“Just use the diversity card. It instantly makes your SAT scores irreverent.”
Or just roll up your sleeve and “display your skin color!” If it’s anything other than Caucasian, you won’t need any testing to get into wherever it is you want to go.
But, if its Medical School, your name should be posted, should you graduate, that you were too stupid to get in the normal way, so the public can be aware of that fact if they seek his or her professional care. Hay is always cheaper if you buy it after it’s been through a horse!
Today one must show a government id to take the SAT and ACT. I guess one could fake those as well.
If they have to take the same tests to get in, then the answer is probably yes!
If you are an illegal alien there are judges who will rule that this is not a criminal offense because they "had to do it" to take the test.
Today one must show a government id to take the SAT and ACT. I guess one could fake those as well.
If you are an illegal alien there are judges who will rule that this is not a criminal offense because they “had to do it” to take the test.
True
If you look it up, you'll even find articles about it. That doesn't mean every foreign student is cheating, but it does show there are cheaters of every stripe.
Well, I shall relate a story. Here in my small Texas town, we had a High School student. He got expelled for some reason. He went to another nearby high school and made a name for himself as a football player. He got caught stealing and was expelled. The other high school decided to take him back due to his athletic abilities. Then, when it was time to take the college entrance exam, the school allowed him to have unlimited time, and to allow his tutor to be with him in a private room (he wasnt the brightest bulb in the box). Currently, he is now an NFL player and our town worships him and even gave him the keys to the city and to have a special day dedicated to him. Now, what’s the differnece??? I am sure stuff like this happens more than we realize. They are not role models anymore, but money making schemes. Makes me sick.
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