it all depends on WHO you give the $$$$$ too...
Posted on 03/25/2019 4:37:31 PM PDT by Steely Tom
Operation Varsity Blues, the federal investigation into wealthy people gaming the system by getting their children into prestigious colleges through bribes and falsified test scores, has sparked a lot of jokes and scuttlebutt given the famous names involved in the largest college admissions scam ever prosecuted by the Department of Justice.
Lori Loughlin and her daughter, Olivia Jade, are perhaps the largest names involved in a scandal that saw Olivia Jade get into USC as a student athlete — a rower, to be specific — despite not actually being on the team or having any experience on boats beyond her stay on a USC board of trustee member’s yacht when her mom was raided by the feds. There’s irony and schadenfreude all over the place here, if you are looking for it, but at least one joke was not taken well by the masses.
That would be from Dr. Dre’s Instagram account. Dre, of the Beats and film adaptations of his music career, decided to brag about his daughter, Truly, getting accepted into USC by taking a shot at the parents who decided they had to bribe their way in by committing federal crimes.
“My daughter got accepted into USC all on her own. No jail time!!!” Dr. Dre wrote in an Instagram post ...
But as many pointed out, the “all on her own” could certainly be questioned. Because let’s go back to what FBI agents said back when Operation Varsity Blues news broke a fortnight ago.
“We’re not talking about donating a building so your son or daughter is more likely to get accepted. We’re talking about deception and fraud. Fake test scores, fake athletic credentials, fake photographs. Bribed college officials.”
That first part about “donating a building” to get your child preferential treatment by admissions offices? That’s a fairly common practice at universities large and small. And that’s exactly what appears to have happened at USC with Dr. Dre and his family. Six years before the weekend Instagram post, Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine gave $70 million to USC to build a music “academy” on campus. Advertisement - Content Continues Below
In other words, Dre won’t get jail time because he helped his daughter get into USC the old fashioned way: getting the family name on a building on campus.
The duo’s gift will establish the USC Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy for Arts, Technology and the Business of Innovation, an environment for those rare undergraduate students whose interests span fields such as marketing, business entrepreneurship, computer science and engineering, audio and visual design, and the arts. The program will prepare them to become a new generation of inspired innovators.The goal of the academy is to shape the future by nurturing the talents, passions, leadership and risk-taking of uniquely qualified students who challenge conventional views of art and industry. The academy will attract students who are motivated to explore and create new art forms, technologies and business models — and who will benefit from a stimulating environment that fosters exploration and discovery beyond traditional educational and disciplinary boundaries.
“The vision and generosity of Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young will profoundly influence the way all of us perceive and experience artistic media,” USC president C. L. Max Nikias said in a university statement celebrating the gift. “USC provides an extraordinarily rich academic, research and artistic environment. We are committed to encouraging our students to use their intellectual and creative resources to effect change in all segments of society. Our goal is to ensure that the academy is the most collaborative educational program in the world.”
As criticism of the hypocritical post grew over the weekend, Dr. Dre did what any proud father would do: He deleted the Instagram image celebrating Truly’s admission into USC.
DRE = 820 million
Jimmy Iovine = 950 million (2016)
They could afford it. Got a nice tax deduction no doubt.
[Donating a building to get your kid in may be an acceptable form of bribery and is usually public]
” He profited greatly by the sale of the ‘Beats By Dre’ headphone line”
My nephew loves those. I took a listen and was impressed. But I use Shure in-ear monitors which with my old ears I couldn’t really justify the added expense of the Dre’s. It was (to my ears) that close.
[So bribing the school as a whole is okay, you just can’t single out a specific employee for the bribe?]
Not a valid example. If the Walmart employee bought the TV, he could sell it you. The issue is him not owning it. The college “owns” all the enrollments in either one of these cases.
The proper analogy for this situation is comparing the difference between bribing a judge to find you not guilty vs. setting up a press conference with the governor to announce that you’re donating 100 million to the state treasury, after which he gives you a pardon. Justice is not served in that criminal case and neither was it served in the college admissions process here.
He sold Beats to Apple for $3 billion, unsure what portion of that went to Dr. Dre. However, part of his proceeds was $400 million dollars worth of Apple stock that went to Dr. Dre, that was 2014 valuation which has multiplied since then. The man is filthy rich.
We don’t know anything about her grades or test scores from this article. For all we know she could be an Honor Student and Dr. Dre making a generous donation out of kindness. It’s not really fair to make assumptions.
[The college “owns” all the enrollments in either one of these cases.]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honest_services_fraud
I guess they didn’t forget about Dre.
Once you bribe your way in, I guess one has to do something to get those passing grades.
Dre's paying for ads too?
[We don’t know anything about her grades or test scores from this article. For all we know she could be an Honor Student and Dr. Dre making a generous donation out of kindness. It’s not really fair to make assumptions.]
* It’s not some kind of anomaly when showbiz people issue remarks that seem really stupid - in many or perhaps even most cases, a skilled tradesman is smarter than they are. They’re not so much radical as they are dumb (i.e. there are certain concepts they will never be able to figure out, no matter how many hours you spend teaching it to them).
it all depends on WHO you give the $$$$$ too...
Quoting FBI agents said when the admissions scandal broke:
“We’re not talking about donating a building. We’re talking about:
<><> deception and fraud.
<><> fake test scores,
<><> fake athletic credentials,
<><> fake photographs.
<><> bribing college officials of every stripe.
<><> proctors allowed to give test answers.
Not to mention tax fraud.......donating to the admissions mastermind's do-good foundation then receiving
falsified verification for tax purposes that nothing of value was given in return for the "donation."
And it seems like Affirmative action is everything now. Won’t they ever stand on their own feet?
HOW IT WENT DOWN: Then-F/L Michele, her mother and daughters in the Moroccan palace.
Look at that smile----Obama gave her $100 million tax dollars....wait for it....."to teach Muslim girls in Morocco."
The $100 mill is to be held by the Obama Foundation, to be doled out when necessary (cue laugh machine here).
How much has been expended to date?
How does the Obama Foundation qualify girls?
Do the girls' parents pay fees?
Where does the teaching take place?
==========================================
NOTE WELL: Obama's $100 million "education fund" came out of the Millenium Challenge Fund at the State Dept----Hillary's fave slush fund.
ACTION NOW: Demand the books be opened-----taxpayers demand to know where the Millenium funds are going.
Call President Trump: Comments: 202-456-1111 Switchboard: 202-456-1414
US CONGRESS SWITCHBOARD: (202) 224-3121
U.S. Department of Justice
Comment Line: 202-353-1555 Switchboard: 202-514-2000
To report tax-free non-profit crimes: EMAIL enforcement@SEC.gov
To report fraudulent fund-raising:
FBI tip line web site----https://www.fbi.gov/tips
FBI electronic fraud unit----www.fbi.gov/scams-and-safety/common-fraud-schemes/internet-fraud
FBI Major Case Contact Center: 1-800-CALL-FBI (225-5324)
Wow! $70 million. That’s almost like paying out of state tuition.
Can’t say I know much about him, but if he donated $70 mil to USC - good for him.
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