The non-Hollywood parents busted in college bribery scheme [tr]

UK Daily Mail ^ | March 12, 2019 | Jennifer Smith

[C19fan]

Alongside stars Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin, dozens of wealthy business executives, branding experts and other parents have been charged as part of the college bribery scheme.

The list of 48 includes the COO of Wynn Resorts, Gamal Abdelaziz, prolific private equity investor Bill McGlashan and youth branding expert Jane Buckingham.

Others are former TV executive Elisabeth Kimmel and vineyard owner Agustin Huneeus whose family is prestigious in Napa Valley.

They are each accused of paying SAT test administrators bribes to allow either for someone else to sit the test for their child or letting someone amend their answers afterwards to get them a higher score.

In some cases, children who had no athletic ability were given scholarships for sports they did not even play in exchange for direct bribes or 'donations' to a fictitious charity.

[C19fan]

In the US university system, the credential is more important than the education.

[treetopsandroofs]

Lacey and Candace are making their big move to get Lori kicked off Hallmark movie commercials. :-)

[Red Badger]

It’s not ‘what you know’, it’s ‘who you know’.................

[lurk]

Money and power open doors. It’s not going to change.

[mass55th]

"It’s not ‘what you know’, it’s ‘who you know’................."

When I worked in NY State Corrections, the saying was: "It's not who you know...it's who you blow."

[outpostinmass2]

It’s not ‘what you know’, it’s ‘who you know’................

---

‘
In this case its who you paid.

[VanShuyten]

Nearly all libs, I presume.

[Red Badger]

Different standard of exchange, same result...................

[Red Badger]

This is nothing new. It’s been going on for thousands of years....................

[DungeonMaster]

It’s all about the Benjamins.

[grania]

Top tier schools aren't even top-tier any more. That's been true since at least the 1980s. It got so bad that I wouldn't even write recommendations for Harvard.

The SAT test does test something. But considering all of the students who are excused from having to have a high SAT (athletes, alumni children, status candidates such as President's kids, affirmative action, diversity of national origin, etc) the crime is that having a degree from one of these schools should even matter. There are too many exceptions for the academic programs to remain at the highest level of learning.

That being said, the kids should know better, even if the parents didn't. A good SAT course boosts background and analytic skills so that the student can get a better score and actually be more qualified for a rigorous academic program.

It's about time there's a sting. PS: Anyone involved in testing that's been compromised should lose their teaching and testing certifications, for life.

[nascarnation]

You are certainly correct.

I was shocked the “designated test taker” was getting 10 grand per sitting, that seems pretty rich. Of course a good part of that was probably buying silence.

[Sarah Barracuda]

Gee they could have just invested in a school library and it would have been all good..funny thing is, you dont have to be a genius to get into USC, but looking at Lori Loughlin’s daughter’s youtube page and she sounds like AOC, dumb as nails so no wonder she had to pay half a mil to get her kid into school

[SMARTY]

For the right amount they will lower the bar ... and REMOVE the bar

[Carriage Hill]

“...vineyard owner Agustin Huneeus whose family is prestigious in Napa Valley.”

Not anymore.

[nathanbedford]

The revelations stemming from today's scandal signal the end of the college admissions system as we know it.

The age of populism now being advanced by both the right and the left simply will not tolerate this patently elitist but fundamentally corrupt system which has so much power to determine the life destinies of American youngsters. This corruption is no doubt only the tip of the iceberg, the problem is endemic: the problem is in the structure of academia, the problem is the absence of checks and balances, the problem is that the Academy has become untethered from budget constraints by federal and state subsidies, the problem is soaring tuition costs as a result.

The universities, at least the notoriously elite universities, are almost defenseless against these charges because they have made themselves despised for their outrageous tuition charges and their arrogance. In an age when the universities no longer teach but indoctrinate, when grades are not measures of academic achievement because universities have abandoned academic rigor, they serve only one societal purpose, a service which is performed at taxpayer expense: they winnow out the rich and the highly intelligent from everyone else. They act as gatekeepers to the good life. The tollbooth for admission to the better life has become so expensive that corruption was inevitable.

In an age when most courses can be as easily and effectively taught on the Internet, there is no justification for this kind of exclusivity determining the destinies of generation after generation. Employers will have to find other institutions to tell them whether or not an individual is possessed of a high IQ. The universities have long ceased to be guarantors that their graduates are well-educated.

To the extent that middle level universities are still educating, the reform to come may or may not have salubrious effect on them. Certainly, the elite universities have seen the beginning of the end.

[outpostinmass2]

This is nothing new. It’s been going on for thousands of years....................

---

Same for murder, whats your point?

[Red Badger]

Why should people be surprised that wealthy people use their wealth to get their children an advantage over others not as wealthy?

It’s not surprising to me at all....................

[outpostinmass2]

Why should people be surprised that wealthy people use their wealth to get their children an advantage over others not as wealthy?

It’s not surprising to me at all....................

---

It was more than wealth, fake sports photo’s, altered SAT scores.

[musicman]

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