XPost: alt.survival, alt.politics.democrats.d, sac.general   
   XPost: alt.global-warming   
   From: cblasey@paloaltou.edu   
      
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   Liberal Democrats, too lazy and stupid to compete   
   scholastically.  This is the result of the present day inferior   
   California school system, once the envy of the entire free   
   world, after 40 years of Democrat control and parasitic   
   socialist union infestation.   
      
   TAGS: Cheat Lie Bribe Obama Ignorant Liberal Dumb Crime College   
   High School Sports USC Coach ACT Democrat LA Times, Washington   
   Post, NY Times Elite Hollywood TV Media Twitter youTube Scumbags   
   Kiss Your Job Goodbye   
      
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   We’ve heard a lot about "white privilege" lately from the social   
   justice crowd -- this idea that "whiteness" itself can be an   
   asset, a proxy for class or other social privilege. But on   
   Tuesday, we saw what the real abuse of privilege looks like --   
   when elites of different ethnic backgrounds and races use their   
   money to buy status – educational status, that is — for their   
   children.   
      
   What do Manuel Henriquez, CEO of Hercules Capital, Douglas   
   Hodge, former chief operating officer of Pimco, actresses   
   Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin and Gordon Caplan, co-   
   chairman of powerhouse international law firm Willkie Farr, all   
   have in common? They were among 33 parents and nine athletic   
   coaches across the country charged in a $25 million bribery   
   scheme to get their kids into top colleges. Dubbed "Operation   
   Varsity Blues," it exposed a web of fraud, payouts and bribes   
   going back to 2011 up until just last month.   
      
   Celebs and titans of the industry shelled out huge money to   
   university staff at prestigious universities, who would then   
   designate their kids as athletes. Athletes’ applications get   
   considered under lowered standards at many schools. The man who   
   is at the center of this fraud is William "Rick" Singer, the   
   founder of a college prep firm called the Edge College & Career   
   Network, aka "The Key." He pled guilty and is cooperating.   
      
   The Sacramento Bee, quoted a local college admissions counselor   
   Margie Ammot as saying: "Singer would tell parents that he could   
   get their child into the college of their choice. Professional   
   education consultants do not say, ‘I can get you into a   
   specific, particular college.'"   
      
   Part of the Singer magic was allegedly having expert test takers   
   take ACT and SAT tests for his clients and photoshopping   
   applicants’ heads onto random athletic-looking bodies. In the   
   New York Times piece about this, the focus was partly on today’s   
   high-pressure application environment: "The charges underscored   
   how college admissions have become so cutthroat and competitive   
   that some have sought to break the rules.”   
      
   The reputation of elite colleges was built on merit. These   
   institutions were envisioned as rungs for the those with the   
   qualifications to climb up that ladder. They were not supposed   
   to be clubs for the elites. We need to return to the principle   
   of merit based admission again.   
      
   Well, guess what? The process has been super competitive for   
   decades, especially since universities have increased admission   
   of foreign students. That is no excuse for gaming the system,   
   and in this case, breaking the law.   
      
   Talk about a "desperate housewife," apparently driven by   
   desperate and illegal measures, a few years ago Felicity Huffman   
   was tweeting a photo of herself, demanding respect and equality   
   for "our daughters." I guess that wouldn’t apply to the girls   
   applying opposite her daughters for a college slot.   
      
   Here’s how I see it: There was a time when colleges used to   
   admit on merit — mainly test scores -- plus athletics and   
   extracurriculars. Then they started various legal forms of   
   corruption: legacy admissions, lowered standards for athletes,   
   admission for big donors, and of course, affirmative action.   
      
   This latest bust takes the corruption to an entirely new level,   
   where the elites "played” the process, turning what was a   
   partial scam into a full-scale racket. Once college admissions   
   is perceived as a scam, it attracts scam artists. The solution   
   is to bust these scammers but also reconsider the legal scheme   
   the elites have used and abused for years which only hurts the   
   hard-working, qualified kids who deserve admission.   
      
   The reputation of elite colleges was built on merit. These   
   institutions were envisioned as rungs for those with the   
   qualifications to climb up that ladder. They were not supposed   
   to be clubs for the elites.   
      
   We need to return to the principle of merit-based admission   
   again. Make the lawbreakers pay in this case. But it’s also time   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-DOS v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)