Operation 'Varsity Blues' - FBI uncover massive fraud in college entry exam scam

[HoughMade]

Ben Shaprio had some interesting thoughts on this topic.

The question is why. Both these families are wealthy. The children of these families weren’t going to lack for opportunity in life. Furthermore, isn’t college designed to train people for the real world? Wouldn’t admission under false pretenses result in the kids flunking out? Wouldn’t their lack of merit be revealed by the simple pressure of the schooling?

The answer is obvious: no, it wouldn’t. Colleges aren’t about training kids for the real world, or teaching them significant modes of thinking, or examining timeless truths. Universities aren’t about skill sets, either – at least in the humanities. They’re about two things: credentialism and social connections.

Here’s the problem: neither of these priorities actually demands that universities teach anything. Credentialism occurs upon admission, so long as you aren’t thrown out of school; social capital begins to accrue with presence, not with performance. Hence colleges watering down curricula and grades in order to make it easier to credential, and to generate less friction. That’s what students and parents demand: not skills, not education, but credentialism and social capital.

That’s why rich and famous people would spend oodles of money just to get their kids into top universities: not because their kids won’t have jobs or will go hungry, but because they want their kids credentialed and admitted into the social club. This story, then, is less about people committing a crime, and more about a system that fails the tests of meritocratic education so badly that people can buy their way past the merit and the education.

https://www.dailywire.com/news/44571/famous-actresses-paid-bundles-money-bribe-their-ben-shapiro

The whole article is very interesting.

A wise man once said:

In an era when the usefulness of a college education for many people is being rightfully questioned, the real question, for me, is "what makes an elite college elite". In large part, it's because people think it's elite. The fact that people can buy their kids is more evidence of this.

 

[Leadeye]

Having seen both good and bad economic leadership, I've often wondered how the latter just seems to stumble from company to company leaving disasters in their wake. Social connections or maybe what school you went to must be part of it.

Always follow the money

 

[actaeon277]

I would punish her.... with a good spanking.

I'm pretty sure that would be one of many, on my list.

 

[BigRed]

How was obammy funded?

 

[KMaC]

I understand the whole cleaning up the fraud aspect of this....but I'm hoping that the prosecutors aren't insistent on jail time for anyone. This kind of thing is why monetary fines were invented.

...'course, I never understood why we spent federal taxpayer money to jail people over dog fighting either, so...

They seem to be taking this pretty seriously. Lauren Loughlin was given a $1M bail. You'd think she killed someone for that kind of money.

 

[dudley0]

So is the full list of colleges out? I didn't see Ivy Tech on there yet so I guess we have to wait for more.

 

[BGDave]

I think Ms. Loughlin should be punished by living with me for a week.

Even though Ms Loughlin is absolutely not guilty of anything she did.

May I be so bold as to call dibs on the second week of rehabilitation ?

 

[KittySlayer]

So is the full list of colleges out? I didn't see Ivy Tech on there yet so I guess we have to wait for more.

The Ivy League schools have been around a long time and probably have their Pay to Play schemes pretty well dialed in. Besides they’re Old Money and don’t want to deal with the new first generation rich or their spoiled spawn.

 

[Hkindiana]

So, if they are arrsting people for CHEATING to get into schools, why has the FBI not arrested Elizabeth Warren with guns drawn?

 

[KLB]

So here's the thing. This guy basically turned into a conman and brought others into it. Now, he takes a plea, and flips on all these other people.

Yeah, sure, they are responsible for their own actions. But, it seems like this is an area that not all of his cheaters would've necessarily known they were cheating, at least at first.

With all the Individual Education Plans and Reasonable Accommodations, if a consultant came along and said, "Hey, I can get your kid more time for the SAT, in his or her own room, with a programmable calculator and an understanding proctor...." Well, that may seem like rule-breaking, but maybe not criminal.

These parents have to suffer consequences of their own, but I'm also kinda left wondering what level of federal resources were dedicated to THIS particular priority rather than certain others. This is more important than terrorism and immigration and opioid interdiction?

I'm still struggling with the illegality part of all of this. Racketeering? Seriously? These are not mobsters running a criminal enterprise.

Curiously, I saw no mention of any tax evasion charges even though it was reported that at least some of the parents claimed the money was a charitable contribution.

Everyone involved at the schools should be fired and all of the students expelled.

If I lie on my resume' and get hired, is that illegal? If I cheat to pass a certification test, is that illegal?

 

[KittySlayer]

So, if they are arrsting people for CHEATING to get into schools, why has the FBI not arrested Elizabeth Warren with [STRIKE]guns[/STRIKE] Bows and Arrows drawn?

FIFY

Nocked and Locked

 

[T.Lex]

I'm still struggling with the illegality part of all of this. Racketeering? Seriously? These are not mobsters running a criminal enterprise.

Curiously, I saw no mention of any tax evasion charges even though it was reported that at least some of the parents claimed the money was a charitable contribution.

Everyone involved at the schools should be fired and all of the students expelled.

If I lie on my resume' and get hired, is that illegal? If I cheat to pass a certification test, is that illegal?

I think the charity angle is part of the ongoing investigation. That does seem to give rise to money laundering type allegations.

I read another article about how there's a certain amount of hypocrisy involved, because most institutions can apply lenient standards to people donating big numbers to the school's foundation. The only issue was that the numbers are bigger. More like super-rich numbers instead of just regular-rich.

 

[HoughMade]

 

[DoggyDaddy]

I think the charity angle is part of the ongoing investigation. That does seem to give rise to money laundering type allegations.

I read another article about how there's a certain amount of hypocrisy involved, because most institutions can apply lenient standards to people donating big numbers to the school's foundation. The only issue was that the numbers are bigger. More like super-rich numbers instead of just regular-rich.

I think transparency has a lot to do with it. If you donate a lot of money to a school, and they name a new building after you, nobody's going to bat an eye when your kid gets accepted to that school. If you donate a lot of money on the down low, that's when it gets kinda suspicious... Especially when you've paid someone to create a fake profile for your kid (saying they were a track and field star when they never were in track and field) or paid someone to take the SAT/ACT for your kid.

 

[DRob]

More to the point for these people: a degree from a prestigious college does not necessarily equal big money....but it don't hurt.

True, but I think what these people intended to buy was braggin' rights.

 

[HoughMade]

True, but I think what these people intended to buy was braggin' rights.

yeah...I've met people who always talk about where they went to college (or law school). They better hope that degree buys friends.

 

[Leadeye]

Fines in some circles are just considered the cost of doing business. This stuff will just go on in another form and place if the government just wants to collect fines and look good on TV.

 

[KLB]

I think transparency has a lot to do with it. If you donate a lot of money to a school, and they name a new building after you, nobody's going to bat an eye when your kid gets accepted to that school. If you donate a lot of money on the down low, that's when it gets kinda suspicious... Especially when you've paid someone to create a fake profile for your kid (saying they were a track and field star when they never were in track and field) or paid someone to take the SAT/ACT for your kid.

That still doesn't explain it being against the law. We aren't talking about .gov officials taking money to allow something to happen. This is more like bribing the doorman to get into a club, just on a much larger scale.

 

[mmpsteve]

That still doesn't explain it being against the law. We aren't talking about .gov officials taking money to allow something to happen. This is more like bribing the doorman to get into a club, just on a much larger scale.

Public schools are like .gov schools, since they're subsidized by we the public. So a coach taking money to facilitate a non-athlete to get into a system is like a .gov employee taking a bribe to make something happen. Plus the non-athlete is probably taking a slot away from a true athlete. Sports scholarships are limited for any school.

.

 

[JettaKnight]

Plus, they're falsifying SAT scores, right?