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College-gate...that's what I call it.


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Have you seen this?

https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2019/03/13/college-cheating-scandal-felicity-huffman-lori-laughlin-kaye-pkg-vpx.cnn/video/playlists/top-news-videos/

Just found out yesterday...what a disgusting  bunch these Hollywood do-gooders are.. For every one of their jerk-off kids who got into top schools through bribes, a deserving student was left out. This is going to be big. 

 

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I'm kind of surprised that they haven't also throne the book at the spouses of the two Hollywood actresses that they arrested.  I suppose it's possible they weren't also involved, but that would be hard to imagine.  Huffman's husband is fairly well-known actor William H. Macy.

From what I read yesterday in the news, it was something like 60-70 people who were involved.  Don't know that they were all "Hollywood" types, but clearly if the scheme was all through one outfit, then they were all semi-connected, one way or another.

I guess I'm not at all surprised, and I agree they should be prosecuted.  From the reports yesterday, some of the kids were clearly not interested in the education, and seemed to have presumptions about barely needing to do certain kinds of classwork otherwise required of every student.

How "big" it is, hard to say.  It is a lot of people, and does involve a number of schools.  Not clear to me that anyone at the schools themselves (other than individual coaches, iirc), have been implicated.  Lots more reporting to be done.  Should be more to tell at some point.

Bit more about Macy's involvement, but lack of being charged, here:

https://www.vulture.com/2019/03/william-h-macy-felicity-huffman-college-cheating-scandal.html

And another article specifically about Macy's involvement...

https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2019/03/felicity-huffman-william-h-macy-college-admissions-scandal-varsity-blues

Edited by Rooster_Ties
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Why is this illegal though, with jail time being mentioned for these parents? There's a law that says, "Bypass admission to a college results in 4 years in prison"? I think it's terrible and I can see it being against the rules at the school, but why are the courts involved? These schools aren't free so these rich kids' parents aren't stealing their education, they're simply bypassing the admittance procedures. I especially don't see how this is illegal at a private school. They can admit anyone they want. Yale? Really? Like some rich Yale grad hasn't endowed some chair and gotten his idiot son or daughter enrolled there on a wink? We're supposed to believe that this doesn't happen?

If someone at my company hired an incompetent idiot because he got paid off, he'd get in trouble if the company found out, but he wouldn't get arrested, tried and sent to jail. He'd just get fired along with the incompetent idiot.

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This falls under the RICO statutes. They've effectively organized a criminal enterprise to defraud the universities. This is different than donating a library wing or a cafeteria, which is done in the open. That's how BUSH2 got into Yale probably... This was all undercover, implicitly. And yes, I believe this Macy guy was in on it. Him and the missus spent 1.5 million to place their less than brilliant kids into USC, and, I think, it was rolled through some kind of a fake charity. So they even wrote it off their taxes. Hello, tax fraud!  It's not like he wouldn't notice 1,.5 million gone from their bank account...he even met with the head fraudster.

I wonder if he'll play himself in the TV movie about it...

 

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Kevin, Lori Loughlin got her kid in to USC which is a state school.

And when it couldn't get more ludicrous here is this, from Vanity Fair:

“You do kind of get the impression that what saved Macy from indictment today was the gendered character of household domestic labor,” continued Johnston, a CUNY professor. “May not be the case, but kind of looks that way. The wife sets up the playdates, The parent-teacher conferences, the SAT cheating. The wife handles the emails, so the wife gets indicted.”

Yup, it was the patriarchy.

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31 minutes ago, Kevin Bresnahan said:

If someone at my company hired an incompetent idiot because he got paid off, he'd get in trouble if the company found out, but he wouldn't get arrested, tried and sent to jail. He'd just get fired along with the incompetent idiot.

If someone at your company helped someone fake their college diploma before hiring them, legal matters might be different, no?

One aspect of this scam was apparently coordinating better SAT results for students by finding someone who took the test on the student's behalf... That must be illegal...

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32 minutes ago, Dan Gould said:

... USC which is a state school.

USC is a private school.

Kevin, Please take the time to fully read an article on what the indicted parties allegedly did and what they are being charged with. Hopefully you'll change your mind and abandon this "no harm done", "all parents do stuff for their kids" argument.

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55 minutes ago, Dmitry said:

And yes, I believe this Macy guy was in on it. Him and the missus spent 1.5 million to place their less than brilliant kids into USC, and, I think, it was rolled through some kind of a fake charity. So they even wrote it off their taxes. Hello, tax fraud!  It's not like he wouldn't notice 1,.5 million gone from their bank account...he even met with the head fraudster.

NOT that I'm defending him, or his wife (or anyone in any of this, at all).  But I think I read that Huffman and Macy were in for $15K total (not $1.5 Million).  But I do remember seeing some sort of "million dollar" figure(s?) being mentioned, in conjunction with other parts of the scheme.  I just read on-line that it may have been more like 800 families that benefited from these schemes, and not just the 60-70 people who were charged (if I'm remembering right).  I'm just skimming a few articles, here and there, and head-lines I've seen on Reddit (which seem to come from reputable sources, though I haven't read the articles closely yet).

Somebody said there was surely going to be a full-length documentary about all this, someday.  Or at least a full episode of Frontline on PBS -- I think it'd be well deserving of all that, once the dust settles, maybe after the trials happen.  There's probably a much bigger story to be told here -- not that any of this is really all that shocking.  "Stop the presses:  The Rich got special perks, special access, and a shit-ton of stuff they never deserved."  Not like that's been 'news' for decades, and decades, and forever really.

49 minutes ago, Dan Gould said:

Kevin, Lori Loughlin got her kid in to USC which is a state school.

USC is a private school (which I didn't realize until last night, when I asked my wife as this story was being reported on, in PBS.  She tends to know more about universities and colleges all around the country, because of her profession -- and also her deep interest in college basketball too (and football) -- than I ever have, or probably ever will).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Southern_California

The University of Southern California (USC[a] or SC) is an American private research university in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1880, it is the oldest private research university in California.[9]

Edited by Rooster_Ties
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1 minute ago, Rooster_Ties said:

NOT that I'm defending him, or his wife (or anyone in any of this, at all).  But I think I read that Huffman and Macy were in for $15K total (not $1.5 Million). 

Roos, 1.5 mil figure and Macy are in my head. Yeah, looks like it was a measly 15k.... They got a bargain!

 

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6 minutes ago, Dmitry said:

Roos, 1.5 mil figure and Macy are in my head. Yeah, looks like it was a measly 15k.... They got a bargain!

Yeah, but somebody did pay more than a million dollars for similar things.

All I want is for there to be a rigorous prosecution, and I'm sure there'll be a able-bodied defense.  And then let the chips fall where they may.

If the evidence is there, then there should be consequences that are absolutely commensurate with the crime.  I don't want to pretend like I know what's "fair" -- but if that's significant restitution (more like $1.5 million), and potentially including some jail time, so be it.  [And hopefully more in line with actual sentencing guidelines than a certain particular someone, who just got a 2nd set of sentencing just today -- who I won't mention.]

And BTW, the spouses shouldn't get off scot free either, if they were aware of the whole thing and complicit.

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4 hours ago, Dmitry said:

what a disgusting  bunch these Hollywood do-gooders are..

Yes, whenever Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman come up in conversation (and they have, daily, for decades now!), the first thing that comes to mind is "Hollywood do-gooders". :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

It's rich people being stupid, and...what's the rest of the story, Paul? Past rich people being stupid. And oh, yeah, getting caught.

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Not surprised by this. When/where ever big money is involved, scummy behavior will follow.

I have to laugh at the colleges distancing themselves from this by throwing non-revenue sports coaches and the like under the bus. Can't believe that the institutions admitted students on recommendation of the coaches and never even bothered to check whether the kids tried out for the teams!

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46 minutes ago, JSngry said:

Yes, whenever Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman come up in conversation (and they have, daily, for decades now!), the first thing that comes to mind is "Hollywood do-gooders". :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

It's rich people being stupid, and...what's the rest of the story, Paul? Past rich people being stupid. And oh, yeah, getting caught.

Nope. 

It's precisely what I wrote - Hollywood do-gooders, i.e. the people who make movies and tv shows that teach everyone how to do good, yet, coincidentally, they themselves are full of shit. 

Here she is, being so torn up about her baby leaving the proverbial nest. Paying a half a million bribe for it in a tax-fraud scheme just happened to skip her mind. 

https://www.today.com/video/lori-loughlin-talks-new-show-and-her-daughter-going-to-college-1016383043768

 PS - You just exhausted your daily roll-eye emoji allowance. No worries, I do know someone who can hook you up with another dozen for a few bucks, Jimmy. :g

 

 

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No One Asks the Top CEOs Where They Went to College

...When I see something like the college admissions scandal that broke on Tuesday — with dozens of parents arrested for resorting to bribery to get their kids into a prestigious school like Yale or Georgetown — I shake my head in dismay. Not because of the criminality; I mean, bribing a women’s soccer coach to pretend your kid is an athlete is more comedy than tragedy. And not because of the sheer stupidity, either. Didn’t anybody tell these rich parents that with their wealth all they had to do was make a sizable donation to get their kid into a “good school,” no matter how poor their grades?...[don't want to paste any more]

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44 minutes ago, T.D. said:

No One Asks the Top CEOs Where They Went to College

...When I see something like the college admissions scandal that broke on Tuesday — with dozens of parents arrested for resorting to bribery to get their kids into a prestigious school like Yale or Georgetown — I shake my head in dismay. Not because of the criminality; I mean, bribing a women’s soccer coach to pretend your kid is an athlete is more comedy than tragedy. And not because of the sheer stupidity, either. Didn’t anybody tell these rich parents that with their wealth all they had to do was make a sizable donation to get their kid into a “good school,” no matter how poor their grades?...[don't want to paste any more]

This is my point exactly. If it's legal to bypass the admissions process through a big donation, why is it a jail-able offense if done through a different avenue? It's the same thing - buying your way in.

5 hours ago, sonnymax said:

USC is a private school.

Kevin, Please take the time to fully read an article on what the indicted parties allegedly did and what they are being charged with. Hopefully you'll change your mind and abandon this "no harm done", "all parents do stuff for their kids" argument.

They conspired to pay a school official money to allow their child admission to a school they would not get in on merit. It happens all the time. It will continue to happen too. They just went at it through the wrong school official. If they had paid off a dean or president by means of a large donation, we wouldn't even be talking about this.

And don't get me wrong - I think what these people did is terrible. But to raise it to the level where someone goes to jail over it... why? I just don't get it.

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2 minutes ago, Kevin Bresnahan said:

This is my point exactly. If it's legal to bypass the admissions process through a big donation, why is it a jail-able offense if done through a different avenue? It's the same thing - buying your way in.

I read a few of the charges when the story first broke, and there seem to be prosecutable offenses involved in some cases. For instance, certain payoffs to "Mr. Fixit" (Singer - I had to look up the name) were falsely "structured" as charitable donations. 

I'm content to let the justice system decide, but (surely?) we all know that money is a big advantage in defending against legal charges.

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7 hours ago, Dmitry said:

what a disgusting bunch these Hollywood do-gooders are...

Only 2 or 3 actors (depending on whether you include Macy (and I think he probably should be included) allegedly involved (to use the vernacular of the press at this stage, since no one has been convicted yet), out of a total of 33 parents (specifically parents) have been indited, and a grand total of 50 incitements -- and suddenly this whole (justifiable) scandal is primarily because of "Hollywood do-gooders"??

(Or am I missing something -- are the rest of these people somehow connected to "Hollywood" -- ??)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_college_admissions_bribery_scandal#Indited_people

 

Participants in scandal[edit]

50 people have been charged as part of the ongoing investigations. Of these, 33 are parents of college applicants and nine were collegiate coaches.[30]

Notable indicted individuals include:

Indited people[edit]

  • William Rick Singer, purported college counselor, and author of self-help book for college admission. Singer is alleged to have organized and sold fraudelent college addmission services.[1][2]

Parents accused of paying for admission[edit]

Coaches accused of involvement[edit]

  • Jorge Salcedo, Major League Soccer player and UCLA coach[39]
  • Gordon Ernst, former Georgetown University tennis coach[40]
  • John Vandemoer, former Stanford University sailing coach[21]
  • Jovan Vavic, former University of Southern California water polo coach[21]

Other participants[edit]

  • Mark Riddell, a Harvard University alum and former director at IMG Academy. Riddell was employed by Singer to fraudulently take admission tests, impersonating the clients' children, and paid Educational Testing Service and ACT contractors to deliberately misadminister the tests.[14]
  • Olivia Jade Giannulli - Loughlin's daughter and Instagram influencer got into USC after her parents paid Singer. Olvia commented through Twitter that she didn't "care about anything" she was learning in college.[41][42]

  

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32 minutes ago, Rooster_Ties said:

and suddenly this whole (justifiable) scandal is primarily because of "Hollywood do-gooders"??

Well, Bill McGlashan was definitely a "do-gooder."  He was "one of the tech sector’s leading proponents of how to invest ethically and for social impact," sez Recode.  Per CNBC, "He managed TPG Growth, which has invested in companies including Airbnb, Spotify and Uber, and led TPG’s Rise Fund, which is committed to investing for social and environmental good, according to the website."

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3 hours ago, mjzee said:

Well, Bill McGlashan was definitely a "do-gooder."  He was "one of the tech sector’s leading proponents of how to invest ethically and for social impact," sez Recode.  Per CNBC, "He managed TPG Growth, which has invested in companies including Airbnb, Spotify and Uber, and led TPG’s Rise Fund, which is committed to investing for social and environmental good, according to the website."

Investors have "skin in the game" in their chosen area of focus. Can't be accused of hypocrisy in that sense, unlike many. Skin in the game is one of my main criteria for pundits/prognosticators in the financial arena: if you ain't got it, I ain't listenin' to you.

Edited by T.D.
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