TV and Movies

[gardenman]

I can state with a high degree of certainty that wealthy parents will do whatever it takes to get their kids into elite universities. They'll send them to private schools with good records of getting students admitted to elite universities. They'll hire private tutors to train their kids. They'll do whatever it takes. Is it so different to bribe a school official to achieve the same goal? When a performer gives millions to have a performing arts center built or updated and then their child goes to that same school, is it completely on that child's merit. No. When Regis Philbin's daughters went to Notre Dame was it because they were among the most qualified, or did Regis being a generous benefactor play a role? 

[bikerbabe]

Don’t blame the parents?! Wow! As someone who worked hard to get straight A’s and get full scholarships, I do blame the parents. Plus, I believe those payments went to a fake charitable organization. If they claimed that as a tax deduction, they also committed tax fraud.

[Katcat1]

That is disgusting.  What role models for their children (payoff and get ahead).  OMG!

[bikerbabe]

Well there goes another character to be written off from When Calls the Heart.

[Bri369]

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@gardenman wrote:

I don't really blame the parents. If you've got the money and can afford to bribe your kids into a university they want to get in, I suspect many, maybe most, parents would do so. Now those rigging the tests and bribing the coaches for the parents deserve to be punished, but I don't really have an issue with parents doing whatever it takes to get their kids into the school of their choice. In the real world college admissions are as often about who you know as what you know. It's not all a meritocracy. A whole lot of people get into schools they're not really qualified for based on extenuating factors and a whole lot of deserving kids don't get in because they don't know the right people, or have the right connections.

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You don't blame the parents? 

What they did was wrong - legally and morally. 

[sunshine45]

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@gardenman wrote:

I can state with a high degree of certainty that wealthy parents will do whatever it takes to get their kids into elite universities. They'll send them to private schools with good records of getting students admitted to elite universities. They'll hire private tutors to train their kids. They'll do whatever it takes. Is it so different to bribe a school official to achieve the same goal? When a performer gives millions to have a performing arts center built or updated and then their child goes to that same school, is it completely on that child's merit. No. When Regis Philbin's daughters went to Notre Dame was it because they were among the most qualified, or did Regis being a generous benefactor play a role? 

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there is a BIG difference between hiring tutors/ sending a kid to private school and bribing a school official.

[LoriLori]

I don't have a problem with donations getting kids into schools.  It helps subsidize scholarships for those who need them.  There are far worse crime and I don't get why the actresses were arrested (and Felicity Huffman's husband wasn't).

At all the good schools legacies get in automatically.  One of my best friends in college was a legacy who would never have gotten in otherwise.  So why shouldn't donors who are at least giving money. 

I think the problem is the guy operating as a broker.  I think that should be criminal. 

And I have a problem with the USC situation where the broker got kids in as crew  when the kids were never on crew in high school and probably never touched an oar in their whole lives

But at the good schools athletics is a huge scheme anyway where the schools take in millions and millions and when the poor (literally poor) kids get something the school gets punished.  That has to change but why it hasn't is...change to what?

[sunshine45]

@LoriLori 

perhaps felicity huffmans husband was not involved?

lori loughlins husband was indicted also.

having someone redo or change answers on an SAT test for a student who may not have done well? definitely a huge issue!

[LoriLori]

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@sunshine45 wrote:

@LoriLori 

perhaps felicity huffmans husband was not involved?

lori loughlins husband was indicted also.

having someone redo or change answers on an SAT test for a student who may not have done well? definitely a huge issue!

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Good points.

Didn't know about changing the answers on the SAT until you posted it and now I just read some of these parents actually pay someone to take the test for them which is way beyond a donation and totally criminal.

And I just read one of Lori Laughlin's girls flaunted the fact that she just went there to party.  So she wasn't on crew although she was listed and she wasn't there for academics.  Was the school also falsifying her grades? 

Ugh, this gets shadier and shadier.  

[SXMGirl]

I just finished reading an article on LL's daughter, Olivia.  She is in college but has no plans to attend classes.  She states that she is in it for the parties.  Her dorm room is outfitted by Amazon.  She apparently is not happy that the college will not let her remove items from the room.  She has the bulletin board covered and has covered most of the furniture.

What a disconnect.  We have great students who cannot afford to attend college, students working multiple jobs so that they can attend, and parents who take out loans.   LL should be ashamed.   

Most of us think of LL as a wonderful person, and she may be, but it is outrageous that she paid approximately $500K for her daughter to take up a space in college that a real student could have.  I wonder what this will do to her future with Hallmark.