College entrance cheating scandal

[cabanafrau]

Oh yes. $70 million. That was an unfathomable number to me the first time I read it. That's why that huge number didn't stick in my head.

But, the point Harvey Levin tried to make is, if Lori & Mossimo had hired whomever Dr, Dre & Jimmy Iovine had, it would have been done legally and they'd be in the clear. They just, unfortunately, went to Rick Singer, who happened to use tactics like bribing coaches & forging documents. But, they, themselves didn't know they had hired a lying cheat. They allegedly did what he said and knew it was wrong, but they didn't think it was illegal.

My point is that Dr. Dre, Jimmy Iovine and whatever company umbrella they were under as far as the donation went was a front door, official transaction with the endowment arm of the university. Their transaction involved many of the same steps that average Janes and Joes use to donate to their alma mater, some via their estate plans when they die. Lori and Mossimo weren't making an endowment or a donation -- if they were they would have called up someone at the university themselves or handled it through their existing legal and financial team. The fact that they knew enough to know they needed a special guy is proof they knew they weren't sending the money through the front door or expecting a receipt for tax purposes.

 

[cabanafrau]

Use of the word placement in this context is atypical. I can understand even a knowledgable expert asking for clarification.

You might find an Associated Press story about Michael Cohen's potential stay at Otisville interesting.

 

[jlmarr]

DW taped "When Calls The Heart" to see how they would write Lori Loughlin's character Abigail out of the program. Right off, one of the characters is writing in her journal, "It's been a week since Abigail got word that her mother had taken ill back east. True to her nature, Abigail wasted no time in rushing off to care for her. Abigail is much more than a friend - she's family, and I will miss her and Cody deeply. ... We will all keep Abigail in our prayers." Maybe we'll see her again in 3-5 years. Ok, the last part was mine. Anyway...

 

[kaytieeldr]

Two too many uses of the name Abigail. The second and fourth should be she. Did the writers think fans will forget the character's name?

 

[gwynne]

I think the notes into Elizabeth's diary were a reasonable way to explain Lori's absence.
After that, they went straight into lots of other storylines.

 

[jlmarr]

The actor that played Cody will forever be known as "Collateral damage Cody".

 

[Imzadi]

Latest on Felicity Huffman: She formally appeared in court yesterday in front of the judge. She plead guilty. In return, the federal prosecutors are recommending 4 months prison time, a year of supervised release and a $20,000 fine. (The judge can and may decide for more or less than what the prosecutor recommend.

Felicity's sentencing will be on Sept 13.

This was her statement in court:

"I am pleading guilty to the charge brought against me by the United States Attorney's Office," Huffman said in her statement. "I am in full acceptance of my guilt, and with deep regret and shame over what I have done, I accept full responsibility for my actions and will accept the consequences that stem from those actions."

She mentioned that a neuropsychologist had diagnosed her daughter with a learning disability had been seeing her since she was 8 years old. She clarified that the neuropsychologist had nothing to do with the scheme.

She also said: (bolding mine,) that she had no knowledge of HOW Singer used the money she gave him: in which he allegedly paid Igor Dvorskiy, a test administrator for the College Board and ACT, and Mark Riddell, who allegedly took or rigged test scores for students, to facilitating cheating scam on behalf of her daughter.

"But everything else Mr. Rosen said I did I did," Huffman said in court, referring to assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Rosen, who outlined the charge against her.

Source: https://abcnews.go.com/US/actress-felicity-huffman-set-plead-guilty-varsity-blues/story?id=63003049


I'm wondering, if in a way, she gave Lori Loughlin some ammo she needs for her case. As previously stated in other posts here, Lori is trying to use the defense that she didn't know HOW Singer would use the money she gave him.

On GMA this morning, when Robin & the other hosts asked their ABC legal analyst, Sunny Hostin, what she thought about Lori's defense, Sunny shook here head in disbelief. She said something along the lines of, it is such a risk and likely not to win. Federal prosecutors usually do not lose cases. And she said, comparatively, if Felicity, who pled guilty, and only paid $15,000, gets 4 months to a year in prison, Lori is likely to spend 3-5 years in prison if convicted.

 

[gwynne]

An article about Laura Janke and her guilty plea today.

"A former assistant women's soccer coach at the University of Southern California admitted Tuesday to creating fake sports profiles for the children of wealthy parents, including actress Lori Loughlin's daughters Olivia Jade and Isabella Rose, in exchange for bribes."

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...ura-janke-soccer-crew-rick-singer/3664212002/


More details:
"Under a plea agreement Janke signed last month, she has been cooperating with prosecutors who say she could testify against others charged in the case, including actress Lori Loughlin and her husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli.

The former assistant women's soccer coach was behind a number of bogus sports profiles, including the one that helped get Loughlin and Giannulli's daughter, Olivia Jade Giannulli, accepted into the prestigious school as a crew recruit despite never having been rowers on a competitive crew team. Janke said she later did the same for Loughlin's other daughter, Isabella Rose."


https://www.npr.org/2019/05/14/7233...rofiles-in-college-admissions-scam-pleads-gui

 

[a1tinkfans]

Imho...
And now.... the high school guidance counselor for Lori Loughlins daughter JADE
Is named as a witness.
Allegedly he not only spoke directly with Jade about having things/rowing on her App.. allegedly questioning her.
Alleged, her father then went to school on her behalf and basically directed the guidance counselor to back off. That the family had it handled. Nice!
Jade now distancing herself and blaming dear old mom and dad. Tactic fail.
An epic fail as the writing is on the wall.
If all is accurate as alleged, She knew it was
All lies and knew Exactly what was happening. So...
Where’s the prosecution now? What are the consequences for her now?

And felicity can claim all she wants that her daughter knew nothing. However IF she was getting xtra time for testing all thru the years..she also knew that she needed xtra help and was not going to gain 400 points on her result.
What a distasteful Joke!
And where’s the consequences for that?

None... money talks. Daddy was not charged and none of these kids were charged....Yet??
Despicable acts...

 

[MillauFr]

New article today in the Wall St. Journal. Here is the headline.

Even After the Admissions Scandal, Colleges Won’t Check Most Applications
Schools say their job isn’t to investigate; ‘It’s not our policy to suspect every student’

So I guess nothing will change other than the admission consultants will just have to be more careful. Money still talks, and **** walks. The colleges are too addicted to the money and unwilling to make any changes that might level the playing field on admissions.

 

[RangerPooh]

Schools want the money. They'll accept students who might provide future endowments, even if they have to look the other way to some extent.

 

[tex1989]

Say what you will but in the end the loser in this is the schools. They have become pure money making operations and why would they care how students get in? If someone has no issues paying $500k just to get their snowflakes admitted to the school then they have no problem paying the overblown tuition as well. The school gets their money right away and no loans are taken out to pay for it. If they or anyone else for that matter starts vetting all students then the most profitable ones might not get in.

The schools care about two things money and money. Money students pay to attend and the money they make from having the right tenured staff that attracts the most grant money and investments. That is essentially what our college system has turned into. Granted you can still get an decent education if you can afford it but you need a small fortune to come away with that degree. College tuition and fees have far exceeded inflation and pure and simple they are for profit organizations. My fall semester of my freshman year included paying for a yearbook, a ticket book to all the football games, a parking pass and all tuition and fees. I wrote a check for $235. State school in Texas. Same bill today is north of $7,000. That's more than inflation!

 

[kaytieeldr]

Granted you can still get an decent education if you can afford it but you need a small fortune to come away with that degree.

You can get a god/great/excellent education at pretty much any accredited college of university. Or community of junior college. Cynicism not required.

College tuition and fees have far exceeded inflation and pure and simple they are for profit organizations.

I bet you would be surprised to learn most colleges and universities are non-profit.

 

[bcla]

The schools care about two things money and money. Money students pay to attend and the money they make from having the right tenured staff that attracts the most grant money and investments. That is essentially what our college system has turned into. Granted you can still get an decent education if you can afford it but you need a small fortune to come away with that degree. College tuition and fees have far exceeded inflation and pure and simple they are for profit organizations. My fall semester of my freshman year included paying for a yearbook, a ticket book to all the football games, a parking pass and all tuition and fees. I wrote a check for $235. State school in Texas. Same bill today is north of $7,000. That's more than inflation!

Technically most are non-profit, unless that's more or less a tax dodge. Certainly every school painted by this scandal is a non-profit.

The most important thing to know is that there are very few truly public schools. They're almost all state-affiliated. Most could conceivably come to an agreement to end their government affiliation and become private non-profits. That doesn't mean they don't worry about money, fundraising, competitive salaries, etc.

Still - as an in-state family, the biggest cost of sending my kid to college these days at the University of California would be living expenses. The less than annual $15,000 for tuition charged is still considered a bargain. When I started at UC Berkeley my first semester was less than $700. They didn't even call it tuition - just "fees". By my last year it was up to about $2500.

I'm also convinced that the quality of the education has more to do with the student than anything else. However, for someone just starting off, the bigger name is probably a huge benefit compared to some place with a different reputation. For the most part nobody really cared where anyone went to school in my industry once one is working.

 

[tex1989]

Thank you, I know that most colleges and universities are non profit. I was trying to make a point that you chose to comment on than rather look at the point I was trying to make. Technically they are not really even non profit, they are State Funded, or in other words government run. Being state run they pay no taxes in the classic sense however they do not qualify under the 501 provision of the Federal Tax code, unless possibly they have a hospital associated with them that is considered non profit and that gets into a whole different situation.

The point is that since student loan programs were abandoned by banks and other lending institutes around 2011-2012 and are now backed by the federal government schools (state run, private, technical, etc.) all know that they will get their money paid in full and on time because the feds are paying it. The fact that these institutes are still funded somewhat by the states, and the fact that tuitions have increased so dramatically there is a lot of money in education. People profit from this. Professors tenured or not have popped up in every discipline under the sun. Billions of dollars flow through the system and yet we still have a shortage of graduates in some of the most critical need areas like STEM degrees. Programs have expanded so far and wide that students who have been told their whole lives that to get ahead you have to have a college degree are getting phyilosophy degrees, religious studies degrees, art history degrees, etc. While I have no issue with some one wanting to pursue studies there has to be a realization that very few of those degrees will lead to jobs that pay what students expectations are. The cry of a lack of good paying jobs is interesting because at least where I work (a large international energy company) we hire a bunch of graduates every year. My company employs over 150,000 people worldwide and hire a bunch of graduates at a starting pay close of $80k a year. But I can assure you they don't have art history degrees.

As far as being cynical no I'm not. State school at $7k a semester for tuition over four years is $56K plus room and board of say $3k a semester and you are talking an $80K degree. It took me 10 semesters because I worked while in school but was still a full time student and tuition for that cost me in total less than $3,000. Yes a college education costs a lot of money. I know because I have paid for my kids college and they both graduated from state schools in Texas.

 

[RangerPooh]

Programs have expanded so far and wide that students who have been told their whole lives that to get ahead you have to have a college degree are getting phyilosophy degrees, religious studies degrees, art history degrees, etc. While I have no issue with some one wanting to pursue studies there has to be a realization that very few of those degrees will lead to jobs that pay what students expectations are. The cry of a lack of good paying jobs is interesting because at least where I work (a large international energy company) we hire a bunch of graduates every year. My company employs over 150,000 people worldwide and hire a bunch of graduates at a starting pay close of $80k a year. But I can assure you they don't have art history degrees.

I agree with this! When I advised undergraduate students enrolling in their first semester classes I would always read their intake sheets. One of the questions asked what they envisioned doing following graduation? You would not believe how many said that they expected to have a full time job making over $100k a year. The really bold ones listed being CEO of a major company within 5 years of graduation. Yes these were business majors, but you need to be realistic about what a starting salary will be, and it sounds like no one has had that conversation with many of them. Currently I work with undergraduate and graduate students pursuing health related careers. It frustrates me when so many of them feel like jobs in retail pharmacy or health clinics (as doctors or nurses) are beneath them. Everyone needs to start somewhere.

 

[Cogswel_Cogs]

Say what you will but in the end the loser in this is the schools. They have become pure money making operations and why would they care how students get in? If someone has no issues paying $500k just to get their snowflakes admitted to the school then they have no problem paying the overblown tuition as well. The school gets

I agree, I find it very hard to believe that no one in these schools would connect the pieces.

 

[barkley]

Still - as an in-state family, the biggest cost of sending my kid to college these days at the University of California would be living expenses. The less than annual $15,000 for tuition charged is still considered a bargain. When I started at UC Berkeley my first semester was less than $700. They didn't even call it tuition - just "fees". By my last year it was up to about $2500.

that's where i've seen some of the biggest increases as well and i believe the schools have padded their pockets with the much more common practice of requiring 1st year students to dorm. it used to be that it was the exception for a college to require it-much more common w/private and selective ones, def. not the norm with state ones. when dd began attending one of our state universities in 2013 as a freshman it was optional (she opted not to) but now (with very few exemptions) it's a requirement of incoming freshman. the cost is just shy of 2x the tuition/fees/average books. the colleges tout it as a bargain and point to how it stacks up for a year vs living off campus. what they don't point out is an 'academic year' of living ON campus only adds up to about 7 months (students are required to vacate the dorms during the long winter break or pay a high fee for temp housing in the dorm that remains open) vs. an ENTIRE YEAR off campus. basic dorming (shared small room) runs at minimum 20% higher per month than very nice one bedroom (utilities/washer & dryer in each unit included) local apartments, and the meal plans? i get it-it's prepared so there's that convenience but i don't know any one individual, absent those that eat out constantly, that spends $750 per month on food (let alone on institutionalized cafeteria quality).

 

[longboard55]

My point is that Dr. Dre, Jimmy Iovine and whatever company umbrella they were under as far as the donation went was a front door, official transaction with the endowment arm of the university. Their transaction involved many of the same steps that average Janes and Joes use to donate to their alma mater, some via their estate plans when they die. Lori and Mossimo weren't making an endowment or a donation -- if they were they would have called up someone at the university themselves or handled it through their existing legal and financial team. The fact that they knew enough to know they needed a special guy is proof they knew they weren't sending the money through the front door or expecting a receipt for tax purposes.

I went USC, everything is for sale. You want better parties, football seats, bus rides with the president, name on a building, all it takes is a check. I think she beats this, her defense will have a field day with this. Yes and there is a huge staff of fund raisers who will steer you in the right direction. It's a private school, what they do with money and admissions is no ones business and it was clear USC knew what was going on.

 

[bcla]

that's where i've seen some of the biggest increases as well and i believe the schools have padded their pockets with the much more common practice of requiring 1st year students to dorm. it used to be that it was the exception for a college to require it-much more common w/private and selective ones, def. not the norm with state ones. when dd began attending one of our state universities in 2013 as a freshman it was optional (she opted not to) but now (with very few exemptions) it's a requirement of incoming freshman. the cost is just shy of 2x the tuition/fees/average books. the colleges tout it as a bargain and point to how it stacks up for a year vs living off campus. what they don't point out is an 'academic year' of living ON campus only adds up to about 7 months (students are required to vacate the dorms during the long winter break or pay a high fee for temp housing in the dorm that remains open) vs. an ENTIRE YEAR off campus. basic dorming (shared small room) runs at minimum 20% higher per month than very nice one bedroom (utilities/washer & dryer in each unit included) local apartments, and the meal plans? i get it-it's prepared so there's that convenience but i don't know any one individual, absent those that eat out constantly, that spends $750 per month on food (let alone on institutionalized cafeteria quality).

I grew up in the area and lived with my parents. However, I had friends and relatives who attended at the same time. One in fact was local but still lived in one of the dorms. My cousin asked me to see if I could get her mail (she gave me some sort of letter) to access her boyfriend's mail when the dorms were closed in winter break.

Still - none of the state schools around here require living in school housing. The majority of the state-run universities in the San Francisco Bay Area (San Francisco State, San Jose State, Cal State East Bay) are considered "commuter schools".