March 16, 2019

Aunt Becky, How Could You?

Ah, time for the TL/DR Saturday post. Let's get the basics out of the way: coffee, music playing, weather, got up early, so on and so forth. You have read that intro every Saturday and most Sundays for going on 37 years now.

Now..... Oh. I guess I got nuthin'. 

I really am having a hard time getting all outraged that Aunt Becky paid off people to get her kids into a good college. Seriously, my first reaction was a hearty "so what"? I mean who is surprised rich people are twisting the system to their advantage? I don't want to sound all AOC/Bernie Bro here, but duh. 

Did we really spend tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars investigating this? Has the FBI run out of real stuff to investigate? Maybe they should have put this kind of effort into digging into the Clinton Family slush fund charity, or looking for the next wave of terrorists hijacking planes to fly into buildings, or perhaps just who told Trump that hairstyle looks good? 

When did cheating on college entrance exams warrant a gunpoint arrest? Dumb rich people have a history of getting into elite colleges. Does anyone really think Al Gore got into Harvard because he was smart? How many other kids who were not even in the top 50% of their graduating class in high school get into an Ivy League school unless their pop is a Senator? Those actors and actresses who end up at Yale or Brown or Columbia? Please. 

And if we are going to get outraged by academically unqualified people getting passed through admissions in place of more deserving candidates we can start by counting the members of most division I football teams. 

And when did USC become an "elite" school? Are the admissions standards that academically rigorous? How dumb do you have to be that it takes a cool half mil to get you into a state school? 

On the other hand, who doesn't want to think about Aunt Becky in that nekkid girls' prison shower scene? Seriously, does this whitest of white collar crimes really require a one million dollar bond? Accused rapists and murders get less bail than that. 

On the bright side, this non-story has pushed the anti-Semitic and economically illiterate positions of leading Democrats off the news, so there is that. 

Now that the FBI has cracked the big rich people get their kids into college scandal they can now focus on how rich people and actors get the good concert seats and reservations at restaurants that are booked solid for you and me. 

Next we are going to discover hot chicks sometimes get out of speeding tickets and score free drinks at bars. The outrage!

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Until it's your little "joe" that doesn't get in. Or your wife and daughter or granddaughter that has to show here tatas to get in or out of a ticket. Just because it exist doesn't make it okay. You may not stop all but moral character says you do what you can. And if you have the mentality that everyone does it then dont be a cop or a judge or a college administrator for all the rest of us sake.

Fuzzy Curmudgeon said...

The longer I live, the more I think college is for people who can’t learn a trade.

I learned three trades before I went to college, so I think I have some perspective on this.

Fuzzy Curmudgeon said...

Anon, you don’t sound like you spend much time around here, or you’d have read those last few lines as sarcasm. Which of course they were.

Jean said...

Old Joe Kennedy had to pay big bucks to KEEP JFK in fancy schools let alone get him in one in the first place.
Yes, it is a shame that's been/being done, but there aren't enough rich people to take up enough space to be bothered about, in my opinion.
Those kids are hardly ever going to earn their money, just inherit it or figure out how to steal it.
However, I will enjoy chuckling at Ohio State when they get around to pulling their pants down.

Joe said...

Anon, do you really think admissions at ANY college or university has a quota and when they admit only X students? Say you determined capacity is 1,000 students. Do you think once the admissions department admits 1,000 kids they high five and grab a beer and plate of nachos? Of course not.

Colleges admit more than they need because many students apply to more than one university. The kids involved in this scandal didn't take someone else's place.

I'm not excusing the crimes here, I just think it is a minor thing and far from worthy of he attention we are giving it.

Anonymous said...

Yes they only send out for so many places. If it's 1000 they made send out for 1200 or what ever percentage they have calculated. It's not okay if you were the 1201. It's not a minor things because of the messages it sends. It makes our education system a joke, it lowers standards, it sets bad examples for our youth, it lowers our level of competence against other nations, every message counts. Our acceptance of the minor things is where our train derails. Sweat the small things they do matter. Especially when it comes to our education system. And that includes trades as well. All types of education is important. We have turned work into a four letter word instead of embracing skill, knowledge, and ability. The reason this has exploded is what an education cost and the future impact it has on futures including debt and financial future. It is the nerve. And it just got pricked.

Joe said...

I'm far more upset by colleges and universities giving free rides to athletes (many who couldn't pass your sacred enterences requirements if they couldn't do things in a game) than to gifted academic students.

This whole thing wouldn't even make the news if it did not involve D list celebrities. Coaches and shoe companies paying players got a lot less press.

Is it wrong? Sure. Is it molehill elevated to a mountain? Absolutely.

Your opinion my vary. I'm a cynic, so on the whole it just does not bother me much.

Ralphd00d said...

I read this tonight, and just chuckled... and chuckled. My viewpoint fits this... awesome.

Cappy said...

When your City Council has to bribe Ohio University to get their kid in.

Sad.

It was sarcastic until this:
https://www.mindingthecampus.org/2019/03/18/the-four-unspoken-rules-for-getting-into-college/#comment-461354

Anonymous said...

We are the problem with athletes getting in that can't meet levels needed. Big money goes to tv coverage, tickets, and marketing. More money is given to the coaching staff than all others combined. Stop feeding the monster. College is suppose to be about education.

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