# Girl who sued school to be valdictorian caught plagarizing. Hee. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 6, 2003, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-who-sued-school-to-be-valdictorian-caught-plagarizing-hee/180055 "2003-06-06T12:03:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![andygirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@andygirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andygirl)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2003, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-who-sued-school-to-be-valdictorian-caught-plagarizing-hee/180055/1 "2003-06-06T12:03:23Z")
CHERRY HILL, N.J. – [A high school student](http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-nj--valedictoriansuit0604jun04,0,6062928.story?coll=ny-ap-regional-wire) who won a lawsuit to be named sole valedictorian has admitted she did not properly attribute information in three articles and two essays she wrote for the Courier-Post of Cherry Hill. [Harvard](http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=348380) ain’t too happy about this. As has been noted by wiser than I, karma is a bitch. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2003, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-who-sued-school-to-be-valdictorian-caught-plagarizing-hee/180055/2 "2003-06-06T12:12:28Z")
> [@](#): > > Kudatzky, however, defended Hornstine. “I am confident that, at the end of the day, Harvard will see that this is a non-issue, and, quite frankly, something that is another example of Blair being singled out and victimized,” he said. Singled out, yeah, right. :rolleyes: $10 bucks says she’ll sue Harvard next. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2003, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-who-sued-school-to-be-valdictorian-caught-plagarizing-hee/180055/3 "2003-06-06T12:14:57Z")
Will the victimization of this poor girl never end? ---
**Author:** ![andygirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@andygirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andygirl)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2003, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-who-sued-school-to-be-valdictorian-caught-plagarizing-hee/180055/4 "2003-06-06T12:17:12Z")
I’m just glad she ain’t sullying up my school. I hope Harvard withdraws her admission. In other news, I remain simply amazed at the lengths that people will go to so that they or their kids can attend any Ivy or other elite school. The more I hear about how ridiculous it gets, the more I look at me and some of my friends and wonder how in blue blazes we made it here… ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2003, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-who-sued-school-to-be-valdictorian-caught-plagarizing-hee/180055/5 "2003-06-06T12:33:58Z")
This is what gets me… > [@](#): > > Hornstine sought to explain her actions in a column printed alongside the correction in yesterday’s Courier-Post. She wrote that she was not aware of the paper’s “strict citation scrutiny” and thought sourcing rules for journalism were more lax “because there was no place for footnotes or endnotes.” Just because there are no footnotes or endnotes in a newspaper article doesn’t mean that her sources couldn’t be cited. Has the girl never heard of internal citations? She’s not being victimized; the bed she made is now begging to be slept in. Robin ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2003, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-who-sued-school-to-be-valdictorian-caught-plagarizing-hee/180055/6 "2003-06-06T12:41:04Z")
Her name is Blair too?? I’d forgotten that. It’s been a bad month for plagarists named Blair (Hornstine _and_ Jayson). ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21825_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2003, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-who-sued-school-to-be-valdictorian-caught-plagarizing-hee/180055/7 "2003-06-06T12:58:28Z")
Even if she does manage to sue her way through college and graduate, who’s going to hire her? I certainly wouldn’t - she’d be more trouble than she’d ever be worth. All this stink starting because she wanted to be a _high school_ valedictorian. Like that means anything in the grand scheme of things… ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2003, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-who-sued-school-to-be-valdictorian-caught-plagarizing-hee/180055/8 "2003-06-06T13:06:06Z")
Oh, no, I hope she goes to Harvard. The people who actually worked to get there will eat her alive. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2003, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-who-sued-school-to-be-valdictorian-caught-plagarizing-hee/180055/9 "2003-06-06T13:23:12Z")
**GMR** You said it. ---
**Author:** ![Qazzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/aeb1de/32.png) [@Qazzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qazzz)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2003, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-who-sued-school-to-be-valdictorian-caught-plagarizing-hee/180055/10 "2003-06-06T13:36:52Z")
What a dumb whore. Did admission to Harvard really hinge on being valedictorian? I was valedictorian of my high school, by the way! And I didn’t sue anybody! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2003, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-who-sued-school-to-be-valdictorian-caught-plagarizing-hee/180055/11 "2003-06-06T13:44:04Z")
Plagiarism is not a “non-issue.” And someone who is valedictorian–oh, excuse me, SOLE valedictorian–shouldn’t need to be told what plagiarism is or whether it is “okay” to do in the absence of specific instructions not to commit it. She sounds like a reeeeeeeal piece of work. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2003, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-who-sued-school-to-be-valdictorian-caught-plagarizing-hee/180055/12 "2003-06-06T13:54:07Z")
This is just great. I fear you’re right, **World Eater**. She probably will sue Harvard next. Then, she’ll sue the first company she applies at because she was "not aware that she had to fill out the entire thing, since she was a Harvard graduate and a sole high school valedictorian. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2003, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-who-sued-school-to-be-valdictorian-caught-plagarizing-hee/180055/13 "2003-06-06T13:57:51Z")
> [@](#): > > One essay in question, published in March on nuclear tensions in North Korea, was named best essay of the month by the Courier-Post. [snip] > > “It was a whole lot of nothing. She wrote some fluff pieces for a kid-chat column,” [her lawyer] said. Nothing says “fluff” to me like a madman with nuclear weapons. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2003, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-who-sued-school-to-be-valdictorian-caught-plagarizing-hee/180055/14 "2003-06-06T14:02:08Z")
(Nelson): HA-ha! ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ea5d25/32.png) [@Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Scrappy_Hero_Pup)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2003, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-who-sued-school-to-be-valdictorian-caught-plagarizing-hee/180055/15 "2003-06-06T14:04:10Z")
I heard that, when asked for comment on her declining prospects, Hornstine said, “The only thing I have to fear is… fear itself.” ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2003, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-who-sued-school-to-be-valdictorian-caught-plagarizing-hee/180055/16 "2003-06-06T14:07:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lord Ashtar \* > \*\*This is just great. I fear you’re right, **World Eater**. She probably will sue Harvard next. Then, she’ll sue the first company she applies at because she was "not aware that she had to fill out the entire thing, since she was a Harvard graduate and a sole high school valedictorian. \*\* [sub]Tapping my nose with my forefinger[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2003, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-who-sued-school-to-be-valdictorian-caught-plagarizing-hee/180055/17 "2003-06-06T14:11:43Z")
Twickster said, “Will the victimization of this poor girl never end?” While I realize this was a sarcastic comment, I do think she’s a victim here. Her parents, in a lame attempt to live vicariously through her, are the demons here. They have her believing that business/scholastic success, at any price, is the ultimate goal in life. She’ll probably end up an empty shell of a human being who judges everyone by their bank account. She’ll judge all life’s accomplishments by their “bottom line.” It’s actually very sad. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2003, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-who-sued-school-to-be-valdictorian-caught-plagarizing-hee/180055/18 "2003-06-06T14:22:16Z")
> [@](#): > > Her parents, in a lame attempt to live vicariously through her, are the demons here. They have her believing that business/scholastic success, at any price, is the ultimate goal in life. Are you basing that on anything? There’s nothing in either article that leads me to that conclusion. Seems to me that suing the school was gross, although I’d note that the school made the wrong call by naming other people valedictorian - and I’m sorry, but nobody of the intelligence she claims to have should really need an ethics codebook to know if they’re plagiarizing or not. I had zero journalism training when I started writing columns for a local paper in high school and didn’t “borrow liberally” because nobody told me not to. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2003, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-who-sued-school-to-be-valdictorian-caught-plagarizing-hee/180055/19 "2003-06-06T14:23:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kalhoun \* > \*\*Twickster said, “Will the victimization of this poor girl never end?” > > While I realize this was a sarcastic comment, I do think she’s a victim here. Her parents, in a lame attempt to live vicariously through her, are the demons here. They have her believing that business/scholastic success, at any price, is the ultimate goal in life. She’ll probably end up an empty shell of a human being who judges everyone by their bank account. She’ll judge all life’s accomplishments by their “bottom line.” It’s actually very sad. \*\* You know this to be true? ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2003, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-who-sued-school-to-be-valdictorian-caught-plagarizing-hee/180055/20 "2003-06-06T14:28:59Z")
If somehow she does manage to get through Harvard (can you say ANOTHER lawsuit? Or more?), who the HELL is going to hire her? She’d be WAAAAY more trouble than she’s worth. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-who-sued-school-to-be-valdictorian-caught-plagarizing-hee/180055.md?page=2)