# Harvard to plagiarizing valedictorian: Buh Bye **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 11, 2003, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harvard-to-plagiarizing-valedictorian-buh-bye/187783 "2003-07-11T19:29:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![anya\_marie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@anya\_marie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anya_marie)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harvard-to-plagiarizing-valedictorian-buh-bye/187783/41 "2003-07-12T11:18:53Z")
Life’s a bitch, and no one feels her pain. /walks away amused ---
**Author:** ![FisherQueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58f4c7/32.png) [@FisherQueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FisherQueen)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harvard-to-plagiarizing-valedictorian-buh-bye/187783/42 "2003-07-12T11:39:12Z")
I love the irony. If she’d simply been a gracious winner, sharing the honor with her classmate, she’d be up at Harvard right now, most likely. Would anyone have gone back and closely examined those old newspapers if they weren’t so angry with her? I doubt it. But, because she was unkind, she doesn’t get to go to Harvard, she’s missed her application window, and the Entire Country knows that she’s a plaigiarist and an idiot. Mom was right-- you should always make an effort to be nice to people, if you can. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harvard-to-plagiarizing-valedictorian-buh-bye/187783/43 "2003-07-12T12:24:06Z")
What do you think her public comment will be? Or will it be a “no comment” from her attorney? (this is a semi-serious question.) ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harvard-to-plagiarizing-valedictorian-buh-bye/187783/44 "2003-07-12T12:29:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kambuckta \* > \*\*it just strikes me as incredibly sad that ONE (OK, MAJOR) stuff-up is going to ruin her whole life. \*\* I guess this is the wrong forum to take a poll of how many of us have had our lives ruined by not being able to attend Harvard. At worst she may have a year off between high school and university (other than Harvard) to travel about, etc. I don’t see that as ruining her life. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harvard-to-plagiarizing-valedictorian-buh-bye/187783/45 "2003-07-12T12:32:36Z")
Well, it’s ruined in her eyes, I’m sure. She had her heart set on Harvard, and now she’ll have to make do with the “lesser” schools (not to mention the “lesser” people). I’m not too familiar with college admissions anymore, but it seems to me that she’d have to go to a place that has rolling admission, at this point - wouldn’t she? ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harvard-to-plagiarizing-valedictorian-buh-bye/187783/46 "2003-07-12T12:40:04Z")
I doubt that she could have succeeded at Harvard anyway. And she’s going to have a tough time in the real world, if she ever gets that far. Why is it people do horrible things, illegal things, things that everyone knows are wrong, and when they get caught, they feel they are a “victim”? ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harvard-to-plagiarizing-valedictorian-buh-bye/187783/47 "2003-07-12T13:02:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dantheman \* > \*\*Well, it’s ruined in her eyes, I’m sure. She had her heart set on Harvard, and now she’ll have to make do with the “lesser” schools (not to mention the “lesser” people). > > I’m not too familiar with college admissions anymore, but it seems to me that she’d have to go to a place that has rolling admission, at this point - wouldn’t she? \*\* My college had a rolling admissions policy, and if you didn’t get in for fall semester, you could either be wait-listed, admitted for the spring semester, or admitted for the following fall. I think it’s too late for her to be admitted to a four-year university for this fall. That said, I don’t think any four-year school will take her at this point. That she made her valedictorian suit public then got caught plagiarizing makes her basically damaged goods as far as colleges are concerned. In their eyes, she’s a whiner and a cheat and more trouble than she’s worth. Even if she could find a college that’ll take her, all of her work would be scrutinized closely, and the slightest hint of dishonesty will get her probation, if not outright expulsion. Robin ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harvard-to-plagiarizing-valedictorian-buh-bye/187783/48 "2003-07-12T13:06:00Z")
Maybe, but there are a lot of colleges out there. Wouldn’t one of them, desperate for money, take her? If it was a small, mostly unknown school, perhaps they would. ---
**Author:** ![sugaree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@sugaree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sugaree)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harvard-to-plagiarizing-valedictorian-buh-bye/187783/49 "2003-07-12T13:33:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MsRobyn \* > \*\* Now, Shippensburg University isn’t the fancy-pants school Harvard is. \*\* Shippensburg rocks. You’ll love it. ---
**Author:** ![Silentgoldfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@Silentgoldfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silentgoldfish)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harvard-to-plagiarizing-valedictorian-buh-bye/187783/50 "2003-07-12T13:36:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Boyo Jim \* > \*\*There’s some good programs available in community colleges. I’m thinking Certified Nurse’s Assistant. They clean bedpans and give patients sponge baths. > \*\* _shrug_. It’s a living. 😉 Actually, I don’t want to hijack, cause I don’t like it when a ferpectly good thread gets hijacked on a technicality, but I wasn’t expecting to see a job not too disimiliar from my own get given as an also-ran career. Heck, at least I’m not in sales! 🙂 [back to the thread] ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harvard-to-plagiarizing-valedictorian-buh-bye/187783/51 "2003-07-12T13:42:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MsRobyn \* > **That said, I don’t think any four-year school will take her at this point.** That assumes that morality is an admission condition at such schools, that the admissions officers remember her matter. I would be highly surprised if she were not accepted by a good university within a year. ---
**Author:** ![sugaree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@sugaree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sugaree)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harvard-to-plagiarizing-valedictorian-buh-bye/187783/52 "2003-07-12T13:53:51Z")
She’d probably be best off at a reputable online school such as the University of Phoenix. That way she wouldn’t have to deal with any of those pesky humans that made her high-school years such a trial. And a school like that is probably expert at finding plagerism. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harvard-to-plagiarizing-valedictorian-buh-bye/187783/53 "2003-07-12T14:39:36Z")
> [@](#): > > At this rate, if she continues with the lawsuits and the ensuing scorn, she’ll be a short order cook for truckers in a few years. Actually, she’ll be the fry cook but she’ll be suing for the short order cook’s position. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harvard-to-plagiarizing-valedictorian-buh-bye/187783/54 "2003-07-12T15:37:23Z")
And don’t knock community colleges-I went to one for two years and then transferred to a four year school. As for how this has ruined her life-no, it’s not ruined because she can’t get to Harvard. It’s ruined because she made an ass out of herself over something so petty, screwed other people out of Valedictorian, and then didn’t even show, was caught plagarising-and for what? Nothing. She risked it all because of greed, and now she’ll always be known as THAT girl who sued to be SOLE valedictorian and ended up not attending graduation and losing her chance to go to the school she wanted, ruining her reputation. No one will ever really trust her, and years from now she’ll be in those “What ever happened to” articles in PEOPLE magazine. ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harvard-to-plagiarizing-valedictorian-buh-bye/187783/55 "2003-07-12T16:33:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by sugaree \* > \*\*Man, I am gloating over this, and I have this little fantasy that she ends up in one of my classes in the state university I attend, and we non-valdictorians academically acheive her into the dirt, but… > > It sounds like she was raised in some goal-oriented cult rather than an actual family. I can’t completely blame any eighteen-year-old for not yet having grown the cojones to buck her control-freak parents. It seem as if her parents have completely mucked up her life, her view of the world, and her view of herself, and now, sadly, it’s up to her to fix those things. > > I wish her the best in the long run. > > I’m really happy about Hah-vahd falling through in the here-and-now. \*\* I agree completely. The kid’s got a few years ahead of her that I wouldn’t wish on anyone. It’s good that she’s had a few lessons in the ways of the world, but I hope for her sake that the people around her forget this and let her move on. Hell, most of us did our share of stupid, immature, and downright hurtful things when we were eighteen, but we don’t get judged on it for the rest of our lives. ---
**Author:** ![lindsay.reid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/82dd89/32.png) [@lindsay.reid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lindsay.reid)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harvard-to-plagiarizing-valedictorian-buh-bye/187783/56 "2003-07-12T18:54:29Z")
Does anyone have a link to an online article about this? I want to read the details firsthand… ---
**Author:** ![Yobwoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/c0e974/32.png) [@Yobwoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yobwoc)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harvard-to-plagiarizing-valedictorian-buh-bye/187783/57 "2003-07-12T19:59:17Z")
The original Great Debates thread on Ms. Hornstine here had been revived and has some links to the new newspaper articles (including the one from The Crimson ). Also, if I’m not misaken (and I may be) an article I saw mentioned that Hornstine would be going to Brown instead. Not too shabby (unfortunately), but why on earth would they accept her??😕 ---
**Author:** ![Yobwoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/c0e974/32.png) [@Yobwoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yobwoc)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harvard-to-plagiarizing-valedictorian-buh-bye/187783/58 "2003-07-12T20:08:06Z")
Sorry, that didn’t work very well. [Here’s](http://www.thecrimson.com/today/article348498.html) one of the links. (I hope.) ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harvard-to-plagiarizing-valedictorian-buh-bye/187783/59 "2003-07-12T23:02:55Z")
The article linked above indicates that her high-school work may be scrutinized. Gee, I wonder what they might find. ---
**Author:** ![Plankspanker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Plankspanker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plankspanker)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harvard-to-plagiarizing-valedictorian-buh-bye/187783/60 "2003-07-12T23:51:41Z")
well, it’s like i always say… if you’re gonna scream about somone being dirty, make sure you’re squeaky clean first… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harvard-to-plagiarizing-valedictorian-buh-bye/187783.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harvard-to-plagiarizing-valedictorian-buh-bye/187783.md?page=4)