You apparently have a much more sympathetic impression of her than I do.
Plagiarism makes me mad because it’s theft. She’s not just faking herself, she’s faking herself and anyone who reads what she passes off as her own. While this isn’t academic plagarism, which makes it difficult for teachers to guage what their students actually know, it’s still dishonest. I would never plagiarise anyone, and I’d be mad as all hell if I knew someone was stealing my work.
In writing for a real newspaper, Hornstine had an opportunity a lot people would have loved to have had. While her parents might have been the guiding forces behind the valedictorian-at-all-costs drive, but I don’t see how they can be held responsible for her ignorance of journalistic standards.
I’ve never plagiarised or cheated, and I wouldn’t give the slightest toss if someone used my work as their own. It happened all through college where I was the only student comfortable enough to discuss my theories with the tutors, while the other students dilligently copied them down and reproduced them in papers. I figure I still got more personally out of my courses than any of them, I was more involved and probably developed a wider knowledge. It taught me to develop and run with my own theories, which has served me well since.
I doubt any of her actions had anything to do with ignorance. She sounds like a scared little girl trying very hard to fit in with what was expected of her, and yes, I feel pity for her because of that. She dug herself into a hole and is suffering for it. I don’t enjoy hearing about that, no matter what she did.
If someone’s stolen an idea to get somewhere, to get a job, whatever, then the pressure is now on them to come up with the goods. I’d hate to be in that position, waiting to be found out, worried I’d wasn’t up to where I’d gotten myself but knowing there’s no way out without admitting to everything and then watching everything fall apart. Can you even imagine? I think it must be awful.
But my life? Everything I have, everything that I am, I have worked for. I have not relied on anyone but myself to accomplish everything that I have. If it happened while I was poor or in need, then yeah, I’d have been pretty pissed, but now I’m not. I have all I need, I do not need more and can be proud of all I have because it has come from me, only from me. I don’t have to ever worry that I am not the person that everyone believes me to be, because I am simply who I am, and have got there on my own merits. It’s a nice place to be. And if I ever have an idea worth stealing, you’re welcome to it, as the real benefits (self-worth, confidence and pride as opposed to stress, pressure and self-doubt) would be mine, not yours. Wouldn’t hold your breath, though.
Her plagerism was not victimless. Lots of kids earn top grades, but few are accepted at Harvard. Activities outside of school are considered in an application. Her activity was journalism of a supposedly very high standard, so through her plagerism in addition to whatever honest attributes she may have had, she promoted herself into a place at Harvard. Her taking a place at Harvard prevented some other honest person from earning that same place.
Yes, it must be awful, but it is a position the plagiarist put him or herself into all on their own.
There’s no pressure on the habitual plagiarist. If they feel they’ve gotten away with it, they’ll just keep doing it until they get caught. And when they do get caught, they play the role of the victim.
It would be “awful” if they were put in that position by means that were out of their control. It is not awful, because it’s the punishment for their misdeed.
(Incidentally, if a person robs a house and is convicted, is it “awful” that they have to go to jail? No; it’s the appropriate punishment.)
A good thought, but pretty impractical. You may certainly keep your “real” benefits while your thief gets all the money, credit, and fame for your good idea.
This reminds me of a Dilbert cartoon, as unfortunately so many things do. Dilbert complains that he’s underpaid, and his boss explains to him that people don’t work at that company for the money, they’re there for the challenge. To which Dilbert replies, “How about I give you my challenges, and you give me your money?”
Count me in that crowd. There’s no excusing the plagiarism, and who knows who exactly is behind the suit (sucks no matter what). But there comes a point, perhaps around the time when you’re publicly embarrassed repeatedly (she was raked over the coals for the suit, then for winning, then for the plagiarism, now again for getting disinvited) and millions of people are screaming about what a jerk you are and how you deserve anything and everything bad that happens to you, that it gets to be a little much. Hopefully she’ll be left alone, learn the lessons here, lick her wounds - and get over the mass embarrassment - and make something of herself. She’s obviously intelligent, so I can’t complain about her getting into Brown - coming from someone who badly wanted to go to Brown and didn’t, by the way - and that’s about the end of it as far as I’m concerned.
Marley, whichever school she gets into, I won’t complain. I’m glad it’s not the one she wanted, but I wouldn’t want her to do without a college altogether, as she would probably need a college degree to succeed in life anyway. More power to her if it’s still an Ivy school.
I might feel like this, but only if and when her multimillion dollar lawsuit fails.
If she gets millions of dollars from the school over her right to abuse the system for a title, millions of dollars that the school desparately needs, then that will be the worst thing she has done yet. In other words, I’m not going to feel sorry for her when potentially the very worst thing she will do is yet to come.
I might, but only when her multimillion dollar lawsuit is dropped. As long as she persits in suing the school district (AFAIK, its a public school) and therefore the taxpayers, and therefore me, I’m going to be perfectly happy taking what solice I can in the comfort that she is getting her karmic comupppance.
Not if Harvard had a waiting list, which IIRC almost every four-year school has for cases where students who are admitted to the school decide not to go.
I find this funny. I went to college with perhaps the first person to sue to be sole valedictorian in 1996…she lived on my floor in my dorm freshman year. At the time, she made Time’s “Most intriguing people” list, and we just thought it was rediculous.
My reference was to her admission, by which through her plagerism she improperly took a place that otherwise would have gone to an honest student. My reference was not to the recession of admission, by which an honest student now has that place. I hope that this clarifies things. Sorry for the confusion.
I was discussing this entire fiasco with some friends this past weekend. We’re all in our 40s or older. I asked if any of them remembered who their high school valedictorian was, assuming it was someone other than them. No one remembered - not even the woman who was tied for #2 in her class.
So, in the grand scheme of things - what does being valedictorian even matter? I guess it matters to some, but to me, high school ended in 1972, and it was just the groundwork for what came later. Anyway, maybe this will all fade into the background and Blair can live a relatively normal life. But I seriously doubt that.
I have few qualms about the schadenfreude that I’m feeling, though admittedly I’ve extended it to her father/parents as probably the driving force - or at least major enablers - behind this push to succeed at all costs. She still has a lawsuit pending against her school district, and spent her high school years manipulating her GPA to insane standards. Plus she wanted to mess up someone else’s shot to also be able to write “valdedictorian” on college applications.
Hopefully along the way, she and/or her parents will suddenly develop a conscience capable of understanding what has happened, and she can get her life on a good track.
I never posted when this was hot. I think the girl got what was coming to her…but that the humility she learns may make her a better person in the long run.
I’m just glad she’s going to a Big school in a Big state and in a region of America where no one ever gossips behind their neighbor’s back or noses into their business. I just hope she wears her NY Yankee cap as she moves into her dorm. Its a 4 year school, but if she works extra hard, she might be out in 3.
My guess is the lawsuit will be dropped quietly. If it proceeds, the school district will have every incentive in the world to scrutinize every last one of Blair’s assignments starting in kindergarten. What comes out may be awfully embarrassing to Blair. If the lawsuit goes away, all parties can go home, and this will all go away.