Does anyone know why the husband got 2.5x more penalty than the wife? Was the court able to prove it was his idea or he was somehow more guilty?
Lori Loughlin and husband sentenced in college bribery scandal
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Re: Lori Loughlin and husband sentenced in college bribery scandal
#62Why weren't they both punished evenly? Seems like a biased decision. Is it because Lori is a "celebrity"?
Re: Lori Loughlin and husband sentenced in college bribery scandal
#63Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is a typical comment of a Western European. I know, you would love to forget that Greece and Bulgaria are in Europe. However... they are.
I am from Slovakia and the country is pretty corrupt. But I feel that the moral boundary is somewhat different. In Eastern Europe, preferring your friends and family is more acceptable, whereas in the US it seems to be stuff that could be classified as, maybe, "lobbying" or "ecnomics".
The difference I've noticed between American corruption and Eastern European corruption, is that you need to spend a lot more money to be corrupt in the US.
To get basic things done in Russia, like official paperwork, basic government services, or dealing with cops, it always helped to grease the wheels in some way. None of that really works in the US, you need to spend a lot more to be involved in corruption, and even then, it's often uncertain.
Re: Lori Loughlin and husband sentenced in college bribery scandal
#64Earlier quoted context omitted.
> vs a public donation that benefits the entire student body besides your child? Not a donation if the donor is receiving something in exchange.
I was just sloppy with my wording. I should have said quid pro quo contribution. In any case, the amount above the fair market value of the benefit received is a donation. https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/charitable-organiz... https://adminguide.stanford.edu/chapter-4/subchapter-1/polic...
Oh really? And how would one access the fair market value of an admission to Harvard?
Re: Lori Loughlin and husband sentenced in college bribery scandal
#65Does anyone know why the husband got 2.5x more penalty than the wife? Was the court able to prove it was his idea or he was somehow more guilty?
It's a plea deal, he plead guilty to more crimes.
>Loughlin pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud, and Giannulli pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud and honest services wire and mail fraud
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/22/us/lori-loughlin-guilty-p...
Re: Lori Loughlin and husband sentenced in college bribery scandal
#66Why weren't they both punished evenly? Seems like a biased decision. Is it because Lori is a "celebrity"?
It's a plea deal, he plead guilty to more crimes. It is likely they discussed it.
>Loughlin pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud, and Giannulli pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud and honest services wire and mail fraud
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/22/us/lori-loughlin-guilty-p...
Re: Lori Loughlin and husband sentenced in college bribery scandal
#67I have a very hard time getting even remotely upset about the college bribery scandal when it's both legal and encouraged for the truly rich to get their failsons 'legacy admissions' at selective colleges by donating multiple millions to the institutions. The people who have been prosecuted as part of this scandal aren't being prosecuted for devaluing earned degrees at selective colleges; they're being prosecuted for…
Yeah, it feels more like they're getting punished for getting a discount and not giving the universities the bribe directly (likely because the actual 'fee' for getting your kid in is more than they could afford). I was similarly bothered by this, and by the fact that nobody was worried that these students would fail out given that they cheated their way in. Says a lot about the actual signalling value vs. educationa…
> Yeah, it feels more like they're getting punished for getting a discount and not giving the universities the bribe directly.
What do you think the word "bribe" means? Paying money for a service (admission to a university) is not a bribe. Exchanging money for services is literally how the entire economy works.
Paying an agent of an organization money to subvert their organization's processes and steal from their employer, on the other hand, is actual bribery.
Re: Lori Loughlin and husband sentenced in college bribery scandal
#68I have a very hard time getting even remotely upset about the college bribery scandal when it's both legal and encouraged for the truly rich to get their failsons 'legacy admissions' at selective colleges by donating multiple millions to the institutions. The people who have been prosecuted as part of this scandal aren't being prosecuted for devaluing earned degrees at selective colleges; they're being prosecuted for…
There's a big difference. I'm surprised you don't see it. If a billionaire donates a new building to a college so his dim-witted son can get in, the entire school benefits because they have a new facility. And the school can see to it that nobody gets "displaced" by this dim-witted kid by increasing the class size by 1. If a wealthy person bribes and athletic coach to get his kid into school, the school gets no money…
If college admission slots are going to be up for sale, colleges need to be honest about it and post the prices. We have no way of knowing if the rich kid is displacing someone more deserving or not.
Re: Lori Loughlin and husband sentenced in college bribery scandal
#69Earlier quoted context omitted.
“ I was similarly bothered by this, and by the fact that nobody was worried that these students would fail out given that they cheated their way in.” You would be surprised at how difficult it is to fail out of programs. From what I’ve seen profs have an unwritten rule to not fail students from school admin, otherwise they might complain and so it’s easier to give a D than fail them completely.
That depends on the school. My 4-year would put you on academic suspension if your GPA was too low, which ended with you kicked out (well forced to take a 1 year break and have to ask to return... Not a lot of people did, especially since credits expired after 7 years). Although, I did get a D in a class I should have failed by the curve because I didn't write up all the lab reports, but I did well on all the tests a…
It wasn't really possible to flunk out of Caltech. What would happen is students would get discouraged and just leave. If you wanted to return, they'd let you back.
A friend of mine "flunked out" this way, and 10 years later came back and finished with all As. I asked him if he got any smarter in that decade. He laughed, and said no, he was just willing to do the work the second time around.
Re: Lori Loughlin and husband sentenced in college bribery scandal
#70Earlier quoted context omitted.
I was just sloppy with my wording. I should have said quid pro quo contribution. In any case, the amount above the fair market value of the benefit received is a donation. https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/charitable-organiz... https://adminguide.stanford.edu/chapter-4/subchapter-1/polic...
Oh really? And how would one access the fair market value of an admission to Harvard?
I have no idea, but Stanford has an office for it. I assume Harvard does too. This is all completely besides the point of my comment.
One of these things is bribery and corruption. The other may be unfair and people have reason not to like it, but it's above board. You want to pick nits over my use of the word donation and the fair market value of admission, go ahead.