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FBI accuses wealthy parents in college-entrance bribery scheme
121–130 of 321 posts
Re: FBI accuses wealthy parents in college-entrance bribery scheme
#122What I find interesting is that when my kid got into a UC via a semi-sport yes, it helped her, but only a tiny bit -- the overall average GPA for these students is only slightly lower (by two points -- 4.0 vs 4.2) than the overall average of who get in, but you still HAVE to make the requirements, and the SAT requirements and other requirements stay exactly the same. Why is it different at other schools like UCLA? That would seem to be an easy fix for this.
Re: FBI accuses wealthy parents in college-entrance bribery scheme
#123Earlier quoted context omitted.
It is public. Universities almost always include the donation size when they put out press releases about the new building.
And usually the building bears the name of the donor!
Often they take the classy move and name it after a relative, often a parent. Harvard's Maxwell-Dworkin building got that name because those are the maiden names of Bill Gates's and Steve Ballmer's moms.
Re: FBI accuses wealthy parents in college-entrance bribery scheme
#124I understand why it is unethical, but what law did they break?
The coach is not a government employee, so aren't you legally permitted to bribe them?
Re: FBI accuses wealthy parents in college-entrance bribery scheme
#125The underlying problem is that a college only needs a smattering of renowned alumni in order to maintain its academic prestige; graduating a whole lot of dummies who paid their way in doesn't detract from the cherry-picked examples of academic achievement. The remaining bulk of its prestige can be rooted in money and social position. That seems to be the formula.
Re: FBI accuses wealthy parents in college-entrance bribery scheme
#126Earlier quoted context omitted.
I didn't say it was a publicly listed price. You could have a deal set up with the store's owner, that's fine. Having an individual deal with a cashier that results in the rest of the customers having a slightly lowered experience to the benefit of one person and it not going to the owner is the problem. If the owner is fine with the quality for the general public going down and what that does to his business, that's…
I mentioned the non-public price information to indicate that it's to lend a helping hand for those also wishing to commit tax fraud and deducting the "donations". If there was a public price, then they would lose that. My intent was to demonstrate that whatever is going on is hush hush for a reason, and not comparable to a legitimate transaction where a private business owner chooses to sell a product or service to…
Whether you think it's tax fraud probably depends on what purpose you think being able to deduct donations to non-profits serves.
I would say that every donation carries with it the possibility of some benefit to the donator, no matter who does it. There's always the public relations or social benefit or being seen as "doing a good thing". Without this benefit, some amount charity might go away. Does it matter that people or organizations give because they see benefit to themselves in it? I think not, and I think the tax law is set up specifically to turn a blind eye to this. In that respect, it's not fraud at all, it's how the system is designed to work to promote charitable giving.
Also, since to my understanding most of this "advertising" for donations which results in naming a building is to individuals, it also depends on how you classify advertising. Is establishing a legacy for yourself so you're looked on favorably after you're dead advertising? We generally don't call it as such, but even it is, so what? Does is promote more good or harm to society in general? That's the only metric we should measure it by.
Re: FBI accuses wealthy parents in college-entrance bribery scheme
#127Earlier quoted context omitted.
Donating a building is a payment to the university . The university then gets to decide to admit your child in return. It may not be meritocratic, but it's not corrupt (except perhaps insofar as by pretending the exchange is a donation, the university and donor manage to cheat the taxman). The donor is simply paying the university to provide a service that they have every right to offer for money. It also benefits ot…
Anecdata: In my extended family, we have some members with a fair bit of 'bread'. These family members met at a somewhat known (yet small-ish) college and really loved the place and all the memories they had there. They donated a lot of money over the years and, yes, had a building named after them. When it came time for their daughter to apply to college, the choice was obvious. However, the daughter was rejected ou…
When I hear stuff like this I wonder what in the hell could have been so great about their experience that they'd want to do something like that. It makes me wonder what I missed out on in college that I don't feel the same way. Did I just by chance happen to not go to some meeting or join some club that would have changed everything?
Re: FBI accuses wealthy parents in college-entrance bribery scheme
#128A friend of mine, from high school (~1994), had the experience of being in a family that won the state lottery. He skipped high school a lot after that, driving around in his new car. Later, I heard his parents bought him a degree from USC. USC has had a reputation in California of corruption for decades. This story should not be a surprise for many.
Re: FBI accuses wealthy parents in college-entrance bribery scheme
#129I understand why it is unethical, but what law did they break? The coach is not a government employee, so aren't you legally permitted to bribe them?
They commited textbook fraud. You can take a look at the charges for yourself.
https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/investigations-college-admis...
Re: FBI accuses wealthy parents in college-entrance bribery scheme
#130Earlier quoted context omitted.
Anecdata: In my extended family, we have some members with a fair bit of 'bread'. These family members met at a somewhat known (yet small-ish) college and really loved the place and all the memories they had there. They donated a lot of money over the years and, yes, had a building named after them. When it came time for their daughter to apply to college, the choice was obvious. However, the daughter was rejected ou…
When I hear stuff like this I wonder what in the hell could have been so great about their experience that they'd want to do something like that. It makes me wonder what I missed out on in college that I don't feel the same way. Did I just by chance happen to not go to some meeting or join some club that would have changed everything?
It's different when you're rich