This college entrance cheating scandal fascinates me, and I think it's going to stay that way for a while.
First of all, if I had a kid, if I had the money, and if the kid needed help, of course, I'd grease some palms to make things work. Yes, there is an ethics issue, but you just do things for your kids. Having said that, there is something said to putting honesty over money.
The sad part about it is that there are so many greaseable palms out there. If you're willing to hand out money, there are more than enough people willing to accept.
That's the problem.
I remember an elementary school teacher telling us about cheating on tests. She said she would punish the "giver" more than the "taker" because you'd have to be crazy not to take the right answers.
So much for that early lesson in honesty and ethics.
This college thing raises the concept to a whole new level. I can see where some parents did it because they wanted to give their kids the best education possible. Ethics be damned. While the middle man apparently was skilled in putting things over on the admissions offices, colleges and universities really need to take a long, hard look at how they do things, and how money is their ultimate God.
As I said last week, the true losers are the deserving students who were denied opportunity.
Big and prestigious colleges and universities aren't all they're cracked up to be.
I've met graduates from places with great reputations who bordered on incompetent. On the other hand, I've worked with a lot of people from under the radar schools, who turned out to be great.
Some students thrive on a big campus. I was very happy with my choice of a small school. It was "me."
The only lesson that might come out of this is a realization there is a huge need for system reform.
