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Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Chow Parents Sue Mark Zimny
Business Insider: Gerald and Lily Chow, two parents from Hong Kong, are suing a former Harvard Professor after he allegedly took huge sums of money to help their sons get into the elite college and failed.
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4 comments:
I'm a little confused as to why it isn't illegal to basically bribe someone into cheating college admissions. Yes, the company was "to help" with admissions chances and all that, and I'm sure a lot of people used it to just learn about the way the system works (never a bad thing, especially when the 'system' is so much more important than it should be). But by suing, aren't they admitting that they partook in an illegal activity, bribing for admission? And if that isn't illegal, why the hell not?
I don't understand how their lawyer can possibly think he has a case. The parents basically bribed the school to let their sons in, and are suing because they didn't make it in? That's ridiculous. That sounds as absurd as a bank robber robbing a bank, and then suing the bank because they didn't get as much money as they wanted. If the boys didn't make it into the school, there was probably a good reason, and as a private school, Harvard has the ability to not accept a student it doesn't want. If the boys got into a different, but equally elite, school, the parents should be happy that they were able to do even that and just let the rest go.
This case seems a little bit ridiculous to me. As Jess and Rachael stated above, the parent's have their case completely backwards. It is legally and ethically wrong for the parents to have bribed a Harvard professor in order to ensure their child's admittance to the prestigious university. While this act is most likely against the law, I also believe it is an act that is dangerous to the Chow children's futures. First of all, if the children did not earn their own admittance to Harvard, they will possibly be unhappy there. Also, it is setting up the idea that, for the rest of their lives, the children will be able to get their way through money and bribery. Instead, parents should be promoting the ideals of hard work and determination to achieve goals. This case says a lot about the competitive nature of the American college system, and makes you question what other uncovered scandals of a similar nature have occurred over the years.
I am confused as to why a wealthy family like the Chows would go public with this embarrassment. I think a student should do everything to the best of their ability to get into a college. I can understand a family paying a tutor to help their child do better on a test and thus prove their ability. If a student is not admitted into their top choice well they need other options and like another business school that is the way of it. I second what Jess Bergson said in that it would give the sons the wrong idea of how life works by simply going around bribing people. However it seems from what the article said it is the commonplace in China. My advice for the sons is go somewhere else and transfer or apply next year and maybe increase test scores. If you can drop 2 million to bribe someone I am sure that you can find a damn good tutor for that much and get in the honest way.
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