She’s the Girl They Love to Hate

Newsweek via www.msnbc ^ | june 23 | Julie Scelfo and Barbara Kantrowitz

[BRL]

She’s the Girl They Love to Hate When her school wanted to make her share the valedictorian spot, Blair Hornstine went to court. She won—and that’s when her troubles began

By Julie Scelfo and Barbara Kantrowitz NEWSWEEK

[randog]

She was admitted to HARVARD. You think they admit anyone to Harvard?

Read the article--she might be de-admitted to Harvard for plagiarism.

[BRL]

well put

[Trust but Verify]

My daughter's class ranking suffered because she took AP classes and got lower grades than she would have if she had taken regular chemistry, biology, etc. At her HS, AP and Honors classes were NOT weighted. Bad rule, but a rule nonetheless, and we knew the rules going in. Should we have gone to the school board or the courts after the fact to get an exception? Should we have cried about how unfair it was? The answer is obviously no. If you don't want to play by a set of rules, get the rules changed. Otherwise, STFU.

[headsonpikes]

"And all this future lawyer wanted..."

Why I am not surprised this game-player wants to be a freakin' lawyer?!?

[Trust but Verify]

Why should someone who worked very hard to achieve an important goal have to SHARE it because of the whining of the losers? Her family was forced into the courts by a school board that was taking a beating from parents of losers until they changed the rules to suit the losers.

Let's face it, there would have been no court case if the rules were followed.

[Trust but Verify]

What 'game' is she playing? Trying to be the top student? What 'game' are all the others playing?

[Trust but Verify]

From what's in the article, plagiarism is a stretch.

[NoControllingLegalAuthority]

I tell my kids that you can have anything that they want in life....

This is a breathtaking lie. I want my son back. He died at age thirteen because of an accident. Can I have that?

Life doesn't work that way. A thousand people apply for a job. Every applicant cannot be hired. It is better to teach perseverance and the ability to overcome life's inevitable setbacks than to give a child some ridiculous notion they lead a charmed life.

[Alouette]

all this future lawyer wanted

This says it all.

[independentmind]

Poor little rich sick girl who was forced by a nebulous malady to endure several years of private tutoring, all at the expense of the taxpayer. Such a brave litte soul is she!

And who better to know how to work the system than those scions of integrity who occupy the benches of New Jersey's state courts?

[Mr Rogers]

Should she be #1? Under the rules, yes. Should she admit she recieved special help, and graciously accept the other student who attended classes? Yes. Should she have sued for millions when she didn't get her (meanspirited) way in life? No. Should the judge have thrown out the case as being a waste of time? Yes. (What, exactly, are her 'damages' if she shares the number one spot?)

And are the other kids right in looking down on her & her (IMHO) phoney disability? YES! It shows the kids have more sense than the judge - or her parents, who have set her up for failure in real life.

In the real world, the vast majority of jobs require you to work in a team - and she has no clue how to do that. But wait! She'll be too tired to work, unless the work involves going to amusement parks...

[NoControllingLegalAuthority]

This is not a matter for the courts. This is ego and arrogance gone wild. We have real pain in the world. We have real court trials that need to be held.

So the school board is not fair? Get used to it darlin.' Life ain't fair and a million lawyers won't make it so.

[bimbo]

Another Moanica for Bubba, I presume.

... maybe another Hillary!

[BRL]

You missed the point of what I was trying to say. The point I was making was that they can demand to get something once, but they are often taking away all future opportunity for themselves. That was the point I was trying to make.

As an example, If my kids went to someones house and saw some candy in a candy jar, they could scream and fuss and probably get the candy. They may never get invited back to the house again after that , thereby giving up years of treats handed out to them at the discretion of the other person. So they did get what they wanted - once.

[templar]

I think you may have replied to the wrong post: See #16, to which my post was replying.

I am truly sorry for the loss of your son, I can't immagine a more difficult situation in life to deal with.

[Trust but Verify]

And so, I suppose, the girl in Wisconsin who went to court to force her school to allow her to sing a song containing the word God should not have gone to the courts, either, right?

I'm not one for filing a lawsuit at every opportunity, but I'd be damned if my kid had to share an honor she had earned with someone who may be a very good student and popular weaseled their way into the picture. This is the fault of the school board who should have told the other parents to take a hike.

[Unknown Freeper]

Prior threads discussing this girl...

Push for a co-valedictorian spurs suit
			Posted by frossca On 05/02/2003 8:11 AM EDT with 98 comments Philadelphia Daily News ^ | 05/02/2003 | JIM NOLAN
Valedictorian decision ruled case of bias
			Posted by Liz On 06/01/2003 8:17 AM EDT with 34 comments HIOME NEWS TRUBUNE ^ | 6/01/03 | THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Disabled S. Jersey senior is ruled sole valedictorian
			Posted by shhrubbery! On 05/10/2003 9:48 PM EDT with 112 comments Philadelphia Inquirer ^ | 5/9/03 | John Shiffman and Toni Callas
Valedictorian admits plagiarism (sued school for sole honor)
			Posted by Liz On 06/05/2003 7:48 AM EDT with 22 comments THE ASSOCIATED PRESS | 06/05/03 | AP

[bimbo]

You think they admit anyone to Harvard?

... sure ... ANYONE who has the proper connections. These days, so many of them are A$$holes, that it is actually a privelege NOT being admitted to Harvard.

[templar]

By your reasoning, Gore should be president. Or, at the very least, Bush should be sharing the presidency with him. The rules are the rules and the courts are a very legitimate place to enforce them; if and when those in power decide they can just ignore those rules because it suits their personal feelings.

When someone doesn't like the rules they can get them changed if they can get enough people to agree with the changes (such as electing the president by popular vote instead of electoral college, or how a public school Valedictorian is chosen). Just ignoring them and making up new rules after the fact isn't acceptable.