The Difference between Cheating and Fraud

I may be in the minority, but the college admissions scandal just doesn’t seem to me the huge deal that the media makes it out to be. The weird fascination that people have about anything connected to the rich & famous causes ordinary things to get blown out of proportion. In this case we find dozens of rich people paying bribes, lying on applications, and cheating on tests to get into fancy colleges. It is an unfair system that caused this in the first place, but it’s human nature to take advantage of whatever the system will allow. I will now take the role of Judge RJ and recommend sentencing for those involved – the students, parents, college officials, and mastermind & cohorts.

This story broke several weeks ago, and I’m not sure why I keep thinking about it. I personally didn’t face any issues even vaguely similar for myself or my children. First of all, I was raised to be honest in everything I do. I hope the same value has been instilled in my children. Certainly the way they’ve lived their lives as adults reflect the lessons we tried to model. Our family comes from a long line of people who put truth, honesty, integrity, hard work, generosity and compassion above the pursuit of the almighty dollar. I am proud of my roots. I attended a state college, and from what I have seen, the classes there were every bit as good, if not better, than similar classes offered in the elite, expensive schools. It never would have occurred to me to cheat on the SAT, or to pretend to be someone I wasn’t. I only applied to one school due to the application fees, and luckily I was accepted. I didn’t apply to a school I couldn’t afford to attend. I paid for my own education by working part-time during school, and full-time over the summers.

The charges against one set of parents said they “agreed to pay bribes totaling $500,000 in exchange for having their two daughters designated as recruits to the USC crew team — despite the fact that they did not participate in crew — thereby facilitating their admission to USC.” The media is all ablaze with sensational headlines about potential prison time for these parents. Most of the stories indicate there is no evidence that the students knew of the bribery. I find that claim ludicrous, but I understand the concept of evidence. I have a fair solution for all involved. So here goes:

Students: Any student admitted under false pretenses shall lose their enrollment in that institution, but are free to apply to any other school of their choosing, in the same manner of any other potential student. Attendance at community college is encouraged but not required. They will not lose credit for any work completed, and the college will provide transcripts of coursework as requested by the student.

This seems fair, since most young people make mistakes. They have an opportunity to learn from it, and succeed through hard work. They will not have a criminal record as a result of this, but media coverage may indeed dog them through their lives. That’s the price of being rich and famous in our society.

Parents: It is understandable that parents want the best for their kids. Parents with an extra $500k lying around may feel that it’s a good investment in their future. It was short-sighted to think that cheating was the best way to proceed. Rich people legally bribe institutions to accept their offspring all the time. It’s a tradition. They even get buildings named after them. This really isn’t any different, just that these particular parents don’t happen to be alumni. I would call such actions “cheating”  and it’s not fair to others competing for the same opportunities to attend. Where the real punishable crime comes into play is the tax aspect. These parents took charitable deductions on their tax returns. A “donation” where you get something in return is not deductible. The deductions should be disallowed, along with a negligence penalty. The rich and famous were probably not aware of the intricacies of the tax law, so it wouldn’t rise to the level of fraud. And even if they did know it probably shouldn’t be deducted, at least it was paid. This is in contrast to fraudulent failure to report ones income, like the bribed officials or the scheme operators. Jail time is not appropriate for the crime of resorting to cheating to get admission to a college. The blame lies more in the people who allowed this to happen.

When the leader of our country cites planned bankruptcy and planned non-payment of vendors as “just business,” I can see why many people think it’s perfectly acceptable to lie and cheat their way through life. IT’S NOT OKAY!!!

College Officials: I am appalled to find the lack of integrity in these hallowed institutions. Bribes should NEVER be a factor in college admission. Student athletics may be a factor, but certainly not the only factor, and faked athletic history, or any other lying on applications, should be grounds for disqualification or expulsion of the students. The school administration is responsible for monitoring the admissions process. They need to do their jobs. Reviewing applications is an art, where some characteristic of the student may hint of great potential even though test scores or grades aren’t the very best. Sometimes “very good” is better than “best.” Although we’ll never know for sure, we think our son’s experience in the 8^th grade studying illegal immigration down in the Arizona border desert area contributed to his acceptance at a highly competitive local college prep high school.

Any official found to be accepting bribes should be fired, and will have to deal with the repercussions for (most likely) not reporting the income. Fraudulent omission of income may even result in jail time. I don’t know enough about the education industry to know what other sanctions might be imposed against schools that have shady admissions procedures, but it seems that there should be some penalty. (This is just an opinion piece, not a researched article!)

The Mastermind & Cohorts: This is where the most severe punishment should be applied. Granted, the prosecution’s cases against the parent participants wouldn’t have come to light without the cooperation of the mastermind, but that doesn’t excuse the mastermind from what he did. The methodology of the investigation just stinks. Tricking the parents into self-incrimination on monitored phone calls seems cheesy. OK, so the parents cheated to get their kids into college. The kids probably cheated, too. The people who set up this scheme are the real criminals. They designed a scam to fraudulently get students admitted to colleges. They most likely didn’t report the income from the scam. Their crime was an ongoing pattern, vs a one-time act for the parents. Anyone who received income for fraudulent acts should have criminal action taken, and jail time, proportionate to the degree of activity. It is obvious they knew what they were doing was wrong. Changing answers on test, or taking a test for someone is a criminal act. Taking money to facilitate this is a criminal act. This particular case has caught the nation’s attention, but I suspect that fake test-takers abound, and these perpetrators shouldn’t be treated any differently than other test cheaters. A simple thumbprint requirement for tests would eliminate the issue.

In conclusion, I know what’s right & wrong, but I am not a lawyer, nor have I studied the law in this area. I saw that a lawyer implicated in this case pled guilty to fraud, so I realize that my common sense approach isn’t the law. But I’d much rather see our legal system dollars spent prosecuting those who cheat students with unfair student loans and bogus private colleges, or scheisters who defraud elders of their life savings with shady investments.

Let’s make America HONEST again!