OK, he's an undergraduate, but read this

[DrFaustus666]

http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2010/12/adam_wheeler.html

[balderdash]

What's crazy is that he could've got away with it if he had just graduated, not applied for the Rhodes/Fulbright, and continued on his way getting jobs.

Ridiculous.

[MoJingly]

What's crazy is that he could've got away with it if he had just graduated, not applied for the Rhodes/Fulbright, and continued on his way getting jobs.

Ridiculous.

Wow. That's true!

There just seems to be a lot that doesn't make sense here. So he got into the program. Fine. But didn't professors and classmates realize that his work was plagiarized? It just seems like Universities are so sensitive to that topic nowadays.

And why didn't anybody realize that this kid's resume didn't really match up with his personal interactions? He must have been a good actor too.

[natsteel]

And why didn't anybody realize that this kid's resume didn't really match up with his personal interactions? He must have been a good actor too.

This is what I wondered... Certainly, he must have had to discuss the papers and proposals that won these awards with his advisors/mentors. It's also amazing to think, as pointed out above, that if he only hadn't tried to get the Rhodes or Fulbright, that he likely would never have been caught.

[Bukharan]

It is kind of insane. I discussed it with my friends the other day and the conclusion was that if it was less absurd, say, if it wasn't Harvard and the kid wasn't as ambitious, public fury would have probably been over his head. But because it is so utterly absurd (the top school of the nation; prestigious fellowships; education that a few can even afford dreaming of), many do not tend to condemn him strongly and Harvard gets the full blame.

Edited January 2, 2011 by Bukharan

[DrFaustus666]

it is so utterly absurd . . . many do not tend to condemn him strongly and Harvard gets the full blame.

This was my feeling when I saw the story and made the original post. Also, as another poster said, I found myself secretly admiring the kid, for his pure audacity and brashness.

[Thanks4Downvoting]

It's kinda like my reaction to the "barefoot bandit." Not a good guy, but I inevitably am impressed by any teenager capable of evading police and stealing a plane...

[giantpanda]

Upon being jailed, he pleaded not guilty. That was a lie, too.

[Tiglath-Pileser III]

I hope they lock him up and throw away the key.

[Bukharan]

I hope they lock him up and throw away the key.

This is just cruel. Empathy, my dear, empathy.

[timuralp]

To be fair, pleading not guilty cannot be considered a lie on the part of the defendant. I'm sure there was a better quote in that article for this thread.

[wtncffts]

This is just cruel. Empathy, my dear, empathy.

While I'm sure the previous poster was exaggerating, I also feel a kind of rage towards this. To the people who 'admire' this guy, imagine if you were the person who was rejected by a school in favor of him. Of course it took a degree of "audacity and brashness"; so does being involved in identify theft or organized crime. Obviously the crimes aren't comparable, but I could never feel positively towards anyone who perpetrates such deeds. This wasn't a victimless crime; it also hurts people who, like everyone here, put extraordinary time and effort into their intellectual work and do so honestly.

[DrFaustus666]

While I'm sure the previous poster was exaggerating, I also feel a kind of rage towards this. To the people who 'admire' this guy, imagine if you were the person who was rejected by a school in favor of him. Of course it took a degree of "audacity and brashness"; so does being involved in identify theft or organized crime. Obviously the crimes aren't comparable, but I could never feel positively towards anyone who perpetrates such deeds. This wasn't a victimless crime; it also hurts people who, like everyone here, put extraordinary time and effort into their intellectual work and do so honestly.

I'm the guy who said I admired his audacity and brashness. It's probably because I am anything but a risk taker. Not that I seriously think I have a snowball's chance in hell of getting into Harvard, but I wouldn't even apply there, wouldn't even waste the $150 (or whatever it is) application fee, even if my friends and professors thought I had a shot at it.

Yes, of course you're right---it's NOT a victimless crime. I hereby withdraw my previous comment, and thank you, wtncffts, for your pointed criticism. Mea culpa.

[Tiglath-Pileser III]

Of course it took a degree of "audacity and brashness"; so does being involved in identify theft or organized crime. Obviously the crimes aren't comparable...

Interestingly enough, one of the crimes he is accused of doing is identity theft. He wrote his own letters of recommendation on behalf of his profs. So, yes, as odd as it seems, he did have to resort to stealing someone else's reputation for his own advancement, which makes the crimes quite comparable. Like it or not, he's not some misdirected teenager or wag who pulled a few pranks. He is an accomplished criminal. He baldfaced lied to the admissions interviewer who visited him at Bowdoin college. He fraudulently represented his SAT scores. He fraudulently claimed to have a degree from Phillips Academy. He stole the seat of someone who would have gone to Harvard. He stole $45,000 in scholarships and financial aid. He plagiarized the work of researchers and materially benefited from claiming the work as his own. In the Harvard fiasco, he was charged with 20 counts of larceny, identity fraud, falsifying an endorsement, and pretending to hold a degree. The four larceny charges are felonies.

But keep in mind that is was not the first time he was dishonest. He had been suspended from Bowdoin for academic dishonesty in the form of plagiarism, when he made the successful jump to Harvard. His crimes did not start at Harvard; they ended there.

Quite frankly, letting him off with probation and restitution was a hand slap. He should have done a little hard time just to make an example of him. Perhaps not throw away the key but do misplace it for a while.

[timuralp]

Interestingly enough, one of the crimes he is accused of doing is identity theft. He wrote his own letters of recommendation on behalf of his profs. So, yes, as odd as it seems, he did have to resort to stealing someone else's reputation for his own advancement, which makes the crimes quite comparable. Like it or not, he's not some misdirected teenager or wag who pulled a few pranks. He is an accomplished criminal. He baldfaced lied to the admissions interviewer who visited him at Bowdoin college. He fraudulently represented his SAT scores. He fraudulently claimed to have a degree from Phillips Academy. He stole the seat of someone who would have gone to Harvard. He stole $45,000 in scholarships and financial aid. He plagiarized the work of researchers and materially benefited from claiming the work as his own. In the Harvard fiasco, he was charged with 20 counts of larceny, identity fraud, falsifying an endorsement, and pretending to hold a degree. The four larceny charges are felonies.

But keep in mind that is was not the first time he was dishonest. He had been suspended from Bowdoin for academic dishonesty in the form of plagiarism, when he made the successful jump to Harvard. His crimes did not start at Harvard; they ended there.

Quite frankly, letting him off with probation and restitution was a hand slap. He should have done a little hard time just to make an example of him. Perhaps not throw away the key but do misplace it for a while.

One thing to keep in mind, though, is while all of the things he's done are deplorable and deserve a punishment, there is also some burden that rests with the people that didn't actually check his application. The MIT professors that recommended him are staff members at Bowdoin, he allegedly took two AP exams in middle school (that is at least worth checking?), the falsified transcript listed a trimester-long AP course which is only offered as a year-long course, and so on. He's not some sort of cunning criminal, building an elaborate web of lies. He was wrong, but somehow you completely remove any onus of checking the application from the University. I think it was that circumstance that was a mitigating factor, along with the fact that he didn't have any prior issues with the law.

The reason another, more deserving student did not get admitted to Harvard on a scholarship is because of the laws of the admission committee. Does it really not request official documents/transcripts/check the references? That is what I've found far more disturbing in this story.

[Tiglath-Pileser III]

One thing to keep in mind, though, is while all of the things he's done are deplorable and deserve a punishment, there is also some burden that rests with the people that didn't actually check his application. The MIT professors that recommended him are staff members at Bowdoin, he allegedly took two AP exams in middle school (that is at least worth checking?), the falsified transcript listed a trimester-long AP course which is only offered as a year-long course, and so on. He's not some sort of cunning criminal, building an elaborate web of lies. He was wrong, but somehow you completely remove any onus of checking the application from the University. I think it was that circumstance that was a mitigating factor, along with the fact that he didn't have any prior issues with the law.

The reason another, more deserving student did not get admitted to Harvard on a scholarship is because of the laws of the admission committee. Does it really not request official documents/transcripts/check the references? That is what I've found far more disturbing in this story.

Look, a lot of crimes are based upon a violation of a system of trust, where you are only punished if you are caught violating that system of trust. Insider trading is one such crime. Someone stealing from your house if you accidentally left the door unlocked is another. To be very blunt, it is remarkably easy to create a forgery of a transcript. All one needs is a color laser printer, a scanner, photoshop, and a sample of an original transcript. As for checking up on him, he was only doing a bachelor's degree and as such his references went to an committee in the admissions office to people who were probably not experts in the field. Most admissions staff only do admissions part-time, let alone are not experts at spotting either genuine or false credentials. There is no universal systems of credentials that are accepted among academic institutions. American colleges cannot even agree on a common grade scale let alone a standardized format for secure transmission of credentials. Heck, there are still schools that send transcripts on 20lb bold paper that you can buy right from Office Depot. Right now, there is a "push" system of transcript distribution, i.e., students "push" their transcripts to the colleges. These systems are fraught with security problems, e.g., forgeries, and there is not a whole lot the admissions offices can do about it.

However, just because he could get away with the crime because of Harvard's lack of diligence should not in any way serve as a mitigating factor in the exercise of leniency. That's like a purse snatcher asking for clemency because a senile elderly woman didn't have the wits to put one hand on her purse as she sat down on the park bench. The truth is almost no admissions office at any institution has the time to double-check transcripts or verify references. It is an impossible standard that virtually no school can meet. This is why very little onus can rest upon Harvard in this matter, and this is also why the penalties for these kinds of crimes need to be very stiff as the penalty is really the only deterrent for these sorts of crimes.