New Jersey Valedictorian Update

[Qwikshot]

Report: N.J. valedictorian who sued is dropped from Harvard class
Associated Press

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - A New Jersey student who sued successfully to be the sole valedictorian of her high school has been disinvited from attending Harvard University for plagiarism, according to a published report.

Citing an unnamed source involved with the decision, The Harvard Crimson reported for today's edition that the Ivy League school decided not to welcome Blair Hornstine into its class of 2007.

Harvard spokesman Robert Mitchell said the university would not comment on any application to the school.

A source familiar with the admissions process told the Crimson that it would be unusual for Harvard not to rescind the admission of a student caught plagiarizing.

Marlyn McGrath Lewis, the school’s director of Undergraduate Admissions, would not comment on Hornstine’s case.

Calls to Hornstine's father, a New Jersey Superior Court judge in Camden, her lawyer and a second lawyer who has served as her spokesman were not immediately returned this morning.

Nearly 2,700 people signed an online petition calling for Harvard to rescind Hornstine's acceptance. The petition drive began before news broke about possible plagiarism by Hornstine in a southern New Jersey newspaper.

In a column published last month by the Courier-Post of Cherry Hill, Hornstine conceded she did not properly attribute material she used in a teen page commentary column.

Hornstine, a student with near-perfect grades and a near-perfect SAT score, had gotten attention from President Bush, among others, for her good works in the community.

She attracted national media attention in May, when she sued the public school system in Moorestown, the wealthy Philadelphia suburb where she lives.

Hornstine suffers from an immune deficiency, and during her last two years of high school received much of her instruction from tutors at her home and was exempted from classes such as physical education.

Though she had the highest grades in her class, the school administration wanted her to share the valedictorian title with another student.

She sued in federal court to be the only valedictorian - and she won based on a discrimination complaint.

She also sued in state court, seeking $2.7 million in punitive and compensatory damages. A hearing in that matter is scheduled for Aug. 13 in U.S. District Court in Camden.

Hornstine returned to the news when the Courier-Post published her explanation of her failure to properly attribute material for columns and essays in newspaper-sponsored contests.

The writings appeared to borrow themes, structures and, in several cases, lengthy verbatim passages from sources ranging from a U.S. Supreme Court ruling and presidential proclamation to foreign affairs analysis.

Moorestown Board of Education President Cyndy Wulfsberg said Hornstine’s academic work is being examined for plagiarism. She said that information might be used in the district’s defense of the lawsuit and so the school can examine its own procedures. Students in the district caught plagiarizing are subject to failing classes and losing academic credit.

“We need to make sure that everybody and everything that comes out of the school system is something we can be proud of,” Wulfsberg said.

Hornstine skipped her school's graduation ceremony last month.

[NevStar]

heh, karma

[atatange1]

Man, as much as no one might like her, it seems like they're just piling it on. I started to feel sorry for her but then I read she's still trying to get 2.7M. So I guess she's getting what she deserves when they dig up everything she's done. But, I was thinking if she wins against the school could she then sue Harvard to get back in?

[Franklinnoble]

Well, she may not get into an Ivy League school, but with all the publicity she's made for herself, she's a lock for an offer from Playboy.

[Abe Sargent]

Originally posted by atatange1
Man, as much as no one might like her, it seems like they're just piling it on. I started to feel sorry for her but then I read she's still trying to get 2.7M. So I guess she's getting what she deserves when they dig up everything she's done. But, I was thinking if she wins against the school could she then sue Harvard to get back in?

Nope. Shes suing teh school system for damages from declaring her a co-validictorian. Harvard kicked her out for plagerism. Two different issues. Even in the majestically unlikely event that she won against the school system, Harvard, a privae institution, has every rigt to rescind an offer based on plagerism. Since our goody two shoes confessed to the plagerism in a newspaper column, there is no case there.

-Anxiety

[Leonidas]

Let me guess, Miss Hornstine plans to study law.

[ISiddiqui]

HAHAHA... that's funny

[JeeberD]

She so deserved that...

[sabotai]

YES! *applause*

Leonidas, yup.

I'm still trying to figure out what damages she suffered when the school wanted to make her co-val. I mean, she sues to stop them, wins and is named sole-val. The event never happened, she was never named co-val, so how can she have suffered damage?

[scooper]

Originally posted by sabotai
so how can she have suffered damage?

Because she's a hornstinemaniac.

[Axxon]

I am very happy with this decision. I hope that the sole valedictorianship serves her well in the future. I realize that the two events appear unrelated but who thinks that they would have dug up the plagiarism had she not been a bitch about the valedictorian thing?

Like NevStar said, Karma at it's finest.

[GrantDawg]

Couldn't have happened to a nicer girl. Enjoy the State college, baby!

[sabotai]

"I realize that the two events appear unrelated but who thinks that they would have dug up the plagiarism had she not been a bitch about the valedictorian thing?"

I don't know. They found this out during the whole Jayson Blair plagurism story, so it might have been that which caused the Post to look into it.

Hmm...Blair Hornstine, Jayson Blair....Jayson Blair, Blair Hornstine. Coincidence? I think not.

[Axxon]

Originally posted by sabotai
"I realize that the two events appear unrelated but who thinks that they would have dug up the plagiarism had she not been a bitch about the valedictorian thing?"

I don't know. They found this out during the whole Jayson Blair plagurism story, so it might have been that which caused the Post to look into it.

Hmm...Blair Hornstine, Jayson Blair....Jayson Blair, Blair Hornstine. Coincidence? I think not.

Has anybody ever seen them in the same room at the same time??

[Axxon]

Originally posted by GrantDawg
Couldn't have happened to a nicer girl. Enjoy the State college, baby!

No, she had other prestigious offers. What will hurt her is her brother is attending Harvard and now she can't. I bet he earned it and deserves to be there.

[CamEdwards]

so now all you Rutgers students get to put up with her for the next four years.

Have fun!!

[Axxon]

Here's an interesting read about the issue. I don't agree with everything that she said but she makes some good points and it does make for an interesting read. I may rebut some of these issues later if work isn't the zoo it was last night.

Open Letter to Blair Hornstine

Dear Miss Hornstine:



I don’t know why you kind of, sort of, have my sympathy today, much less still have my attention, except that I’m fascinated with my own reactions to your story. A few days ago (see previous post), I took you to task for plagiarizing. But unbecoming as suing your school for millions over a petty honor is, and as unconvincing as your explanation for your cribbed newspaper essays is, I find your detractors’ behavior equally disturbing. There is something beyond the pale in the sheer viciousness of your classmates’ response, something beyond an understandable disgust with you having won writing awards for plagiarized essays, and with the on/off nature of your alleged disability.



I believe that you truly are intelligent, and perhaps gifted. As far as anyone knows, you didn’t
cheat your way to your impressive SAT score. And that is what I am thinking about right now. That gifted as you are, you still felt a need to plagiarize to be competitive, just as highly skilled athletes feel a need to use steroids.



So here’s some unsolicited advice. Gifted people have to be careful. Even if you hadn’t
plagiarized essays and faked a disability, people would hate you simply for being gifted. For being smarter than they are. For getting an A++ average and getting into Harvard. OK, they won’t hate you so much for “getting” those things as for earning those things. That is why Bill Gates is hated and the bum who wins a million dollars in the lottery is barely noticed. Because people then have to ask themselves why they weren’t good enough to earn those things, and their hearts turn quite ugly with the answers.



Americans hate star students. Star athletes get a pass, but star students are pretty much on
their own. Parents often hate their own gifted children, once those children outlive their usefulness as trophies for reflecting glory onto the parents. Your colleagues at Harvard sure as hell aren’t going to be thrilled with being superceded should you stand out there. That is why it behooves you not to give people more of a reason to hate you than your gifts already do. I read the comments from some of your classmates on the Harvard petition, and it’s clear to me that they are not so much condemning your plagiarism, but using it as a justification for expressing the resentment they always felt about you. How shamefully reassuring is it when someone you already hate does something publicly worth hating? You suddenly get a pass to express all kinds of vitriol against that person without the risk of being perceived as a resentful oaf. When you brought a lawsuit over something as trivial as sharing the valedictorian honor with two students who arguably also earned it, you gave your enemies a hand out. When you plagiarized, you gave them a gift.



And that is why, whatever you do, Miss Hornstine, you need to carefully guard yourself. Don’t
plagiarize. Don’t fake illnesses. (Although I now have mixed emotions about the latter. If you faked an illness to avoid being bullied at school rather than to get an unfair academic advantage, then good for you. As a former victim of bullying, I believe all bullied kids should have the option of staying home.)



Don’t give people a justification for condemning you, because trust me, girl, if you are
perceived as smarter than they are, they will condemn you. It won’t matter how many inner-city kids you’ve helped as some kind of penance. It won’t matter how nice you are.



I read in Newsweek about how resented you are. How the other parents whined because their
own get wasn’t on the short list to make a speech on graduation day. How you’ve been bullied in school for years. Perhaps that has made me a little more sympathetic, because I too was bullied for being smarter than my peers. This passage caught my attention:



While Hornstine’s zealousness may have backfired, she comes from a place where ambition
and ambitious parents seem to be the norm. In Moorestown, as in so many other upper- middle-class neighborhoods, students are groomed to succeed. . . .Which probably explains why superintendent Paul Kadri was approached repeatedly throughout the year by parents and students who complained that Hornstine’s home tutoring created an uneven playing field in the race for valedictorian. . . . The pretty daughter of a well-to-do judge, Hornstine appeared to like helping inner-city kids more than partying with her classmates. Students saw her as a “goody-goody” and gleefully recalled embarrassing moments. “I used to make her cry in middle school,” says senior Chris DiMarco, who drew devil horns and a little beard on Hornstine’s picture in his yearbook. Others remember Hornstine being bullied in the lunchroom.



Yes, I know the names. Geek. Freak. Eeewww, she reads too many books. Know-it-all. Stuck up
bitch. Thinks she knows everything.



It’s not going to get much better, sweetheart. Adults will distinguish themselves from
adolescents by saying these things behind your back instead of to your face. And your fellow “geeks” will see you as a rival, not as a sister, the competition for “geek jobs” becoming ever more insane. Cover your back. Always. I’ve been there. I am there. It’s lonely. Welcome to the real world.

Source

[mckerney]

Lisa: I'll never get into an Ivy League school now
Homer and Bart: You're going to Stanford, you're going to Stanford!
Lisa (running out of room): Stop it!!!!



But in all seriousness, I hope she likes it at Brown.

[sabotai]

"No, she had other prestigious offers. What will hurt her is her brother is attending Harvard and now she can't. I bet he earned it and deserves to be there."

But Axxon, after she accepts Harvard she has to decline the other offers. All of the other schools have filled their class and it's well passed any date for which she could now accept an invitation to a school (Whever you get accepted into a college, there is adate you have to respond before to let them know you will be attending).

So basically, she's screwed (not in the good way). She'll have to apply to a school for the spring semester and start then, or wait til next fall and start school a year late.

[Axxon]

Didn't realize that sabotai. What would I know. I accepted the first scholarship offer I recieved. Couldn't turn down the french quarter. In restrospect, I really should have.

[sabotai]

dola,

Lisa: I will not be a gamecock!

[sabotai]

"Didn't realize that sabotai. What would I know. I accepted the first scholarship offer I recieved. Couldn't turn down the french quarter. In restrospect, I really should have. "

LOL...no one would blame you for not turning down the french quarter....mmm...french quater.

[mckerney]

Originally posted by sabotai
"No, she had other prestigious offers. What will hurt her is her brother is attending Harvard and now she can't. I bet he earned it and deserves to be there."

But Axxon, after she accepts Harvard she has to decline the other offers. All of the other schools have filled their class and it's well passed any date for which she could now accept an invitation to a school (Whever you get accepted into a college, there is adate you have to respond before to let them know you will be attending).

So basically, she's screwed (not in the good way). She'll have to apply to a school for the spring semester and start then, or wait til next fall and start school a year late.

I'm sure she'll be able to find an opening at a nice junior college

Plus, who says you need to go to a four year college? I just saw a tv commercial for an institution where you can get a business degree by only going to school one night a week! And you can take classes at the Mall of America.

What could be more perfect than that for her? Hell, after class should could go to the food court and be mocked by high school dropouts who hang out at the mall all day. "Hey, we never got kicked out of Harvard."

[sabotai]

Lisa: Oh, if I fail I won't even be able to get into Vassar.
Homer Jay Simpson: I've had just about enough of your Vassar-bashing, young lady.

[Axxon]

I think she'd be waaay to tired to drive to the mall, much less WALK to the food court after class though.

[sabotai]

dola,

"What could be more perfect than that for her? Hell, after class should could go to the food court and be mocked by high school dropouts who hang out at the mall all day. "Hey, we never got kicked out of Harvard.""

That's fuckin funny!

[Franklinnoble]

She's not screwed. Aside from the Playboy offer, any state college will take her even this late in the game. So she goes to Penn State for a semester, then transfers... no big deal.

[Axxon]

Why do you think playboy would be interested in her though. I just can't see the interest. I mean, she's not hideous but she's not attractive or well known enough for playboy.

[Franklinnoble]

Originally posted by Axxon
Why do you think playboy would be interested in her though. I just can't see the interest. I mean, she's not hideous but she's not attractive or well known enough for playboy.

I dunno... Playboy has featured lots of women that aren't really that attractive, but for some sick reason, guys want to see them naked... (I think Carnie Wilson had a spread not long ago)

[tucker342]

I hope she enjoys community college

[Axxon]

Originally posted by Franklinnoble
I dunno... Playboy has featured lots of women that aren't really that attractive, but for some sick reason, guys want to see them naked... (I think Carnie Wilson had a spread not long ago)

But generally they go for well known not attractive women in that case. I'd venture to say outside her community, Harvard and the internet, Blair Hornstine is NOT a well known name.

[CamEdwards]

Originally posted by Axxon
But generally they go for well known not attractive women in that case. I'd venture to say outside her community, Harvard and the internet, Blair Hornstine is NOT a well known name.

Yeah, and nobody on the internet is interested in porn.

[sabotai]

"She's not screwed. Aside from the Playboy offer, any state college will take her even this late in the game. So she goes to Penn State for a semester, then transfers... no big deal."

You really think that someone who sues the school district over being named co-valedictorian will lower herself to our levels by attending a state school?

Besides, a school breaking their set dates for applications and acceptance is opening a huge door for litigation. Anyone who did not get in could easily make a case over this and sue over not getting in.

I thought this was interesting from the source Axxon posted.

"Miss Hornstine, as you may recall, suffers from a curious medical condition that leaves her too fatigued to attend a full day’s classes at Moorestown High, but not so fatigued that she can’t regularly work out at her local gym, run several blocks carrying the Olympic torch, or perambulate around the Harvard University campus, where she plans to join her brother this fall."

She can regularly work out in a gym but not attend gym class?

[Axxon]

Originally posted by CamEdwards
Yeah, and nobody on the internet is interested in porn.

Nobody on the internet needs to buy playboy to get copious quantities of porn or to see nekkid pictures of anybody who appears in Playboy either for that matter. This is all free of charge even. I don't think we are their target audience.

[edit] At least that's what I've heard anyway. Not that I'd know or anything.

[SunDancer]

Yes, but if Harvard rebuffs it invite and upholds it standards based on the fact she cheated, would other big schools want to take the "cheater"?

No offense, but I don't see Harvard, orreal big programs any better in a way. Yes, they are better academically, but I see those schools in developing science-related skills, and debating. I personally feel better going to a private, but open-accepting school that has the jocks, "normal" people. Many are not snotty, and are in a environment where they can connect with a true "Pubic." I think Stanford is the best school, with its academics, "college feel" and a more "public" student body.

[Blackadar]

Good. I really think her claim was unjustified in the first place, so this is just deserts.

[ISiddiqui]

But Axxon, after she accepts Harvard she has to decline the other offers. All of the other schools have filled their class and it's well passed any date for which she could now accept an invitation to a school

Not always. I knew a person that had basically accepted admission to NYU Law. Got there, realized how utterly expense NYC was going to be live in (don't know why she didn't check this out before) and instead accepted Emory Law's (which is a top 50 school) offer in late July. They allowed her to enter the class.

So it isn't like it is totally set in stone.

[tucker342]

And if she's that good, I'm sure another good school will let her in.

But oh no, she might have to go to Duke or Stanford or maybe even, dare I say: Vanderbilt:gasp:

[Godzilla Blitz]

I wonder if her lawsuit against her former school district and her family's legal background will make any other college think twice about accepting her. After all, she is suing her former high school district for 2.7 million dollars. If I were in a college administrative position, I'm guessing that I would want her to stay as far away as possible from my school: she's a hell of a financial risk if you accept her. Something goes wrong, and bang, she's suing you for a few million.

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by Godzilla Blitz
After all, she is suing her former high school district for 2.7 million dollars. If I were in a college administrative position, I'm guessing that I would want her to stay as far away as possible from my school: she's a hell of a financial risk if you accept her. Something goes wrong, and bang, she's suing you for a few million.

"Daddy, I totally deserved a an A instead of a C- in my Intro to Ethtics class. How soon can we sue them?"

[mckerney]

Dola:

After posting, I think I gave her too much credit in thinking she could pass an ethics course.

[Godzilla Blitz]

Originally posted by mckerney
Dola:

After posting, I think I gave her too much credit in thinking she could pass an ethics course.

Along these lines, I really have to confess a total lack of understanding for how she can in good conscience sue her school district for $2.7 million. Maybe I'm misunderstanding the situation in her district or perhaps there are exceptional resources the district has to pay such an amount, but if that money goes to her from the district, won't countless other students' educations sufer? If the standard student costs the district say $7,000, that is one hell of lot of high school educations she'll be taking out of the system if she wins even half the amount.

Hard for me to reconcile this lawsuit with her inner city volunteer work. Makes me really wonder if the volunteering was just for the sake of padding her college application.

I'm exceptionally happy though that Harvard has turned her down. And the best part about it is that I can't see that she has a legal leg to stand on if she tries to fight the decision.

[sterlingice]

I'm sure Princeton and Brown and Stanford are all rushing to take her in. You don't think she's been blackballed now?

SI

[IMetTrentGreen]

where they can connect with a true "Pubic

oops

[mckerney]

Originally posted by Godzilla Blitz
I'm exceptionally happy though that Harvard has turned her down. And the best part about it is that I can't see that she has a legal leg to stand on if she tries to fight the decision.

Agreed, but how much do you think 'a good legal leg' or hell, even common sense, factor into her thinking?



Wait, should I be typing such things? Hell, should any of us be saying the things we are? I wouldn't be too surprised if she's the typ that monitors every internet site to see if anyone is saying anything bad about her. How long until she sues us for libel?

[sabotai]

"Not always. I knew a person that had basically accepted admission to NYU Law. Got there, realized how utterly expense NYC was going to be live in (don't know why she didn't check this out before) and instead accepted Emory Law's (which is a top 50 school) offer in late July. They allowed her to enter the class. "

Hmm. Well, each deadline date is different for each school. Emory must just have a late date (or she was that good that they made an exception). I dunno. But with all the controversy around this girl, I doubt any school is willing to take that kind of publicity by taking her in.

[Rich1033]

Originally posted by Axxon
Why do you think playboy would be interested in her though. I just can't see the interest. I mean, she's not hideous but she's not attractive or well known enough for playboy.

An airbrush can work wonders.

[Honolulu_Blue]

A little more on our girl...


"I Discovered a Gold Mine!"
by Robyn Tellefsen

BIO
Name: Blair Hornstine
Hails From: Moorestown, NJ
Working Hard At: Moorestown High School, NJ
Scholastic Status: Senior
The Digits (GPA): Over 4.0 (Gotta' love those APs!)
The College For Me: "I'm applying to Harvard, Princeton, Duke, Stanford, Cornell, Dickinson, Penn... a wide variety! But wherever I go, I'll be happy," she assures.
Potential Tuition: "About $40,000 a year."
Intended Major: "Something focusing on the law."
Dream Job: Poverty lawyer

EYE ON THE PRIZE

The Source: The Discover® Card Tribute Award® Scholarship, which rewards high school juniors nationwide for excellence in academics, and for accomplishments in leadership and community service, as well as for special talents and obstacles they've overcome. They give up to nine $2,500 awards in each state, and up to nine $25,000 national awards. Click here to find out more about the program.

Why I Applied: "I figured it couldn't hurt!"

What I Won: As a national winner in the category of Arts & Humanities -- a whopping $25,000 scholarship.

Winning Emotions: "I was very, very excited. I kept saying, 'Oh my God, thank you!'"

And Financially, This Means... "Considering the colleges I'm applying to (so expensive!), the scholarship is pretty meaningful."

Words of Wisdom: "It never hurts to try -- you never know what you'll win and what you won't," says Blair. "And work your hardest so you can have something to apply for!"

ALL ABOUT ME
On My Resume:

Co-founder (with big bro') of the eight-year-old service club, M.A.G.I.C. (Moorestown Alliance for Goodwill and Interest in the Community).

Founder of the Tri-County Prom Dress Drive, which collects more than 200 dresses a year for girls from low-income families.
Co-founder of the Tri-County Food Drive that collected 30,000 pounds of food for the hungry.

State Chairperson for a Smile-A-Thon that funded cleft lip and palate surgeries for orphans in China. "It was one of the most amazing things I've ever done," she says. "I never thought I'd be able to go to China!"

An Olympic Torchbearer in 2002. "I was so excited, I could barely sleep!"

How I Get It All Done: "There's plenty of time in the day!"

My Motivation To Do What I Do: "My parents always told my brother and I it's important to give back to the community, and help others who are less fortunate than we are."

[TLK]

Originally posted by Franklinnoble
I dunno... Playboy has featured lots of women that aren't really that attractive, but for some sick reason, guys want to see them naked... (I think Carnie Wilson had a spread not long ago)

I'm gonna have to go with no, on this one.....

[GrantDawg]

I bet there is many colleges waiting to enroll an admitted plagarist. Can you imagine the recruiting posters:

"Plagarist? Go to school at ________."