Hornstein update
July 3, 2003 10:18 AM   Subscribe

More details on the Blair Hornstein case. Read how she manipulated the grading system, what her illness is supposed to be, and how much she was able to accomplish despite "exhaustion."
posted by MikeB (32 comments total)
 
Oh good god no.
posted by xmutex at 10:19 AM on July 3, 2003


For the love of crunk, can we stop already?
posted by jon_kill at 10:19 AM on July 3, 2003


Any of these threads within the last month might have been a better place for this
posted by stefanie at 10:21 AM on July 3, 2003


I, for one, welcome Blair Hornstein as our new overlord.
posted by Argyle at 10:34 AM on July 3, 2003


rage. despite it being covered before, this is a well written piece.
posted by woil at 10:46 AM on July 3, 2003


rage. despite this being a well written piece, it's been covered, and covered, and covered before.
posted by soyjoy at 10:50 AM on July 3, 2003


It's actually an interesting article with a lot more details. But you'd have to actually read it to know that.

The problem with adding a new development to an old FPP is that many people won't ever see it. I think people read the front page in the default "sort by date" mode, period. It would be interesting to know how many people actually use the "recent comments" view. But perhaps this is more of a MetaTalk topic...
posted by pmurray63 at 10:57 AM on July 3, 2003


yup.
posted by soyjoy at 11:04 AM on July 3, 2003


Wow.. nothing like a girl who is born into privilege and power, winning multiple scholarships, then suing a school district for millions of dollars.

I bet her father is a wonderful judge.
posted by Akuinnen at 11:05 AM on July 3, 2003


rage. despite this being a well written piece, it's been covered, and covered, and covered before.

No one is forcing you to read the article, or comment on it. If you don't like it, go somewhere else. I'll never understand them minority of people on this site who bitch and moan about threads they dont like.

Some fucking people...
posted by SweetJesus at 11:06 AM on July 3, 2003


This is a worthwhile FPP on it's own. Many details I'd never seen anywhere else really help explain her townfolks apparent witch hunt / bullying additude.

The bit about completing an entire year of grade ten gym minus two weeks and then getting her A+(4.3) withdrawn because it would bring down her average was very telling. Got to admire the girl and her parents, they apparently really know how to play the system. Good example to my future kids on how not to act.

I also think the school has systimatic problems that really need to be addressed before they hand out another valedictorian award. If they just made the maximum GPA a 4.00 regardless of how much above that you gained with bonus GPA these kinds of problems would go away.

As to Blair, I reminded what I tell people when they ask whether I'd like to be as rich as Bill Gates: "If having his money meant I'd have to be like him [Bill Gates]. . . well . . . I'd rather be me." Not the kind of people I'd want to associate with.
posted by Mitheral at 11:16 AM on July 3, 2003


SweetJesus, are you saying that someone could just write a script to spooge the entire contents of CNN into MetaFilter, and you'd be just fine with that?

I always thought one of the features of MetaFilter was the fact that the content is checked for quality by the members.

But, yeah, some fucking people, preoccupied with quality in a site they read every day....
posted by jon_kill at 11:19 AM on July 3, 2003


But, yeah, some fucking people, preoccupied with quality in a site they read every day....

Don't forget the ones that a)gave money and b) pay each day for this newsfilter shite's bandwidth!

From the "about" MeFi page:

A typical weblog is one person posting their thoughts on the unique things they find on the web. This website exists to break down the barriers between people, to extend a weblog beyond just one person, and to foster discussion among its members


Please take extra special care when selecting a link for the front page.


Thanks.
posted by Pollomacho at 11:28 AM on July 3, 2003


"If having his money meant I'd have to be like him [Bill Gates]. . . well . . . I'd rather be me."

What's wrong with Bill? He's always seemed like a stand-up kind of guy to me; very down-to-earth, considering. As super-rich tycoons go, he sure as hell seems more reasonable than your Larry Ellisons or Richard Bransons or Howard Hugheses. Check out the transcript of his interview with Bill Moyers; I think you'll be surprised and impressed by what the man has to say.

I'm not a big fan of Microsoft, but I think you can separate the man from his company.
posted by mr_roboto at 11:40 AM on July 3, 2003


Bring it to Metatalk if you don't like the thread. This isn't CNN spam. It's an on-going story that some people are interested in. A small over-represented minority of users on this often take it upon themselves to just shit all over threads they don't consider "worthy".

I'm all for keeping the quality of the site above par, but this isn't CNN spam. It's a follow up article I'm much more interested in this article than I am about some new flash game, but I don't take it upon myself to go into the flash threads and bitch and moan. Or the Apple threads, or the RIAA threads, or the Information-Wants-To-Be-Free threads.

A typical weblog is one person posting their thoughts on the unique things they find on the web. This website exists to break down the barriers between people, to extend a weblog beyond just one person, and to foster discussion among its members

I'm the sure the discussion will be helped along tremendously by the bitchy comments at the beginning of just about every post (or the first eight in this one).

My point is, is that just about anytime someone posts something to the front page, you invariably have three or four people arguing back and forth about wether the thread is good, or appropriate enough to be on the front page. To me, especially when the problem with the thread is some sort of personal taste issue ("I've seen this", "Old", "Boring", etc), the bitching is far more distracting and annoying than the actual thread itself.

I though Metatalk was invented to get the bitching off the blue, so those of you that choose to can debate it's worthiness, forever, can do so without bothering the majority of users.

Fuck, I'm turing into a hypocrite. I'll shut up about this now.
posted by SweetJesus at 12:13 PM on July 3, 2003


Yes, yes, Blair has been posted, discussed, reviled, and ridiculed all over MeFi before, but IMO, this Weekly Standard article is the most comprehensive picture that we've seen about the whole affair. Worthy of FPP? Perhaps. Would I have posted it? Probably not. Is the linked article (a) relevant, (b) full of heretofore-unknown details, and (c) well written? Yes.

BTW, is this the first time that a Weekly Standard article has been FPPd on MeFi? If so - *cool*!
posted by davidmsc at 12:34 PM on July 3, 2003


Blair Hornstein is going to be POTUS someday, just you watch.
posted by elwoodwiles at 12:37 PM on July 3, 2003


MikeB, thanks for posting this link. I'm really interested in what happens next with the whole BH saga - but I'm interested in other stories too, and have a lot on my plate in general, so I don't get around to searching out developments. Also this is the best article on her I've seen yet.

Love the way BH couldn't take 75 hours of gym a year BUT did 200 hours of physical activity to win a Congressional Medal.
posted by orange swan at 12:50 PM on July 3, 2003


I find this whole saga interesting as well. I certainly think it's FPP-worthy. If the whole Blair thing doesn't interest you, well, SKIP OVER IT! Christ!
posted by Shoeburyness at 1:00 PM on July 3, 2003


Good article, I'm glad it was posted.

After the plagiarism issue cam out, in addition to all the ill will pointed her way, I had been waiting for Harvard to resend it's offer. But now thanks to this article we see that her father now has a position there -- arrgh!! Aren't good things supposed to happen to good people? If they get a lick of money from the school system I'll be miffed.
posted by dirtylittlemonkey at 1:06 PM on July 3, 2003


Good for Blair! When she gets her BA from Harvard she will doubltless go on to their law school And, later, into politics and win a seat in Congress...
posted by Postroad at 1:17 PM on July 3, 2003


Thanks for the link, MikeB. I think the BH story is fascinating, like a car wreck in slow motion, and I'm interested in updates.
posted by swerve at 2:26 PM on July 3, 2003


i like the updates too. that article was very biased though.
posted by centrs at 4:32 PM on July 3, 2003


Would someone please put the entire Whorestein clan against the wall and shoot them? Please?!! Someone has to stop them before the children start spawning. Then again, Blair will probably be too exhausted to ever have sex.
posted by MikeMc at 5:31 PM on July 3, 2003


Excellent article. Thanks.
posted by dobbs at 8:49 PM on July 3, 2003


But Blair's health was poor. She and her family have never disclosed the exact nature of her disability; it is alternately referred to as "chronic fatigue" and an "immune system disorder." A close friend of the family told me "she developed an illness when she was visiting Turkey, and when she came back--it's kind of a disease that you break out in blisters all over you. And the only way you can control it is medication," which made Blair "very tired."


She should try Claritin. I broke out in hives once and that stuff kicks ass.
posted by delmoi at 10:04 PM on July 3, 2003


Oh yeah, you people bitching about this post? STFU. Or at least take it to metatalk. I'd rather skip over 20 boring posts a day then listen to people bitch about this and that in the threads.

I, for one, am glad to have seen this link and I doubt I would have got it from anywhere else.
posted by delmoi at 10:12 PM on July 3, 2003


Tracy Flick alert!
posted by Dukebloo at 10:12 PM on July 3, 2003


it's interesting to see how this young woman has replaced Ann Thrax Coulter's place in MeFi's collective (and not-so-bleeding) heart -- she's not our new overlord, she's become our new bogeyman

boo!

ps not that I don't find I her (and her father's tactics especially -- money plus chutzpah plus a certain gusto for dirty courtroom tactics) very scary, too. I _so_ do.
I'm with XQUZ, those nice people up at the admissions office in Cambridge just _know_ that there's another, gazillion dollar lawsuit (plus "you guys discriminate against disabled young women"bad publicity) just waiting for them. they'll probably hope that either she keeps quiet (like, she won't sue the university the first she doesn't get an A, but ridicolous grade inflation should take care of that, Larry Summers efforts notwithstanding) or that she'll plagiarize something again, so that they'll be able to kick her out easily
posted by matteo at 12:26 AM on July 4, 2003


Um, matteo, it's one thing to sue a small town school district, but I suspect it's quite another to sue Harvard. Aren't they rather the 900-pound gorilla of the legal profession? Maybe even a fair-sized army of 900-pound gorillas. Apart from the massive legal talent of their own they could presumably bring to bear, there must be numberless hyperpowered alumni who'd be delighted to go in to bat. In my naive estimation, anyway.
posted by George_Spiggott at 12:59 AM on July 4, 2003


Don't forget - 2000 Harvard students have signed a petition that urges Harvard to rescind her acceptance. Can you imagine going to a place where at least 2000 people actively didn't want you around? Sure, hard work and lawsuits can take a person far. But how much fun can the ride be when she's a pariah?
posted by orange swan at 8:41 AM on July 4, 2003


900-pound gorilla of the legal profession

yes, but if she sues them it'll be a very public, painful thing, they'd better take care of the public relations angle, too.

legal actions and media attention make Ivy League universities look bad
posted by matteo at 1:42 PM on July 4, 2003


« Older The Exonerated   |   Yeah, but how much does it pay? Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments