US college bribery scandal grates on those who missed the cut

The U.S. college bribery scandal has unleashed angst and fury among parents, students and admissions experts, as an unprecedented criminal investigation draws attention to the privileges afforded to wealthy Americans.

Hollywood actors and business executives are among 50 people charged with taking part in the largest college admissions scandal in U.S. history, which involved getting students into elite, highly selective universities by paying bribes and cheating the admissions process.

Ordinary Americans were not amused.

"I've worked my butt off for four years trying to make myself seem really presentable, studying two hours a week for the SAT (entrance exam) and getting all As in my classes," said Connor Finn, 18, a senior at John Marshall High school in Los Angeles. "And then the fact that people would just pay hundreds of thousands of dollars and without the hard work is really not rewarding at all," he said.

Finn's father, Michael, said the teenager applied to a dozen universities, including University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where the daughter of one couple charged in the scandal was enrolled. Connor is still waiting for a response, his father said.

Dan Raffety, a college counselor at the Elgin Academy prep school near Chicago, said he had a student with superb grades, perfect entrance exam scores and a resume full of extracurricular activities who was denied entry at Georgetown.

He said he was angered to think academically deserving students may have lost a spot to cheaters.

ACCESS TO POWER

Besides academic excellence, elite schools offer access for their graduates to a network of people in power.

"At some point this isn't really about education. This is about trying to get access," Rafferty said.

Many elite universities give preference to "legacy" applicants: the children of those who previously attended. In other cases, major financial gifts, including multimillion-dollar donations to construct buildings on campus, pave the way for the privileged. Both practices are legal.

The competition can be fierce and seem unfair even to people of privilege, however.

One wealthy Massachusetts parent said his son had excellent credentials but still was denied entry to Ivy League Brown University, even after the family spent thousands of dollars for a tutor to improve the boy's entrance exam scores.

Meanwhile, he said students whom he considered lesser academic talents gained an advantage by going to private prep schools, whose business model is to get students into elite universities.

"It's a booming business because parents are the ripest target in the world. They'll pay and do anything for their kids. And this (scandal) is an example of things gone awry," said the father, who asked to remain anonymous so he could speak freely.

His son chose to stay in public school and ended up at Tufts University, a highly rated school that nonetheless lacks Ivy League cachet.

LOOKING FOR DIVERSITY, TOO

The top universities have such an excess of qualified applicants they could limit their candidates to the best students with perfect entrance exam scores, admissions experts say.

They are also looking for diversity, accepting high achieving poor and minority students who cannot afford tutors and coaches.

"This scandal, most people would agree, is ridiculous," said Natasha Kumar Warikoo, a graduate professor of education at Harvard and author of "The Diversity Bargain," which examines how students at elite universities view affirmative action.

"But beyond that we don't have a consensus in the United States about what fair is," she added.

UCLA student Sandy Situ, 21, the daughter of immigrants, said the scandal had made her think about the uphill battle for those who are unable to attend the schools of their choice.

"I think about the resources that were taken away from them, the chances that they could have achieved something better, all the people who were turned away for people who could just pay their way in," Situ said. "What a sad moment this is for America." (Reporting by Daniel Trotta; additional reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis and Rollo Ross; editing by Bill Tarrant and Rosalba O'Brien)

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Obama seeks to renew Asia role with rescheduled trip

WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama will visit Asia in April to push closer ties, an aide said Wednesday, after his earlier cancellation of a trip raised questions about US staying power.

Susan Rice, Obama's adviser for national security, acknowledged disappointment after Obama called off a trip in October to negotiate with Republican lawmakers who shut down the US government to stop his health care reforms.

Rice said Obama would make up with a trip in April, saying: "Our friends in Asia deserve and will continue to get our highest-level attention."

"No matter how many hotspots emerge elsewhere, we will continue to deepen our enduring commitment to this critical region," Rice said in an address at Georgetown University.

Rice said US assistance to the typhoon-hit Philippines, which includes the deployment of more than 1,000 Marines, represented a "broader pledge" to all of Asia.

"America's commitment won't expire a few months or a few years from now. The United States of America will be there -- reliable, constant, strong and steady -- for the long haul," she said.

Rice did not specify Obama's itinerary in April. In October, he planned stops in the Philippines, Malaysia and, for international summits, Indonesia and Brunei.

Even US allies quietly voiced concern over Obama's no-show, which offered an outsized role to Chinese President Xi Jinping at the meetings.

Obama, who spent part of his childhood in Indonesia, pledged in his first term to "pivot" US foreign policy toward Asia where the regional order is being transformed by the rapid growth of China's economy and military.

But in his second term, Obama has focused on Syria's civil war and easing hostility with Iran and the United States has put a priority on taming its debt after two wars and a recession.

Rice said that Secretary of State John Kerry, who has invested the most time in the Middle East since taking office, would return to Asia in December.

China welcome in trade pact

Rice said that the United States would stay true to its pledge to shift most of its navy toward Asia by 2020 and would pursue the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade pact that Obama hopes will shape the coming order in Asia.

Rice reached out to China, which in the past has called the trade pact -- which is also unpopular with much of Obama's labor base -- an effort to encircle it.

"We welcome any nation that is willing to live up to the high standards of this agreement to join and share the benefits of TPP -- and that includes China," Rice said.

But Rice also called on China to take action on US concerns including cyber-espionage. Earlier Wednesday, the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, a government advisory panel, urged the United States to consider tougher actions including possible sanctions to stop spying.

Rice also voiced alarm over China's disputes with its neighbors including US allies Japan and the Philippines, calling the tensions a "growing threat to regional peace and security and to US interests."

Rice urged all sides to "reject coercion and aggression" and renewed the US call for a code of conduct to govern disputes in the South China Sea.

In a potential indication that White House is thinking of its legacy, Rice hailed democratic reforms in Myanmar and tied them to Obama's outreach to the longtime pariah state since the start of his presidency.

"If progress continues, by the end of President Obama's second term we hope to have helped Burma re-establish itself as a regional leader and as a thriving, if nascent, prosperous democracy," Rice said, using Myanmar's former name.

But Rice said that Myanmar needed to do more to protect minorities including the mostly Muslim Rohingya and to ensure free elections in 2015.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Bradley Cooper is People's sexiest man alive

Bradley Cooper is the latest Hollywood heartthrob to be named People's sexiest man alive, the magazine announced on Wednesday.

In choosing Cooper, who has enjoyed box office success most notably in "The Hangover" films, the magazine said there was more to the actor than his dazzling baby blues and a killer smile.

The 36-year-old is also a Georgetown University graduate, can cook, rides a motorcycle and is fluent in French.

Cooper's humility only added to his appeal, People said.

"I think it's really cool that a guy who doesn't look like a model can have this," he told the magazine. "I think I'm a decent-looking guy. Sometimes I can look great, and other times I look horrifying."

Although he is single, Cooper said he doesn't see himself as a ladies man.

His initial reaction when he learned about the latest accolade was, "My mother is going to be so happy."

Runnersup on People's annual list this year were Ryan Gosling, Idris Elba, Tim McGraw and Alec Baldwin.

Previous winners included actor Ryan Reynolds, George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Mel Gibson, who was named the first sexiest man alive by the magazine more than a quarter-century ago. — Reuters

Source: gmanews.tv