No. 1 UCLA softball heads into Pac-12 play with series against Washington

After a near-perfect nonconference run, the Bruins enter conference play this weekend atop this week’s top 25 poll.

The first Pac-12 series for No. 1 UCLA softball (22-1) will be on the road against No. 5 Washington (22-3).

“It’s exciting with the great offenses and pitching staffs in our conference,” said assistant coach Kirk Walker. “There’s always the battle of constantly being able to figure out how you can take advantage of opportunities, because they may not come readily.”

The Bruins hosted the Huskies in the teams’ only series last year, with UCLA coming out with the sweep. Washington was swept just two times in 2018.

The Huskies – who were the runner up of last year’s Women’s College World Series – have a three-woman pitching staff consisting of two All-Pac-12 First Team members and an award-winning sophomore transfer.

Gabbie Plain and Taran Alvelo dominated the nonconference portion of their season, combining for a 20-2 record and with 0.90 and 1.11 ERAs, respectively. Both are on the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Watch List and Plain is coming into the series this weekend with two no-hitters in her last two outings.

Sophomore transfer Pat Moore pitched at DePaul last year. She is the reigning Big East Pitcher of the Year and has given up eight runs in 28 1/3 innings this season.

Sophomore utility Kinsley Washington said the team will try to improve its approach going up to the plate.

“Having a better game plan before we step in the box will be huge for us,” Washington said. “Picking a pitch and sticking with it the whole at-bat will be key because they’re gonna mix their pitches and try to change different levels of the zone.”

Through the first 23 games of the year, UCLA is in the top 10 for several categories for both team and individual statistics.

UCLA is batting .353 – good for seventh-best in the nation – and its 7.35 runs per game is currently eighth-best. In the circle, the Bruins are boasting the nation’s second-best ERA at 1.08 and the best strikeout-to-walk ratio at 8.75.

Like Washington, all three aces that UCLA has used so far – freshman Megan Faraimo, sophomore Holly Azevedo and redshirt junior Rachel Garcia – have ERAs under 2.

Garcia is in the top 10 of both ERA and strikeouts, and is coming off a weekend where she pitched 16 2/3 innings with 30 strikeouts and only two earned runs.

Junior utility Bubba Nickles – the team leader with eight home runs and 26 RBIs – said the nonconference part of the schedule went well and challenged the Bruins in the right ways to be prepared for Pac-12 competition.

“We played some really tough teams and in some games it felt like we were even the underdog at times,” Nickles said. “We got the best of both worlds by facing really high-level teams and then teams that were scrappy and had nothing to lose. We are definitely ready for the rest of the season.”

UC Regents recap – March 12-13

The governing board of the University of California met for the first two days of its March meeting at UCLA on Tuesday and Wednesday. The Board of Regents discussed an increase in nonresident tuition, an increase in allocations for basic needs and an increase in supplemental tuition for certain graduate programs.

Special Committee on Basic Needs

  • Patricia Macias, member of the UCLA Community Programs Office, said during public comment that CPO has helped address student hunger and the lack of student basic needs on campus. Macias added she is an advocate for allocating $15 million of the governor’s budget towards campus programming.
  • Roberto Vasquez, Campus Retention Committee member, said by funding and supporting the $15 million allocation, the UC can support food insecurity efforts and act as an alternate resource for state or federal programs.
  • Jamie Kennerk, UCLA Undergraduate Students Association Council external vice president, said she supports allocating the $15 million towards existing campus organizations since they are run by students or with students’ input. Kennerk added she thinks these organizations already have adequate knowledge and established relations necessary to address student needs on campus.
  • Pamela Brown, vice president of Institutional Research and Academic Planning, said the UC is improving systemwide data collection regarding food insecurity and housing. Brown added the UC has been refining its methodologies over the years to better gather data from undergraduate and graduate students in the UC.
  • Despite changes in survey formats, Brown said responses have been consistent. For example, students most likely to be food insecure or homeless consistently have been first generation students, low-income students, students from underrepresented groups and LGBTQ students.
  • Ruben Cañedo and Tim Galarneau, co-chairs of the Student Food Access & Security and Basic Needs subcommittees, said current data indicates 44 percent of the UC undergraduate student population and 26 percent of the graduate student population have faced food insecurity. Ruben added the Basic Needs Committee recommended allocating $7.5 million to the UC campuses and distributing $750,000 to each campus for establishing and supporting food security infrastructure such as food pantries.

Investments Committee

  • Jagdeep Singh Bachher, chief investment officer and vice president of investments, said the UC’s assets are currently worth a little over $121 billion.
  • The UC had negative numbers for investment performance from June to December. However, as of February, these numbers had changed to positive returns.

Board of Regents

  • Several UCLA students urged the Regents to vote down a tuition increase for nonresident students during public comment. Eduardo Perez, a second-year undocumented student, said he would be directly impacted by the tuition increase, adding he believes UCLA is not prioritizing affordability.
  • Aidan Arasasingham, director of legislative affairs in the USAC EVP office and a second-year global studies student, said more students will be prevented from attending the UC if the Regents vote to increase nonresident tuition.
  • Andrea Ng, an international student ambassador for Malaysia and a second-year psychology student, said she opposes both the tuition hike and the nonresident tuition cap of 10 percent, adding that both are unfair to nonresident students.
  • Activists Liko Martin and Kealoha Pisciotta from Hawaii opposed the construction of a 30-meter telescope on a sacred Hawaiian site. The telescope, which would allow researchers to look into space at greater distances and higher resolution, is set to be built on the summit of Mauna Kea, the tallest mountain in the world. However, Mauna Kea is a sacred site in Native Hawaiian culture and is believed to be the dwelling place of the god Wākea.
  • Several UCLA students spoke on behalf of the Bruin Consent Coalition, asking the Regents to provide more funding for Campus Assault Resources & Education. Atreyi Mitra, a second-year human biology and society and public affairs student, urged the regents to increase funding for CARE, adding CARE has only two advocates on staff but is expecting around 900 clients this year.
  • Mia McIver, a faculty member at UCLA and the president of University Council-American Federation of Teachers, said the UC librarians have been working with an expired contract for 5 1/2 months. She said they are fighting for competitive wages, adding students deserve faculty with stable jobs and the UC is depriving students from mentorship.
  • UCLA students and faculty said they stood in solidarity with University Professional and Technical Employees-Communication Workers of America Local 9119 and Amercan Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299. Jenna Barrett, a clinical social worker at the UCLA Resnick Psychiatric hospital and UPTE UCLA local president, said she thinks the UC pays more for outside contracts and its own executives than its workers in AFSCME and UPTE, adding UPTE will be striking on Wednesday.
  • Valerie Ewald, a registered nurse at Santa Monica UCLA hospital, urged the regents to fix UCPath, adding that since the implementation of the new payroll system, other nurses have spent countless hours checking whether they were paid correctly because of issues with the system.
  • Davina Woods, a senior custodian at UCLA and member of AFSCME Local 3299, said AFSCME will be supporting UPTE’s strike to protest apparent inequalities in the UC. She added one of the main problems at the UC is the outsourcing of jobs and mistreatment of workers, particularly women and people of color.
  • UC President Janet Napolitano said the UC is holding in-state tuition flat next year, which will be the seventh time in eight years that the university has held tuition flat for California students. Napolitano said this means the UC has less institutional aid to distribute to lower-income students.

Academic and Student Affairs Committee

  • The Committee discussed Professional Degree Supplemental Tuition in graduate schools, additional tuition charged to students obtaining certain graduate or professional degrees. Regent John Pérez said in-state students sometimes end up paying more than out-of-state students, which the regents hope to change. Pérez added he wants better representation of California residents in professional graduate schools and law schools.
  • Regent Cecilia Estolano said the UC wants to increase graduate schools’ outreach to minority groups. Estolano said she believes they need to advertise graduate programs better, and that financial aid is available for graduate students. She said the UC hopes to encourage first-generation students and minorities to take advantage of these programs, adding the UC wants applicant pools to accurately reflect the diverse backgrounds of California residents.
  • Perez said the regents were underwhelmed by the lack of student diversity in the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, especially since Los Angeles is such a diverse city.
  • Teri Schwartz, Dean of the School of Theater Film and Television, explained the school now has a number of strategies in place to address student diversity. Schwartz said they have created a director of enrollment management strategies position and have asked both Film and Theater departments to create plans for increasing diversity in their applicant pools.
  • The committee voted to increase the Professional Development Services for Teachers for TFT over five years to support their efforts to increase student diversity.

Finance and Capital Strategies Committee

  • The Committee approved a recommendation to the Regents to increase nonresident supplemental tuition by 2.6 percent. This would increase tuition for nonresident students from $28,992 to $29,754, an increase of $762.
  • Christine Simmons, alumni Regent-designate, said the UC should break from the tradition of providing chancellors with luxury housing as a means to raise funds or recruit.
  • Members of the UC Office of the President spoke about how they plan to implement the California auditor’s recommendations for the office to manage its reserves. The office’s representatives said UCOP maintains a reserve of $25 million to pay for housing defaults.

Compliance and Audit Committee

  • The Committee approved PricewaterhouseCoopers’ external audit plan for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2019, which includes financial reports of the UC, its hospitals and its retirement system. The proposed fee of $4,432,043 for a 2019 audit is comparable to the $4,407,941 the committee approved in March 2018.
  • Regent Charlene Zettel said she is concerned the decline in international applications to U.S. universities will affect the UC since it relies on the nonresident tuition international students pay to account for budgetary shortfalls. Peggy Arrivas, associate vice president and Systemwide Controller for the UC, said the UC has not seen a decline in international applicants despite national trends.
  • The committee approved the appointment of Michael Schini as an expert financial advisor to the committee for a three-year term.
  • The California State Auditor’s office and Sjoberg Evashenk Consulting disagreed on UCOP’s progress on implementing the state auditor’s recommendations. UCOP insisted it has fully disclosed information on fund balances, but the CSA does not agree.

Governance Committee

  • The Committee approved an action to ensure that federally classified information is only accessible by those with the appropriate security clearance.
  • The committee also concluded that UC staff salaries have not been adjusted to match inflation over the past two years. Adjusting salaries to accommodate this change could incur costs of $190,000, which would require the UC to lay off more faculty and staff.
  • The Committee also discussed the results of several audits that have prompted streamlining of UCOP offices and programs to meet UC needs.

Contributing reports from Marilyn Chavez-Martinez, Daily Bruin contributor; Omar Said, Daily Bruin senior staff; Shelby Dunagan, Daily Bruin contributor; Keshav Tadimeti, Daily Bruin senior staff; Sharon Zhen, Daily Bruin senior staff; and Alexis Duke, Daily Bruin contributor.

Swim and dive sees successful splashdown in Zone E with fifth NCAA qualification

Four divers competed in the NCAA Zone E Diving Championships this past week.

Seniors Eloise Belanger and Traci Shiver, redshirt senior Maria Polyakova, and sophomore Alice Yanovksy traveled to Flagstaff, Arizona, and, for the second time in her career, Polyakova won the 3-meter crown at Zones.

After wins in the 1-meter and 3-meter at the Pac-12 championships, Polyakova scored a 696.75 to claim victory, beating the second place finisher by more than 43 points.

Polyakova’s highest-scoring dive was a reverse 2 1/2 somersault pike, where she earned herself a score of 72.00. In four of her six dives, Polyakova scored a 60 or higher.

The score of 367.35 was her second-best of the season, falling 8.40 points shy of her record 375.75.

Belanger also competed in the 3-meter, receiving fourth place with a combined score of 635.55 – a score of 311.85 in the prelims and a 323.70 in the finals.

Belanger’s highest-scoring dive was 61.50 on a back 2 1/2 somersault pike.

Yanovsky also competed in the 3-meter, placing 25th in the preliminary round.

Day two of the championship brought a pair of first- and second-place wins for the Bruins.

Polyakova picked up first place in the 1-meter competition with a score of 643.50, and Belanger was close behind in second place with a score of 622.90. Arizona’s Delaney Schnell was the only other diver to break the 600-point mark.

In the finals, Polyakova scored a 50 or above in most of her final dives. Her highest and last dive was a 61.10 on a 5134D, which consists of a front 1 1/2 with two twists.

Belanger’s last dive was also her best score, attempting a 5333D – a reverse 1 1/2 flips and a 1 1/2 twist – to record a score of 54.60.

On the last day of the NCAA Zone E Diving Championships, UCLA finished with a fifth NCAA qualification.

Belanger wrapped up her time at the championships with a fourth-place finish in platform. Belanger has now triple-qualified for the NCAA championships for the second year in a row.

Earlier in the week, Polyakova also punched her ticket to the NCAAs when she won both the 1-meter and 3-meter.

Shiver was less than a point away from heading to the NCAA championships, trailing one point behind ninth-place finisher Ivy Houser of Hawai’i, who secured a bid.

In the finals, Belanger received her best score of a 61.50 on her second-to-last dive, a forward 3 1/2 somersault pike from 10 meters.

UCLA swimming and diving will send at least 10 athletes to compete in the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships from March 20 to March 23 in Austin, Texas.

Stanford students file lawsuit against UCLA, schools involved in admissions scandal

Two Stanford students filed a lawsuit Thursday against a number of universities named in the nationwide college admissions scandal.

Students Erica Olsen and Kalea Woods are seeking to settle a class action complaint because they believe the worth of their degrees has been damaged as future employers will question the legitimacy of their admission to the school.

Olsen claims “employers may now question whether she was admitted to the university on her own merits, versus having rich parents who were willing to bribe school officials.”

The students claimed if they had been informed that the admissions system at the respective schools was fraudulent, they would have never paid the admissions fee and applied.

The suit filed Wednesday in US District Court for the Northern District of California alleges negligence, unfair competition and violations of consumer law against William Singer, the head of the admissions scheme – as well as the founder of the Key Worldwide Foundation, a nonprofit. The suit also alleges the same complaints against USC, Stanford, UCLA, University of San Diego, University of Texas at Austin, Georgetown and others.

Olsen and Woods are seeking compensatory damages with interest, punitive damages, payback of admissions fees paid to the schools when the duo applied, claw-back of illegal payments and the covering of their attorneys’ fees and court costs.

Stanford was tied to the admissions scandal through former sailing coach John Vandemoer, who pled guilty to charges of racketeering conspiracy after he took $270,000 in bribes to admit multiple students to the university. Vandemoer will have his sentencing hearing June 12 in Massachusetts.

 

UC Board of Regents to vote on $762 tuition increase for nonresident students

Nonresident students may have to pay $762 more in yearly tuition following a vote by the University of California Board of Regents on Wednesday.

The Finance and Capital Strategies Committee approved a recommendation to the regents to increase nonresident supplemental tuition by 2.6 percent during its meeting. This would increase tuition for nonresident students from $28,992 to $29,754.

UC President Janet Napolitano recommended the committee enact the 2.6 percent increase, which translates to $28.9 million in additional revenue for the UC.

“We don’t seek this increase lightly,” Napolitano said.

Napolitano said not passing the increase would cause the UC to make cuts elsewhere to provide the funding.

“There are other forms of financial assistance to our out-of-state and international students, and we haven’t seen … (a) decline in applications from out-of-state or international students,” she said. “This is an increase that actually keeps out-of-state tuition in terms of constant dollars – otherwise, costs continue to rise and (there will be) cuts elsewhere in the University program.”

According to the agenda for the regents meeting, the increase would support the UC’s goals “to expand access to California resident students, increase degree attainment, close student achievement gaps, and invest in faculty.”

The tuition increase would also provide resources to help students cover costs other than tuition and fees, such as housing and food, and improve student access to mental health care, according to the agenda.

[RELATED: Board of Regents votes to increase tuition of nonresident students]

Regent Chair George Kieffer said he supports the resolution because the UC’s obligation is first to the education of California residents and to the state’s economy.

Kieffer said out-of-state students contribute to the University’s campuses, but that the UC is not obligated to provide aid to nonresident students. He added it is untenable for the University to keep tuition constant for multiple years without adjusting for inflation.

“It comes down to (balancing) resources and what our role is,” he said.

Nathan Brostrom, the UC’s chief financial officer, said several UC campuses rely on nonresident supplemental tuition to support campus initiatives, including paying back campus debt and offering student services.

Brostrom said the core budget for the UC’s academic endeavors is about $9 billion and that the additional funding would be beneficial to the University’s efforts.

David Alcocer, associate vice president of the UC’s budget analysis and planning department, said nonresident families are mostly able to pay the cost of nonresident tuition and housing costs, and that despite the difficulties of some of these students, increasing nonresident supplemental tuition would not negatively affect many others.

Alcocer said nonresident supplemental tuition increases in the past have not negatively affected graduation rates or retention of nonresident students.

He said undocumented students who attended high schools in another state would be the only members of that community affected by the potential increase.

Brostrom said the UC used to be able to provide financial aid to nonresident students but stopped providing it years ago following a state agreement.

He added that roughly two-thirds of nonresident students are international students.

Regent Hadi Makarechian said many international students come from economically affected areas. He said the tuition increase would restrict access to the UC to wealthy individuals in other nations, and that he would vote against the measure.

He added the expected $28.9 million increase in revenue from the raised tuition does not seem to make a huge impact on the UC’s $36.5 billion aggregate budget.

Regent Lark Park said she does not want wealthy international students to be the only nonresident students who are able to attend UC schools. She added she does not currently support the increase.

Varsha Sarveshwar, a UC Berkeley student speaking on behalf of the University of California Student Association, said the regents should not approve the nonresident supplemental tuition because it prevents low-income, out-of-state families from sending their children to UC schools.

The Board of Regents will formally vote on the motion to increase nonresident tuition Thursday.

Contributing reports from Keshav Tadimeti, Daily Bruin senior staff.

Students, faculty react to newly uncovered UCLA admissions scandal

Nneoma Kanu was not accepted the first time she applied to UCLA.

She was a second-year accounting student at College of San Mateo, a community college in Northern California. She said she was disappointed but knew it would take more than just good grades to get into the top public university in the country.

Kanu said she worked even harder the next year, interning at two companies and studying to make sure her grades were up to UCLA standards – all while working part time at the library and playing volleyball on the school’s team. The next time she applied to UCLA, she was accepted.

“At first I didn’t believe it – I was in shock,” she said. “I felt like all my work and effort paid off.”

Then, she found out about the admissions scheme uncovered Tuesday, in which parents paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to a UCLA soccer coach to secure their children’s spots at the university.

Kanu said she felt like it minimized all of the hard work she put in at community college.

“It shouldn’t be a matter of how rich you are, but it kind of is,” she said.

This is not the first time UCLA has garnered national attention over an admissions scandal. In 1996, it was discovered that UCLA accepted hundreds of well-connected, wealthy applicants ahead of those with better qualifications and test scores, according to a Los Angeles Times article. The university had raised millions of dollars in private funds through these back-channel requests.

In the most recent admissions scheme, parents gave $25 million to third-party college preparation businesses that helped their children cheat on standardized tests. The scheme also helped students gain admission to prestigious colleges as student-athletes despite never having played their respective sports competitively.

For some, the scheme draws attention to the privileges many wealthy high school students enjoy while applying to college.

Erika Gallion, a UCLA student affairs officer, said she struggled to navigate the college admissions and financial aid process at Ashland University as a first-generation college student. Learning about the scheme was a slap in the face for anyone who values equity in admissions, she said.

“I know how students can feel intimidated by the application process, and now it might feel even more hopeless and daunting, like you’re already disqualified from the experience,” she said. “That’s going to be the hardest part, in assuring potential students and even current students that everyone has an equal shot.”

Kenneth Vuong, a first-year mechanical engineering student, came from a low-income family and used financial aid to cover the cost of his college applications. He said his family would never have been able to afford to bribe a coach.

“If I hadn’t been the best at my school, UCLA wouldn’t have accepted me,” he said.

Others said the admissions scheme validated what they already knew to be an unequal system.

“It just shows a huge advantage that rich people have over less wealthy people in the context of college admissions,” said Danny Cross, a first-year political science student. “Everyone knows this inequality exists, but it is embarrassing to see it happening here at UCLA.”

Theodore Porter, a distinguished professor of history at UCLA, said the scheme draws attention to a problem that has been going on for years.

“It’s not only a UCLA problem. It’s a problem with the whole American system of education,” he said. “This kind of thing certainly shows that the American system is not clearly meritocratic and that it gives advantages to people who already have privileges.”

Olivia Modi, a first-year biochemistry student at UC San Diego, was waitlisted at UCLA in 2018. She took 11 AP classes, served as the president of her school’s Science Olympiad team and tutored at the local middle school.

“There are a lot of people who I’m sure are deserving to get in, and knowing that someone got in because they paid their way through is a little disheartening,” she said.

Q&A: UCLA law professor explains legal implications of college admissions scandal

This post was updated March 14 at 12:05 p.m.

Jorge Salcedo, the UCLA men’s soccer coach, and other coaches at other universities were involved in a bribery scheme that included facilitation of cheating on college entrance exams and fabrication of false athlete profiles. The implicated individuals were charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud.

Sherod Thaxton, a UCLA law professor, sat down with the Daily Bruin’s Maddie Ostergaard to discuss the legal implications of the scandal, who is likely to be prosecuted and to what extent.

Daily Bruin: It seems like most of the parents in this case were charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud. Can you explain if this a common charge in situations like this and, if found guilty, how severe the punishment could be?

Sherod Thaxton: The (Racketeer Influence and Corrupt Organizations) conspiracy is one of the most commonly used charges when you have a racketeering charge. This is conducting illegal affairs through a business. … What happens is RICO conspiracy is such a powerful special conspiracy statute for two reasons: One, it’s easier to prove than normal conspiracy statutes; two, it carries the same penalty whether or not the crime was completed.

When we typically say mail fraud or wire fraud, a person was trying to cheat another person out of money or property. But sometimes, you’re not trying to cheat someone out of money. Here what you have is they weren’t necessarily cheating the university out of money, (the accused) were getting kickbacks for these kids to get admitted. What’s important there is it was a bribery kickback scheme.

DB: What is the difference between mail fraud and other kinds of fraud?

ST: This is a federal crime and the way this works is it’s the use of the mail. Mail fraud means you either use physical mail … or electronic mail, email, called wire, and that’s important to perpetuate the scheme. What was central to help them effectuate the scheme was that they were using mail and wire, and that was important in communicating to organize this scheme.

DB: Can you explain the difference between honest services mail fraud and conspiracy to commit mail fraud?

ST: Honest services fraud is a type of mail fraud. For mail fraud, you can get a penalty of up to 20 years if you’re engaged in the mail fraud. For conspiracy to commit mail fraud, there would be a lower penalty. For conspiracy to commit RICO, you would not have to actually prove the person committed the offense. You would have to prove that they conspired or basically agreed to commit the offense, and you still get that 20-year maximum. So, you have to prove less and you still get the same penalty.

DB: The soccer coach at UCLA was charged with conspiracy to commit racketeering. Can you explain what this means?

ST: Racketeering is using a business to do your dirty work. When people think about racketeering, oftentimes they think about organized crime, but really any organization … to help you commit crimes whether that be the mob or a corrupt corporation, but it’s really using a form of business to basically earn illegal money. So if you’re a coach, you’re working for the university, but the way you get illegal money through the kickbacks is using admissions to the university and your official duties to get money.

The enterprise here was the nonprofit (Key Worldwide Foundation) led by (William Singer) and the (Edge College & Career Network, LLC).

DB: How severe could the punishment for this be?

ST: You’re looking at up to 20 years with a RICO conspiracy. But it’s 20 years per count so you can aggregate charges to be more than 20 years. Rarely is that the case, but it can be more than 20 years. I can’t speak on the parents but if you look at the indictment on the coaches, the main indictment that the (United States Department of Justice) has available, all of the different employees that were associated with the college admissions outfit and the person who was president of the tennis academy and the coaches, they’re all charged here under the RICO conspiracy. The monetary fines they have to give back would vary based on how much they received in the scheme.

DB: Are the students implicated in this investigation at any legal risk?

ST: I think it’s possible but it’s going to depend on their level of knowledge and involvement in the scheme. You know that there’s some lying going on but you can’t say, “Oh the students were lying, therefore they’re criminal.” With these white-collar crimes there’s a lot of overlapping statutes. … You have to know you were doing something wrong or you knew what you were doing. Those requirements depend on what the person is charged with.

DB: If these students were going to soccer practice, knowing that they weren’t soccer players, do you think the students could feasibly argue they didn’t know what their parents were doing?

ST: The issue with the defendants is not just that they were helping the kids with the test, but they were helping the kids with the test to get them into school. If you cheat on a test in school, you might get kicked out, but there’s no criminal charges if you got caught cheating on your final. That’s not criminal, that’s administrative, there’s no prosecutor charging you.

You can’t just focus on a student knew that a lie was going on. Yes, they were living a lie, but then living a lie doesn’t necessarily make you criminally liable.

DB: Is there a chance that the federal courts could try to make an example of the parents or coaches in this case?

ST: Your answer would be as good as mine. You have two things going on, right, you have individuals, specifically you have celebrities that have a lot of money and a lot of resources, so they’re going to be able to fight this stuff pretty well if they want to, but we’re also in this current climate where admissions are these highly coveted places. There’s this huge premium on getting to the right schools and how that impacts people’s futures, so you can imagine this really offends the public.

The way it captures public imagination, there could be some pressure to go ahead and pursue these cases, not to mention we also had the recent Harvard affirmative action case, so this is in the news.

It’s not a simple, “Okay, she took a spot from someone who would have gotten a scholarship.” The issue is, there’s also someone who could have contributed to the team, who would have gotten admissions preference because of athletics. She took a slot from someone who had athletic ability, that athletic ability would have merit them admission to UCLA.

DB: Is there anything else that you want to comment on?

ST: As I said before, it’s very interesting to think about how we believe we are in a society that rewards merit. Even though merit can be problematically defined, we believe in rewards of merit. What we’re seeing though, is we have all types of ways that individuals who don’t appear to be meritorious … getting admitted to elite schools. And what this does is make us reevaluate the problems we have with admission. Not only is it subjectivity because there are already so many qualified people, but in addition to that, admission preferences for individuals who are not good enough to get a scholarship. But there are certain mechanisms so that people who have money can get their kids in school. It emphasizes just how entrenched and ingrained money is either directly or indirectly in the admission process. If you do not have money, you are disadvantaged even if you are otherwise meritorious.