Preview of Summer and a Rant

Well, I've begun summer. Yeah, it pretty well much ends at that. I'm sitting down with a Physics book on one leg, a Japanese book on the other, a learn Greek website open, and the TV running full blast. It's summer all right. I have, however, taken breaks to explore as much stuff as possible while I wait for the college applications to come out in July. I'm not even gonna check on Ga Tech or Clemson's applications yet. Taking all this into consideration, I've visited my extreme nemesis College Confidential. dot com. For those of ya'll unfamiliar with College Confidential, I'll go ahead and warn you, it's the spawn of Satan. Well, it and Myspace. Though there are a few people on there that truly know what's right, the majority of them are pure idiots.

But wait, you may be thinking, "Oh Walt, you're over exaggerating." pfft I'll be over exaggerating when I truly think that they are all truly deserving of all that they really think they deserve. The MIT section of CC has been filled with mindless drones who think that their stats and "amazing personality" will grab them the perfect spot, that random people on a random website will tell them if they can get into MIT, and those who think that trolling will get them true happiness.

I've also noticed that a good number are asking about "Why should I apply to MIT?" No, seriously, do you know how angry this makes me? Imagine a cat, now slap it around a bit, now pour ice water on it, now pull it's tail, and finally, drop it in a pool full of puppies and ice water. This is about 1/10 of how angry these posts make me. I know a lot of people aren't sure about what college to choose, and I know that MIT's not the college for everyone. These are the exact reason why they make me mad. MIT is a place where if you truly want to go to it, by simply reading stuff from the blogs, or the site, you should just have everything click. Seriously, if you're a match there, I think things would seriously click. Now I've not been accepted, and have strong doubts about my acceptance, and have talked to people who have, indeed, had things click, and then got rejected. Even so, I go by the belief that you don't go to college to get a degree. You don't go so you can brag later about "Oh yeah, I went to Fill in Name of Uber College. It's stupid to do that. Seriously, do you know how purely horrible that is? You don't go anywhere to do THAT!!! College is made to TEACH!!! AND YOU GO TO LEARN!!! YOU LEARN SO THAT YOU CAN HELP HUMANITY!!!

OK, yeah, I know this rant may sound a bit on the corny side, but seriously!!! Bah even so, I think I've used up my rants for today, and either way, youth group's about to start, so I've gotta go. I have another post in the works about the news from yesterday. enjoy my rant. Jya' Ne.

IT'S ALL OVER!!!

OH YEAH!!! WE ARE DONE!!! FINALLY I'M A SENIOR! BLI BLI BLI!!! UBER BLI!!! OK, that's over with. Well, not really, but then again, yeah it is. Well, if you haven't caught the drift yet, I'm out of school, and officially a SENIOR! and at the end of July, MIT releases their applications for Freshman Admission. *bli faints* Here's a quick review of my summer though. June, six days free, then the rest is at a college experience thing. July, first ten days, I'm still at college experience thing, then I have a free week, then science camp, then free week to bli over MIT's newly released application. August, trip to CAMBRIDGE [WOO!], then Habitat for Humanity, then a week, then SENIOR YEAR BABY!

BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE! During this entire summer, I have to teach myself Physics for the SAT Physics Subject Test, teach myself basic Japanese [and hopefully Greek{already started a bit}] So, what do ya think? Can I do it? ^_^ Oh well, I can at least try, right? Well, besides that, I'm also miffed off because my chairs got destroyed [Oh sorry, I'll make sure I write about this, it was boredom fun {what's more fun than boredom fun, seriously?}] I gtg now, cause I'm gonna be helping my grandma clean up uhh today. Jya' Ne all.

Like A Top That Never Stops Spinning WOO!

BACK!!!, well only kinda. I figured I'd jam pack this one with pics and info galore, but I'm not sure right now, I guess we'll find out at the end. OK, from last time, A few weeks ago, I went to my first prom.

[Bah, horrid prom pictures]

Well, the prom itself was awesome, even though our DJ was either not up-to-date with good ole' old skool music or just didn't want to play what I requested [I clearly said "Lean On Me" not Lean With It, Rock With It"] Everyone enjoyed themselves and I was able to become Limbo King! Turns out, it's a good thing that everyone had a good time, because the next day, we were informed that we would no longer be having proms at our school any more until our school does an "Official Study" into how proms are conducted. They banned them because they did not like the bumoing and grinding going on on the dance floor. "Like sex with clothes on" I believe our Spanish teacher described it as. [For those who're wondering, no, I only slow-danced]. The Friday before prom, I also became student body president, which is pretty kool, even though I uber miffed off my opponent. In essence, our school's final prom was a truly awesome one [we even had a limo...that got in a wreck!].

Our school even went to the State Soccer Tournament as well, and even though we lost, the ride there was truly awesome. I took a bunch of pictures for ya'll to enjoy as well. ^_^ v Most of the pictures are a tad, ummm, satirical? I know that there are probably truly reasonable explanations for most of them, but some things in life just make ya laugh sometimes. [Photos will be posted soon.]



BTW, as for school, IT'S ALMOST OVER!!!! My friends and I followed up by celebrating the first day of exams which signaled one more week on Friday by going fishing and riding ATV's immediately after school. It was, as you can imagine, amazing, and I also took a bunch of random vids today as well. [Yes vids, I'm moving on up in this blogging thing, now all I have to do is figure out how to post them]. As for now? yeah, I'm just postponing studying for my LAST JUNIOR EXAM!!! -_-> Yeah, I know, a bunch of ya'll are "been there, done that," but this is awesome for me because it means that I'm almost away from Fill in School's name here Ahh, just a couple more days/hours. Also, I've decided to add something to the side that posts fellow MIT hopefuls blogs too. If I put it up and ya'll don't want me to put it up, tell me, I'll drop it [WARNING: HORRID POP CULTURE REFERENCE] like it's hot. Bah I hate that song. Oh well, Have a nice day/night/morn. Jya' Ne.

BRB

Well, I haven't been able to blog lately due to an enormous amount of work [two weeks before school gets out, and they pile work on us!]. Because of all this, I won't be blogging until the 15th or later. But while I'm gone I'll leave you with this vid... Enjoy.

An Even Quicker Vent

ARG, why can't I get time to post... New post will come soon [Things to watch for: Last prom, my first name, an alligator with a flag, the Squat and Gobble II, and a big fish.]

...... AND Why does Photobucket only take 1024 x 768 images or less!?!?!?!?!?!

A Quick Vent

OK guys, I've been silent for a while but now I'm miffed, and have decided to postpone my Honors work while I vent a bit. If anyone's watching MIT, they know what has happened with the Dean of Admissions. I've read the stories, thought about the situation, and will be sending the MIT Admissions Office an e-mail with my complete thoughts tonight. I am however following the blogs, and the comments on the blogs. One of these is the new Dir. of Admissions, Stu Schmill. I opened the good ole' laptop the other day to find out that the blogs and comments had been re-opened, and that the first post was by Stu himself. The comments made were mostly expected, but then around 12:50, someone begins posting idiotic comments such as "Read the News." They then proceed with different names to insert the exact same thing into the comments, and/or to insult Mrs. Marilee. I'll say now I don't know Marilee, nor do I know anyone at the admissions office, but it's people who make comments like the following that make me mad. I'll post some and then respond:

"Please read the news:

Marilee Jones falsely bolstered her credentials to get a job with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and over the course of her career claimed to have earned degrees from three schools. MIT officials say now they have no evidence she ever graduated from college at all.

The school announced Thursday that Jones had resigned after acknowledging she had misrepresented her education when she started working at the university 28 years ago, and declined to correct multiple incorrect claims since then.

A senior MIT official said that by claiming degrees she had never earned, Jones could no longer lead an admissions office that occasionally rescinds the acceptance letters sent to applicants who are untruthful about their own accomplishments.

Jones was asked to resign because her actions go "against her being a model for integrity that an admissions director sets," Clay said. "It represents a very, very long deception, when there were opportunities to correct the record. This is not a mistake or an accident or an oversight."

_________________________________________________

Details:

MIT dean resigns over misrepresented credentials
POSTED: 12:15 p.m. EDT, April 27, 2007
AP) -- To stressed-out parents and students, MIT admissions dean Marilee Jones was a rare voice of reason in the high-pressure world of college admissions. With colleges demanding kids who play sports, run student government and take the heaviest course load they can, Jones shouted back the opposite: daydream, stay healthy, and don't worry so much about building a resume just to impress an elite college.

Yet it turns out that Jones was susceptible to pressure herself. She falsely bolstered her credentials to get a job with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and over the course of her career claimed to have earned degrees from three schools. MIT officials say now they have no evidence she ever graduated from college at all.

The school announced Thursday that Jones had resigned after acknowledging she had misrepresented her education when she started working at the university 28 years ago, and declined to correct multiple incorrect claims since then.

A senior MIT official said that by claiming degrees she had never earned, Jones could no longer lead an admissions office that occasionally rescinds the acceptance letters sent to applicants who are untruthful about their own accomplishments.

"We have to uphold the integrity of the institution, because that's what we've been trying to sell and she's our chief spokesperson on that," MIT Chancellor Phil Clay said. It's "regrettable, ironic, sad, but that's where we are."

Jones had become one of the most public voices urging parents, students and especially colleges themselves to "lower the flame" surrounding college admissions. She made the cause her own after growing alarmed at the increase in stress-related health problems among young people and has become a much-in-demand speaker at admissions events.

Last year, she co-authored a book: "Less Stress, More Success: A New Approach to Guiding Your Teen Through College Admissions and Beyond."

"We're raising a generation of kids trained to please adults," Jones told The Associated Press in an extensive interview last year. "Every day kids should have time when they're doing something where they're not being judged. That's the big difference with this generation. They're being judged and graded and analyzed and assessed at every turn. It's too much pressure for them."

On Thursday, MIT released a short statement from Jones in which she said she was "deeply sorry for this and for disappointing so many in the MIT community and beyond who supported me, believed in me, and who have given me extraordinary opportunities."

Clay said MIT was alerted to questions about Jones' credentials in a phone call, from someone he declined to identify, to another dean. An inquiry determined Jones had at various points claimed degrees from Union College, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the Albany Medical College, all in New York, but in fact had no degrees from any of those institutions. Clay said MIT was not aware of Jones having any undergraduate or graduate degree.

Jones was confronted on Monday, acknowledged the misrepresentations and accepted a request to resign, Clay said.

Jason Gorss, a spokesman for RPI, said Jones attended that university as a part-time, non-matriculating student in 1974 and 1975 but did not receive a degree. Officials at the other two schools said she had never been a student there.

A number of people in the college admissions field said they were saddened by the news and hoped Jones would find another venue for continuing her cause.

"She's been such a high impact and good influence on all of these admissions conversations," said Bruce Poch, dean of admissions at Pomona College in California, who knows Jones well. "This hurts."

Clay said MIT now checks credentials of new hires but did not generally do so when Jones first applied to work there. The first job she applied for, as an administrative assistant, did not require a college degree, but Clay said Jones claimed to have one. He said she did not correct that claim during her appointment process as dean in 1997.

Jones was asked to resign because her actions go "against her being a model for integrity that an admissions director sets," Clay said. "It represents a very, very long deception, when there were opportunities to correct the record. This is not a mistake or an accident or an oversight."

Lloyd Thacker, the founder of the Education Conservancy, a group also trying to tone down the admissions process, said Jones "has had a very positive impact on the lives of many students and families and has brought inspiration to the professions." Her resignation "in no way discredits the value of her work," he said.

Posted by: Read the News on May 5, 2007 12:50 PM

HIGHER EDUCATION
MIT admissions dean resigns amid scandal

After admitting to falsifying her academic credentials, MIT Dean of Admissions Marilee Jones resigned yesterday.

"I misrepresented my academic degrees when I first applied to MIT 28 years ago and did not have the courage to correct my resume when I applied for my current job or at any time since," she said in a statement posted on MIT's website.

Throughout her time at MIT, Jones was believed to have received degrees from Albany Medical College, Union College and Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), when in fact none of the three institutions had conferred a degree on her, MIT Chancellor Phillip Clay explained in a statement.

An RPI official confirmed that Jones had been a part-time student at the Troy, N.Y., school during the 1974-75 academic year, though she did not officially matriculate. Albany Medical College and Union College had no records in her name.

Jones started work in the MIT admissions office in an entry-level position that did not require a college degree, Clay said. By the time she was under consideration for the position of dean of admissions, Jones had already become a central figure in the office, holding the positions of assistant dean and associate dean. Thus, MIT did not make any effort to check her credentials at that time.

About a week and a half ago, however, MIT received information that threw Jones' credentials into question. Several days of investigation were enough for the institution to ask for her resignation Monday.

Posted by: News from Princeton on May 5, 2007 12:57 PM

I found this on MIT web site last Saturday.
It is a joke that Marilee Jones claimed herself to be a scientist ...

____________________________________________

Marilee Jones is Dean of Admissions at MIT. A scientist by training, she joined the MIT Admissions Office in 1979 to lead the recruitment efforts for women.

Source: www.mitadmissions.org/Marilee.shtml ·

Posted by: A Joke on May 5, 2007 01:01 PM

Dear news guys and jokers, I'm pretty sure that we've all read the news by now, and have been reading this stuff for the past week that we have known about this. How about respecting the feelings of the MIT staff, current students, and prospective students by just dropping it and letting them move forward like they are trying to do. We know what's happened and is happening, and it has taken bravery for MIT to be so open about all of this. Allow them at least a bit of peace as they are trying to move along. They're proving themselves strong in a time of trial, can you say that you could do that?

Posted by: De Petagma Saru on May 5, 2007 01:05 PM

Yes. I agree:

"It represents a very, very long deception, when there were opportunities to correct the record. This is not a mistake or an accident or an oversight."

Throughout her time at MIT, Jones was believed to have received degrees from Albany Medical College, Union College and Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), when in fact none of the three institutions had conferred a degree on her, MIT Chancellor Phillip Clay explained in a statement.

An RPI official confirmed that Jones had been a part-time student at the Troy, N.Y., school during the 1974-75 academic year, though she did not officially matriculate. Albany Medical College and Union College had no records in her name.

Posted by: Opinion on May 5, 2007 01:11 PM

We are in America! We have the freedom to express our opinion.

We are upset at Marilee Jones, not MIT's admission office or students. As a matter of fact, MIT is the victim of Jones' deception.

Posted by: A Joke on May 5, 2007 01:21 PM"

Notice the genius double-post. This is very annoying. It's idiots like these that make America a horrible place at times. There's "A Joke" who'd probably yell "Bomb" in a classroom to express his "free speech" who apparently has forgotten that Marilee doesn't work at MIT anymore, hence the word "resigned," and continues to post insults to her which extend to those who feel for her, and who are her friends. Then there's the News boy, and Opinion man [who I assume are the same person, and the same as A Joke {all that he truly is}] who apparently aren't smart enough to stop parroting themselves, or others. Baka. I'm assuming they're mad because they are students who weren't admitted [let's all feel pity for the idiot who didn't get admitted]. To them now, I say, "IDIOTS! YOU ARE A FARCE TO ALL PEOPLE WHO HAVE EVER APPLIED TO MIT, AND I AM GLAD THAT YOU WERE DENIED, BECAUSE WITH THAT FORM OF REACTION TO ADVERSITY, YOU DON'T BELONG THERE ANYWAY!!!" OK, now I shouldn't talk, because I'm a backwoods redneck, applying to MIT with a hope and a dream, and compared to people I know, I probably don't stand a chance of admission, but I feel I have a pretty OK character, and I can at least understand the general concept of compassion for others in a time of need. MIT has been strong and brave to be so open about all this, and if A Joke, News guy, and Opinion boy are so mad, they should go whine to someone who cares. MIT is moving forward, with or without their idiotic and impolite comments whether they want them to or not. If ya'll are still reading this post, thanks ^_^ v I'll probably update every now and then. Jya' Ne all.