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Student sues to be sole valedictorian

jesus, that is pathetic. on so many levels. i don't even know what to say. i hate the competitiveness of school in the first place, i hate people who sue for no reason, i hate parents too involved in their kids affairs, i hate people who cry discrimination for very little thing...
obviously i hate a lot of things. this should never have happened. be happy with co-valedictorian. it's a great achievement. not like harvard's going to reject you because there was someone shared the title with you. there are plenty of people in th world who are just as good as you. get used to it. you can't sue them all.
 
I have found what could be comments from kids in her class. Or they could be false, but they sound convincing

I go to school with Blair at Moorestown High School. We are both seniors and have known each other forever. She is a ridiculous human being. She is dysfunctional as well as her whole family. They are very wealthy and are manipulating our tax dollars to be selfish and attention needy. She was getting a C in Algebra 1- so her parents pulled her out and got her a home tutor so that she'd get an A, and amazingly Blair pulled through to get that A+...incredible eh? There's no reason for anyone to feel bad for Blair, shes pathetic. She was lucky that she was even getting part of the valedictorianship, considering she doesn't come to school and isn't part of our grade. And isn't it just, oh too convenient for Blair that she plans on being successful in college, and studied at Stanford over the summer without help, but couldn't make it through a few hours of high school. Lets be serious, her condition is a joke, the entire senior class at MHS knows it, and is fighting back! No one should feel bad for Blair!
anonymous | Email | 05.06.03 - 4:53 pm | #


Okay, our entire school is against this girl. Just like the post above, she had a C in Latin and switched out of it so that she could miraculously get an A+ by the end of the quarter. What people are not hearing is that this girl is a crybaby and is just trying to fill the shoes of her brother who went to harvard and was his class's valedictorian. I don't believe that she has any condition except for being a mental basketcase. If she had such a chronic fatigue disorder, how was she able to go on our 5 day class trip to florida or numerous mock trial events? I don't feel bad for her and I hope that kenny countersues and becomes the sole valedictorian.
Dave | 05.06.03 - 5:14 pm | #


Also, I forget to comment on the whole gym thing. Gym is the only valid argument that we really have against Blair. The classes she takes are complete b.s. and the grades she gets are extremely inflated. They're not comparable at all to the grades that everybody else receives, yet for some reason, they are. She has been in my classes before and she is not smart at all! I was angry enough that she was going to be a co-valedictorian, but then when i found out that this little brat was suing the school to be the sole valedictorian, my anger level towards her hit an all time high.
Dave | 05.06.03 - 5:20 pm | #


What you have to understand is that it is not only the fact that Blair doesn't have a gym class and therefore it does not factor into her GPA. Also, because Blair doesn't have to take gym, she is able to take yet another AP class. In fact, Blair is able to take more classes than a student enrolled in the high school. At the school, students are limited to the number of classes they can take because of scheduling conflicts and the mere fact that there are only 9 periods in a day. Gym class and lunch take away from where Blair can schedule another credit course. Blair is able to double the course load of a student enrolled in the district, not being tutored at home. And not only is she able to, she does.

It is also interesting to note that Blair does not actually take the same class as her peers enrolled at the high school. Her tutors follow the school's curriculum of the high school but she does not take the same tests as her peers and she does not even take the same final as others in the class. Her grades do not suffer because of pop quizzes. Her teachers (those working in the Moorestown High School, those filling out her report card) receive a letter from her tutor stating the grade that she has earned in that marking period. Never once did her AP Physics teacher see a homework page, quiz, or test showing the grade or the level of difficulty. Are her tests an equal difficulty to those of her peers? Quite frankly, we don?t know.
Anonymous | Email | 05.06.03 - 5:39 pm | #
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Thanks for posting these comments from her schoolmates. They all have good points. When I first read about this story, the article stated that the student suing to be sole valedictorian had already been accepted to 5 ivy league schools, so I couldn't understand why it was such a big deal to be valedictorian. I think, as was suggested above, she's just a spoiled b*tch. Anyways, just to prove how frivolous our legal system has become, she won her lawsuit (CNN article ) and is seeking punitive damages of $2 million. Simply unbelievable. It's because of the fact that people like this girl become lawyers that lawyers tend to be the moral bottomdwellers of society.
 
Personally, I think the saddest thing about this is the amount of energy wasted on something so meaningless. As the author of the Philadelphia Inquirer noted:

I'd feel differently if being the school's sole valedictorian would affect her in some way. But she's already been accepted at Harvard. She's already won scholarship money. She's well on her way to forgetting all about high school.
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I graduated from high school back in 1996 and college back in 2000. I've won my share of honors, awards, etc. And you know what? They mean almost NOTHING in the real world. Will anyone really care that she was the class valedictorian, especially the only body that would ever care (Harvard) has already accepted her? If this girl does not exercise greater tact and human interaction skills, then she'll be in trouble. What is she going to do when her supervisor tells her straight up he doesn't give a damn about her being a class valedictorian? Sue him to make him recognize it? What is she going to when her snobbiness turns everyone against her? Sue them to force them to be her friend?
 
BTW, you can read her profile here:

http://www.studentrewards.com/scholarships/discover.html

The girl won a whopping $25k to go to Harvard despite being wealthy enough to have home tutors. Me? I was a perfectly healthy boy without any health problems who graduated from a school in the ghetto where Snoop Doggy Dog and all the other gangsta' rappers attended before they hit it big. I went to UC Berkeley, borrowed more than $15k, and got a part-time job to pay my way through school because my parents were too poor. <sigh>

Let me just add one more thing: I'm not a GQ model or anything, but I'll just say that in addition to suffering from chronic fatigue, she apparently also suffers from a case of ugliness.
 
Ok, What the heck?

This doesn't make any sense. Why would anyone ruin a reputation they have built over something so meaningless? I have a question. Do any of you think she actually took those AP tests, or did she take the classes? If she took them, I want to see the scores. Three's won't count to me in this case.

P-Worm
 
Originally posted by pyknosis
Thanks for posting these comments from her schoolmates. They all have good points. When I first read about this story, the article stated that the student suing to be sole valedictorian had already been accepted to 5 ivy league schools, so I couldn't understand why it was such a big deal to be valedictorian. I think, as was suggested above, she's just a spoiled b*tch. Anyways, just to prove how frivolous our legal system has become, she won her lawsuit (CNN article ) and is seeking punitive damages of $2 million. Simply unbelievable. It's because of the fact that people like this girl become lawyers that lawyers tend to be the moral bottomdwellers of society.
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It gets worse. I'm sure she and/or her brother become a politician or a very successful business person. Her dream job is to be a poverty lawyer? Yeah f***ing right. She's just saying what the Ivy League admissions want to hear.

Unfortunately, examples like this teach the unfortunate lesson that the way to get ahead in this world is to work the system as much as possible and bend the rules as much as possible (if not break them outright). Apparently honor is for suckers who just don't have what it takes to win.
 
my school is like that too. athletics and any sport is credited less than a regular class. if you take a year of athletics you only get semester credit.

iJon
 
my school district is so messed up because of state requirements.

that person seems like a snobby spoiled brat who gets everything she wants. i don't understand why she wouldn't want to be co-valedictorian. i want to see if she gets her way or not.

she will have to get uswed to the fact that people are always better than you in something.
 
well normally i say if a school has a validictorian, it has ONE. if not, fine (actually all the better). If the validictorian candidates have the same GPA, go by extracurricular activities or attendance or something.

But... this situation sounds different, and i can sympathize with the competitiveness. Not directly, i was a D-student for the most part, but in our school the megaperfect students were rallying the school board to award an extra like .2 for an A+, which sort of makes sense, since the other grades have a distinction. But when you realize these kids' GPA would then compete with other (normal) schools' kids' GPAs, it's not really fair at all...

i did support it at the time tho, i actually managed an A+ in like two classes... :)

pnw
 
Originally posted by lmalave
It gets worse. I'm sure she and/or her brother become a politician or a very successful business person. Her dream job is to be a poverty lawyer? Yeah f***ing right. She's just saying what the Ivy League admissions want to hear.
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Yup. Isn't funny how such people have the luxury to say they want to work as a poverty lawyer? After all, mommy and daddy's money will carry them through anything, so they can pretty much persue what they want or say they want. I had friends who bummed around after graduation going to Europe (with their parents' money, of course) and taking a year off trying to decide what to do while I had to scramble to find a job and pay off my student loans.

The most ironic thing is that I'm such a capitalist (I work in finance), but hearing cases like this brings out the Marxist side of me. :D
 
yeah, this girl pretty much is just a petty b*tch. getting this recognition will do nothing other than further her own ego - something that seems like a very bad idea. and if what is said about her pulling out of classes she wasn't doing well in, only to do well with a private tutor is true... majorly sketch!!

most ironic to me, though, is something from her profile page...


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

so she can do the distance carrying an olympic torch, but she can't manage a PE class. please. there are PE classes at most schools that you can get through with minimal physical exertion.
 
You guys are missing the point. The school was saying she got an advantage because she was given accomadations for her disabilty. Accomadations are given to even things out, not to give an advantage. She was right to sue, the school had the head up their *ss. Oviously no one here knows anyone with a disability or about discrimination.
 
Originally posted by herr_neumann
You guys are missing the point. The school was saying she got an advantage because she was given accomadations for her disabilty. Accomadations are given to even things out, not to give an advantage. She was right to sue, the school had the head up their *ss. Oviously no one here knows anyone with a disability or about discrimination.
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I agree with you in principle, but her "disability" was "chronic fatigue". Judging from her classmates' comments, apparently what happened is that she would start a class in the classroom, and when she looked headed for a bad grade, she would then drop out of the class due to "chronic fatigue", and finish the class with a tutor that would magically give her an A+.

So I agree with you that in principle a disabled student should not have an "asterisk" next to their valedictorian status because they could not take gym class, and the judge's ruling was a correct one. But I think what people are reacting to is the person not the legal principle. I think a student that fakes a disability so that she can receive grades from her home tutor and boost her GPA does a great disservice to students that actually are disabled.
 
for the record, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is a very real and very devistating disorder. But it sounds like she was really taking advantage of it here... missing PE is one thing, and appropriate for the syndrome, but the other stuff sounds shady...

pnw
 
Yeah, but none of us KNOW what her accomodations were. We know what her classmates say, but a bunch of gossiping high school students are exactly the most reliable source. Moreover, it is not like the government does not check into disability claims. They actually make those with disabilities jump through more hoops than they should to get accomodations. I have a feew friends who have some minor mental disabilities and the *ssholes here at UCDavis give them the bare minimum in the way of accomodations. If they thought they might have to pay out $2.5 million they might rethink things a bit. As it is a punative damage I do not think that this girl should get the money though. Punishing the school is not winning the lottery. The money should go to a well established charity of the girl's choosing.
 
The lawsuit describes Kadri's actions as "a malicious and intentional act designed to reduce (her) opportunity for academic success."
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Does anyone believe that a Superintendent would actually do this to a student -- single her out to devalue her? I mean, I know a teacher or a disciplinarian or sometimes a principal will do crap like that, but I don't see someone with so little student contact like a Super doing it.

It sounds more to me like somone poked their head in his office and said, "hey, you know that slacker b**** that never shows up -- y'know, the one with the judge dad who threatens to sue us for everything? Yeah, she's about to get valedictorian and some people are pretty upset,"

...and he decided to cause as few waves as possible with the girl and her daddy by doing the co-valedictorian thing. Oh well, some people are never happy.
 
Originally posted by herr_neumann
Yeah, but none of us KNOW what her accomodations were. We know what her classmates say, but a bunch of gossiping high school students are exactly the most reliable source.
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The students were in her classes. They were "fellow" honor roll AP students. I'd take them a little more seriously than cheerleader gossip.

Moreover, it is not like the government does not check into disability claims. They actually make those with disabilities jump through more hoops than they should to get accomodations. I have a feew friends who have some minor mental disabilities and the *ssholes here at UCDavis give them the bare minimum in the way of accomodations.
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High schools are not under the same type of supervision or government control as State colleges. They're run by local school boards. Things are arbitrary from local district to district.

---

I hope not only that she gets booed but that the entire student body walks out or turns their back on her as she speaks at graduation.
 
Originally posted by pseudobrit
The students were in her classes. They were "fellow" honor roll AP students. I'd take them a little more seriously than cheerleader gossip.

KNowing the kids I had my AP and GATE classes with I would give them less credit than cheerleaders. The smart kids gossip for a purpose.

I remember hating the stupid B*tches who gave speeches at my graduation, we heckeled them. The whole valedictorian thing is pretty lame to begin with, the graduating class should vote on who they want to give a speech. My HS had the stupid ass apeach teacher choose. I graduate UCD next month and I couldn't begin to tell you how they choose. Probably more of the same BS. One less reason to walk.....
... the excuses keep coming.... to bad my grandparents would never go for me not walking...


Oh yeah, and we are not a STATE school. UC meaning University of California, not CSU or California State university. Go to a sporting event between a UC and CSU when the UC is the home team, you will hear the State School chants.
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Originally posted by herr_neumann
Oh yeah, and we are not a STATE school. UC meaning University of California, not CSU or California State university. Go to a sporting event between a UC and CSU when the UC is the home team, you will hear the State School chants.
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UCD gets no state funding? I would presume a state authority would have control over the disability accomodations being met, if not, then much like high schools, it's a hit-and-miss locally controlled sort of thing and just because UCD has problems with compliance doesn't mean a high school in NJ will.
 
Originally posted by pseudobrit
UCD gets no state funding? I would presume a state authority would have control over the disability accomodations being met, if not, then much like high schools, it's a hit-and-miss locally controlled sort of thing and just because UCD has problems with compliance doesn't mean a high school in NJ will.
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If you wer familiar with the college system here in california you would realize that we have a three tiered system, the lowest being JC (junior college) then CSU then UC. So yes the UC gets state funding, Although it is like 25% of the uc budget and california is cutting $300million from that. And the disablitity accomodations are assigned by the UCD disability coordinator, who give very little in the way of accomodations.
The authority in disability claims is actually a fedral one though, as most claims are under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Our current administration us seeing that the ADA is dismantled. We wouldnt want companies hindered by pesky little guidlines, only individual people (by that I mean individuals that do not have loads of money).
 
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