<p>Sounds like they’ll make it into the California system after all, but it won’t be for college.</p>
<p>Dingbats.</p>
<p>But it does make me wonder how a school checks such things, besides having an attentive registrar.</p>
<p>And, how many students download papers, essays, and such from the internet and pass them in as their own? They’re not going to be sent to prison, if caught. . .And, if they are caught and punished at their high school, how do colleges react? Does it matter?</p>
<p>38 years is way to harsh. </p>
<p>How many rapists and murderers in this country do we have that get out short of 38 years? Plenty…</p>
<p>“These students are not accused of just committing simple ‘Ferris Bueller’-type offenses,” Deputy District Attorney Chuck Lawhorn told the Register. “These are very serious crimes.”</p>
<p>I’m sorry, but I find this statement to be rather entertaining…A possibility of 38 years for high school grade computer fraud? Give me a break…Sounds like a pompous D.A looking to make a name for himself.</p>
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<p>Goddamnit, descendants of emperors think they can get away with anything…</p>
<p>This is such a rip off, there was a whole group of ppl changing grades in our district and no one got a news story on Fox news. Uncool :(</p>
<p>“Too bad grades are so important that students are desperate enough to do this.”</p>
<p>People who lack ethics can always find a reason to cheat and steal to get what they want. It’s not that grades are that important, it’s that the people who would stoop to break into a school, steal passwords, and hack computers, lack morals.</p>
<p>"It really troubles me how zealous the government is in prosecuting them. I say change their grades back to Cs and Ds and let em go. "</p>
<p>While I agree that it would be very excessive for them to have to serve 38 years in prison for their alleged actions, I think that their alleged crime took a great deal of premeditation and included breaking and entering, so it would be appropriate for them to get the same kind of sentence that a first time offender for breaking and entering would get. Whether that would be probation or a short jail sentence, I don’t know.</p>
<p>I don’t think they should get a lesser punishment because they were privileged and had a reason that many would empathize with more than, for instance, they’d empathize with a low income teen who broke into a liquor store to steal a few cans of beer. </p>
<p>I met a man who recently was released from prison after serving more than ten years for a murder he didn’t commit. He had been put in a lineup because his mug shot was in the system because he had stolen some beer when he was a teen. </p>
<p>“And, how many students download papers, essays, and such from the internet and pass them in as their own? They’re not going to be sent to prison, if caught. . .And, if they are caught and punished at their high school, how do colleges react? Does it matter?”</p>
<p>Colleges do take things like cheating and plagiarizing very seriously, and probably most colleges that have any kind of selective admission may reject a student whose high school reported had a history of cheating or plagiarism.</p>
<p>Absolutely, NSM. In our society, money is very important. Prestige, anything that a person covets is important enough to get a cheater rolling.</p>
<p>I’m still giggling about WoodPost’s post … it directly follows the trying to get pregnant link. (insert winky face that I can’t remember how to make)</p>
<p>This is the school I graduated from last year. I had calculus with Omar last year and remember him saying about how his parents were tough on him. He was a bright enough kid, kinda ridiculous how big this is becoming, though. I mean its in papers all over (saw one in the UK). I know that Tanvir had already gotten into UCSD, so it just boggles my mind getting involved with something like this. I hear there are other people involved but just no one who used texts to communicate. Pretty crazy thing though, all in all. The pressure in this area to succeed (and succeeding to most is going to a prestigious college) is ridiculous and I can definitely see how this kind of thing happened.</p>
<p>38 year is wayyy too harsh. One high school offense basically <em>ruins</em> his whole life? if he does get 38 years, he will get out of prison when he is 56. whoa.</p>
<p>Wow, students are desperate these days. I kind of understand how he felt though because I also have terrible grades in my transcript.</p>
<p>CA jail system is overcrowded. I’d say put then to a good use - let them pick up roadside garbage and dead possums for a year. That’ll wipe the smiles off of their smug mugs. Then they can go to a community college.</p>
<p>I’d say that they could still get into a top-flight school. How many academically-formidable students can boast that they have the testicular fortitude to grin in a mugshot under the duress of having committed a possibly life-altering offense? Plus they’d have potentially killer essays to boot.</p>
<p>True: re murder!</p>
<p>There’s another story in the OC Register about a 17 year old who murdered her mother and dumped her body in Newport Bay. She’s only facing 20 some-odd years.</p>
<p>I don’t believe the smiling photos are from mugshots…</p>
<p>^^ Yeah, but I’d like to see their pictures in about ten years. Will they be smiling then?</p>
<p>Geez, no one is going to go to jail for 38 years. It is a 38-count charge, probably based on the number of incidents. It will probably turn into a guilty plea to a couple of counts + probation contingent on county jail time. The guys problem is that he not only hacked the computer, but he also apparently physically broke into the school each time to do it – so he’s got burglary charged on top of the computer offenses, plus a different count for every separate instance of grade changing.</p>
<p>This was not just “one high school offense.” The kid had gotten a series of Fs on tests because he had been caught cheating on them. He went in and changed his test grades to As (as well as his school grades). I wonder how long the school was on to him? Apparently when he requested his transcript for a college, somebody who knew about him noticed the disparity. Give him the max for unadulterated arrogance.
This behaviour harms everyone who plays by the rules. Just because some kids get away with it doesn’t mean we go lightly. Maybe the message will start getting across.</p>
<p>I really don’t think this will hurt him too badly, anyway. Hopefully they’ll put him away for 6 months (which is about what 38 years translates to), probably will hurt college plans, but there are plenty of companies that would love his “expertise.” But at least they’ll know what they’re getting.</p>