Homelss Intel semi-finalist

xiggi
Fri, 13 Jan 2012 23:34:07 +0000

Lighten up, Xiggi. The thread was supposed to be one of admiration, not resentment.



With all due respect, that is why I started my post with “That is a heart-warming story.” Every year, the Intel competition recognizes and rewards students who engaged in novel research in an environment that is not one of mega-laboratories.

If you are interested in balance, you ought to have little problem acknowledging that the stories of massive adult contribution, if not straight deceit, have been a problem with scientific competition. What starts in the kiddies’ fair simply compounds over the years. Doesn’t anyone remember the dads (or moms) who walked in with amazing posters at the 2nd grade fair while their kid was bored to death?

If people expect observers to lighten up and stop pointing fingers at the organized cheating that gives a black eye to many of HS EC activities, the best response is to … stop pretending everything is above board.

The losers are the kids who do not have a reasonable chance because adults now routinely ruin the competition by elevating the bar well beyond the level of a teenager, regardless how gifted he or she might be.