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Friday's letters: Normal parents do not pay bribes

 
Published March 15, 2019

College cheats: parents | March 13

Normal parents do not pay bribes

What a mess. One coach allegedly took a $400,000 bribe to place a student on her team roster to help her get into Yale. As a mother of two teenagers attending a private university in Florida, all I can think of is that's exactly how much my kids' college tuition costs for both of their four-year degrees. Money that this middle-class family didn't have. An issue that kept me awake night after night, but I had faith it was going to get resolved. I just didn't know how.

Fast forward three years. My children went to college, but not because we paid any shady company to help them cheat on their test scores or to make them the top athletes.

What did happen was a lot of hard work, hours of practicing and tutoring. And they did get their good test scores, and they did get accepted to their college of choice, and they also did get merit-based scholarships. We only did what a normal parent does. We provided moral and emotional support, continuous and unbiased guidance, and we paid for their exam fees. We also stayed up with them during their studying times so that they would feel like we had their back no matter what the results.

I don't feel bad for those parents involved in this scandal. I do feel bad for their children.

Marielys Camacho-Reyes, Haines City Kids should be expelled

I am a graduate of elite institutions but started from the bottom and worked my way up with no real outside help. For one of the parents to pay a reported $6 million for their child to get into a top school clearly reflects that the student in question did not meet the qualifications. Unfortunately, the students reportedly were dupes and innocent of any wrongdoing.

All participants in this version of racketeering should be given tough sentences, Hollywood stars or not. The students should be immediately expelled. They clearly were admitted by fraud. They can keep their college credits, assuming that they were honestly earned, and they can be transferred to any institution that admits them. They took the spot of someone who was qualified to get in but applied in the honest way. The entire university system has been brought down by these nefarious practices. Michael S. Greenberg, Clearwater

A lesson in the shared right of free speech | Column, March 13

Free speech for everyone

What a superb column by David Parrott of the University of Florida. This should be required reading in public schools and college. The political left used to be champions of free speech, but there's a growing chorus on that side to shut down any speech with an opposing view. It's a shame that most basic constitutional right is being trampled at campuses across this great nation. It's gotten so bad that even some comedians are no longer welcome on some college campuses. Nancy Foster, Clearwater

Can bad genes limit insurance? | March 13

Downside to family tree

Anyone who fell for the family tree gambit must feel pretty foolish now. Of course those companies want to sell your genetic profile to the insurance companies. That's where the real money is! And of course the insurance companies are hot to buy it. Wouldn't you like to play poker with all your opponents' cards exposed? John Chico, St. Petersburg