Valedictorian and Plagiarist

Remember Blair Hornstine, the litigious New Jersey valedictorian who didn't want to share her school's top honor with similarly ranked classmates?

Well, it turns out she's a plagiarist.

[Link via Romenesko]

Comments

[Charlie]

A high school senior and class valedictorian SHOULD know the rules of proper citation.

I really have to wonder: what are the "advantages" of being valedictorian? By the time the graduating GPA is determined, college-bound seniors have already been accepted to their colleges. And after she is in college, does anything she do during or after her studies really depend upon being recognized as the best in HIGH SCHOOL??

The delicious irony in all of this is that her father's efforts have done nothing but devalue the title and subject his daughter to ridicule and increased scrutiny. Does anyone doubt that even in today's post Jayson Blair world, the Courier-Post would not have made any comment at all about this had Hornstine been just another teeanager? I'm sure a sit down with the editor and a discussion of the NYTimes recent events would have been the MOST she would have seen.

If I ran the world, the Courier-Post's editor would end up resigning in disgrace and sue the Hornstine's for $2.7 Million.

[Tommy_Grand]

I can see her winning on the valedictorian issue, but I cant see her getting more than nominal damages & it looks like that's what happend. Failing to properly cite supreme court opinions (or president clinton) is no huge sin, unless the article was written in such a way as to portray the justice's opinions as her own orignial thoughts. I'm curious, however, about the "other" un-attributed text alluded to in the article. I'm guessing she cut and pasted from news stories and/or other editorial columns. That is more damning which, I suspect, is why the newspaper didn't discuss it.

[Lefty]

You get what you pay for. If the Courier-Journal, a presumably for-profit enterprise, wants to use volunteer articles to sell, it shouldn't be surprised when they don't meet professional standards.

[Tom]

What is unclear to me is whether the girl's articles were opinion/commentary pieces or news pieces. If they were commentary pieces, then just about every columnist in the country is guilty of the same offense.

Sounds more like she was guilty of an academic offense (failure to cite references in an essay) than anything else. And would this whole issue even be an issue without her recent shenanigans?

What bored me to tears covering the police beat as a newspaper reporter was the sentence-by-sentence requirement to attribute everything - "Police said the gunman was a male. He was armed with a pistol, Officer So-and-So said. The four victims were all employees of the convenience store, police sources said."

Even if I was an eyewitness to an event, a fire or a wreck or a hostage scene, I still had to have someone else attribute everything that I witnessed with my own eyes.

Imagine a TV newsman standing in front of a burning building, and saying, "Fire department officials have informed Channel 13 that the building is on fire...."

[fredH]

Charlie:

She obviously wants to be sole valedictorian because she is an ego-tripping cow. Also, obviously, her doting daddy is encouraging her in this attitude. As a native of New Jersey I can tell you that the state is rife with such affluent, antisocial vermin.

[Madog]

As a resident of Connecticut, I can tell you that New Jersey is rife with vermin.

[tim]

"I'm curious, however, about the "other" un-attributed text alluded to in the article. I'm guessing she cut and pasted from news stories and/or other editorial columns. That is more damning which, I suspect, is why the newspaper didn't discuss it."

Well that's one explanation for why they seem to be hitting her with such a mickey mouse charge. The article doesn't provide too much detail, but is there really malice in failing to attribute court decisions and presidential comments? It's unprofessional, but at worst it will just leave the reader feeling a bit unsatisfied. Hell's bells; if this is the worst they can come up with, the girl's a victim of a vendetta.

[fredH]

Madog:

I've never regretted leaving the Garden State, and I can't picture my ever moving back there.

[Dakota Loomis]

Karma is a bitch.

[Anonymous]

Why in blazes do they call it the "Garden State"? Never understood that.

(It's more like the Sewer State)

[W.Winchell]

Tom, it gets better.

What bores ME to tears reading newspaper reports, is the sentence-by-sentence requirement to subject everything to allegation -- "Police claim the gunman was allegedly a male. He was allegedly armed with a pistol. Officer O'Malley reputedly said. The four victims were all purported to be employees of the alleged convenience store, reported police sources said."

Or a TV "reporter" standing in front of a burning building says, "Certain designated fire department officials have allegedly informed Channel 13 that the building is purportedly on fire."

THERE IS NO TRUTH ANYMORE. IT'S ALL SUPPOSITION, ALLEGATION, THEORY, POSTULATION, CONJECTURE, SPECULATION, and ASSUMPTION.

[fredH]

Anonymous @ 7:35:

It's called the Garden State because many years ago large tracts of it were covered with truck farms (i.e., farms growing produce). Most of these have long since been buried under depressing tracts of ticky-tack housing and shopping malls. Paramus, for example, is six malls looking for a town.

W. Winchell:

You can blame the lawyers for this. If publications didn't use waffle words like "allegedly," they could be sued by the miscreants involved in the story and their hired shysters.

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