Georgetown’s then-president, for example, listed a prospective student on his “president’s list” after meeting her and her wealthy father at an Idaho conference known as “summer camp for billionaires,” according to Tuesday court filings in the price-fixing lawsuit filed in Chicago federal court in 2022. Although it’s always been assumed that such favoritism exists, the filings offer a rare peek at the often secret deliberations of university heads and admissions officials. They show how schools admit otherwise unqualified wealthy children because their parents have connections and could possibly donate large sums down the line, raising questions about fairness. Stuart Schmill, the dean of admissions at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, wrote in a 2018 email that the university admitted four out of six applicants recommended by then-board chairman Robert Millard, including two who “we would really not have otherwise admitted.” The two others were not admitted because they were “not in the ball park, or the push from him was not as strong.” In the email, Schmill said Millard was careful to play down his influence on admissions decisions, but he said the chair also sent notes on all six students and later met with Schmill to share insight “into who he thought was more of a priority.” The filings are the latest salvo in a lawsuit that claims that 17 of the nation’s most prestigious colleges colluded to reduce the competition for prospective students and drive down the amount of financial aid they would offer, all while giving special preference to the children of wealthy donors. “That illegal collusion resulted in the defendants providing far less aid to students than would have been provided in a free market,” said Robert Gilbert, an attorney for the plaintiffs. Since the lawsuit was filed, 10 of the schools have reached settlements to pay out a total of $284 million, including payments of up to $2,000 to current or former students whose financial aid might have been shortchanged over a period of more than two decades. They are Brown, the University of Chicago, Columbia, Dartmouth, Duke, Emory, Northwestern, Rice, Vanderbilt and Yale. Johns Hopkins is working on a settlement and the six schools still fighting the lawsuit are the California Institute of Technology, Cornell, Georgetown, MIT, Notre Dame and the University of Pennsylvania. MIT called the lawsuit and the claims about admissions favoritism baseless. “MIT has no history of wealth favoritism in its admissions; quite the opposite,” university spokesperson Kimberly Allen said. “After years of discovery in which millions of documents were produced that provide an overwhelming record of independence in our admissions process, plaintiffs could cite just a single instance in which the recommendation of a board member helped sway the decisions for two undergraduate applicants." Listen now and subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS Feed | SoundStack | All Of Our Podcasts In a statement, Penn also said the case is meritless that the evidence shows that it doesn't favor students whose families have donated or pledged money to the Ivy League school. “Plaintiffs’ whole case is an attempt to embarrass the University about its purported admission practices on issues totally unrelated to this case," the school said. Notre Dame officials also called the case baseless. “We are confident that every student admitted to Notre Dame is fully qualified and ready to succeed,” a university spokesperson said in a statement. The South Bend, Indiana, school, though, did apparently admit wealthy students with subpar academic backgrounds. According to the new court filings, Don Bishop, who was then associate vice president for enrollment at Notre Dame, bluntly wrote about the “special interest” admits in a 2012 email, saying that year's crop had poorer academic records than the previous year's. The 2012 group included 38 applicants who were given a “very low” academic rating, Bishop wrote. He said those students represented “massive allowances to the power of the family connections and funding history,” adding that “we allowed their high gifting or potential gifting to influence our choices more this year than last year.” The final line of his email: “Sure hope the wealthy next year raise a few more smart kids!” Some of the examples pointed to in this week's court filings showed that just being able to pay full tuition would give students an advantage. During a deposition, a former Vanderbilt admissions director said that in some cases, a student would get an edge on the waitlist if they didn’t need financial aid. The 17 schools were part of a decades-old group that got permission from Congress to come up with a shared approach to awarding financial aid. Such an arrangement might otherwise violate antitrust laws, but Congress allowed it as long as the colleges all had need-blind admissions policies, meaning they wouldn't consider a student’s financial situation when deciding who gets in. The lawsuit argues that many colleges claimed to be need-blind but routinely favored the children of alumni and donors. In doing so, the suit says, the colleges violated the Congressional exemption and tainted the entire organization. The group dissolved in recent years when the provision allowing the collaboration expired. The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org .
Gulberg police apprehended a suspect involved in a theft targeting Sikh pilgrims visiting from Malaysia. According to a police spokesperson, the Sikh women were staying at a private hotel in Liberty Market when the incident occurred. On December 16, while the women were out for breakfast in Liberty Market, the suspect allegedly used a master key to enter their hotel room. He stole INR 10,000 and 400 Malaysian Ringgit. Upon receiving the complaint, Gulberg police utilised advanced technology to trace the suspect to a house located behind Liberty Market. The stolen cash, including the local and foreign currency, was recovered from the suspect's possession. COMMENTS Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive. For more information, please see ourNEW ORLEANS (AP) — A southeast Louisiana official has been accused of committing perjury for failing to disclose information related to a controversial grain terminal in the state's Mississippi River Chemical Corridor in response to a lawsuit brought by a prominent local climate activist. St. John the Baptist Parish President Jaclyn Hotard denied in a deposition that she knew her mother-in-law could have benefited financially from parish rezoning plans to make way for a 222-acre (90-hectare) grain export facility along the Mississippi River. Hotard also said in court filings, under oath, that no correspondence existed between her and her mother-in-law about the grain terminal, even though her mother-in-law later turned over numerous text messages where they discussed the grain terminal and a nearby property owned by the mother-in-law's marine transport company, court records show. The text messages were disclosed as part of an ongoing lawsuit filed by Joy Banner, who along with her sister, Jo Banner, successfully led efforts to halt the $800 million grain terminal earlier this year. It would have been built within 300 feet (91 meters) of their property and close to historic sites in the predominantly Black community where they grew up. The legal dispute is part of a broader clash playing out in courts and public hearings , pitting officials eager to greenlight economic development against grassroots community groups challenging polluting industrial expansion in the heavily industrialized 85-mile industrial corridor between Baton Rouge and New Orleans often referred to by environmental activists as “Cancer Alley.” “We are residents that are just trying to protect our homes and just trying to live our lives as we have a right to do,” Banner said in an interview with The Associated Press. The Banner sisters gained national attention after cofounding the Descendants Project, an organization dedicated to historic preservation and racial justice. In the text messages turned over as part of Joy Banner's lawsuit, Hotard, the parish president, says that she wished to “choke” Joy Banner and used profanities to describe her. Hotard also said of the Banner sisters: “I hate these people.” Hotard and her attorney, Ike Spears, did not respond to requests for comment after Tuesday's filing. Richard John Tomeny, the lawyer representing Hotard's mother-in-law, Darla Gaudet, declined to comment. Banner initially sued the parish in federal court in December 2023 after Hotard and another parish councilman, Michael Wright, threatened her with arrest and barred her from speaking during a public comment period at a November 2023 council meeting. “In sum: a white man threatened a Black woman with prosecution and imprisonment for speaking during the public comment period of a public meeting,” Banner's lawsuit says. It accuses the parish of violating Banner's First Amendment rights. Wright and his lawyer did not respond to requests for comment. Hotard and Wright have disputed Banner's version of events in court filings. At the November 2023 meeting, Banner attempted to highlight Hotard's alleged conflict of interest in approving a zoning change to enable the grain export facility's construction. Banner had also recently filed a complaint to the Louisiana Board of Ethics against Hotard pointing out that her mother-in-law allegedly would benefit financially because she owned and managed a marine transport company that had land “near and within” the area being rezoned. In response to a discovery request, Hotard submitted a court filing saying “no such documents exist” between her and her mother-in-law discussing the property, the grain terminal or Joy Banner, according to the recent motion filed by Banner's attorneys. Hotard also said in her August deposition that she had “no idea” about her mother-in-law's company's land despite text messages showing Hotard and her mother-in-law had discussed this property less than three weeks before Hotard's deposition. Banner's lawsuit is scheduled to go to trial early next year. Brook is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Brook on the social platform X: @jack_brook96
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I watched St Mirren vs Rangers from press box: 3 things I spotted as backward step taken after defensive disasterNative American patients are sent to collections for debts the government owesCEDAR PARK, Texas, Dec. 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Firefly Aerospace, Inc. , the leader in end-to-end responsive space services, was awarded an approximately $179.6 million NASA contract to deliver and operate six NASA instruments in the Gruithuisen Domes on the Moon’s near side in 2028. As part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload (CLPS) initiative, the mission will utilize Firefly’s Blue Ghost lunar lander, Elytra Dark orbital vehicle, and a rover from an industry provider to investigate the unique composition of the Gruithuisen Domes – a part of the Moon that has never been explored. “Firefly is proud to land our fourth NASA CLPS award for another complex mission, which is what our team does best,” said Jason Kim, CEO of Firefly Aerospace. “This incredible team gained a hard-earned reputation for smooth payload integrations, well-rehearsed operations, and robust testing and transparency throughout Blue Ghost Mission 1 preparations. As Firefly works towards becoming the go-to commercial company to provide autonomous systems on the Moon and beyond, our robust line of vehicles stand ready to deliver a historic mission to the Gruithuisen Domes.” During mission operations, Firefly’s Elytra Dark transfer vehicle will first deploy the Blue Ghost lander into lunar orbit and then remain on orbit to provide long-haul communications. Blue Ghost will then land in the Gruithuisen Domes, deploy the rover, and support payload operations for more than 14 days on the lunar surface. The NASA payloads onboard Blue Ghost include the Radio-wave Observations at the Lunar Surface of the photoElectron Sheath (ROLSES) telescope, the Sample Acquisition, Morphology Filtering, and Probing of Lunar Regolith (SAMPLR) robotic arm, the Neutron Measurements at the Lunar Surface (NMLS) instrument, the Photovoltaic Investigation on the Lunar Surface (PILS) instrument, and the Heimdall camera system. The mission will also carry NASA’s Lunar Vulkan Imaging and Spectroscopy Explorer (Lunar-VISE) payload with multiple instruments attached to both the lander and rover to determine the composition of the Gruithuisen Gamma Dome. Considered a geologic mystery, the Gruithuisen Domes appear to be composed of silica-rich volcanic minerals, which could indicate the presence of lunar water and hydrogen. The NASA payloads onboard Blue Ghost Mission 3 will investigate the formation and physical properties of the domes, including the potential detection of water and hydrogen molecules, in addition to other science investigations. “Firefly is dedicated to flying annual missions to the Moon for both government and commercial customers as we continue to pave the way for a lasting lunar presence,” said Brett Alexander, Chief Revenue Officer at Firefly Aerospace. “We’re seeing growing interest from organizations looking to unlock the Moon’s resources and build a robust lunar ecosystem, and we welcome additional partners to join us.” Along with the NASA payloads, Firefly’s mission has capacity for additional customers, offering orbital transfer and long-haul communications in cislunar space on Elytra as well as lunar surface delivery and operations on Blue Ghost. Customers interested in joining Blue Ghost Mission 3 can find more information at https://fireflyspace.com/missions/blue-ghost-mission-3/ . Firefly’s first mission to the Moon, Ghost Riders in the Sky , is on track for launch in mid-January 2025 with 10 NASA payloads onboard Blue Ghost. Firefly’s second lunar mission is scheduled to launch in 2026, utilizing a similar two-stage spacecraft configuration as Blue Ghost Mission 3, with the Blue Ghost lander stacked on Elytra Dark to support payload operations on the far side of the Moon and in lunar orbit. About Firefly Aerospace Firefly Aerospace is an end-to-end responsive space company with launch, lunar, and on-orbit services. Headquartered in central Texas, Firefly is a portfolio company of AE Industrial Partners (“AEI”) focused on delivering rapid, reliable, and affordable space access for government and commercial customers. Firefly’s small- to medium-lift launch vehicles, lunar landers, and orbital vehicles provide the space industry with a single source for missions from low Earth orbit to the surface of the Moon and beyond. For more information, visit www.fireflyspace.com . Media Contact press@fireflyspace.com Media Gallery Blue Ghost Mission 3 | Flickr Photos accompanying this announcement are available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/30c712e2-f9d0-4048-98ed-a8384f33fb69 https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/db90a73f-3ec3-4ea6-8a10-400055e119ce