Whiney high school bitch to sue school

[Guest Youth N Asia]

http://www.cnn.com/2003/EDUCATION/05/02/va...t.ap/index.html

 

MOORESTOWN, New Jersey (AP) -- Blair Hornstine's latest report card had four A-plus grades in five courses. She scored a 1570 out of 1600 on the SAT and is deciding whether to attend Harvard, Stanford, Duke, Princeton or Cornell -- all of which have accepted her.

 

But despite her best-in-her-class grades, her school district wants to name her co-valedictorian with two other students.

 

Hornstine, the 18-year-old daughter of a state Superior Court judge, has asked a federal judge to intervene, saying that being forced to share with students with lesser grades would detract from what she has accomplished.

 

She has also filed a notice saying she plans to sue the school district in state court claiming the dispute has humiliated her. She said she would be asking for $200,000 in compensatory damages and $2.5 million in punitive damages.

 

Her school district looks at the disagreement another way: Because of an immune deficiency, Hornstine is classified as a disabled student and has taken a class load that doesn't include physical education and involves her spending part of her school day studying at home.

 

The two other Moorestown High School seniors with nearly perfect grades could not match her grade-point average, officials said, because classes like gym receive less weight in calculating the GPA.

 

"After reviewing these issues, I was concerned about the fundamental fairness of the academic competition engaged in for the valedictorian and salutatorian awards," Superintendent Paul Kadri said in a court filing. "The level of competition ... had been compromised."

 

U.S. District Judge Freda Wolfson set a hearing for May 8, and the Moorestown Board of Education planned to consider what to do about the situation at a May 12 meeting.

 

Graduation is June 19.

 

Hornstine, who said she plans to become a lawyer, is not the first student to sue over the right to be valedictorian of a high school class.

 

In the last year alone, judges have been asked to consider similar cases in Ohio, Washington and Michigan. In two of the cases, students who wanted to be included as co-valedictorians were allowed by judges to be included. The third case, in Michigan, involves a student who wanted an A changed to an A+ so he would be more likely to be valedictorian.

 

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Shit likes this makes me want to punch more people. I could almost live with a dumb girl suing over this...but she wasn't just under $3 million dollars.

[Guest treble charged]

Yeah, I just read this in the paper. It's hard to believe there are people like this in society today.

[Guest The Metal Maniac]

The third case, in Michigan, involves a student who wanted an A changed to an A+ so he would be more likely to be valedictorian.

 

WHAT THE FLYING FICKKITY FUCK?

 

Jesus, I'm gonna sue my university for better marks so I don't look like an idiot...

[Guest evenflowDDT]

Well, I guess you have to pay for your college education somehow...

 

Seriously, this is just sad. Sad that it's become so competitive for some people to be the best of the best. Sad that people are unwilling to share anything, even honors, anymore, because it means giving up something. Why does everybody have to make everything a damned competition?

 

I mean come on, she didn't even take PE. That alone should disqualify her from any high school honors right there... it doesn't matter how many other A's you get, if you haven't survived PE and locker rooms and showering and swimming it shouldn't count as true high school advancement

[Guest kkktookmybabyaway]

Insta-opinion:

 

I think co-val's are dumb so I see her point there. But damn. SUING?!?!

 

Nobody has humiliated her except herself.

 

Blair would make a great lawyer though. I'm surprised she didn't sue the SAT's for missing 30 points...

[Guest CanadianChris]

Anyone remember Billy Connelly from Head of the Class? He had a hilarious John Cleese-rant on the horrors of not being named valedictorian:

 

"Don’t shoot me, I’m a VALEDICTORIAN!! The ship’s sinking – women, children and VALEDICTORIANS first!! Sorry Mr. Gorbachev, I have on the other line a VALEDICTORIAN using the big red phone!! We’ve only got one heart to transplant – who shall we give it to, Bishop Tutu...or the VALEDICTORIAN??!! I don't have to use a CONDOM! I'm a VALEDICTORIAN!"

 

Seriously, kid, get a life.

[Conspiracy_Victim 0]

I like how she claims that the dispute has humiliated her, even though she's the one going to court over all this. As far as the school district is concerned, they had an equitable settlement. So now she wants the $2.7 million. Is it any wonder she wants to be a lawyer? I hope she gets a stern talking to by the judge (probably one of her daddy's judge friends) about frivolous lawsuits. She's already gotten into all these fuckin' schools, in 5 years who'll gives a crap if she's valedictorian?

 

BTW, that kid in Michigan oughta get slapped silly. The grade you get is the grade you get. It is a result, not a popularity contest.

[Guest Youth N Asia]

Little assholes like these are going to get full rides to the schools they want. What about the kids who aren't going to college, many of them face bigger injustices in school.

[Guest Galactic Gigolo]

This bitch lives about a half hour from me. Maybe I should go push her out of the wheelchair.

 

I mean, Jesus Christ. I'd understand it to be stupid if there was a good reason for her sueing. But the other two kids are being punished because they DON'T have a disability, and thus, can take gym class. Wow, that makes sense.

 

I'm tempted to find her phone number and prank call her.

[Guest Mik at Cornell]

MOORESTOWN, New Jersey (AP) -- Blair Hornstine's latest report card had four A-plus grades in five courses. She scored a 1570 out of 1600 on the SAT and is deciding whether to attend Harvard, Stanford, Duke, Princeton or Cornell -- all of which have accepted her.

Here's to praying the bitch picks one of the first four....

[Guest Vern Gagne]

What I'm interested in knowing is how much Mommy and Daddy have to do with this lawsuite?

[Guest SP-1]

Wait . . . something doesn't seem right to me. If Gym has less weight, how does it impact the people who had to take it more than it would her?

 

I wouldn't want to be co-val either. Given her condition, she may feel that it's because of her condition, and on the flip side given her condition it would be a tremendous achievement for her to be sole val. I can understand that.

 

But it ain't worth suing over.

[Guest kkktookmybabyaway]

Just let her speak, and when she comes up to the mic, have her classmates leave the stage/turn their backs/etc...

[Guest spiny norman]

Yeah, it could be like the end of Cruel Intentions and stuff!

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

Phys ed should be eliminated from high school curriculum. Kids don't LEARN anything worth a shit in there. One could argue things like teamwork and sportsmanship, but most kids are involved in some kind of extracurricular shit anyway. If they're not..big deal, they'll catch on quick after they graduate that you can't take the ball and go home.

 

As for the exercise and physical fitness portion of it... The most strenuous thing my school did was running, or maybe basketball, for half an hour a day, with some mild calisthenics, supervised by a barely-awake drunkard whose solution to any problem was "Walk it off if you can, or sit down and get a drink of water."

 

It's a joke of a class, and should have absolutely NO bearing whatsoever on one's education.

 

...Before anyone gets uppity. I got an A in gym. EVERYONE GETS AN A IN GYM. What's the fucking point???

[Guest spiny norman]

I'm not sure how the classes work in your country, but where I come from (Australia) you learn about sex education, drug education, relationships etc. For the sake of argument I'll assume that the American curriculum is similar to that in place over here.

 

And I have to wonder how you can say that the course doesn't have anything worthwhile in it. While the maths and sciences and histories all work well on an intellectual level, I find that Physical Education is good in learning things that are actually important in life. While knowing about trigonometry or the theory of relativity or knowing of the rise and fall of the Roman Empire, these are for the most part are inconsequential in 90% of the population. Issues such as relationships, sex education, drug education etc. are important in day to day living. Because of this I think that Physical Education is a really important subject.

 

Of course this is all nullified if the American course doesn't look at the whole aspect of life education. In which case the only real benefit is for everyone to just have a go, enjoy themselves and try to work competitively in a group environment.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

Around here, phys ed is exactly what I said in my previous post. Kids playing basketball or jogging under the supervision of a half-awake drunk.

 

Our health class is where we got all the info about drugs, sex ed, etc. You guys got actually TAUGHT about relationships? things vary between districts of course, but we never had ANYTHING like that. We learned our filth on the streets.

[Guest Texas Small Arms 09]

Gym actually takes away a lot in GPA. Down here your first 2 1/2 years count, but if you are in any kind of sports, your next years don't count. It does lower it and does make a huge difference. This girl is just whining to get attention and needs to be slapped extra hard.

[Guest Choken One]

Wow. We didn't have "GYM"...

 

We had Weight Training, Areobics, and Track as our "Phys. Ed" classes...

 

Sure, we had Frosh Gym for a trimester and that was mainly Running, Basketball and Dodgeball.

[Guest DrTom]

We had Phys Ed for the first two years of high school, but it didn't count toward the GPA because it wasn't an "academic subject." That seems to be an easy compromise for a lot of schools and school districts to adopt. Getting a C in gym because of being unable to swim shouldn't take away from honors someone has earned for their *academic* achievements.

 

As for the lawsuit, fuck that noise. A co-val arrangement definitely sucks, but being the valedictorian only means something for one day of your life. It's not like it's a lasting honor that gets you better jobs and gets carved in big block letters on your tombstone.

[Guest JHawk]

You guys all got "A"s in PE? Maybe I should sue my high school for lowering my GPA because I wasn't a good athlete.

 

I'd have more of a case than this whiny chick.

[Guest J*ingus]

I can completely understand why she'd be upset. She had the highest GPA, plain and simple, and the principal is resorting to fuzzy logic and new math to try and shoehorn the other two students in there. I could even understand suing, if it was only to achieve the results she wanted. But actually asking for money (and LOTS of it) is pretty lame.

 

In my high school, it was entirely possible not to get an A in gym, because phys ed and health classes were combined into one class together, so tests and homework actually played a part in it. Strangely, the school only required it for freshmen, and even they could get out of it if they were in ROTC or something similar.

[Guest Choken One]

We just used those Phys Ed classes on a Smaller Scale...We treated them like Lunch.

 

We got CREDIT for taking the class but it didn't affect our Grades...

[Guest Vern Gagne]

I'm not a great athlete. You got an A for showing up and participated.

[Guest Choken One]

Not when I went...If you couldn't lift Above your "Supposed" balance weight...You'd get an F...

 

I never had problems...I felt bad for the fat asses who had to lift 250 because they ate to many Cheeseburgers...

 

I weighed 210 my entire HS life and I could bench 315.

[Guest Vern Gagne]

Is balanced weight, the same has actual weight?

 

I'll re-word that last post. You had to make some sort of effort and not just run around and not do anything. Also, grading was different in track. Same with weighlifting and dance. NO what, just ignore my last post.

[Guest Choken One]

Balanced weight means YOUR weight...

 

 

If you weighed 105 you had to lift 105 or more...

 

 

That was our Teacher/Trainer's requirement...

[Guest NoCalMike]

This case should be dismissed.

[Guest hardyz1]

I wouldn't shed a tear if this girl was struck by a stray bullet in a drive by shooting.

[Guest Retro Rob]

In my school, gym only counted into your GPA if it helped you get a higher grade. The way you were graded in gym was, if you show up and change it's 5 points if you don't it's 0 points. At the end of the quarter they figure out what you should get. One way or another, I usually ended up with 85-95 even though i sat out often and didn't even show up sometimes.