Followup: Valedictorian lawsuit girl

[Guest MD2020]

CHERRY HILL, N.J. -- A high school student who won a lawsuit to be named sole valedictorian has admitted she did not properly attribute information in three articles and two essays she wrote for the Courier-Post of Cherry Hill.

 

Blair L. Hornstine, 18, explained her actions in a column published in the newspaper Tuesday, but she did not apologize.

 

"I am not a professional journalist. I was a 17-year-old with no experience in writing newspaper articles," she wrote. "Upon reflection, I am now cognizant that proper citation allows scholars of the future to constantly re-evaluate and re-examine academic works."

 

Hornstine borrowed liberally from several sources, including U.S. Supreme Court decisions and President Clinton, the newspaper said. One essay contained whole paragraphs nearly identical to a Clinton proclamation.

 

One essay in question, published in March on nuclear tensions in North Korea, was named best essay of the month by the Courier-Post.

 

Warren Faulk, a lawyer who consulted with Hornstine after she was told her writings were not properly attributed, said she was not given a copy of the ethics standards the Courier-Post claims she violated.

 

However, Courier-Post executive editor Derek Osenenko said Hornstine had signed a work agreement with the newspaper that said she would only submit original work.

 

Courier-Post spokesman Carl Lovern Jr., said the newspaper learned of the problems with Hornstine's writing when a reporter read the articles as part of research for a story about the teenager.

 

The paper told Hornstine that it would consider running a column in which she explained her actions. Her letter was published in the weekly teen section, Static _ the same place the articles in question were published.

 

The newspaper also ran an editors note listing the pieces in which she did not attribute her sources.

 

"After very careful analysis in this case, we believe key information in these articles and essays needed such attribution," Courier-Post executive editor Derek Osenenko said Wednesday.

 

Lovern said Hornstine's writings came before she sued the Moorestown public school district in federal court last month to prevent two other students from being named valedictorian along with her.

 

Hornstine, who completed many of her courses over the last two years with tutors because of an immune deficiency, argued that she should be the only valedictorian because she has the highest grades.

 

The school district argued that the shared honors were fair because Hornstine took many classes at home did not take courses required by non-disabled students, such as gym.

 

Hornstine prevailed in that lawsuit. A $2.7 million lawsuit against the school district is still pending in state court for punitive damages, legal fees and costs.

 

The lawsuits have not done much for Hornstine's popularity in the town. Her family has told police they have received death threats and their home has been vandalized.

 

She also faces controversy at Harvard University, where she has been accepted and intends to enroll next fall. She has been a frequent target of critical columns in The Harvard Crimson, the student newspaper.

 

Nearly 1,400 people _ some of whom say they are associated with the university _ have signed an online petition asking Harvard to rescind its offer to admit Hornstine.

 

Harvard admissions officials did not respond to a message left Wednesday by The Associated Press.

 

Hornstine's father, state Superior Court Judge Louis F. Hornstine, said Wednesday that his daughter was out of town. He declined to comment.

 

Edwin J. Jacobs Jr., the lawyer representing Blair Hornstine in her case against the school district, said there's nothing to the lack of attribution in her newspaper pieces.

 

"It was a whole lot of nothing. She wrote some fluff pieces for a kid-chat column," he said. He said his client explained her mistakes in Tuesday's paper and there's nothing more to it.

 

"We have more important things to deal with," he said.

 

 

Copyright © 2003, The Associated Press

 

You got to be kidding me. How could you not know copying whole paragraphs is wrong? Or you have to cite your work? Christ, I knew that like in fourth grade, doing a project on my state or something.

 

I can understand that she never wrote a newspaper article before, but come on...

[Guest kkktookmybabyaway]

She's going to make a great lawyer...

[Guest chirs3]

Every school I've been to, plagurism (probably misspelled) is grounds for failure, no questions asked. Is it the same for you guys too?

[Guest BDC]

Yup, same thing here.

 

In fact, they went by a more liberal definition of plagerism. They unattributed ideas of a writer, which means that if you take the spirit of a piece without attributing it, you're sunk unless you can prove otherwise.

[Guest MD2020]

Yeah, same thing. If it's not common knowledge, i.e. the earth circles the sun, then you have to cite it.

 

I don't expect her to have footnotes in her article; it's a newspaper article, not a research paper. But all you have to do is say "The Supreme Court ruled..." or "As President Clinton once said..." This isn't rocket science.

[Guest stardust]

Wow. Just wow.

 

How could she not have known that she had to cite her references? In newspaper articles it's easy enough, like MD2020 just said. Simply state "The Supreme Court decided in the 1924 case yada yada yada...)" or "quote from Clinton," said Bill Clinton. "continue quote." Not too hard. I think anyone who's ever read a newspaper article should be able to figure that much out. And how the hell do you graduate as valedictorian of your class without knowing what plagiarism is? I knew what it was back in elementary, and in high school, plagiarism was grounds for failure. Same in college. Actually, there are some profs who, upon finding out a student plagiarized will not only fail said student but will also ask for that student to either be expelled or put on academic probation. I would love to see what would happen if she did that shit at Harvard.

[Guest JangoFett4Hire]

Yeah, same thing. If it's not common knowledge, i.e. the earth circles the sun, then you have to cite it.

 

I don't expect her to have footnotes in her article; it's a newspaper article, not a research paper. But all you have to do is say "The Supreme Court ruled..." or "As President Clinton once said..." This isn't rocket science.

[Guest The Amazing Rando]

^that post is funny on so many levels....

[Guest Hogan Made Wrestling]

Every school I've been to, plagurism (probably misspelled) is grounds for failure, no questions asked. Is it the same for you guys too?

Generally yes. Although that's irrelevant here because this is not school-related work from what I can tell.

 

And while I agree that these lawsuits are shit, death threats and vandalism are a bit extreme and certainly no better.

[Guest Vern Gagne]

It really depended at my school what class we where talking about. If it was a history or gov't class, plagrism was not allowed. I don't know if it meant expulsion, but it meant an F on the paper.

Other classes, like my psychology class where I basically copied an article about Hitler from the Encyclopedia and the teacher didn't know or didn't care.

[Guest DrTom]

Plagiarism should be frowned upon everywhere, and answered with failure in academic circles, and job termination in professional ones. I hope this silly twit doesn't get into Harvard now that she's gone and ripped off a bunch of other works as her own.

[Guest Ghettoman]

I'm still disgusted she won that lawsuit, how dare the school want a valedictorian who actually attended classes at the school, how dare they try and recognize more than one student for the honor, and how dare they not give her 2.7 for bullshit damages.

 

HOW DARE!!!!11

[Guest godthedog]

Nearly 1,400 people _ some of whom say they are associated with the university _ have signed an online petition asking Harvard to rescind its offer to admit Hornstine.

that's hilarious. this stupid little bitch will have NO friends when she gets there.

[Guest MaxPower27]

I'm still disgusted she won that lawsuit, how dare the school want a valedictorian who actually attended classes at the school, how dare they try and recognize more than one student for the honor, and how dare they not give her 2.7 for bullshit damages.

 

HOW DARE!!!!11

YOU'RE DEFENDING HER?!??!?

[Guest Ghettoman]

Depends on if you know what sarcasm means.

[Guest MaxPower27]

Depends on if you know what sarcasm means.

I know what sarcasm means.

[Guest cynicalprofit]

Throwing stones, glass house...still dont care, even if she went through some similar shit, its a worthless award, it means nothing, they're still retarded and you arent, you still win. And if your skills arent up to par, well fuck it, you didnt deserve to win anyways.

[Guest Bannable Offense]

She put a magnifying glass onto something insignificant and made a big embarrassing deal about it. Now the magnifying glass is put onto something embarrassing about her and made into a big deal. Karma owns her and I love it.