5 ms·

I went to a privileged American school where cheating was not uncommon. I watched at least two students openly cheat their way into Ivy League colleges, whose r

by ken47 10y ago

I went to a privileged American school where cheating was not uncommon. I watched at least two students openly cheat their way into Ivy League colleges, whose rich parents ensured they were unscathed when they were caught. I watched students with inferior intellect, but superior connections, finesse their way into colleges beyond their pay grade. I sure as heck hope foreigners don't judge me based on their encounters with these sorts of Americans. As a side note, none of these students happened to be Chinese. So let's try to avoid taking the most extreme headlines ever written about modern China and painting all Chinese with a single stroke. The 1900s are over.

studentrob 10y ago
EDIT: Ignore this exchange. I misinterpreted the parent comment (see down below) > So let's try to avoid taking the most extreme headlines ever written about modern China and painting all Chinese with a single stroke. The 1900s are over. The article and headline seem balanced to me. I find this accusation of racism common in response to articles critical of Chinese. Perhaps you misunderstand the text. The implied word in the headline is some, not all, "How an industry helps [some] Chinese students cheat their way into and through U.S. colleges" Does that make it more clear? If not, then how, in your view, could this headline be rewritten to not be racist?
- ken47 10y ago
  The fact that I was talking about a different topic aside, of course we don't expect the headlines to be balanced. The virtue of fairness is at odds with the financial benefits of controversial wording.
  - studentrob 10y ago
    > The virtue of fairness is at odds with the financial benefits of controversial wording. Agreed. You said someone was "painting all Chinese with a single stroke". I don't see that. Which words specifically do you find controversial? Or, do you just dislike the premise of the article? In that case, if you could rewrite an article like this, how would you write it, generally speaking?
    - MarkPNeyer 10y ago
      Ken47's comment was in reply to another comment, not the article. The other comment said "cheating is just part of Chinese culture" and Ken47 was disagreeing.
      - studentrob 10y ago
        Oh gotcha. My bad, thanks. I read "extreme headlines" in the wrong way, but I see what he meant now, that the comment above was piecing together the worst headlines about China. Fair criticism.
studentrob 10y ago
I don't think cheating is a part of Chinese culture, however, gifting seems to have been as recently as 2013/2014 in education [1] [2]. In business, it's still common to give your boss a gift in order to get a promotion [3]. [1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/in-china-parents-bribe-to-get-students-into-top-schools-despite-campaign-against-corruption/2013/10/07/fa8d9d32-2a61-11e3-8ade-a1f23cda135e_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/in-china-parents-bribe-... [2] http://www.chinasmack.com/2014/stories/teacher-scolds-class-for-not-giving-a-gift-on-teachers-day.html http://www.chinasmack.com/2014/stories/teacher-scolds-class-... [3] https://www.rnw.org/archive/what-give-chinese-boss-who-has-it-all-or-nothing https://www.rnw.org/archive/what-give-chinese-boss-who-has-i...
- Ivannahack 10y ago
  I got a pair of $400 Prada sunglasses as a "gift" from a Chinese student, first week of school. I was told it would be extremely rude to not accept a gift in Chinese culture. The student was very confused when a lower than expected grade was received.
  - studentrob 10y ago
    Where was this? In China?
    - Ivannahack 10y ago
      In the US
      - studentrob 10y ago
        In what year? I find it hard to believe that someone studying in the US hasn't been briefed by other students that this is not part of American culture, particularly in the digital age Assuming it happened recently, my guess is this is more the exception than the rule
        10y ago
AlgorithmicTime 10y ago
>The 1900s are over. I'm not sure claiming "it's $CurrentYear, why are we still thinking this way?" is a good argument.

by ken47 10y ago

studentrob 10y ago

EDIT: Ignore this exchange. I misinterpreted the parent comment (see down below) > So let's try to avoid taking the most extreme headlines ever written about modern China and painting all Chinese with a single stroke. The 1900s are over. The article and headline seem balanced to me. I find this accusation of racism common in response to articles critical of Chinese. Perhaps you misunderstand the text. The implied word in the headline is some, not all, "How an industry helps [some] Chinese students cheat their way into and through U.S. colleges" Does that make it more clear? If not, then how, in your view, could this headline be rewritten to not be racist?

ken47 10y ago
The fact that I was talking about a different topic aside, of course we don't expect the headlines to be balanced. The virtue of fairness is at odds with the financial benefits of controversial wording.
- studentrob 10y ago
  > The virtue of fairness is at odds with the financial benefits of controversial wording. Agreed. You said someone was "painting all Chinese with a single stroke". I don't see that. Which words specifically do you find controversial? Or, do you just dislike the premise of the article? In that case, if you could rewrite an article like this, how would you write it, generally speaking?
  - MarkPNeyer 10y ago
    Ken47's comment was in reply to another comment, not the article. The other comment said "cheating is just part of Chinese culture" and Ken47 was disagreeing.
    - studentrob 10y ago
      Oh gotcha. My bad, thanks. I read "extreme headlines" in the wrong way, but I see what he meant now, that the comment above was piecing together the worst headlines about China. Fair criticism.

studentrob 10y ago

I don't think cheating is a part of Chinese culture, however, gifting seems to have been as recently as 2013/2014 in education [1] [2]. In business, it's still common to give your boss a gift in order to get a promotion [3]. [1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/in-china-parents-bribe-to-get-students-into-top-schools-despite-campaign-against-corruption/2013/10/07/fa8d9d32-2a61-11e3-8ade-a1f23cda135e_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/in-china-parents-bribe-... [2] http://www.chinasmack.com/2014/stories/teacher-scolds-class-for-not-giving-a-gift-on-teachers-day.html http://www.chinasmack.com/2014/stories/teacher-scolds-class-... [3] https://www.rnw.org/archive/what-give-chinese-boss-who-has-it-all-or-nothing https://www.rnw.org/archive/what-give-chinese-boss-who-has-i...

Ivannahack 10y ago
I got a pair of $400 Prada sunglasses as a "gift" from a Chinese student, first week of school. I was told it would be extremely rude to not accept a gift in Chinese culture. The student was very confused when a lower than expected grade was received.
- studentrob 10y ago
  Where was this? In China?
  - Ivannahack 10y ago
    In the US
    - studentrob 10y ago
      In what year? I find it hard to believe that someone studying in the US hasn't been briefed by other students that this is not part of American culture, particularly in the digital age Assuming it happened recently, my guess is this is more the exception than the rule
      - 10y ago

AlgorithmicTime 10y ago

>The 1900s are over. I'm not sure claiming "it's $CurrentYear, why are we still thinking this way?" is a good argument.