Morning Roundup: Goodbye, Abe Edition
Vegetate to Close at the End of the Month
D.C. Police Seek Suspect in Series of Bank Robberies
Suspect in 9-Year-Old's Murder Found Dead in D.C. Jail
Wizards Owner Abe Pollin Dies at 85
The AP is reporting a that a group of students have filed a class action lawsuit against Vienna, Va.-based Envision EMI, after they claim the company failed to deliver on promises of special access to President Obama's inauguration in January. The students each paid thousands of dollars for a trip to the inauguration, only to be disappointed: "...the lawsuit says once the students got to Washington, they had no tickets for the inauguration or parade. And the balls they attended were not official events connected to the inauguration." I have a lot sympathy for these kids believing they could buy their way in to a special inaugural experience, and it certainly sounds like this company got greedy and promised way more than they could deliver. But the complaint that the ball they went to wasn't "official" seems pretty naive. There were hundreds of inauguration-themed parties over the course of the four-day long celebration, and only ten of them were "official."
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hey, maybe they should get in touch with the dionne warwick people...
My sarcasm meter must be busted. Why do you have sympathy for anyone trying to buy their way into a special inaugural experience?
Somebody call the waaambulance!!!!
I'm shocked that DCist hasn't covered this yet. It goes wayyyy beyond whining kids:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/19/education/edlife/leadership-t.html?pagewanted=all
You see these "leadership" kids on Capitol Hill all the time. Mostly they look bored, I once say a rather disgusting PDA between two of them in the Rayburn Cafeteria...
Its a scam of course, just like the "Who's Who" book one of your annoying friends bragged about getting into in high school.
Parents these days are so desperate for their usually mediocre kid to get into the world's greatest college that they will buy just about anything. Check out the parents of 2nd graders fighting their way into the local Kumon Center on a Saturday or the kid I know who tried to join the high school chapter of SADD while in 8th grade (he felt he needed a jump on the all-important activities section of the college application).
Meanwhile, at all but the smallest private colleges, the entire admissions decision is based on (1)grades (weighted to the strength of the high school as determined by some folks in Princeton, NJ) (2) SAT/ACT scores, and demographics (affirmative action, etc). No college admissions computer in the world is going to care that you attended some conference in DC.
Seems so simple now, but when I was in high school...I may have even attended a SADD meeting or two...
@hillvada I think you're being a little dismissive.. or I'm just jaded after having gone through the law school admissions rigamarole.
I remember these invitations from when I was a kid, and remember how crushed I was when I realized it was a scam. I wish these kids all the best in getting their sistuation fixed up!
This smells like monkeypoo for several reasons: (1) tour companies don't "promise" anything these days for fear of lawsuits EXACTLY LIKE THIS ONE; (2) if the WaPo is correct, they were promised nothing more than a black tie ball, which could mean anything, and special access to the parade/inauguration (whatever THAT means); (3) go ahead and google the two "students" - one is a college JUNIOR from UC Davis (who should frankly be embarrased for not knowing better) and the other is an eighth grader named "Dash" (trans = mommy and daddy see a quick buck). Can anyone say contingency fee?
Yeah, NYLC/CYLC is the Who's Who of DC travel programs. To be fair, they are good educational programs, although overpriced and not the honor they claim to be. Several years ago, I worked for the Close-Up Foundation, a similar program, that is not "selective" (anyone grade 6-12 can sign up), and at least when I was there, it was about half the cost of Envision programs. I think it was about $600 per child for Sun night-Sat morning, including hotel, most meals, theater tickets one night, etc so really, it was very reasonable.
Close-Up is a nonprofit that runs its own show. NYLC/CYLC is a nonprofit that contracts planning, programming, travel arrangements, etc out to for-profit Envision, hence the mark-up. I had friends who worked for NYLC during the summer when Close-Up didn't have programs, and they felt the Close-Up curriculum was actually more challenging than NYLC's. So save some money, and send kids to Close-Up rather than accept the great "honor" that NYLC bestows upon your child. As for the law suit, I wonder if the company actually claimed to offer exclusive access to the Inauguration--I'd have to see the original pitch. All of these groups have run special Inaugural programs for years that include taking kids to nonticketed areas of the Mall for the ceremony (obviously a far more difficult feat this year) and hosting their own balls for the students that night.