This is insane: Harvard Student fakes credentials from MIT, Phillips Andover

[Anne]

You gotta go to the CNN page, too, and view the video. Apparently, he's pleading not guilty to his massive forgery and fraud: http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/05/18/massachusetts.harvard.student/index.html

(CNN) -- A former Harvard University student, who compiled world-class academic credentials by allegedly fabricating his own history and plagiarizing others' work, pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him Tuesday, according to a Massachusetts prosecutor.

At his arraignment in Woburn, Massachusetts, Adam Wheeler, 23, entered his plea against the 20 counts he faces, including larceny, identity fraud, falsifying an endorsement or approval and pretending to hold a degree, according to Middlesex County District Attorney Gerry Leone.

In a statement, Leone said Wheeler, of Delaware, is accused of falsifying transcripts that detailed an outstanding academic career at some of Massachusetts' finest institutions.
He was exposed after submitting applications and references for the Rhodes and Fulbright scholarships while a student at Harvard University in 2009, according to Leone.

A Harvard professor reviewing Wheeler's application for one of the scholarships noticed similarities between Wheeler's work and that of another professor. After comparing both pieces of work, the professor determined that Wheeler had plagiarized most of his application packet, Leone said. The university launched an internal investigation and began to look into Wheeler's file.

University officials discovered that Wheeler had fabricated recommendations from Harvard professors, college transcripts reflecting perfect grades and a résumé listing numerous books he had co-authored, lectures he had given and courses he had taught, according to the release.

While he was at Harvard, Wheeler won the university's Winthrop Sargent Prize in English and the Hoopes Prize for outstanding scholarly work, as well as a research grant, all with plagiarized submissions, Leone said.
"Not only was this defendant untruthful on his application to the University and his numerous scholarship applications, he is also alleged to have stolen over $45,000 in grants, scholarship and financial aid money awarded to him on applications and submissions of documents that were based on lies and reproductions of other people's hard work," Leone said.

Officials also discovered that Wheeler also had submitted false SAT scores and had fabricated transcripts from both the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Phillips Academy in Andover, although he never attended either school, the prosecutor said.

Harvard officials also found that Wheeler had previously attended Bowdoin College in Maine, where he was suspended due to academic dishonesty, according to Leone.
In January, after leaving Harvard, Wheeler applied for an internship at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts, "stating that [he] was taking the spring semester off from Harvard to work on two scholarly books," Leone said in the release.

Wheeler was turned down by the hospital after a background check revealed he had falsified documents, Leone said. At the same time, Wheeler also submitted transfer applications to both Yale and Brown universities, claiming to be an intern at McLean Hospital, according to the prosecutor.

[SteelyDan]

I SAW THAT THIS MORNING. He faked creds from MIT, Phillips Andover Academy, Harvard, his SAT scores, his rec letters, papers, publications...the list is ENDLESS. This guy is screwed.

[Anne]

I know, right? The list is endless. I think the one point that tickles me the most is that the only real thing he'd attended was Bowdoin in Maine, and he was suspended for academic dishonesty. Talk about a harbinger of things to come. 

[LawSchoolGuy]

I saw that, too...I feel like I've heard of similar cases before, though. Does this kind of thing ring a bell with anyone else?

[Anne]

Yeah, it rang a bell with me too. There was a fake Yalie a couple of years back: Akash Maharaj.There's also (another) Yalie, Akeksey Vayner (http://www.ivygateblog.com/tag/aleksey-vayner/). And, of course, there's the plagiarism case of Harvard alum Kaavya Viswanathan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaavya_viswanathan). Kaavya's actually at Georgetown Law now...she's gonna have a heck of a time trying to pass the C&F portion of the Bar.

[Ashley O]

Wow, that's a great Wikipedia article on the Harvard girl! They kill her in that article!

[LSAT-Fun]

And, of course, there's the plagiarism case of Harvard alum Kaavya Viswanathan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaavya_viswanathan). Kaavya's actually at Georgetown Law now...she's gonna have a heck of a time trying to pass the C&F portion of the Bar.

She still gets a job in the New York office of Sullivan & Cromwell: http://abovethelaw.com/2010/05/summer-associate-of-the-day-kaavya-viswanathanaka-the-alleged-harvard-plagiarist/

WOW!

[Anne]

Wow, that's a great Wikipedia article on the Harvard girl! They kill her in that article!

I know! That article is addicting. I was actually *this close* to buying all three of the primary books (both of the Cafferty ones and the Opal Mehta one) after reading that article, to compare them. It's a very powerful writeup. The thing that got me was the possible Rushdie plagiarizing. You don't plagiarize Rushdie. That's sacrilege.

[Jeffort]

Wowza!  The crooked lengths people will go to rather than simply expending similar effort to create original works of their own.  It baffles me.  I mean really, use your powers for the bright side of the force, not for the dark side!   

If one wants to take creative license with other peoples work legally, do it like the writers of The Simpsons have been doing since day one of that show.  Gist of a copyright law exception:  borrowing of others works is pretty much fair game when used and done as parody, criticism/making fun of it, social commentary. 

Pretty much every Simpsons episode has scenes and mini plot lines worked into the episodes main plot line that mimic and follow the mold of memorable scenes/stuff from tons of movies, politics, world leaders, pop culture, celebrities, big biz, etc.  The references and 'lifting' are enormous and they are pretty much all done in a way to make fun of the original works in some funny way and it is LEGAL.  It is even more paradoxical and ironic that most of the people that have been writers for the Simpsons over the years have been Harvard/Yale/etc. grads, many of them with law degrees from those and other Ivy/top ranked LS's!   

Yes boys and girls that are fans of the Simpsons and other classic Fox animated shows, your Sunday night toilet humor comes mainly from the minds of H/Y/S grads, some of them LS grads from our countries top educational institutions!