She’s (Almost) Back!
Posted on August 10th, 2006 in Uncategorized | 10 Comments »
DNA World of Indiaâdon’t ask, I have no ideaâreports that Kaavya Viswanathan is headed back to Harvard this fall. Not only does her plagiarism not appear to be an issue for the college, but Viswanathan has been chosen to be one of 190 “peer advising fellows.”
I leave it to you to consider the wisdom of all this.
The Indian website reports that Viswanathan “has been busy throughout the American summer boosting her self-esteem.”
No, reallyâit says that.
To be fair, it adds that she has been working at a group called 85 Broads, a women’s organization for former Goldman Sachs employees founded in 1999. (And if I’m not mistaken, is that Kaavya herself in a picture in the slide-show on the website, over the caption “Broad2Be Advantage,” whatever that means?)
10 Responses
8/10/2024 9:54 am
Here’s the article from The Harvard Crimson that was cited:
http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=513840
8/10/2024 10:25 am
Checked out the 85Broads website. Something about this group — a women’s networking organization for “exceptional women” — disquiets me. Perhaps it’s the fact that, given its start as a Goldman Sachs alum thing, “exceptional” seems to be defined as having or working toward an MBA at one of the elite schools, which certainly limits the pool. The pictures are all of smiling, fit women being active and comradely and caring. Maybe it’s just me, but why does this sort of networking-cum-do-goodism seem spurious?
8/10/2024 10:39 am
I couldn’t agree more with poster 2—it just seems like B.S., doesn’t it?
8/10/2024 11:17 am
Me again. Yes, but I feel bad saying that, because I look at all the pictures — wonderful, smiling, multicultural photos of attractive women in nice places — and I just can’t quite place my disgust. Maybe it’s because I suspect that it’s all founded on the notion that the markets will take care of everything and that you can “have it all” (the big house, the strong handsome husband, the nice kids, the vacations) and yet still do good in the world, and that effort and self-determination (rather than fate and the mysterious turning of the gyres) creates the world you live in and that if you jog religiously wearing appropriate running gear, and turn your engagement ring onto the inside of your palm when travelling by subway, and always look like you know where you’re going, you’ll stay safe, and that networking is the key to moving. To which I say: “BLECHHH!!!”
8/10/2024 11:18 am
[That should have been moving “up”]
8/10/2024 1:02 pm
You’re both right. The criteria for membership in 85Broads sounds like an elitist pat-yourself-on-the-back club. The reason you can’t put your finger on anything in particular is because it’s just lame in general. No one thing is all that lame, but there is a preponderance of lameness.
8/10/2024 1:52 pm
I guess women are entitled to organize themselves to compete with the fabled “old boys network” by which we white males have of course always obtained the many material advantages we enjoy, but yeah, its f-ing lame. The high apparent percentage of “ethnic” — make that Asian — types in the photos makes me speculate that this is of a piece with the ultra achiever pressure such kids get from their parents. The kind of pressure, for instance, that would lead someone to plagiarize in order to get ahead.
Of course, congratulating ourselves on how lame they are doesn’t necessarily exclude the possibility that we too are lame.
8/10/2024 2:36 pm
Speak for yourself, pal. I rule.
8/10/2024 2:38 pm
Why the concern about Viswanathan being back at Harvard in the fall, when Andrei Shleifer will be there as a professor? Harvard certainly isn’t justified in taking a harder line with students than with faculty, and the presence of Shleifer now places the ethical bar at a new low.
8/10/2024 3:45 pm
No, I rule. And I head butt you.