Title #2 — "Ayn Rand Would Not Have Approved": PhillyBurbs.com reports:
An aspiring attorney is in trouble with the law, accused of trying to cheat his way into a better law school.
Kevin Siangchin, 30, of North Plainfield, N.J., was arrested Thursday and charged with trying to bribe an employee of the Law School Admissions Council in Newtown Township to sell him an advance copy of the Law School Admission Test for $5,000.
Siangchin allegedly took the standardized test, which is required to get into law school, twice before and wanted to take it again to improve his score....
Siangchin, an engineer, used the name John Galt on the e-mail [to an LSAC employee whom he was trying to persuade to leak him a copy of the test]. John Galt is a character in the Ayn Rand novel “Atlas Shrugged” ....
According to police, Siangchin told detectives [who eventually arrested him] that he knew he was doing something wrong but that he “really wanted a good score.” ...
After his arrest, Siangchin asked detectives for his money back, police reports said....
The story also reports that "Siangchin is charged with potential to change the world," but I'm pretty sure that this is because a block of text was inadvertently repeated. (By the time you read this, the glitch might have been fixed.)
Thanks to Sebastian (Snowflakes In Hell) for the pointer.
Sounds like a pretty serious charge too since the story also reports that Siangchin could face 7 yrs in the slammer.
The guy sounds a little unclear on basic Randian premises, though: "Police said Siangchin added that with 120,000 people across the country taking the exam, 'putting himself ahead in such a large group would make no difference.'"
But can you imagine being the cop who had to put John Galt in the box and interview him? You'd ask him what happened, and three hundred pages later they'd have to take you out on a stretcher, writing hand cramped into a claw.
Is he guilty of attempted theft? Or just attempted receipt of stolen goods? Solicitation I'll conceed, which opens the door to the communication device and computer charges. Are those separate charges, is there a double jeopardy problem, alex?
Siangchin, an engineer, used the name John Galt on the e-mail. John Galt is a character in the Ayn Rand novel “Atlas Shrugged,” about an engineer who designed a revolutionary new motor powered by ambient static electricity with the potential to change the world.
I know Howard Roark is loosely based on Frank Lloyd Wright.
Is Galt based on Tesla?
Is Galt based on Tesla?"
More likely a character created by Mary Shelley, the major difference being that Shelley's character was more believable.
Not quite. He's a loose hybrid of Edison and Fabio. By objectivist lights Atlas Shrugged is Ayn Rand's bodice-ripper.
Upon a brief lexis search, I could not find much sentencing precedent for those convicted of "potential to change the world," but it sounds like an unconstitutional status crime to me.
This was his third attempt, right? Did he perhaps see this as his Kobayashi Maru, and expect a commendation for original thinking?
He'll get probation for a couple years, probably a higher than usual fine, and a lifetime of humiliation. On the bright side, he will never have to find out how crappy it is to be a lawyer most days.
I got the joke, and not only did I try to read AS, but I finished, and enjoyed it.
As a side note, I think an advance copy would be worth, at least on the black market, at least $100K, minimum. If I had gotten a few more points, I would have gotten into Yale or Harvard. And we all know the salary differences between those schools is substantial enough to justify paying that mych for an advance copy.