The event was run by ASCMC Student Life Chair Mohammad Abdul-Rahim ’15.

Vocabulary of the Week: Bro Portmanteaus

portmanbro

Update your brocabulary with the most popular and latest portmanbros. For the Econ majors, a portmanteau is a combination of two (or more) words into one new word.

Music Discovery Tool of the Week: Band of the Day (iPhone/iPad)

Band of the Day

A free app that brings you a new band each day in a digital magazine form, along with reviews of the band’s music and full streams of its top songs and videos. It’s a great app for keeping in the know of which bands are currently cool to know.

Smart Move of the Week: Mac Rumors Buyers Guide

Apple Buyers Guide

This website provides an easy to understand product summary for the current product cycle of each Apple product and provides a summary of currently available rumors for each model. What this means is, you check this site before buying your next MacBook or iPad so that you aren’t the chump with the obsolete model one month later.

YouTube Channel of the Week:

Beardyman

It’s hard to determine whether this man is brilliant or crazy. Either way, the beatbox-based music he makes is entertaining, spontaneous, and complex. Watch this one to understand his process, and then go back to the link above to get your fix.

Student Photograph of the Week: Sean McQueen ’13

ASCMC’s Chief Financial Officer, Kevin Sullivan ’12 noted that the original target, set in September, was a $4000 expense.  A few weeks before the party, in late February, party planners realized it was going to cost more than expected and adjusted target expenses to around $8000.

To account for the unexpected extra $12,000 in expenses, Sullivan explained that the lighting for AN21’s set cost $6000 more than anticipated and that the artist fees to bring AN21 were $2,000 more than originally expected. Additionally, ticket revenues were $6000 lower than expected, with about 400 fewer tickets sold than initially intended.

Overall, the White Party resulted in a $20,000 net expense: roughly $36,200 in total expenses while the total revenue was $16,200.

Last year’s ASCMC sponsored concert featuring LMFAO resulted in a $25,000 expenditure, and the year before that Lupe Fiasco’s performance ended in a $50,000 expense. Though each year marks a decrease in expense, the high annual cost raises the question of whether or not this type of event should continue on or, at the very least, be scaled back.  “The White Party was a very expensive success,” said ASCMC President Aditya Pai ’13.  ”It provided great benefit to students, but at great cost. The question going forward for everyone to consider is whether the benefit justifies the cost – or whether we should pursue other options.”

ASCMC conducted a poll to gauge student body’s response that indicated that over 60% of all respondents considered White Party among their top two favorite parties of the year.

“Undoubtedly the White Party was a success,” said Steven Limandibhratha ’14, Social Affairs Chair (SAC), “According to the responses on the survey, over 30% placed the White Party as their favorite party of the year, and over 60% placed the party in their top two parties.

A Breakdown of the White Party Expenses, Totaling Around $36,2000, Provided to the Forum by ASCMC

“Regarding the significant expense of the party, I believe working with the new board, we will be able to reduce these expenses in the future,” Limandibhratha commented,

When asked if the party was worth the money, freshman Liza Farr responded, that depends on what one’s priorities are. “White Party was really fun, a bunch of people went out for it and danced like crazy in a cool location with awesome lights and a fantastic DJ,” she said. “However, it did cost [ASCMC] a lot of money while it didn’t seem all that different from any of other, much cheaper parties.  I don’t think it was worth the immense amount of money spent on it.”

The grand prize went to freshman Chris Rama ’15. The event raised $586 for Rama’s charity, the Red Cross.

Last week, CMC formally released an external investigative report on the SAT scandal it first discovered in January. The 25-page report, which has been independently authored by the law firm O’Melveny & Myers LLP, is publicly available on the College’s website. The main findings of the report are that Richard Vos, the former Vice President of Admissions and Financial Aid, reported falsely modified SAT scores, ACT scores, class rank statistics, and application statistics since 2004.

On April 19, following the release of the report, U.S. News and World Report‘s Bob Morse wrote an article in which he said the College’s ranking would most likely have remained the same whether or not the test numbers were fudged. He interviewed Editor and Chief Content Officer Brian Kelly, who said that the publication is currently reviewing the report and that the “preliminary calculation shows that based on the correct data, Claremont McKenna College’s ranking would not have changed.” He added, “We will decide if further adjustments or explanations to our readers are necessary.”

CMC is currently ranked by the publication as the 9th best liberal arts college in the nation. At the time of the scandal, it was believed that pressure to improve rankings played a central role in motivating Vos to falsify the data. However, the independent report states that Vos did not face any extraordinary pressure “or any form of intimidation that might reasonably lead us to view the pressure exerted as coercive or improper.” The report highlighted that increasing CMC’s ranking was not Vos’s motivation for reporting false data and that it “believes the VP’s (Vos’) assertion to be true”.

“Glitter” has been open for five weeks now, and the owners say that the biggest challenge is still just getting the word out.  Because of their location, not as many people are able to just stumble casually across their trendy, Athropology-esque clothing.  Glitter was a dream come true for these two women, who have been friends for years.  Originally, one owned a mobile boutique, and the other was a jewelry designer and fashion blogger.  This store is their “blog come to life,” and they have combined their talents to create a unique, fun, and fashionable boutique.  Not only do they sell clothing and the jewelry that one of the owners designs, but they also carry cute notebooks, hats, shoes, purses, and novelties like a designer cosy for your Starbucks cup, a cute cover for your camera strap… and other little gems perfect for gift ideas.  And all of these come at the most reasonable prices I’ve seen almost anywhere, usually between $10 and $30.

The quality and prices are both comparable to Nectar, but the style is even trendier, and the little accessories and quaint atmosphere make it well worth a visit even if you’ve already done some shopping at the larger store at the bottom of the Village.  Plus, the $10 rack outside the main door is a huge draw; I, not being able to resist a bargain, had to leave with a cute shirt from it.

Although it feels like you have to hunt for it, Glitter is well worth the quest.  The owners are friendly and helpful without being overbearing salespeople, the clothing is trendy, yet classic, and the prices are prime.  Next time you’re in the Village, take a few minutes to go upstairs and explore.

Smart Move of the Week:

Readability

Readability is a project started to make the internet more legible and easier on the eyes. Their apps extract the text from articles online, such as this one from the Los Angeles Times, and convert it into a much less cluttered and easier to read page: the same article with Readability. I recommend the Browser Add-ons that they make for the most popular browsers that do this in less than three seconds for any article. The add-ons are especially good at clearing away unwanted information from the article and still retaining the relevant pictures, graphs and embedded links in the article, even if the article is split into separate pages. Install it in your personal browser and take it for a spin through your favorite news source, then consider it your smart move of the week.

Music Discovery of the week:

The Last.fm Related Artists feature

A lot of music lovers already know about Last.fm.  It is a community built around music, where users can “scrobble” and discover new artists based on their listening preferences. However, not many common folk know you can use Last.fm as an easy way to start a search for bands that sound similar to their current obsession. Here’s what the Bon Iver and Mumford & Sons related artists pages look like. Even the most obscure bands have a Last.fm page that algorithmically and organically places the band in a context of other bands and genres based on how fans tag their music. All you have to do is search for a band’s Last.fm profile.  From there, you use the Related Artists tab on the left side of the page to discover bands that have been ranked as sounding similar according to users.

YouTube Entertainment of the Week:

Viral Video Film School

Viral Video Film School is an incredibly entertaining video blog that sarcastically analyzes trends or niches of videos on YouTube and edits the best parts of them together. It isn’t running any longer, but there are old episodes to keep you entertained for hours. I’ve left you with the link to the best of their videos from 2010, I’m sure you can find your way from there.

The 25-page report, which the Board of Trustees commissioned in late January, is available publicly on the College’s website and outlines in detail the findings of law firm O’Melveny & Myers LLP.

The independent report confirms speculations that it was Richard Vos, the former Vice President of Admissions and Financial Aid, who reported false SAT statistics to third party organizations. It also confirms the College’s earlier claims that the senior administrator acted alone and that no other College employees knew about the score modification.

In an interview with campus press on Tuesday afternoon, President Gann reiterated that she played only a minor role in the investigation process. “Because I was being investigated, I was definitely kept separate from this investigation except for the extent that I was interviewed or asked to provide documents,” she stated.

In total, the external investigation, which took just shy of three months, consisted of a review of over 14,990 documents and interviews with 24 different individuals. Former Vice President Richard Vos was interviewed five different times — for a total of over fifteen hours.

ACT SCORES AND OTHER STATISTICS ALSO MODIFIED

The report reveals that SAT scores were not the only modified metric.  Further investigation shows Vos also modified ACT, class rank, and application statistics as far back as 2004.

Vos told investigators “he believed reporting ACT statistics was unimportant and that he devoted little time and attention to this task.” Vos is also quoted in the report referring to the process of gathering class rank statistics as an ”art not a science.”

As for the infamous SAT score manipulation, the report describes how Vos worked backwards, setting a target median and then changing the data accordingly. The falsified statistics were created by hand — with nothing but “paper, a pencil, and a calculator.”

The report concludes that Vos began changing scores as early as 2004 and attributes his ability to do so undetected to two factors. First, Vos was highly respected within the College’s administration and, consequently, rarely questioned.  Second, the Claremont McKenna Admissions Office lacked an internal checks and balances process to confirm that the data was reported accurately.  It would have taken at least eight years before Vos’ falsified statistics would have been detected and officially reported.

Once concerns were raised in early 2012, however, the College moved quickly.  The report notes that an unidentified Admissions officer reported concerns to the College’s General Counsel on January 9, 2012.  An internal investigation immediately ensued.  Fifteen days later, Vice President Vos admitted to manipulating the scores and, on January 29, he resigned.  When asked whether or not the College requested his resignation, President Gann admitted, “It was discussed with him.””

““But he resigned,” she emphasized. ”I want to be clear that he resigned.””

ASPIRATIONAL GOALS AND THE MOTIVE

What could drive a senior administrator to unilaterally manipulate scores for the better part of a decade?

According to the report, Vos claimed CMC President Gann pressured him to “maintain or increase SAT scores for the College’s incoming classes.”

President Gann acknowledged that there were “aspirational goals” that had been set between her and Vice President Vos. However, she argued that these aspirational goals were agreed upon between the two of them. ”This was a conversation,” she told campus reporters. ”These [goals] were mutually set.””

The report concludes that the pressure Vos felt was not extraordinary. Investigators found no evidence of any verbal abuse “or any form of intimidation that might reasonably lead us to view the pressure exerted as coercive or improper.”

“While we believe the VP sincerely felt pressure to achieve particular SAT goals, we do not believe that the pressure he described exceeded the norm for an executive-level employee,” the report states.

Importantly, the report mentions a divergence in the admissions “priorities” of President Gann and those of former Vice President Vos.  According to the report, Vos ”felt [Gann] had too many goals and that some must give way.” Vos also told investigators he believed he knew what was best for the College.

Although CMC had an applicant pool talented enough to reach the specific aspirational goals set between Vice President Vos and President Gann, admissions decisions failed to meet the target scores. Claiming he was afraid to tell Gann otherwise, Vos said he chose instead to falsify admissions statistics.

The report emphasizes that Vos’ salary and compensation were unaffected by the yearly SAT score reports and does not point to any financial motive.

Despite national media coverage suggesting otherwise, it appears that college rankings were not a motivating factor behind Vos’ actions. Vos explicitly told investigators that his motive was not to increase CMC’s position in rankings. ”We believe the VP’s assertion to be true,” the report states.

“Gann acknowledges that this incident fundamentally alters the manner in which CMC will talk about admissions data in the future. “Assume you have totally accurate data, there’’s then the question of how we use it in communications and marketing,” she said. “We have to be sure that, for those of us that make speeches or refer to data in fundraising materials or in admissions materials, that we are talking about the data in a clear and verified way.””

Gann also noted that the there have been no changes to the College’s ten-year Strategic Plan in light of the scandal.

MOVING FORWARD: “WE CAN AND WILL DO BETTER.”

Tuesday’s report release was accompanied by two letters addressed to the CMC Community: one from President Pamela B. Gann and one from Chair of the Board of Trustees Henry T. McMahon.

McMahon noted that the Claremont community has “learned a great deal from this unfortunate matter and will become ever stronger as a result.”

President Gann’s letter announced that, going forward, admissions, financial aid, and student affairs have been consolidated into one Vice President position.  Dr. Jefferson Huang, currently the Vice President of Student Affairs, will be taking on this role.

Also in her letter, President Gann made a promise to the CMC community: ”We can and will do better.”

Claremont, Calif., April 17, 2012 –– Claremont McKenna College publicly released today an external investigative report related to its January 2012 disclosure that a former senior administrator had inaccurately reported the College’s SAT statistics.

The investigation, which the Board of Trustees authorized and the law firm O’Melveny & Myers LLP conducted, confirmed that CMC’s former Vice President for Admission and Financial Aid was solely responsible for misreporting admission statistics, and that no one else participated in, encouraged, or had knowledge of the misconduct. The investigation also verified that no individual student’s scores or admission files were altered in the course of the misreporting.

Photo by Karan Malik

The report confirmed that the corrected SAT statistics the College first reported to outside organizations in late January were accurate. The investigation also found that the former Vice President was solely responsible for misreporting other admission statistics, including ACT, class rank (the percentage of entering students who were in the top 10% of their high school class), and application statistics. The degree of inaccuracy and the circumstances related to the misreporting varied. For example, the inaccurate ACT numbers were sometimes lower than the accurate numbers, but were usually higher. The widest differences in percentages between reported and accurate figures were in the class rank statistics.

The full report, which includes a complete summary of the inaccurate and corrected admission statistics, is available on the College’s website.

“We regret and are deeply disappointed by this episode,” said Harry McMahon, Chair of the Board of Trustees, in a message to members of the CMC community. “Throughout its history, the College has been defined by its core values of honesty and responsible leadership. While these events do not reflect our values, our response does. Our President and her staff have addressed this matter promptly, thoroughly and with complete integrity. We are confident that the process changes the President has proposed, and we have approved, will deter and prevent such actions from occurring again.”

“These events have been justifiably disappointing to members of our community and to the outside organizations to which we report our institutional statistics,” said President Pamela Gann. “I am very sorry and saddened that these events occurred, and I am committed to ensuring the College’s continuing response exemplifies our core values.”

Based on the report’s findings, the President announced a series of actions that the College is taking, including promptly providing corrected admission statistics to outside organizations who received inaccurate information. In addition, the College is developing documented institutional guidelines –including segregation of duties and independent review procedures — that will regulate the compiling and reporting of all material institutional statistics and will be made available to the public.

The report marks the completion of a process that began in January 2012, when President Gann received information from within the College about potential discrepancies in the SAT statistics for the fall 2011 entering class. Based on this initial information, the President initiated an internal investigation, during which the former Vice President admitted that he had been solely responsible for falsely reporting SAT statistics. The administrator subsequently resigned on January 29. The Board of Trustees engaged O’Melveny & Myers to conduct an external investigation of the College’s admission-related statistics reporting processes.

The scope of the investigation covered SAT and other key admission-related statistics reported to outside organizations, including ACT, class rank, application, acceptance, and enrollment statistics. The investigation looked back to 2004, the year prior to which the former Vice President admitted to falsifying SAT statistics. The external investigation team conducted over 20 interviews, including the President, the former Vice President and other key members of the College’s senior administration. The investigative team also reviewed approximately 100,000 pages of documents and the complete admission files of every student admitted in the fall 2011 class.

The investigative report describes how a lack of internal verification procedures, the Vice President’s “long time and trusted” role as a senior executive, and his own efforts at concealment allowed him to avoid detection for a number of years. The investigation found no information indicating that anyone in the College’s leadership directed or encouraged the misreporting, or that anyone was aware of this activity or knew that erroneous admission-related statistics had been reported by the College.

“Claremont McKenna College remains an outstanding institution that is distinguished by its unique mission and the excellence of its students, faculty, alumni, and staff,” said Board Chair McMahon. “We have learned a great deal from this unfortunate matter and will become ever stronger as a result.”

Claremont McKenna College (CMC) is an independent, coeducational liberal arts college with a curricular emphasis on economics, government, and public affairs.  Established in 1946, CMC is a member of The Claremont Colleges, a consortium of seven independent institutions in Claremont, California.

The Forum will continue coverage as new details become available.