Sunday, September 02, 2007
Teenage Ivy-Leaguers, then and now
The Yahoo front page features a story about Brittney Exline, a 15 year-old who is entering Penn as a freshman this week. Now, I don't want to take anything away from Ms. Exline who seems very impressive, but why is this national news? My class at Princeton, entering in the fall of 1979, had at least one 15 year-old, but impressive as she was (and is) her matriculation was not the stuff of headlines. What has changed since 1979? Is it that we expect so much less of our 15 year-olds today that a student like Ms. Exline really stands out? Or is it that the world has become so credentialized and bureaucratic that we are surprised when the system bends enough to accomodate the truly talented?
6 Comments:
By 
Escort81, at
Mon Sep 03, 01:03:00 AM:
TH, did you have an Age of Consent problem as an undergrad? If you were 19 years old and were involved with a 15 year old, that was probably a criminal act in NJ around 1980 (though I think the statute of limitations has run out).
Actually, I was 17 years old during my first few weeks of my freshman year at Princeton in 1977 (and my friend and selected roommate was 17 years old until December, but looked and acted in a much more mature fashion, and still does), and there were some frisky senior women on our floor in Foulke, so I had a potential age of consent problem in reverse. Of course, nothing happened (it being Princeton in the 1970s), but in the novel version I'll write someday, it could have a different twist. Ah, college days.
By TigerHawk, at
Mon Sep 03, 05:46:00 AM:
Unfortunately, I suppose, I was never at risk for an age of consent problem. But I, too, was 17 until December 29 of my freshman year. So I had an age of drinking problem, or would have had there been any enforcement of such things.
By 
, at
Mon Sep 03, 10:35:00 AM:
"from Ms. Exline"
"Ms" is a politically-correct designation so as not to insult a woman by implying she's married by using the saluatation "Mrs". Since that usually isn't the concern with 15-year-olds, wouldn't it just be "Miss"?
"but impressive as she was (and is) her matriculation was not the stuff of headlines."
What if it was? What if there was an article in the local paper on the first day of school, but you were too busy to read the paper that day because it was the first day of school?
I'm just askin'!
"What has changed since 1979?"
So, as I understand it, TH, your confusion arises from the fact that none of the online web sites and cable TV channels mentioned the Princeton student in 1979, but did so in 2007. Is that it?
I think I just answered your question. :)
I've often thought of how tough it must be to host a daily radio program or TV show or news site. You, TH, probably feel a certain obligation to scribble out a few lines every day, so imagine how it must feel to wake up every morning and wonder what fresh, interesting subjects you're going to talk about for three hours, or wonder how you're going to fill up an entire web page with exciting fresh links. And, of course, the voracious morning crowd will be back later that day, hungry for more interesting links, so the pressure's always on.
So you end up with ho-hum stories of youthful prodigies skipping a few grades, icebergs breaking off the Arctic Ice Shelf, and that the Mars lander should be finding evidence of life on Mars REAL SOON NOW.
BTW, word is spreading all over the Internet that you're now promoting sex with minors. Let me dig up Michelle's column from this morning:
___________________________________
First off, he admits to his relations with a 15-year-old right up front:
"...entering in the fall of 1979, [I] had at least one 15 year-old."
He then goes on to brag how the girl's sexual prowess was "impressive."
His guilt was then compounded when the commenters started offering up their own personal observations of his sordid behavior.
"TH, did you have an Age of Consent problem as an undergrad? If you were 19 years old and were involved with a 15 year old, that was probably a criminal act in NJ around 1980..."
Despite repeated attempts to contact him on the telephone, Mr. Hawk was unavailable for comment.
The question for my readers today is, why is there a limit on the statute of limitations for such crimes?
Is there a statute of limitations for emotional scars that last a lifetime?
_______________________________
I sure wouldn't want to be in yours shoes, buddy. :)
By Escort81, at
Mon Sep 03, 03:55:00 PM:
Whoa, whoa, Dr. Mercury, hang on there, this is all in good fun, right? Sideways smiley faces all around, right? No reason to use a satirical format and style to show how a website (right or left) takes quotes of context to smear a target. The reputation of TH cannot be besmirched, else we all suffer. My bad for bringing it up at all.
That said, it sounds as though we will cop to underage drinking in NJ in the late 1970s. I do recall that the old on-campus Pub at East Pyne did card occasionally, which must have been a real pain for those young freshmen with November or December birthdays.
By , at
Mon Sep 03, 06:23:00 PM:
Lessee, now. If you were at Princeton from '79 through '83, I'll have to cop to aggravating your hangover the first Saturday and Sunday of every month by helicoptering overhead at 500 feet.
Aviation Detachment, 50th DivArty, NJARNG.
And we did it on purpose. Our commander was in the Theological Seminary and we were hs alarm clock...
By Escort81, at
Mon Sep 03, 11:29:00 PM:
billt-
Fortunately, I could sleep through anything in those days (including my alarm clock to get me to 8:00 AM French class on time), even a Huey at 500 feet, if that's what you were flying. Anyway, thanks for your service.
The PU campus from the air at low altitude is very pretty. I was up with a fellow undergrad (he was and is a private pilot) a few times in rented Cessna out of Princeton airport. There was a lot more open space in the surrounding area back then.
