<p>Or... he could be bi-polar and need an adjustment in his meds.</p>
<p>troll alert ftw</p>
<p>"Here is a woman who gained the respect of almost everyone in academia. Despite not having a degree, she has managed to gain the top spot in an institution famous for its degrees and supposedly smart people. she must have been a lot smarter than all those people around her."</p>
<p>Just because she gained 'the top spot' doesn't necessarily mean that she is intelligent. There are many people in high places who aren't particularly bright or competent. And if she reached that position, it wasn't because she was smart, it was because she lied. You find that commendable?</p>
<p>Would a lawyer or judge, who turned out to be a great jurist, but had actually begun his career by making fraudulent representations that he had graduated from law school and passed the bar, be someone to be admired? Not by me. The ends does not justify the means. MIT would seem an unlikely community to assert this Machiavellian defense of Jones, particularly as her lies were completely self serving. In addition, whether Ms. Jones impact on the process was positive or negative is far from universally agreed upon.
DO WE SEND THE MESSAGE TO TODAY'S YOUNG PEOPLE THAT NO MATTER HOW DISHONESTLY THEY GO ABOUT ADVANCING THEIR CAREERS, IF THEY SUCCEED THEY WILL HAVE JUSTIFIED THEIR DISHONESTY?</p>
<p>You know, as they say if you feel me once shame on you, if you do it twice shame on me. Marilee has done exactly that twice while she was at MIT. Again, she must have been smart to do it twice. Plus, MIT used to call her "our leader." Who is at fault here? Also, what is a degree anyways?</p>
<p>Has anyone considered that there may have been other more qualified applicants for the job 28 years ago who paid the price for being more honest than Ms. Jones?</p>
<p>I agree with randomperson. No evidence Jones was smart, she mouthed the prevailing shibboleths about admission, spoke eloquently in a touch feely way. Bottom line: MIT could not not fire her otherwise the message is cheat, if you are successful it doesn't matter.</p>