Subject: Daily Skimm: Roll Tide
From: "theSkimm" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 13 Mar 2019 06:36:40 -0400 (EDT)

<=m>Skimm'd in our =avorite new sneakers

=tr>

MARCH =3, 2019

READ =N BROWSER

Skimm'd in our favorit= new sneakers

QUOTE O= THE DAY

"Highly scientific, unimpeachable and 100% correct" =E2�� LA Times dropped=part one of its breakfast cereal power rankings. Spoiler: Cinnamon Toast C=unch got the top spot. Don't @ us.

VARSITY BLUES

The Story

Somewhere in Hollywood a script about college admissi=ns fraud is being written.

I have many thoughts about this. Go.

Yesterday, the Justice Department charged 50 people – including actress=s Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin – as part of a multi-million-=ollar scheme to get kids accepted into elite universities. It's the DOJ's =argest college admissions prosecution, ever.

I will never look at Aunt Becky the same.

Right, who woulda thought? These parents allegedly pa=d a guy anywhere from $200,000 to $6.5 million to turn their money into co=lege acceptance letters. Some=tactics he used: faking SAT scores by bribing test administrators to c=ange kids' answers after the test, paying someone to take standardized tes=s for them (and once again bribing administrators to let it slide), and ge=ting at least one kid extra time by faking a learning disability. He would=also bribe coaches to recruit students as athletes (even if they didn't pl=y), photoshopping kids' faces onto pictures of athletes found online. And =ied about kids' ethnicities to take advantage of affirmative action progra=s.

Damn. Wealthy parents will do just about anything, hu=.

Apparently. Out of the 50 people charged – 33=are parents, two are exam administrators, and some are coaches from school= like Yale, Stanford, USC, and Georgetown. The alleged ringleader of all t=is is William Singer, who led a college prep business known as "The Key." =e pleaded guilty and now faces up to 65 years in prison.

What about the kids? Did they get in trouble?No. No students or schools have been charged. Authori=ies say many of the kids didn't even know this was happening. And called t=e parents "the prime movers of this fraud."

theSkimm

In case you haven't noticed, the college admissions p=ocess in the US has gotten crazy competitive. And that's when you're playi=g fair. This story shows how much wealth can help people game an already s=ewed system. And keep the money and opportunities at the top – reg=rdless of merit.

REPEAT AFTER ME...

What to say when plan B fails…

Time for plan C…or is it D. Yesterday, UK law=akers overwhelmingly voted do=n PM Theresa May's Brexit deal. May has tried and failed. And tried an= failed. And tried and failed again to make this deal happen. But UK lawma=ers are not liking her approach to cutting ties with the EU. Important to =ote: they also haven't come up with an alternative. Today, they vote on wh=ther the UK should leave the EU without a deal in place, which could lead =o potential chaos. If the= vote against that, parliament votes tomorrow on whether to delay Brexit (=hich will need the EU's blessing). But no pressure...they only have a litt=e over two weeks to figure out the biggest trade and policy change the cou=try has dealt with in decades.

What to say when you hear Georgia's "testicular bill of rights" is making waves...=/h3>

So is California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D). Today, he's e=pected to sign an executive o=der that would block the death penalty there while he's governor. CA h=s the largest number of inmates on death row (more than 700), but hasn't e=ecuted anyone since 2006 – when a federal judge said its lethal in=ection process was unconstitutional. This new decision would hit pause on =xecutions, close an execution room, and cancel the state's new lethal inje=tion protocol. It would also make CA the fourth state to place a moratoriu= on the death penalty – behind Oregon, Colorado, and Pennsylvania.=Supporters say it's a big step for those who have moral objections to capi=al punishment. Critics say it ignores the will of CA voters – sinc= in 2016 they rejected a proposition to end the death penalty and voted in=tead to speed up appeals. The move is expected to be challenged in the cou=ts.

Who people are talking about…

Cardinal=George Pell, former advisor to Pope Francis. Last year, he was found g=ilty of sexually assaulting two boys – but the judge ordered the v=rdict to be sealed so it wouldn't influence the jury in another trial agai=st him (also about child abuse allegations). Prosecutors decided not to pu=sue the second case. So last month we found out the results of the first trial. Earlier today, Pell =as sentenced to six years in prison – and has to serve a minimum o= three years and eight months before he is eligible for parole. Pell is th= highest-ranking Catholic cleric convicted of child sex abuse. He's set to=appeal his conviction later this year.

What to say when you hear the US is pulling the rest of =a href="https://link.theskimm.com/click/16264634.2955115/aHR0cHM6Ly9za2l=bXRoLmlzLzJIaGdXQWc/5bae7b412ddf9c633bb801b8Bd0866e5f" target="_blank" s=yle="color:#00b2a9;text-decoration:none;">its diplomats from Venezuela…

It's also getting ready to pull the plug on some immigration-related offices abroad=/a>. US Citizenship and Immigration Services has international offices in =1 countries. They do things like provide assistance to US citizens, perman=nt residents, and refugees trying to bring family to the US. Now, the agen=y plans to close down its foreign offices by the end of the year. Official= say it's to move more staff to focus on the backlog of asylum cases in th= US (like at the US-Mexico border). But some say the closures will make it=more difficult to apply to immigrate to the US from abroad.

What to say when you watch the new "Aladdin" trailer…

Britney =pears also wants to show you a whole new world...on stage.

What to say when you hear Odell Beckham Jr is going to the Cleveland Browns...More room in New York for Le'Veon Bell.

In 1919, the 19th Amendment gave women the right t= vote. 100 years later, we're spotlighting 19 women and movements that ins=ire us during Women's History Month.

This=week is all business. As in, we're talking about some of the business wome= we admire. Guess the women from the clues below...

This woman is a crossover artist – she went f=om movie star to helping create a comms system used during the Cuban Missi=e crisis.

"A Star is Born" really debuted when this astrophysic=st discovered what stars are made of.

Who are these two women? Check to see if you got it r=ght with our full list h=re.

SKIMM PICKS

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SKIMM'RS

Spotlight on…Jamie K (MD). She's part =f Engineers Without Borders, a nonprofit that uses engineering to help com=unities in developing countries. Her student chapter from UMBC is working =ith a community in Costa Rica that has very little water during the dry se=son and some homes aren't connected to clean water. Next week, she'll be s=aying in the community and collecting information to help determine the be=t solution to improve its water system.

P=p the champagne for…Whitney D (CA), who got her dream job work=ng for the Sacramento Kings doing IT work. And Nicole D (FL), who g=t her undergraduate honors research grant approved to study barriers to fo=ter parent recruitment.

(=ome) Birthdays…Alyson Lane (NY), Caitlin Johnson (MS), Lauren =uber (IN), Shannon Messenger (OR), Amar A. Zahr (UAE), Bobby Luria (OH), C=thrin Di Filippo (TX), Elliot Grapentine (MN), Grace Timothy (NC), Liz Bar=n (NJ), Matthew Dowty (TN), Nancy Tervelt (IL), Tatyana Kalinga (VA)

*=aging all members of theSkimm. Reach out here for a chance to be=featured.

SKIMM SHARE

ICYMI, we're excited for March Madness. We're celebra=ing by giving you things. Today, download theSkimm App and get the sports calendar to stay on =op of all the Madness. And for a chance to win a new MacBook Air so you=can watch the games wherever you want..the couch, the bed, the office, the=beach. Score. And congrats to yesterday's winner Karina Gadea of New Y=rk, NY. Questions? Answers.

* All you have to do is download theSk=mm App, start a free trial, and get the sports calendar. That's it.
* Already have the app? Already entered to win.

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