Sophomore's Plagiarism Mars Harvard's Reputation

Re: “Girl Interrupted,” comment, Apr. 26.

As I recall from my days at Harvard Business School in the early 1990s, several students were forced to withdraw because they were charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission for alleged violation of securities regulations. The rationale was that the students were tarnishing the school’s reputation: possibly not fair to the students since no formal conviction had been reached, but understandable nonetheless.

In this instance, we have a student that appears to have stolen intellectual property. Regardless of whether you believe she did so knowingly or unknowingly, the fact remains that she has managed to muddy Harvard’s name. If the reputation of the school is to be maintained, I fail to understand how this girl can be allowed to stay at Harvard. Give her the boot and let the storm blow over, keep her in school and we can all look forward to more bad press as she is pulled into the legal system by Random House.

LINDON T. HOGNER

Bixby, Okla.

April 26, 2006