mORE uLTIMATE dIVINE tRUTH (9/22)
Steve Levicoff
mORE uLTIMATE dIVINE tRUTH
FROM THE iNSTIGATOR eMERITUS OF
aLT.eDUCATION.dISTANCE
(hEY! wHAT HAPPENED TO MY cAPS lOCK KEY?
----------------------------------------
September 22, 1996
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I. |
_______|
John Bear wrote:
> I am trying to imagine a circumstance in which I could
> recommend, or even take too seriously, any school that does
> not (because of a law, or fear or a law, or perhaps any other
> reason) accept applications from people in a certain
> geographical area. I can't think of one. Chadwick and
> Alabama. Kennedy-Western and California. Are there others?
To which Jonathan Whatley replied, in relevant part:
> The University of Minnesota's very alternative baccalaureate
> program is open only to former UMinn students or those in a
> state or province bordering Minnesota. This sort of
> restriction is understandable, though I am intrigued that
> they don't seem to list Ontario despite our beautiful long
> northern border.
>
> Even laws are subjective. For instance, Devotional-Pacific
> University may limit enrollment to students outside of North
> Korea, Libya, Iran and Iraq, and if they're scardey-cat
> Americans <rebellious Canadian grin> they may not ship to
> Cuba.
>
> Would be prepared, on this basis, to call them out?
It should occur to our readers that there is a *major* difference
between a degree mill which is precluded by the state from
granting degrees in a geographic area (such as Chadwick
University or the American Institute of Computer Science, both of
which are allegedly located in Alabama yet are forbidden to grant
degrees in Alabama), versus legitimately accredited schools that
limit their programs to a geographic area near the school (such
as U. Minn. or other schools which require residency within a
specified radius from the campus). Even Charter Oak, one of the
three major state colleges with external programs, once limited
its degrees to Connecticut residents.
In plain words, geographic limitations are not the key to a
school's legitimacy, accreditation is the key. However, when a
school is precluded by the state from granting degrees on its
home turf, that is certainly an indication that the school may be
a degree mill.
=================================================================
II. |
_______|
"David S. Kovaka" <kov...@umich.edu> wrote, in relevant part and
in regard to Summit University of Louisiana (a degree mill):
> Is there some important distinction between [evaluating work
> done previously] this and taking tests for credit? (A genuine
> question. I may be missing something here.)
Actually, there is no significant distinction: both are
legitimate methods of determining a student's competency at the
undergraduate level. (Regionally accredited graduate programs
generally do not grant credit for previous learning at all.)
Summit University claims that their program design is "similar to
the accredited University of the State of New York Regents
College Degrees program," which evaluates previous work through
the portfolio process. However, given a choice between Summit
and the regionally accredited - and *very* reasonably priced -
Regents, why wouldn't a student simply go with the more credible
program?
I submit that Summit is a degree mill. The regional
accreditation of Regents, Thomas Edison, and Charter Oak
substantiate their credibility. The fact that Summit claims to
use the same credit evaluation methods as Regents is irrelevant;
they're still a mickey mouse school.
=================================================================
III. |
_______|
bap...@aol.com (BapKJV) wrote:
> If you are interested in a Traditional, Fundamental Baptist
> College and Seminary that still believes that the Bible is
> God's Word. Then let me recommend Immanuel Baptist Schools.
> They will put your beliefs to the test, focusing everything
> upon the authoritative Word of God. Not only that, they know
> and teach that the Bible is inerrant and infallible as God
> promised it would be; they have an overwhelming amount of
> evidence and will share every bit with you in their courses
> and instruction.
>
> They are really a great School for Baptists to study under,
> and they have possibly the lowest tuition rates in the
> country. To contact them and receive a free catalogue Email:
> ImmBa...@AOL.comm
To contact "them?" As any American-on-Line user knows, AOL
allows up to five different user names and e-mail addresses per
account. Is there anyone here who can't figure out that
"bap...@aol.com" (as in "Baptist, King James Version") is
probably the same user as "ImmBa...@AOL.comm" [sic]?
Yes, campers, as you may have guessed, Immanuel Baptist Schools
(which also trades under the names Immanuel Baptist College and
Immanuel Baptist Theological Seminary) is a degree mill. Now, I
can tell you about their poorly photocopied 18-page catalog,
provide an analysis of their faculty and alleged courses, but
this school is so much fun that I thought I'd simply pass on what
the Chronicle of Higher Education wrote about them on November
27, 1991:
: FOREIGN STUDENTS CHARGE SEMINARY WITH FRAUD
:
: Newman, GA - Two foreign students are suing the Immanuel
: Baptist Theological Seminary here for fraud and breach of
: contract, saying that officials of the institution led them
: to believe the seminary was accredited when it is not and
: required them to perform manual labor once they had arrived
: on campus.
: Amina V.K. Kommu, from India, and his wife, Eunje Won
: Kommu, from Korea, also claim they were told the seminary ad
: a large international-student population, when it does not.
: Mr. Kommu contends that he was required to clean urinals on
: the campus and mow the lawn at the president's house.
: Officials at the seminary refused to comment.
Praise, the Lord! If you are an international student, you, too,
can come to Immanuel and learn how to clean urinals! (This may
be especially educational if you come from an undeveloped nation
that does not have urinals.)
For more in our saga, we turn to the Atlanta Constitution of
November 2, 1991:
: An international couple sued officials of a Bible college in
: Sharpsburg, Ga., on Friday, alleging they were lured to the
: United States on the promise of degrees that turned out to be
: worthless.
:
: In the 65-page lawsuit filed in Superior Court of Coweta
: County, Amina V.K. Kommu of India and his wife, Eunje Won
: Kommu of Korea, sued officials of Immanuel Baptist
: Theological Seminary on 19 counts, ranging from fraud and
: breach of contract to negligent infliction of physical pain.
:
: The couple alleges that the the school's president, James I.
: Stewart, assaulted Mr. Kommu and made advances toward his
: wife.
Apparently, Kommo's problems began earlier, as the Atlanta
Constitution reported on February 18, 1991:
: The promise of an American liberal arts degree is what Amina
: Vijaya Kumar Kommu says brought him from India three years
: ago to study at Immanuel Baptist Theological Seminary in
: Sharpsburg, Ga.
:
: "My desire was to come to America . . . to study Bible and be
: a missionary to the people of India," said Mr. Kommu, 29.
:
: Instead, he has no degree, and he is being threatened with
: deportation.
:
: State education officials, who investigated Mr. Kommu's
: allegations about Immanuel Baptist, have turned their
: findings over to the state attorney general's office, which
: will determine if the school broke state law by offering
: liberal arts degrees . . .
:
: INS requires schools that teach international students to be
: accredited by an agency recognized by the U.S. Department of
: Education.
:
: The application Immanuel Baptist submitted to INS in 1984
: lists the International Accrediting Commission for Schools,
: Colleges and Theological Seminaries, based in Holden, Mo., as
: the accrediting agency.
:
: The agency was not recognized by the government and ceased
: operating after being sued for fraud by the state of Missouri
: in 1989.
:
: The accrediting agency - a one-man operation - was sued after
: it accredited the University of North America, a fake
: university set up by the Missouri attorney general that
: listed the Three Stooges, Arnold Ziffle (the pet pig on the
: "Green Acres" television series) and Eddie Haskell (a teenage
: character on the "Leave it to Beaver" television series) as
: members of the advisory board.
:
: According to documents filed with Georgia's Education
: Department, Immanuel Baptist now is accredited by an
: accrediting agency in Rocky Mount, N.C., which also is not a
: recognized agency.
As a side note, the agency in Rocky Mount mentioned here is the
American Accrediting Association of Theological Institutions,
Inc. - the very same agency that accredits Miami Christian
University, the degree mill run by our friend on this newsgroup,
Bill Greene. Small world, isn't it?
=================================================================
IV. |
_______|
Ranganathan Tanjore <tan...@ktb.net> inquires:
> Can anyone help me to know if the Washington University at
> Pennsylvania, accreditated.
As noted here before, Washington University, which operates out
of a post office box in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, is an
unaccredited degree mill.
Here's an interesting tidbit: If you check out the "missions and
goals" page at their web site - <http://www.wash.edu> - you'll
find a picture of the Strafford Building. A great shot that
actually looks like an academic building on their wonderful
campus. There's just one problem - the Strafford Building is
merely a refurbished office building in Wayne, Pennsylvania
rented to business tenants - and has nothing whatsoever to do
with Washington University.
=================================================================
V. |
_______|
Michael See <se...@pacific.net.sg> wrote:
> Can Mr John Bear or someone out there make clarification on
> what John Bear is trying to communicate. Is Kennedy-Western
> University a LEGALISED university ? dispite their
> accreditation.
>
> I am also considering This university and infact almost
> wanted to enrol till I read the news.
To which Steve Dowd responded:
> What is "legal" in the US may not be accredited. This is
> different than many foreign countries, and a source of
> confusion to some of the foreign readers here.
It appears that Steve has truly adopted the John Bear syndrome -
to dance around a school and use legality as a criterion for
institutional integrity.
Folks, get with it . . . Here in the United States, there are
several individual states that have loose educational laws or
exemptions from licensure for religious schools (Kennedy-Western
is not one of these, but the religious schools are far more
common). Any school that is in a state with loose standards can
incorporate, operate out of a mail forwarding service or
someone's basement, and do so quite legally. That does not make
them credible.
Forget the Danzig Doctrine (for new readers, that refers to
Sheila Danzig, a regular poster here who harped the "legal vs.
legitimate" issue into the ground a few months back) - some of
the most insidious, and even ridiculous, degree and diploma mills
are quite legal according to statutory law. Armed with one of
their degrees and fifty cents, however, you *might* be able to
buy half a cup of coffee. But you'll still have a worthless
degree.
And, legal or not, Kennedy-Western's history suggests that it's a
degree mill. Period.
=================================================================
VI. |
_______|
Robert Moldenhauer wrote:
> I am considering Greenwich University and would like an fair
> and honest evaluation of it. I'm not really interested in
> rude nasty Levichoff [sic] style replies, just an honest
> evaluation by someone who actually knows something about non-
> traditional education.
To which Barry Wong responded, in relevant part:
> A key factor for consideration has to be that Greenwich is
> not accredited (which they openly acknowledge); after all,
> there are plenty of accredited, non-traditional programs as
> well. I think your evaluation of a non-accredited
> institution like Greenwich _has_ to take these factors into
> account.
>
> And BTW -- if you're bothered by Steve Levicoff's replies,
> you might want to consider a regionally accredited program.
> I think you'd find a lot of folks in academia with his
> attitude (if not his panache), and there would always be the
> danger of running into one of them. To be satisfied with any
> non-accredited degree, you'd need to be willing to weather
> that sort of response every so often...
Dear, dear, Robert, you do me such honor . . .
Be that as it may, Barry is quite right. Others may be more
diplomatic than me, but you can bet your fat ass (I thought I
should live up to my reputation here) that I am, indeed, not the
only one holding to criteria based on legitimate accreditation.
I may be the only one doing it on a regular basis here on the
newsgroup, but if you go out into the real world with a Greenwich
degree, sooner or later you're liable to run into someone who
holds the same position and it will result in the denial or a
job or promotion, or simply provide someone else with a laugh or
to at your expense. If you think it's worth it, more power to
you.
Of course, what do I know about nontraditional education? After
all, I've only earned three degrees (B.A. Edison, M.A. Norwich,
Ph.D. Union) - all regionally accredited, and all earned
nontraditionally.
=================================================================
VII. |
_______|
John Bear wrote:
> I find it intriguing that Dr. Levicoff identifies himself as
> "Instigator Emeritus of alt.education.distance," especially
> in view of the stunning silence during those occasions
> (incredibly libelous flames issuing from Spain and elsewhere)
> when the rest of us puppies were speculating on the person or
> people behind the group, and what, if anything, could be
> done.
I'm am not aware of the flames to which John is referring
(although if *he* thinks they're libelous, I'd love to read
them). Nonetheless, my policy is only to respond to posts that
are significant. In whose judgment? Mine, whether Steve Dowd
likes it or not.
=================================================================
VIII. |
_______|
Sam Lopez wrote:
> A well respected author and speaker in the corporate world is
> Dennis Waitely, with impecable character (a commodity today).
> I just came across several of his recent written and audio
> media and noticed that he now has a Ph.D. in Human Behavior.
> Does anyone out there know the instituion that granted him
> his doctorate?
I have not heard of Dennis Waitely, although I can tell you that
he is not listed on the UMI Dissertation Abstracts database
(a fact that always raises a question about one's credentials).
However, not discounting that he may or may not be credible,
whenever I read that someone is "highly respected," my first
response is: By whom?
=================================================================
IX. |
_______|
I've received several inquiries about a riddle I posed to
Jonathan Whatley in my last post: "Who is J. Andrew Klempner, and
what is his relevance to this newsgroup?"
Well, campers, here's the solution, excerpted from an article by
Michael Robertson in the San Francisco Chronicle of November 24,
1988:
: THE FIRST RECORDED 'HAVE A NICE DAY'
:
: Columnist and word buff William Safire says the first
: recorded use of "Have a nice day" he is familiar with
: occurred in the 1948 movie, "A Letter to Three Wives" in a
: speech uttered by Kirk Douglas.
: Was the line an inspired ad-lib or an example of the
: literary art at its deepest?
: Berkeley writer John Bear, whose father John Klempner
: wrote both the short story the movie was based on and the
: original screenplay, checked it out . . .
: This is what he discovered on Page 11 of the screenplay.
: Gregory: Listen closely. Can you hear the grateful
: murmur of the trout as they whisper in the brooks and
: streams? Phipps will not fish today.
: Deborah: (Grins) You're cute. Why not?
: Gregory: Because I've got something better to do. Have
: a nice day. (He smiles pleasantly and strolls off.)
: Bear says he never remembers his father using the term
: around the house.
: "I want to say that I was put to sleep each night with
: the words, 'Have a nice night, kid.' But I do not remember
: it."
Now, if you've ever wondered why John Bear's doctoral
dissertation doesn't show up in the UMI Dissertation Abstracts
database, the above excerpt would seem to contain the answer.
You will, in fact, find the following entry in UMI:
: UMI ORDER NO: AAD66-08473
: PEOPLE WHO WRITE IN:
: COMMUNICATION ASPECTS OF OPINION-LETTER WRITING
: Author: KLEMPNER, JOHN ANDREW
: Degree: PH.D.
: Year: 1966
: Corporate Source/Institution: MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
: (0128)
: Source: VOLUME 27/05-A OF DISSERTATION ABSTRACTS
: INTERNATIONAL. PAGE 1448. 299 PAGES
: Descriptors: PSYCHOLOGY, SOCIAL
: Descriptor Codes: 0451
Now, since John claims his Ph.D. from Michigan State and the mid-
1960's seems to be about the right time . . . well, you figure it
out.
,-~~-.___.
/ | ' \
( ) 0
\_/-, ,----'
==== //
/ \-'~; /~~~(O)
/ __/~| / |
=( _____| (_________|
----------------------------
Steve Levicoff, Ph.D.
7662...@compuserve.com
----------------------------
Jonathan Whatley
In article <523vmf$h7r$1...@mhadf.production.compuserve.com>, Steve Levicoff
<7662...@CompuServe.COM> wrote in part:
Indeed, he claims a 1966 Michigan State University Ph.D.
While I had no American newspaper databases handy to answer your
original riddle, I of course have DejaNews quite readily accessible.
So from <http://xp5.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?recnum=1447395&server=
dnserver.db95q3&CONTEXT=843426527.21802&hitnum=1> [one line]...
| Subject: Author seeks successful complaint stories
| From: john...@aol.com (JohnBBear)
| Date: 1995/07/24
| Message-Id: <3uvign$n...@newsbf02.news.aol.com>
| Sender: ro...@newsbf02.news.aol.com
| Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)
| Reply-To: john...@aol.com (JohnBBear)
| Newsgroups: misc.consumers
|
| My name is John Bear, and my 24 books (all with major publishers) include
| 4 best sellers. I have a contract with Ten Speed Press to turn my PhD
| dissertation (on how companies, politicians and the media deal with
| complaints) into a book: part one is stories and anecdotes; part two is
| how to be a more effective complainer. This newsgroup, and alt.consumer
| has stories galore, but not many success stories. If you've got one, I'd
| love to hear it, either here, or at john...@aol.com or John Bear, Box
| 7070, Berkeley, CA 94707, or fax (510) 528-4254. Thank you.
So this could be far less incriminating than you seem to think.
1. John stole his father's thesis. Uh, never mind.
2. John stole another J. Andrew Klempner's thesis. Mmm, likewise.
3. Michigan State allowed collaborative research towards doctoral
dissertations, and John and his father took their degrees together.
That would be cool. John just didn't list with UMI, for some
unspecified reason.
3. J. Andrew Jr. changed his name after having earned his degree.
Marriage or family reasons? Possibly...
4. However, this would not explain how his middle name became
"Bjorn." Name changes often go hand in hand with religious
conversion, and far be it for me to question redubbing Andy
Klempner, Jr. as Bjorn Bear. In any event, court records
should exist to explain this, unless...
5. John Bear is a nom de plume. While extending the false moniker
to his family, including an inlaw, is quite clever, one must
wonder how he could be appointed to represent the programs of
two esteemed state universities in the United Kingdom under a
false name.
Anyways, Steve, who are you to talk, since last I recall you were
Dennis Huber?
Jonathan Whatley <mailto:io...@interlog.com>
Jonathan Whatley
In article <523vmf$h7r$1...@mhadf.production.compuserve.com>, Steve
Levicoff <7662...@CompuServe.COM> wrote in part:
To my surprise, nobody even seems to care about the veiled Klempner
allegations (or my relatively lackadaisical half-rebuttal had some
effect, or Interlog's newsfeed is slow, or it's a chilly forced
silence), so I think I'll respond to a more substantive point or two.
> It should occur to our readers that there is a *major* difference
> between a degree mill which is precluded by the state from
> granting degrees in a geographic area (such as Chadwick
> University or the American Institute of Computer Science, both of
> which are allegedly located in Alabama yet are forbidden to grant
> degrees in Alabama), versus legitimately accredited schools that
> limit their programs to a geographic area near the school (such
> as U. Minn. or other schools which require residency within a
> specified radius from the campus). Even Charter Oak, one of the
> three major state colleges with external programs, once limited
> its degrees to Connecticut residents.
If this occured during the early days of Charter Oak, then naturally
they were not a "legitimately accredited school." (If they were,
one could complain that they were accredited too quickly.)
Since new schools and lack of accreditation will be an issue for as
long as any new schools arise, and since a few somewhat older schools
(Columbia Pacific, California Coast) have been spreading talk about
'reorganising' to the end of seeking accreditation, how do your
standards come into play here?
> As noted here before, Washington University, which operates out
> of a post office box in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, is an
> unaccredited degree mill.
What are you talking about? How closely did you look at their web
site at <http://www.wash.edu>? Besides the Picasso sketch and Geo.
Washington quote, they inform us that
| American Academic Community states that "Washington University
| degree programs are OUTSTANDING!"
They haven't sounded so united and resolute since that talk about
abolishing tenure. How dare you question American Academic Community?
> It appears that Steve has truly adopted the John Bear syndrome -
> to dance around a school and use legality as a criterion for
> institutional integrity.
Should it not be a criterion? (I know, that was Rudeboyesque.)
> Sam Lopez wrote:
>
> > A well respected author and speaker in the corporate world is
> > Dennis Waitely, with impecable character (a commodity today).
> > I just came across several of his recent written and audio
> > media and noticed that he now has a Ph.D. in Human Behavior.
> > Does anyone out there know the instituion that granted him
> > his doctorate?
>
> I have not heard of Dennis Waitely, although I can tell you that
> he is not listed on the UMI Dissertation Abstracts database
> (a fact that always raises a question about one's credentials).
I have here a little book mentioning "Denis Waitley" as a leading
motivational writer and speaker, variously associated with Earl
Nightingale and the Nightingale-Conant Corporation who released
in 1979 "'The Psychology of Winning,' by Dr. Denis Waitley, which
has been tremendously successful, earning Waitley a reported
$200,000 in annual royalties, as well as national prominence."
(1982)
Jonathan Whatley <mailto:io...@interlog.com>
David S. Kovaka
On Tue, 24 Sep 1996, Jonathan Whatley wrote:
>
> To my surprise, nobody even seems to care about the veiled Klempner
> allegations (or my relatively lackadaisical half-rebuttal had some
> effect, or Interlog's newsfeed is slow, or it's a chilly forced
> silence), so I think I'll respond to a more substantive point or two.
>
I, for one, don't care. The game of seeing what you can uncover about
someones past or other interests is disturbing.
I don't understand the point of the game, unless it is to unsettle someone
by showing how much you can find out about someone you have never met. It
seems creepy and unseemly to me, but I do wonder where all this
information comes from. I have seen Dr. Bear put similar reearch skills to
productive use in uncovering fraudulent posts on this group. In all
fairness, even Dr. Levicoff has occasionally used his research skills for
productive ends. But for the
most part it seems pointless. If you want to know something, ask. If he or
she doesn't want to say, its his or her business.
You can tell most of what you need to know about people by the quality and
character or what they write here.
Dave