Just when you thought that Levicoff had allowed his strange biases and bizarre lifestyle to overtake whatever commonsense he may still have, Lev posted an intelligent response to a question posted by a newbie at DD.

DD thread with comments by Steve Levicoff

I do agree with some of Lev's comments, namely:
1) choose an online program of a B&M school over an online only school,
2) the East Three (TESC, COSC, Excelsior) have stood the test of time and built decent reputations equivalent of many 3rd and 4th tier B&Ms,; AND
3) if you are going to obtain a graduate degree then the reputation of your undergrad school is not as critical since prospective employers will be looking primarily at your graduate program.

Elmer is still alive and kickin'.

DesElms Speech on 11/15/08

Take note of the nice photo of Elmer on p. 5. Doesn't he compare favorably with Big Chief Swift Eagle Justice (infamous from his IUFS affiliation), someone the old Gregg DesElms ridiculed back in his heyday as DI moderator?

   

BTW, I'd love to see DesElms wearing the fancy headgear.

Prof Len Wrote:I am quite ashamed to say that I was also caught up in the St Regis debacle; but I woke up and smelled the coffee, and decided to enroll at a proper brick and mortar university. Completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Law (speciality Labour Law) last year, and commencing MPhil in Labour Law in January 2009. Hoping to ocntinue in this field up to PhD level.

Unfortunately there is no substitute for hard work and nose to the books....... and I sincerely hope that those out there still thinking their bogus degrees are worth something, realize that the fact that they have a bogus degree actually says something about their own self being....... I had to come to that point of realization myself first. Thank God I did, and I now hold my head high.

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas, have a lovely festive season, and I sincerely hope all your endeavours come true in 2009.
__________________
Rgds,

Len

Some of you may recall a previous post of mine where I took a jab at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. Well, here I go again.

From the Knoxville News Sentinel: "UT staff take pay cut"

From the article: "Petersen has 24 administrators reporting directly to him, including 15 vice presidents, three chancellors and two athletic directors. All have six-figure salaries, generally ranging from $160,000 to $313,065; 19 have university-provided Chevrolet Impalas; and most have expense allowances ranging from $2,000 to $25,000. Petersen’s salary has been $432,000."

This, of course, if you believe Petersen is all because of the state's impending $100 million budget shortfall.

Don't get me wrong. I'm okay with a university paying top dollar to attract top-quality talent. I would think (perhaps naively) a six figure salary would be enough for most people. Why, then, would a state supported university provide such absurd perks? Am I missing something? Read some of the comments about the article. Most people are pretty pissed and a few others state they aren't overwhelmingly impressed with UTK to begin with.

Let's put this in perspective: On May 17th, 2008 the News Sentinel reported "Budget cut means no UT raises" because of a 5.7% cut in state funding. Jan Simek, the interim chancellor, said at the time that there would be no hiring freezes. Whoops! Fast forward to a December 10th, 2008 News Sentinel article "Petersen announces hiring freeze at UT, defends Fulmer's appointment". President Petersen announces a hiring freeze right after hiring recently fired football coach Phil Fulmer (as one of Petersen's "special assistants" for a 3 month appointment at a pay rate of $12,500. (Fulmer rightfully sensed an ensuing shit storm and opted not to take the position)

Oh, how could I forget? The College of Veterinary Medicine is on the verge of losing programmatic accreditation and on November 26th Gov. Bresden rejected Petersen's plea for financial assistance for the program. THAT was November 26th. Just yesterday it was reported, again in the News Sentinel, that UTK administrative offices (which includes Petersen's) recently underwent a $500,000 renovation. The article would have you believe the funds were set aside way back in 2006 for this project and, even if that's true, it makes little difference IMO in light of this budget crisis.

The budget was cut. Then more cuts came because of the overall state budget shortfall. All the while staff members cruised around in 19 university furnished Chevrolet Impalas with some fat expense accounts. The veterinary program is about to tank. Staff members take pay cuts. Other staff members are laid-off. Class sizes swell as a result & what professors/lecturers remain have an increased workload = less research opportunities. BUT, hell, let's go ahead a hire someone for $12,000 a month and upgrade our offices for half a million.

Frankly, all of this makes my head spin. I'm going to take a "brain break" and see if anyone has something to say/add about this fiasco.

Is the DETC really second-rate?

It certainly appears that Uncle Janko and Steve "Name It and Frame It" Levicoff think so.

anti-DETC thread at DD

Apparently DD newbie, BiomedGuy, thought that Degreediscussion.com was all about the free and open exchange of ideas in the distance education arena ...

BiomedGuy didn't read the fine print:  
1. Your posts must pay homage to "RA or No Way!"
2. DETC is a barely tolerable alternative.
3. A stigma is rightfully attached to all DETC-accredited school diplomas.
4. DETC-accredited school graduates should be viewed with great suspicion - they may be a shill.
5. People should avoid talking about DETC schools in polite company so as to not give them further legitimacy.

Academia's Top Abuses of 2008

Quote:Academia's Top Abuses of 2008
by  Jason Mattera

12/16/2008

Cadets at West Point, the nation’s foremost military academy, must maintain disciplined, selfless behavior -- a precursor to the standards graduates are expected to uphold and reinforce once commissioned as military officers. So how does leftist instructor Judy Rosenstein of the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership encourage cadets to appreciate the military’s code of conduct? By hosting a transgendered speaker in class, of course.

“Allyson” Robinson, a West Point grad him-, er, herself, switched genders after leaving the Army. Upon returning to West Point as a guest speaker, “Mrs.” Robinson found it “worrisome” that the student composition seemed more socially conservative than when “she” was a student. Nonetheless, “Mrs.” Robinson was pleased, in “her” words, to “expos[e] cadets to the diverse face of America as it is, rather than allowing them to exist in a cocoon” as they “wish it was.”

Anyone recall the purpose of Corporal Klinger’s escapades during the TV series “M*A*S*H?” Perhaps West Point’s leadership should invite speakers who emphasize, not undermine, what the military expects? “Mrs.” Robinson’s visit back to West Point does, however, explain why academia is in a mess these days: political correctness running amok. Too many school officials worship leftist orthodoxy first and act as responsible teachers second, if at all.

In that vein, Young America’s Foundation has once again compiled the “best of the worst” academic abuses for 2008. And we’d like to share it with HUMAN EVENTS readers.

When English Class Turns Gay

Heads turned when Deerfield High School in Deerfield, Ill., required this book as part of an Advanced Placement English literature course: Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes. The book is laced with graphic sexual content, much of it too inflammatory to print here -- although there are “milder” exchanges fit to report, such as one character pleading with his sexual partner to “infect” and “make [him] bleed.” Supporters of Angels in America say the book is useful because it depicts “forgiveness, kindness, and compassion,” as if HIV-positive sodomy is the best way to promote empathy to minors.

Conservatives Need Not Apply

Administrators at the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul, Minn. -- the nation’s largest Catholic women’s college -- unexpectedly blocked young conservatives on campus from hosting Bay Buchanan, a popular conservative commentator and U.S. Treasurer under President Reagan. College officials deemed Ms. Buchanan’s remarks on “Feminism and the 2008 Election” too politically charged, citing concerns about the school’s tax status. Those same “concerns,” mind you, didn’t prohibit the school from sponsoring programs that push for universal healthcare and minimum wage increases or from hosting anti-war radical Frank Kroncke, who’s still reliving the Vietnam days. But Bay Buchanan? Well, she’s partisan, according to St. Catherine’s administration.

You Can’t Pray Here

The First Amendment: is it a bestowed right given from above and protected by our government or a meaningless, antiquated concept to be disposed of? If you’re the folks at the College of Alameda in California, you’d pick the latter.

How else do you explain their threatening to expel a student who prayed on campus? It all started when a student, Kandy Kyriacou, visited her professor to give her a Christmas gift. But when Kandy saw that her teacher was ill, she offered to pray for her. The professor agreed. That’s when Derek Piazza, another professor, walked in and flipped out that a prayer -- gasp, a prayer -- was occurring on college premises. “You can’t be doing that in here,” Piazza purportedly barked. Kandy received a retroactive “intent to suspend” letter from the administration, claiming that she was guilty of “disruptive or insulting behavior” and “persistent abuse of” college employees. Further infractions would result in expulsion, the letter read.

Ho, Ho, Fuggetaboudit

Who’s offended by Christmas decorations? All the white liberals who celebrate Kwanza? Must be. Florida Gulf Coast University’s president, Wilson Bradshaw, sent holiday festivities packing because he didn’t know “how best to observe the season in ways that honor and respect all traditions.” Holiday décor wasn’t the only thing to go under Bradshaw. The school’s greeting card contest got tossed as well. Cheer up, says the president -- Christmas merriment was replaced with an “ugly sweater competition.” Mr. Bradshaw ultimately had a change of heart, after his embarrassing attempt at censorship became public.

The other five examples on Young America’s Foundation’s report, “PC Campus: Academia’s Top 10 Abuses of 2008,” are accessible through www.yaf.org, if you can handle more illustrations of school officials abusing their power to advance a leftist agenda.

The University of Central Oklahoma has a 7 course MBA

American InterContinental University's MBA is only 8 courses

Personally, I like programs such as these and accreditors obviously don't have a problem with them either including the ACBSP (as in UCO's case).

My good buddy received his MBA from RA King College and specialized in finance. It's his position that if anyone simply wants a general MBA there's no reason it couldn't be 7 or 8 courses (King's would technically be 9 courses if you minus the 3 specialization courses). However, AIU's remains only 8 courses & that's including a specialization which is 2 courses which I find somewhat interesting since KING & AIU are both SACS accredited.

I'm curious to see if anyone is in favor of (or against) such programs.

California Central University admission policy:

"Admission is limited to persons who show evidence of being born again are yielded to the will of God and are endowed with the necessary spiritual gifts. Admission to all degree programs is open to men and women. Applicants will be considered without regard to sex, national origin or handicap. However, the School reserves the right to refuse admission to any individual who has not received Christ as his or her personal Savior."

I'm not at all against faith-based colleges of any kind, but this seems to go a bit far. Admittedly, a college reserves the right to grant or withhold admission to any student, however, I wouldn't think this would fall into "legal" parameters in regard to an admission decision, but guess what? It does.

The Catholic University of America says this:

"An admissions preference on the basis of religion at a private university is not considered a violation of any federal law.  Title 42 U.S.C. § 2000a contains a provision prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion or national origin in places of public accommodation.  Title 42 U.S.C. § 2000c-6 allows the Attorney General to bring a civil action when an individual alleges he has been denied admission at a public university on the basis or race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.  General principles of legal interpretation would dictate that the specific inclusion of a public university, and failure to mention private universities, must be given meaning.  The clear meaning here is that a religious preference in admissions at private universities is not prohibited by the Civil Rights Act of 1964." I placed emphasis on the policy with bold words. These bold words DO NOT occur in CUA's version.

As a follow-up CUA's own admission standards in regard to faith, under "Relationship of Mutual Respect" are as follows:  "A person's religious preference or lack thereof is not in any way considered a factor in the admission process of The Catholic University of America.  Everyone at Catholic University is expected to respect women and men of other faiths and those who have no religious preference."

Frankly, I like that policy. I did a quick scan at Liberty & Trinity (Newburgh) and both state that will not deny admission based on religious preference.

***In the interest of full disclosure I am not currently affiliated with any organized religion.***

It sure looks like Aussie educator Peter French is stalking John Kersey (a/k/a Dr. Marianus) to me. How else do you explain keeping lists of websites with which Kersey allegedly has some affiliation? Is this part of French's academic research interests? Is this part of some joint "research" he is conducting with Dr. George Brown?

DD stalking thread

Naturally, Gollin responded with his usual incomprehensible drivel. Don't be suprised to see Uncle J, Bill Huffman and John Bear add their collective two cents.

Hey, they're both from Illinois. Is there anything else?