http://www.tnars.net

Interested in your thoughts.

You just couldn't make this stuff up!!! Such personalities, such egos ...

DD thread

I guess that Peter sees exactly where he stands in the eyes of the Original RA or No Way Gang. I can't imagine that they hold George Brown in much higher regard.

Cheers,

He posts as James Grey at degreeboard, but according to other posters there, he is the same guy who posts as Peter French at DD.

A number of things intrigue me about this guy. It seems he has degrees from a number of unaccredited institutions and claims to be an accountant, educator and engineer!!! However, most of his posts are like they've been written by a nearly illiterate person. Other posts he writes though seem to be alright, like they've been written by a different person. Also, in some of his posts he uses a kind of foul language that would not be used publicly by an educator, and which you seldom come across at education discussion forums.

Now, what is really intriguing about this guy is that he has claimed a number of times that he keeps "dossiers" - files containing detailed records - on particular people. I didn't pay any attention at first as I thought he's just another weirdo playing secret agent in his imagination. This until I came across a posting by James Grey/Peter French at DD posted as a reply to a post by Gollin referring to a person with past SRU connections. The post reads as follows: "Thanks for the reference. I'll add that to the dossier I have prepared on John." and you can find it here, http://www.degreediscussion.com/forums/v...f=5&t=5853

No other details or information is provided, it is like only the two of them - Gollin and Grey/French - understand the full meaning of that post. Like a "secret handshake" communication.

A number of disturbing questions are raised here. Does Grey/French actually prepare and keep files, or "dossiers", on people for or on behalf of Gollin? Or, Grey/French is just a paranoid weirdo and Gollin has no idea what he is talking about? I just hope the latter is true in which case Gollin should post a disclaimer stating that he has no knowledge of or involvement of any kind in the "dossiers" Grey/French refers to.

I'm not a legal expert, but I think keeping files with personal details (this is signified by the word "dossier") of people is illegal. Legally, it may also be regarded as a threat or attempt to intimidate when someone states publicly the name of the persons he keeps such files on.

I've been wondering why Gollin has set his sights on Breyer State as a first priority after the demise of SRU? There are dozens of large and very successful diploma mills around that offer no courses, have no faculty and make no secret of the fact that they sell degrees.

At least BSU does offer programs of study, it has a faculty and there's nowhere any suggestion that they will mail you a degree as soon as your payment is cleared. Actually Gollin himself in his responses to a poster at DD sort of admitted that BSU offers courses of study, although he questioned the adequacy of these courses. Gollin actually stated that the number of courses for a bachelor's degree at BSU was not the same as in proper universities, to which the said poster replied that BSU bachelor programs include only courses related to the major and not general education courses like in regular American universities. The poster also added that he found the BSU program of the same level and rigor as the program of an accredited university he had also graduated from.

So, why BSU in particular and not one of the outright mills is now being attacked on all fronts? There is only one explanation, BSU was once upon a time affiliated with SRU. It is obvious that the purpose of this affiliation on the part of BSU was respectability, as at that early time most people were convinced that SRU had accreditation from a legitimate foreign MoE. Also, the president of BSU was at one time a member of the SRU faculty, and some SRU graduates served for a while on BSU's faculty.

It is more than certain that Gollin has a network of connections through which he can achieve many things in the world of education. I'm certain he is behind BSU's loss of license in Alabama. I'm also certain that the naming of BSU as a diploma mill that swindles people in that report by the Alabama authorities is also Gollin's work. That naming is clearly disproportionate to the reasons given for denying license renewal to BSU. These reasons were purely technical, they could have asked BSU to comply if they believed they were in breach of a number of regulations. Obviously they didn't.

Now Gollin has proceeded to stage two of his BSU project which is a continuation of his SRU project. He is outing BSU graduates through his connections with journalists and local education authorities. Gollin is obsessed with everything that has or had any connection, no matter how remote, with SRU. He pays only lip service to the genuine eradication of diploma mills, his targets are a select few and the main one among them is SRU and whatever or whoever were or he assumed them to be connected with it.

I expect that at the end Gollin will succeed in bringing about the demise of BSU, he has the connections and the power to do it. The question is, what will be there for Gollin after that? There will be a vacuum which Gollin will try for a while to fill by digging up and posting information about people once connected with SRU, BSU, etc., by outing graduates, and by regurgitating old stories about these outfits. But, that can't last forever, he'll have to find something else on which to unload some of the gall and the bitterness of spirit he has accumulated inside him.

Unless, of course, he connects his personal dots and realizes at last that he is not as impotent, powerless and vulnerable as he thinks he is, that he is able to confront his real problems face to face. Then and only then, he may become a genuine and productive activist in the eradication of diploma mills from the face of higher education.

Someone at degreeinfo bumped up this classic thread. It is really pitiful that Douglas repeatedly denies the research in his dissertation because he disagrees with the results. As usual the people who can't read use their usual degreeinfo ignorant rudeness to attack the messengers who can read. Every degreeinfo regular lines up the kiss Douglas's ass.

http://forums.degreeinfo.com/showthread.php?t=14319

That's what Gollin said. I don't believe that he means it, though.

DD thread

This exchange involved Vinny123, someone who has never really gotten the recognition he deserves despite his approximately 350 posts since DD's inception. I think if you look back at the body of Vinny123's work you will quickly realize that this guy is a complete asshole.

His posts often contain some specious, simplistic position that panders to those unfamiliar with the topic. However, it isn't just the substance of his posts that make him come off as an asswipe. It's something far more annoying.

Vinny123's continued inability to use the board's basic editing features despite having posted at DD since March 2006 defy logic. I find it hard to believe that this jerkoff is a doctoral student anywhere, including whatever fourth-tier DL program to which he is currently paying tuition. How has he still not figured out how to correctly quote someone or boldface an item?

Since he can't figure out how to use the quote function, his solution has been to recreate a dialogue between him and whoever he has been exchanging posts with. This is seems very pretentious and more than a bit condescending. The only other DL personality that uses the same style, albeit far less frequently, is John Bear himself.

Uncle J made some very cogent observations on this situation. His posts are far more effective (and actually make sense) when he's not trying to impress everyone with his wit. Jimmy and Jack, on the other hand, come across as naive on this complex issue with deep historical roots. Uncle J, like Levicoff, can occasionally suprise you with a suprisingly insightful post.* Wow!

DD thread on Russia-Georgia crisis

*They usually revert to form a post or two later.

Any experiences with/opinions on the utility of doctorates at the three following unaccredited universities:

1. Rushmore University
2. Breyer State University
3. Atlantic International University

www.rushmore.edu
www.breyerstate.com
www.aiu.edu

Wonder why "Carl Reginstein" hasn't been around lately? That's the pseudonym of Mike Bestul, Vice President and Chief Information Officer for Fairmont State in West Virginia.

Here's a possible answer. He's one of the illustrious SRU grads now receiving his deserved dose of public humiliation:

Quote:826
4779
623538A - 623540A
Bestul, Michael John
US
WI
paper
5870 Woods Edge Rd., Madison, WI 53711
608-288-0851
m_bestul@hotmail.com
email
1
1
$752
MBA
Information Technology Management
2001
$752
WorldPay

Quote:A man described as the chief financial operator of a Spokane-based diploma mill has been sentenced to three years in federal prison.

Steven Karl Randock Sr. got the same sentence Tuesday that his wife, Dixie Ellen Randock, was given last month. Both pleaded guilty earlier to conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud, and charges of money laundering were dropped in exchange.

...His wife has appealed her sentence.

Defense lawyer Peter S. Schweda asked in vain that Randock be sentenced to home detention because of health problems. Assistant U.S. Attorney George J.C. Jacobs countered that Randock, 69, would get adequate medical care in prison.