UNC Retaliates Against Whistleblowers. Again.

By Professor Doom

     A recent book on the UNC scandal involving 18 years of fake classes, affecting thousands of students. The “customer” reviews on the book are rather split between 1 star votes and 5 star votes. I put “customer” in quotes because many of the 1 star votes aren’t verified purchasers…just folks that hate the book without, probably, reading it.

     Many of the negative voters cite “UNC’s academic fraud is no different than the academic fraud at many other institutions.” This is true, many campuses offer special fake courses and programs to their athletes, who otherwise would have no chance in a college environment. But I don’t think this is enough of a justification to hate a book…why should a book that tells the truth be necessarily bad? It’s clear more people need to know about at least some of the obvious conspiracies going on in higher education today; considering UNC administration spent many years and untold millions trying to squelch the truth about the academic fraud at UNC, I think a book covering it all is justified, even if “everyone else” is also engaging in the same type of fraud.

     Somehow, magically, nobody seems to ask why or how, private e-mails between the co-authors were released to the public. It looks like the co-authors had an affair, to judge by the e-mails. 

     Many critics cite these private e-mails from the authors, saying the e-mails indicated the authors are being less than sincere in their writings. I don’t quite follow the logic, as what two people do on a bed in no way is related to a near 20 year pattern of fraud by UNC.

     What I find more interesting here is how the media (and the critics of the book) don’t ask the obvious question: “How did those private e-mails get released?” Having seen admin retaliate against another whistleblower by releasing private e-mails, I know that this sort of behavior is in the administrative bag of dirty tricks. It’s just…weird that nobody considers how these private e-mails get released. It’s not like UNC admin has a clean record when it comes to harassing whistleblowers, I wouldn’t put it past them to release fake e-mails, and I would expect them to “ask” their many underlings to post negative reviews on the book. Why isn’t the source questioned here?

“…….”

--no, I’m not going to quote private love letters here, they’re irrelevant to what happened at UNC.

     In this case, the e-mails are pretty salacious, but have nothing to do with the UNC scandal. Instead, they reveal a possible affair between the authors of the book. Granted, this puts an extra meaning on the cheating going on at UNC but…no, this doesn’t mean the book is bad, and no, this doesn’t exonerate UNC.

     And, again, I point out, UNC administration had access to those private e-mails and almost certainly is responsible for their “random” release to the media, which lapped it up, unquestioningly. 

     The hypocrisy of the critics here is pretty audacious: “everyone does it” so the UNC’s fraud should be overlooked, meanwhile a sexual relationship between two people working very closely together on a big project (honest, this isn’t rare) should be a major focus…and admin’s vicious retaliation in revealing the affair is just par for the course for the rulers of our higher educational system.

     The administrative hypocrisy is well worth exposure, however. Always when I tried to report the frauds and inappropriate behavior at the community college, on paper admin was all “we’re very interested to hear about it” while the reality is no interest whatsoever, along with retaliation for me trying to stop the inappropriate behavior.

      I want to demonstrate this sort of hypocrisy by looking at some documented activity at UNC; yes, these are e-mails, but at least these e-mails are submitted by one of the persons involved, a whistleblower who tried very hard to resolve the fraud at UNC:

     Here’s the whistleblower’s e-mail to the Poo Bah:

President Ross,

Last week an article written by Dan Kane mentioned that UNC Administration hired a PR firm to refute my claims. …Kane’s article mentions that you might be interested in hearing the truth. If you would like to listen to my interview with general counsel…or Jim Martin…I have retained copies. I would also welcome the opportunity to speak with you in person. 

     UNC did everything it could to silence the whistleblower, to the point of spending huge sums of money to discredit her. The Poo Bah, of course, despite any public assertion of interest in learning the truth, had no such interest, and completely blew her off:

Dear Ms. Willingham,

Thank you for your e-mail and offer of assistance. I have access to your interviews and will call upon you in the event I need additional information.

      It really seems like the whistleblower was willing to work with UNC admin to fix the problem…but admin saw no problem with fraud.

When she sued, Willingham said she hoped to accomplish what no other investigation has done -- to subpoena documents and to depose university officials under oath. Her lawsuit never got that far.

     Despite the extensive character assassination by UNC, they did eventually decide to settle the lawsuit with her out of court, for $335,000 (like I said, UNC’s record when it comes to harassing whistleblowers isn’t clean…) in exchange for not having any more truth revealed. Gee, if UNC was so confident the whistleblower was lying, why settle for so much? That’s not even half as much as they spent on the PR firm they hired to assassinate her…

     I know, I’ve covered the immense fraud and cover-up of the UNC scandal, but just in case the gentle reader has missed the previous, allow me to present another quote from an article about the book:

Using the players' online IDs and passwords, administrators and tutors masqueraded as the players in submitting bogus coursework. This was all allegedly managed by the director of basketball operations who reported directly to the school's revered head basketball coach, Jim Boeheim.

     Now, one of the many questionable lines admin has fed the gullible public about the UNC scandal is that it was restricted, mostly, to the sportsball players. But I really feel the need to point out the implication of the above quoted paragraph:

      There’s nothing to stop administration from just logging in as a student and submitting bogus coursework, allowing a student to pass.

       As I've said before, there's no reason to trust online work at all. That’s just the online courses at UNC, but I’ve cited a few institutions where admin cuts out the middleman and just changes the course grade directly. Now I wish to point out another important implication from the UNC scandal, where this sort of fraud was practiced:

      Even with very credible allegations of this level of fraud, it takes 18 years of repeated investigations before, finally, the allegations are revealed to be true…and not one single person responsible for the fraud will pay even the slightest penalty.

     Now, maybe the gentle reader can ignore my allegations that academic fraud regarding athletes is fairly common in higher education, but even if my own eyes are wrong in this matter, I promise that the Poo Bah of every sportsball university in the country is looking at what happened at UNC and considering the implications I’ve raised.

    Every Poo Bah is now thinking “Gee, there’s no drawback, and I’ll get more money if I do the same thing UNC has been doing for nearly 20 years.” Even if the huge fraud at UNC is rare, it’s a safe bet that will be quite common in the future.

www.professorconfess.blogspot.com

New Book on UNC Scandal Slams Admin. Of Course.

By Professor Doom

     I know, I’ve written about the academic atrocity at UNC a few times, but obviously all I know for certain is what’s been published. I’ve made some conjectures, of course, based on what I know of how higher education is run these days. So, it’s good when a book comes out and says what I was already saying years ago.

     The book is Cheated: The UNC Scandal, the Education of Athletes, and the Future of Big-Time College Sports, and before getting to the book, I want to talk about the reviews on Amazon, which are spit between 5 star and 1 star (mostly 5) reviews.

     It’s always interesting when reviews are split like this, it means something is up. In this case, there are lots of people that buy into the “win at any cost” mentality of college sportsball. Some of the critical reviews really drive the point home of the mindset:

1.0 out of 5 stars Happens to some degree at most all schools

Byjody loweon August 19, 2015

Format: Hardcover

i am quite sure this must go on at all schools to some degree--do you think Duke basketball players can compete academically at Duke? Sure a few can but most would have to have significant help

 

     I’m a little hard pressed to consider this a fair review (from someone who didn’t buy the book, no less, though I admit the person might have read it). Just because it happens to some degree at most all schools, how does that make this book, documenting the cheating going on at UNC, bad? Boring, maybe, but you’d kinda think the reviewer here would know what he was getting. So, obviously a partisan, or a plant.

     Another non-buyer of the book who we have to just assume read it:

 

1.0 out of 5 starsCalling this disingenuous would be giving it too much credit.

ByLanceCon May 28, 2015

Format: Hardcover

To say this book is disingenuous in the story that it tells would be to give it too much credit. UNC clearly has some issues in regards to it's academic program but the authors of this book are doing little more than making a fraudulent attempt at cashing in on it. If you hate UNC and are a fan of fiction this might be the book for you but if not I'd take a pass.

     Again with the theme of “yeah, there are problems, but so what?” Is the book a cash-in? Quite possibly, but the UNC scandal is so heavily documented now that it’s pretty tough to call it “fiction”…and you can’t exactly call the book fiction in one line while admitting to the problems the book discusses in another. Again, I suspect something here.

     One more:

1.0 out of 5 starslazy and dishonest

ByJarHeelon March 25, 2015

Format: Hardcover

Lazy. Dishonest. While there is a problem with the education of the student athlete, this book is entirely about the authors' personal desires and ambitions. It does a disservice to the cause that they claim to champion.

     Seriously, were all the negative reviews written by one guy?  A few of the other negative reviews reference private e-mails that were released, “somehow.” Gee, I’ve certainly seen Admin do such things before to retaliate against a professor speaking out.  So, the e-mails are supposed to destroy the credibility of the authors here…I’ll look at those e-mails, but, again, the UNC scandal is pretty well documented at this point. 

     The gentle reader needs to understand that the super heroic lengths admin has gone to cover up the scandal means that a reasonable person should expect that what we know now, is the bare minimum of how bad the corruption is…it’s almost certainly worse.

     The 5 star reviews, of course, have a more credible theme to them, and most of the reviews are 5 stars. Let’s see what others have to say:

The book is very hard on UNC’s administration, which ignored evidence that many athletes in the big money sports…

     Gee, who else has been hard on admin? Oh yeah, me. Look, administrators are not educators, they’re mercenaries. There’s nothing to stop them selling out higher education for personal profit, and ultimately, selling out is their job. Time and again I’ve seen admin come in, find out what the school had to be proud of, and cash in on the prestige to enhance their own status…before moving up to another position. Time and again I’ve been stunned at admin doing vicious, inhuman things to our kids in college (especially community college)…and then been stunned again when I learn that there’s absolutely no impediment to such monstrous behavior.

“Cheated recounts two instances when staffers told superiors that football or men’s basketball stars handed in plagiarized work. The university took swift, decisive action, the authors write: It punished those who made the reports.”

     Hmm, so the book says that when faculty reported students as cheating, the faculty were punished for catching cheaters. Hmm, who else has been saying that on campuses throughout the country faculty are punished for catching cheaters? Oh yeah, me.

      I know the things I say in this blog are outlandish to the point of incredulity. I totally respect if readers of my blog think I’m making stuff up. Thus, I take pleasure when others report and document, in writing, exactly the same things I say here.

UNC happened to get caught, then made things worse by trying to sweep the scandal under the rug with superficial “investigations” that said, “Move along, folks, nothing to see here.”

    Now, the kind of scandals going on at UNC don’t happen everywhere…but many schools have frauds, even “wide open frauds” known by hundreds, if not more, personnel at the institution. The problem is, faculty are intimidated, and the few faculty left with integrity that try to do something, merely get punished and hit with retaliation that can be both petty and bizarre.

   

      So, while this book covers the huge scandal at UNC, I’m not beneath giving an “I told you so” when the next wide open scandal erupts…I promise you, there’ll be another one just as big, just as long-running, and just as widely known despite endless administrative attempts to squelch any investigation into the truth of the matter.

      I’m pleased to see that some folks understand the academic fraud going on at UNC (and elsewhere) is far bigger than just the fake courses for athletes that—let’s face it—we all know are a part of “almost” every institution with sportsball:

Talk about exploitation of the athletes (some of them at least) is a distraction from the big picture: that many colleges and universities have decided to enroll academically weak, disengaged students and keep them in school (and thus bringing in revenue) with easy-to-pass courses and inflated grades.

     This really is the ultimate reveal of the UNC scandal: if a university, even a big name university with a great reputation, decides to sell out and offer completely fake courses and bogus degrees, there is nothing, nothing, to stop it from doing so. Even if whistleblowers come forward, nothing will be done, and the scandal can run for years before finally seeing the light of day.

      Next time we’ll quickly consider those private e-mails that mysteriously appeared, and, again, I’ll point out the easiest way that could have happened is if administration wanted to retaliate against the authors.

www.professorconfess.blogspot.com

    

                       

 

 

What’s Wrong With Hiring Prostitutes For College Recruits?

By Professor Doom

Me, recently: “Excuse me, I’m a bit lost. Can you tell me where the library is?”

Student: “Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…”

Me (realizing my foolishness): “Never mind that. Can you tell me where the stadium is?”

Student: “Sure, it’s that way.”

Me (now oriented): “Thanks.”

--I was lost on campus, and made a gaffe when asking for directions. I’m hard pressed to decide which is more depressing about higher education. Is it A) That every student knows where the stadium is, but not the library? Or B) That campuses are so overbuilt that you can’t even see a nearby stadium large enough to hold over a hundred thousand (I’m serious) people?

     It really is nuts, just nuts, how enthusiastic people are about college sportsball. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had a few games on my TV, even attended one around 30 years ago…but I just don’t understand why all rules, all concepts of integrity, go out the window in the name of sportsball. The gentle reader really should understand that Penn State might be extreme in the  lengths it’ll go for sportsball, but it’s only a little extreme.

      A recent book reveals yet another sex scandal in sportsball:

The University of Louisville is facing allegations in an upcoming book that Andre McGee, a former member of the basketball staff, paid escorts to have sex with recruits and players on the roster

     Now, please understand, our sportsball candidates and players are already showered with inducements to come to campus…as long as they can play, they get whatever they want. Of course, if they’re injured to the point of not being able to play, they’re kicked off the team as well as thrown out of school (sportsball players rightfully complain about this treatment), but that’s for another day.

      I’ve written before of the wide open conspiracies on our campuses, and, like so many other unpleasant acts on campus, you can’t find out about today’s scandal from anyone on campus. Instead, it comes from someone outside the system:

“…the book is titled Breaking Cardinal Rules: Basketball and the Escort Queen and is written by "self-described madam" Katina Powell, who resides in Louisville, and Indianapolis-based journalist Dick Cady.”

     So, a journalist got a madam to “fess up” to who her clients were. Gosh I wish I could get a journalist to talk to me about some of the frauds I know about…admittedly, what I have to say isn’t as “sexy” as this.

      Now, granted, just because it’s in a book, or on the internet, or even (especially?) distributed by a mainstream news site, doesn’t mean it’s true, but it’s clear someone thinks the allegations might have some substance:

 Office of the Commonwealth's Attorney in Jefferson County, Kentucky, has started the process of issuing the subpoenas, citing a "source familiar with the proceedings."

      What really strikes me as so interesting about these scandals is how it takes years before it finally makes it to the news. Even though dozens, if not hundreds, of people knew about completely obvious whoremongering…it still takes years.

     Part of the reason is because is only a few people have integrity, especially in higher education…the lone whistleblower can’t get any back up, ever. The media is, as always, clueless about this:

How can it be going on for four years, that many people be involved and that many people see what's going on and Rick Pitino doesn't know anything about it? You have players that are very, very loyal to Pitino. And if they thought anything was wrong or anyone was going to get in trouble, I'm pretty sure they would have gone back to report to Pitino. When I would ask Andre, "Does Pitino know about this?" he would laugh and say, "Rick knows about everything."

      Rick Pitino is the sportsball coach for the school. He knows, of course he knows. As I’ve written before, wide open conspiracies are common on campus, so I’m not surprised many people would have to know what’s going on and yet nothing was done.

     The madam Powell, of course, explains that these assertions of ignorance are complete crap:

She also insists McGee told her Louisville head coach Rick Pitino was aware of the situation. While she never saw evidence that Pitino knew what was happening, she finds it hard to believe he wouldn't have, according to Barr and Goodman: "Four years, a boatload of recruits, a boatload of dancers, loud music, alcohol, security, cameras, basketball players who came in [to the dorm] at will ... " Powell said.

     Much like with other people that had to have known what was going on, I’m sure when it’s time for an interview, the witnesses will all be “no longer with the company” or “on sabbatical” or the like. Not like we haven’t seen that before.

     Again, it’s all just “allegations” at this point, but a number of players, former players of course and thus out of reach of the system, have come forward to say that, yeah, they went to parties with prostitutes provided, and they were even given money to procure the prostitutes.

In terms of finding out what is or isn't true, Pitino said, according to Hamilton, "I can't find anybody at all that knew anything about this."

--cover up.

McGee has resigned as an assistant at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, per Jeff Goodman of ESPN.
He was previously placed on administrative leave.

--retaliate. Get rid of everyone that knew about it, and gee whiz, you can’t find anyone that knows anything about it.

      All of this behavior is par for the course in higher education…cover up and retaliate; I’ve seen it, even been on the business end of it, enough times to know how it goes. 

     Still, I don’t really see the problem, at least when you put things in perspective.

     These athletes are provided all sorts of other perks—they get free tutoring, on a level no “normal” student could dream of (while UNC’s tutors were writing papers for the athletes, other places give “only slightly less aggressive” tutoring)…and this is fine. These athletes are upheld as godlike heroes, and the university does nothing to challenge that status…I can’t help but suspect many a student athlete has used his position to get sex with relative ease, so it’s not like the recruiters were offering all that much, really. Spending $10,000 on prostitutes (the kind of money we’re talking here) is chump change compared to the free tuition the student athlete gets…as long as he can play. Seriously, athletes get so many benefits (as long as they can play!) for their entertainment that I’m hard pressed to really care about the addition of prostitutes.

    We have huge, major crimes going on every day in higher education; not just “against the law” crimes, but serious issues of integrity that, even if the written law says nothing, still qualify as crimes against humanity. Compared to this I just don’t see hiring prostitutes to attract sportsball players as a big deal. Nevertheless, this is what higher education is fixated on, to the point that huge academic scandals merit absolutely nothing at all. Maybe I could hire some prostitutes to help me a write a book on much of the fraud of higher education today.

www.professorconfess.blogspot.com