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) JUSTINE NICHOLAS - EXEMPLAR OF HUMAN DECENCY 75. (4/6/06) JUSTINE NICHOLAS ON BIGOTRY AT LAGUARDIA (Continued from UPDATE CONTD 4) So if the person who made the complaint is white, the result is racism. If the complainant is black, they see the ones to whom they’ve complained as “Uncle Toms.” And the white “liberals” in charge get off scot-free. And they can tell you that some of their best friends are… Meantime, other departments purge themselves of blacks, Jews and Italian Americans. They’re replaced by immigrants who won’t speak up for themselves. So, along with racism, environments like this school foment anti-immigrant sentiments. Of course, the ones who realize what’s going on come to despise white liberal academics. This, of course, is something that unites anyone who has to struggle for what he or she gets, whether he or she is white or black.. Welcome to LaGuardia, “The World’s Community College.” *************** 76. (5/13/06) COMMON SENSE IN HIGHER EDUCATION A common-sensical article on contemporary higher ed that refers to LaGuardiaCorruption.com may be found at www.theconservativevoice.com/article/14242.html *************** 77. (5/17/06) A NOTE FROM JUSTINE NICHOLAS All right. Maybe, as some have suggested, I was unfair to folks like President Mellow and other white liberal academics like the ones who have a stranglehold on LaGuardia C.C. [See item #75]. I realize they, in all of their duplicity, have done something good after all: They have done more than even George W ever could to dispel the myth of white supremacy. *************** 78. (10/7/06) RAMPANT GRADE INFLATION EXPOSED AGAIN Please hold your nose and click on MEMOS Sept 18 2006 and Sept 27 2006. 79. (10/23/06) E-PORTFOLIO NONSENSE You may have noticed that the Chronicle of Higher Education has recently heralded the “success” of LaGuardia’s e-portfolio program. We have it directly from the horse’s mouth, however, that this e-portfolio nonsense is just another part of LaGuardia’s arsenal of pseudo-ed crap designed to give the impression that high-tech, high-powered education is happening here. We should all recognize e-portfolio for what it is: In fact, all the software requires of students is the ability to use a mouse to drag a picture into a window on a screen – a procedure that several lower forms of life have demonstrated the ability to carry out. With all due respect to The Chronicle, their staff is hardly technically qualified to comment on the efficacy of software-based learning systems. They and other educational journals are easily taken in by the myth that high-tech = quality education. E-portfolio, and similar claptrap, is another device that allows LaGuardia to camouflage the abysmal lack of quality in the education found here. In truth, as you know, what we offer is mostly watered-down palaver that can be absorbed and regurgitated by students with no effort whatsoever on their parts, fraudulent remedial exams passed by illiterates and innumerates, and massive grade inflation that gives students the false impression they are being prepared for competition in the workforce or to tackle the demands presented by a four-year college curriculum. E-portfolio is also a device used to assuage the conscience of a faculty who earns their livelihood as vampires preying on the hopes and aspirations of minority students while delivering precious little of real value to them. Some faculty counter our arguments with the “I am just following orders” cry of the powerless. That kind of excuse was rejected by the civilized world 61 years ago and continues to be rejected to this day. As professional educators, it is our obligation to refuse to participate any longer in the ongoing hoax and to demand the kind of reforms that would transform LaGuardia into the genuine institution of higher learning envisioned back in 1970. *************** 80. (10/29/06) LOW EDUCATIONAL STANDARDS REQUIRED BY NYC ECONOMICS In the following e-mail Justine Nicholas argues the case that low educational standards are NECESSARY to keep LaGuardia and CUNY solvent. Higher standards might result in such low recruitment, retention and graduation rates that the resulting insufficient revenue could not justify the College's continued existence: As some of you know, I am now teaching at a four-year college in the CUNY system. My experience so far has been free of the harassment and other ugliness that marked my time at LaGuardia. But a particular development at my new school has, for me, shed light on what Professor Millman and others have described on this site. The college in which I'm teaching raised the admission standards for this year's entering class. Now students must bring in a 75 average from their high schools and/or 950 on the SAT. I saw the positive effects in the freshman composition class I'm teaching this semester: The students have somewhat better skills than students in similar classes I've taught during the past few years. But, as one might expect, many people in the college are alarmed. Sections of courses were closed; we've been warned that the Spring semester will be even leaner. But it's not the administrators who will lose their jobs: It will be adjuncts and other untenured instructors and part-time employees who are currently doing the "grunt" work. More to the point, though, is the real reason why administrators want to increase enrollments--and why some, including the powers-that-be at LaGuardia, will disregard ethics to do so. Increased enrollments mean more revenue. This cash flow comes not only from tuition that students pay; it also flows from government coffers in the form of money for programs to enroll illegal aliens and students who have little if any chance of successfully completing any academic work. It doesn't matter that these students complete a single course, much less a semester or a degree: If they're enrolled, the money comes in. Why is this important? First of all, academic executives, like their counterparts in the corporate world, are judged to a very large degree by the amount of money they bring into their institution. The source doesn't much matter; only the bottom line is judged. So whether President Mellow is thinking about her post- LaGuardia career or about what she'll tell the next person or organization from whom she'll ask a million or two, she knows that having big numbers will make her case seem more convincing. But, perhaps even more to the point is that the more money gained by questionable means is pumped into any bureaucracy, the greater the probability that cronyism and other forms of corruption will fester and swell. Of course, any educational institution needs considerable funding to carry out its mission properly. But as soon as an academic executive's effectiveness is measured by how many dollars he or she brings to an institution, the institution's values are compromised. The whole point of any policy becomes monetary remuneration. And in the academic world, this is most readily accomplished through increasing enrollments. Now you know at least one reason why LaGuardia, and some other CUNY schools, have little or no incentive to increase their academic standards: Doing so could adversely affect the bottom line. After all, if a student's credentials are good enough to get him or her into a school with even relatively competitive admissions, why would he or she come to LaGuardia or any institution like it? *************** 81. (12/3/06) OUR INTERNATIONAL READERSHIP By clicking on "Statistics" in the menu at the top left of every page, you may check out the countries that have visited us over the past few years, as well as many other interesting stats. College corruption is a world-wide phenomenon (see LINKS) and there is international interest in corruption at the "World's Community College", as LaGuardia absurdly trumpets itself. We have had thousands of visits from more than 100 countries: Algeria, Antigua, Argentina, Austria, Australia, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Bermuda, Benin, Belgium, Bosnia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Canada, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Egypt, El Salvador, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakstan, Kenya, Korea, Kuwait, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Macau, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Maylasia, Mexico, Moldova, Nepal, Netherlands, Netherlands Antilles, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Senegal, Serbia&Montenegro, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Trinidad&Tobago, Turkey, Uganda, U.K., Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, Yugoslavia, Zambia, Zimbabwe. *************** 82. (12/7/06) E-MAIL FROM A LA GUARDIA STAFF MEMBER From my perspective, the problems [you talk about] are not restricted to this campus. I taught at another CUNY school and quit because I was damned if I was going to work as hard as I was and then see my failing students pass at the end of the day. How so? Because there is a system whereby a failing portfolio of writing was read by a second reader, and if the second reader awarded a pass, then a third reader came on to break the tie. Guess which side the tiebreaker scored in favor of. So, in a word, as I see it, the problems you identify are endemic throughout the system. How can you overhaul Gargantua? If I ruled the world, or at least New York City, no high school graduate would go to "college" before spending two years in an institution dedicated to teaching people how to learn. Anyway, I do appreciate your fury. I wonder how much better things really are at NYU? *************** 83. (12/7/06) MATH DEPT LAB TECH INDICTED IN GRADE-SELLING SCANDAL Elvin Escano, a senior math computer lab technician and remedial math instructor for many years at LaGuardia, was indicted by the Queens County D.A. yesterday for grand larceny. He is charged with selling grade changes (in some cases from F to A), carried out on the registrar's computer, to upwards of 19 LaGuardia students. Escano was arrested at the airport on his return from a month-long "medical leave" in the Dominican Republic. According to president Mellow Yellow, "In May, 2006 suspicious grading records and test scores were uncovered by college administrators". (Of course, if "suspicious grading" were a felony, half the LaGuardia faculty would be behind bars). Yesterday Mellow heatedly issued an edict prohibiting LaGuardia staff from talking to reporters. Unfortunately, two Math Dept staff had already been interviewed and were quoted in today's press. Say goodbye to them. These events are only the beginning. Escano, who is married with kids, faces a seven year sentence. He will likely make a deal in which he identifies accomplices in order to reduce jail time. A former LaGuardia registrar assures us that the scam had to involve inside help from the registrar's office. Mellow herself, in a college-wide e-mail, states, "I am angry that employees [note use of plural] at the College broke the trust of their peers, students and the community. I condemn their behavior and will work closely with law enforcement to press all charges as well as to ensure a complete investigation is conducted." Stay tuned. *************** 84. (12/9/06) JUSTINE COMMENTS ON THE GRADE - SELLING SCANDAL Thursday morning I heard about the arrest of Elvin Escano. The only thing that could surprise me now would be to learn that anyone is surprised to hear that he allegedly (We still had the principle of "innocent until proven guilty" in this country the last time I looked.) took bribes from students. If exposure of such scandalous actions were the first digs in a systematic effort to root out corruption at LaGuardia, it would've been cause for celebration. You may call me a cynic (or any number of other things), but very little leads me to believe that such will be the case. If anything, I expect that it, and whatever actions may result from it, will bear a striking resemblance to the so-called War on Drugs. How so?, you ask. Well, you may remember that the campaign with the ostensible purpose of ridding this nation's schools, parks and neighborhoods of crack/cocaine, marijuana and such resulted in the arrests of lots of low-level dealers, most of them young. This scarcely made a dent in the supply of drugs, or in any young person's ease in finding then, and did nothing to break the tyranny drug-dealing gangs held over many neighborhoods. Almost as soon as a street-level dealer was arrested, there was another to take his (I'm not being sexist: Nearly all of them were male.) place. Meanwhile, the ones who were really running the illegal narcotics trade were untouched. Most of them actually became wealthier as a result of the so-called War on Drugs. And their control they held over neighborhoods only became more pervasive and pernicious. While the actions for which Escano has been charged are reprehensible, I don't believe that proving that he is guilty (if such is the case) and sending him to prison will do anything to change the culture of corruption that has corroded this college. First of all, it's hard to believe that he is the only one to have taken money for grades. When I was at LaGuardia, other instructors told me that students tried to bribe them. One student offered to give me an all-expense paid trip to his native Dominican Republic for the winter session if I gave him an A in English 101. The previous semester, he had just barely passed English 099 on his third try! In other words, students know that in a pinch, they can buy their way through the college. Some will try to do so; if one professor won't take their bait, they look to another. Soon after I politely told my student that I couldn't and wouldn't accept his offer, he disappeared from the class. So, it's hard not to think for every Escano, there are other instructors who are willing to accept gratuities for grades the students couldn't achieve on their own. To continue the War on Drugs analogy, he was at the street level. And there are likely others who will take his place when he's gone. More to the point, though, is that the department chairs and other administrators who help to make such a situation possible are untouched. How are they responsible? They judge instructors on pass rates for exams like the Compass, the grades students get in their courses, and graduation rates. Try as they might, many students simply haven't accumulated the necessary skills to achieve success. So begins a cycle of teaching to tests, grade inflation and worse. Also, the administrators who admit students who aren't ready to handle colllege-level work are to blame for this situation. But the microscopic graduation rate, and the number of students who flunk or drop out are of no concern to them: As I mentioned in a previous posting, they get their money anyway. And of course we have to look to all those high schools and prep schools who gave students diplomas simply for occupying a place on their roster. And, to complete the analogy with the War on Drugs, the ones who are running the show routinely harass, intimidate and otherwise try to silence anyone who dares to describe the situation as it is. The result is a culture that is addicted to failure and corruption much as addicts were addicted to their drugs and certain parts of the inner-city economy were addicted to the proceeds of the drug trade. My point is: If Escano is indeed guilty, penalizing him may be a step toward justice and may serve to validate what some of us have been saying. But it will no more reform the system of this college than arresting some street-level dealer will end the illegal drug trade. And ordering other LAGCC employees not to talk about Escano's arrest will not make it, or other corruption, go away. *************** 85. (12/11/06) MELLOW CALLS FOR SILENCE Despite her solemn promises of a complete investigation, Mellow Yellow has already begun a campaign to silence the huge issue of grade-selling. In a college-wide e-mail, Mellow states, "Because the District Attorney is still in the middle of an investigation, I would again ask that all questions from the press be referred to Nathan Dickmeyer at ext. 5006. This will ensure that the information given to the press is up-to-date and as accurate as possible." This, coincidentally, will also ensure that only Mellow's slant on these events is issued publicly. If Elvin is guilty and he rats out his accomplices, the scandal will mushroom exponentially. Mellow may then try to suppress publication of accomplices' names and crimes and cover up any other embarrassments revealed by an investigation of other "suspicious grading". What about those who effectively sell grades thru the medium of grade inflation, their payoff being retention, tenure and promotion? What about all the other corruption that goes on here? What about Mellow's own reprehensible, lying behavior? (The guy still has not been promoted.) Silence is required; think how bad all this looks when one applies for a new job. *************** 86. (12/13/06) LA GUARDIA FIRES REGISTRAR Post-scandal house cleaning has begun. Thanks to Pete for this tip: From: Kamal Hajallie To: Mathematics Department Date: Monday - December 11, 2006 2:05 PM Subject: Fwd: Change in the Enrollment Services Center -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For Your Information....Please read the email below. Kamal Hajallie, Ph.D. Professor and Chairperson Mathematics Department LaGuardia Community College, C.U.N.Y. 31-10 Thomson Avenue Long Island City, NY 11101 (718) 482- 5722/5710 >>> Peter G. Jordan 12/1/2006 1:41 PM >>> I am writing to inform you that the Office of the Registrar has undergone a change in leadership. Effective immediately, Dean Henry Flax will temporarily assume the responsibilities of the Registrar. Any questions or issues you have regarding functions of the office should be directed to him. In the meantime, the EM&SD division will be evaluating the Registrar's position in the context of the Enrollment Services Center. I appreciate your support and input during this process. Pete Peter Grant Jordan Vice President Enrollment Management & Student Development pjordan@lagcc.cuny.edu *************** 87. (12/13/06) COLLEGE-WIDE E-MAIL FROM FEARLESS FEMALE FACULTY The following post appeared on Groupwise, the LaGuardia in-house computer network. It is rather remarkable, since faculty members (other than us) NEVER post messages referring to serious College problems, much less contravene the Word of Mellow Yellow: I am not allying myself with any particular individual with the following post, but I want to say that faculty and staff do not leave their First Amendment rights at the door when they enter LaGuardia Community College. Considering that this is a criminal matter and is currently under investigation, one should be responsible and sensitive. However, faculty and staff are not required to refuse to answer queries from the press regarding this matter, or to forward them to a College office. The one important caveat is that you may not indicate that you are speaking for the college. You must indicate that you are speaking only for yourself. You may be identified as a LaGuardia faculty or staff member as long as it is specified that you are so described "for identification purposes only." |
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