The Times has today made its archive of newspapers up to 1985 available online. Registration is simple and free - you will need to register.
What do we find on 4 February 1975?
At last, a move to drive out the pedlars of bogus degrees
"Two Americans-Dr John Bear and Dr James Campbell- sold degrees from West Hill House, Yarmouth, Isle of Wight. They described themselves as two men of unimpeachable academic credentials but said they needed £25,000 to start a new college. "So we have decided to sell honorary doctorates to raise the money to start our school. We might have chosen to sell magazines, or flowering shrubs or vitamins. But we are selling honorary doctorates, very beautiful and utterly meaningless pieces of paper." Just one advertisement in an American paper sold 10,000 dollars worth of degrees at the end of 1972, they said."
And you all thought they were doing it for charity!
Wasn't the money for a kid's charity? Little Klempners college fund? Does the story keep changing? But what degreemill operator ever tells the truth?
DR ANATIDAE Wrote:And you all thought they were doing it for charity!
I don't think anyone ever believed that, did they?
Quote:they needed £25,000 to start a new college.
That I would believe, although I'd guess about £24,900 went for administrative salaries and expenses.
you should make a copy of the article (E.G *.pdf ) and post it here as I did.
ham Wrote:you should make a copy of the article (E.G *.pdf ) and post it here as I did.
Nice work, Dr. Anatidae. The article shows that John Bear has been regarded in responsible media as "a pedlar of bogus degrees" since at least 1975. Some 33 years later and people outside of this website still haven't quite caught on.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/emailAr...5-02-04-14
The Times
Tuesday, February 4, 1975
Page 14
Quote:At last, a move to drive out the pedlars of bogus degrees
Legislation banning the pernicious practice of pedling bogus doctorates, degrees, and diplomas, is likely to be passed next year. Mr Prentice, Secretary of State for Education and Science, has for some time wanted to drive out the trade which is bringing in about £1m a year to a handful of unscrupulous British operators.
Pressure to outlaw bogus degree mills was first started in 1960 by the British Council and the Committee for Vice-Chancellors. It was recom- mended by the Robbins Report on higher education in 1963. But for years the practice has been allowed to continue although 39 American states have banned it with some degree of success. Mr Prentice announced in a parliamentary written reply last Friday that he was considering legislation.
The selling of bogus degrees, mainly to people overseas became revealed as a national scandal in 1972. Miss Janet Fookes, new-Conservative MP for Plymouth, Drake, told the House of Commons that a certificate of proficiency as an estate agent had been awarded to a cat.
She said the cat, Oliver Greenhalgh, had received for the payment of 11 guineas a life-tim'e membership of the "English Association of Estate Agents and Valuers" run bv Mr Lloyd Harris of 9 Charles Street, Newport, Monmouthshire. Oliver's embossed and highly glamorous certificate read: "He has satisfied the council as to the thoroughness of his knowledge of estate agency and valuation subjects."
There were at that time at least 200 bogus degree mills in the United States, and about 50 in Britain. Last June the Council of Europe published a black list of 150 bogus institutions mainly in the United States, Britain, France, India and Italy. The certificates came in all shapes and sizes: the prices varied from between £5 and £50 and the names of the institutions vied in pretentiousness and bizarreness:
The Sunshine University School of Fine Arts, Crafts and Related Symposiums, Florida; the National Ecletic Institute. New York; the Indian Sanitary Institute, Delhi; the Pontifical Athenaeum, Poona; the British College of Somnotherapy and Psychology, Brondesbury; the Philo-Byzantine University and Collective Affiliate of Constantine the Great....
Mr William Dey, Secretary of the University Entrance Requirements Department of London University, has relent- lessly pursued the bogus degree pedlars since 1960. He says there is an international syndicate of a handful of operators based in Britain. He has evidence that they invite each other on to their "academic boards".
Mr Lyndon Jones, principal of the very genuine South West London College of Commerce, says, "They are like Beduin; they pitch their camp in one place and then move on to another."
"Dr" Bruce Copen started his career in 1957 running the Universal Correspondence School from a caravan parked in a dingy field at Great Missenden, Bucks. He now lives in a luxurious country house in hundreds of acres of Sussex countryside. His most well- known boaus institutions are the Sussex College of Technology at Dane Hill, Haywards Heath; Brantridge Forest School, and the Universitv of the Science of Man, East Grinstead.
Two of his honorati have not done so well: " Dr " Gerald P Wood, aged 52, had to resign last year as director of Colorado health department's air pollution control division and "Dr" Harold Baumgartner lost his £18,000 a year job as a health planning officer in Denver when the origin of both their doctorates became known.
Doctorates are conferred by the Most Rev Dr Charles Brearley--a former car mechanic now "Archbishop of the Old Catholic Church" and his colleague "Siir" Sydney Lawrence; otherwvise known as the Duke of Nevillay. The "Magnificus Universitates Sheffieldensis" and "ColIlegium Academicum Ministeriale " is their base and tuirns out to be a terraced house in a Sheffield slum.
Their biggest dupe was a director of a West German factory who paid 30,000 marks for an honorary doctorate, degree ceremony and hotel reception. Hlis picture appeared in a West German newspaper which reported that the ceremony duly took place in the hall of the London College of Applied Science.
In fact a junior school for girls, aged seven to 11 in Kensington, was rigged up for the occasion and the name on the school board was covered by a large college placard. The newspaper reported that the honoured doctor was handed a diploma bound in blue leather while a company of counts, an abbess in a trailing robe and several Knights of the Holy Grail clapped.
Two Americans--Dr John Bear and Dr James Campbell--sold degrees from West Hill House, Yarmouth, Isle of Wiglht.
They described themselves as two men of unimpeachable academic credentials but said they needed £25,000 to start a new college. "So we have decided to sell honorary doctorates to raise the money to start our school. We might have chosen to sell magazines, or flowering shrubs or vitamins. But we are selling honor. ary doctorates, very beautiful and utterly meaningless pieces of paper."
Just one advertisement in an American paper sold 10,000 dollars worth of degrees at the end of 1972, they said.
Probably the most harrnful pedlar is Mr William M. Duncan who operates from University House, Coventry, otherwise known as the Nebraska College of Physical Medicine. He sells degrees for people who want to be qualified chiropractics and osteopaths. He was reported in. a newspaper saying: "I consider this to be a game of harmless bunkology and one that is perfectly legal in this country. I get a good deal of satisfaction out of furthering somebody's career. My window cleaner asked if I could make him a brain surgeon. Of course I can't. But I can give him a diploma saying he is so qualified."
Tim Devlin
Education Correspondent
Quote:Nice work, Dr. Anatidae. The article shows that John Bear has been regarded in responsible media as "a pedlar of bogus degrees" since at least 1975.
WRONG.
http://www.dltruth.com/showthread.php?tid=66
here I posted an article from Time Magazine
July 5, 1971. singing the glory of dr. John Bear
Quote:Spoofing honorary degrees is the four-year-old avocation of John Bear, 33, a freelance writer,
erstwhile adman, and co-inventor of the once popular Beethoven sweatshirt. Having sweated out
a real doctorate in communications at Michigan State University
Since John Bear 's 'avocation' is described as 'four year old' in 1971, that makes 1967.
here you get the snapshot of the actual article, so the clique can't say it has been doctored.
Herbert Spencer Wrote:DR ANATIDAE Wrote:And you all thought they were doing it for charity!
I don't think anyone ever believed that, did they?
Quote:they needed £25,000 to start a new college.
That I would believe, although I'd guess about £24,900 went for administrative salaries and expenses.
Abner believed that story about Bear donating the money to charity and also believed the b.s. about DesElms "researching" the Korean massage parlor industry. Bear is the master con man, always reinventing himself and switching sides. DesElms is a lowlife piece of crap and sexual deviate ... and Abner is just a fool!
Little Arminius Wrote:Herbert Spencer Wrote:DR ANATIDAE Wrote:And you all thought they were doing it for charity!
I don't think anyone ever believed that, did they?
Quote:they needed £25,000 to start a new college.
That I would believe, although I'd guess about £24,900 went for administrative salaries and expenses.
Abner believed that story about Bear donating the money to charity and also believed the b.s. about DesElms "researching" the Korean massage parlor industry. Bear is the master con man, always reinventing himself and switching sides. DesElms is a lowlife piece of crap and sexual deviate ... and Abner is just a fool!
Speaking of sexual deviates and
www.degreeinfo.com John Bear, George Gollin (George Dana Gollin, George D. Gollin) and all the others who support DI, I see they now have a video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkJXuckuJ0w
ham Wrote:WRONG.
Not to belabor fine points, but I did say "at least" 1975. Also, while the Time Magazine article describes Bear as "spoofing honorary degrees" it doesn't quite go so far as to call him a "pedlar of bogus degrees" (at least not directly).
But it's fair to say that Bear has been engaged in suspect conduct related to less-than-wonderful degrees since 1967, and I'm sure we all appreciate your showing with precision just how long he has been "spoofing" the gullible for his personal gain.