08-01-2017, 07:49 PM
What a very sad event. Dr. O'Block had an interesting background, definitely not a dilettante with a silver spoon up his ass. This is not at all the sorry outcome we would expect from such an industrious high achiever.
Here's how ACFEI came about:
Quote:Louis O'Block had met Rose Kelly in early 1950. They fell in love, married, and on July 15, 1951, their only son, Robert was born. Rose had been married previously and had three other children to support. Louie's lack of education and economic troubles led to their divorce only two years later. Because of financial strains, Rose had to give up custody of her two other sons, and moved with Robert into a one-bedroom "house" that looked like a railroad car with a small living room, kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom. Shortly thereafter, Rose's mother, Katie Kelly, suffering from multiple sclerosis and confined to a wheelchair, moved in with them, as did Robert's half-sister, Lila, discharged from the Navy and pregnant. So, in the early 50's, there were five people living in the one-bedroom shack at 203 West 24th Street in Pittsburg, Kansas. Rose worked two jobs to support the family.
Rose was hospitalized a number of times for exhaustion and various colon complaints. Forced to relinquish her jobs, she had to apply for welfare.
Robert says that these memories have not faded; they are as clear today as when he experienced them. Being poor is not just being without money; it is a whole social caste. Injustice, discrimination and social repudiation constitute daily life for the underclass. But, somehow, instead of kowtowing to his predicament, his predicament built his strength. At the age of 12, Robert understood that the one thing his prosperous neighbors had that his family did not have was education. So, at 12 years-of-age, he knew education was the key.
Robert began working after school at the age of 13, and has worked ever since. He started by picking up golf balls at a driving range, working in the fields planting nursery stock, bussing tables in a neighborhood restaurant, and sweeping the floor of F.W. Woolworth's to put himself through Catholic high school. During his junior year, he discovered he had a talent for the stage, and so he auditioned and was awarded the lead in a comedy-mystery entitled "Whodunit?" The drama teacher, Sister Mary Patrick, instilled in him the self-confidence to be seen as something he could become, rather than remain as other people saw him.
At the age of 17, tragedy struck again. His mother, Rose, in an effort to move off the welfare roll, enlisted in a hospital R.N. training program. She hoped to be able to complete the program, but after less than a year, she was struck with a virus from which she could not recover. Rose died at the age of 52.
Robert's last year of high school swiftly passed and the following summer, with the help of his Aunt Mary, Robert enrolled in a local college. After the first year, he took a pivotal course, The Sociology of Deviant Behavior, and still remembers the textbook author's name, Marshal B. Clinard. After that course his interest in criminology was set. He finished college in 3½ years, was awarded a master's degree a year later, and an Ed.S. and Ph.D. two years after that - four college degrees, three of which were graduate degrees in different fields, all in 6½ years, by the time he was 24 years old and all the while working two full-time jobs.
Starting at age 19, Robert became a dispatcher for campus security. His shift ran from 3:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. in the morning, five days a week. After work he would go to class from 8:30 a.m. until the early afternoon. After one year as a dispatcher, at the age of 20, he became a small town police officer, although legally he wasn't old enough to buy a handgun. While attending graduate school full time at 21, he became a probation officer and then a senior counselor in a detention center for juvenile delinquents. He was motivated.
His doctoral dissertation was entitled, "A comparative analysis of attitudes toward school of delinquents and non-delinquents as measured by the semantic differential." His research was to prove that delinquents did indeed have much more negative attitudes toward school, and to this end he developed a rating scale using the Semantic Differential to measure these attitudes, so that positive intervention could be given to the child before he was drawn into the delinquent lifestyle. Thus he proved that negative attitudes toward school can be a predictor of future delinquency
At 25 he became an assistant professor, and at 27 he was writing the first of his two college textbooks; his career as an academic had begun.
Here's how ACFEI came about:
Quote:. . . Fed up with the injustice of the system, he decided to do something about it. He had heard the Reverend Jesse Jackson once say, "You have heard it said, somebody ought to do something about that. Remember, you are somebody!" Those words took hold.http://www.droblock.com/bio.php
And so, after ten years of teaching theoretical criminology, he decided to learn a forensic field. Forensic handwriting analysis had always fascinated him, but when he went to study it he found nothing but closed doors. As an educator, he could not believe that these document examiners had no interest in creating a scientific profession, but rather maintained a secret society with closely-guarded, ancient rituals. In his research he soon discovered that the leading handwriting expert lived only two hours away. Dr. O'Block contacted him for an appointment but was turned down. He explained that he was a college professor, former police officer, published author of two criminal justice textbooks, but the expert was not impressed. Robert did not give up. Finally, after the fourth phone call, a meeting was arranged.
During their meeting, Dr. O'Block asked for the address of the major professional association for document examiners, and although the expert was a past president, he said he did not know it. When Dr. O'Block asked how he could become a member, he was told that a two-year apprenticeship was necessary. And then when Dr. O'Block asked if he could do an apprenticeship with the expert, his reply was, "No. I took on one apprentice thirty-five years ago, and it was a complete disaster. I haven't had an apprentice since." Dr. O'Block remained persistent, but when he tracked down other members of this association, they also turned him down. He discovered that the association had 200 members in their questioned document section, mostly government lab personnel, and about 197 of these members had been grandfathered in; only 3 others had been allowed to take their exam. This clearly was not an attempt to advance science – a true science is not advanced by excluding talented people. So, with the door slammed shut, Dr. O'Block decided to create a new doorway.
ENTER ACFEI
Injustice never set well with Robert O'Block. In 1992, he took action. Taking $500 out of his personal savings account, he opened a business checking account. He moved his personal computer, a desk, a table, and two chairs into the ten-by-ten foot spare bedroom of his home. He began his entrepreneurial pursuit by calling other professionals he knew who had similar interests and formed a loose-knit association. Originally called The American Board of Forensic Handwriting Analysis, there were no dues and little structure, only a gathering of people who wanted to grow professionally but who were denied the opportunity to learn.
Within a few months 30, then 40, then 50 persons joined. The expense of calling and mailing these members quickly diminished the initial, meager investment. At that point, Dr. O'Block asked the members if they would be willing to pay $40 in annual dues to sustain the organization. Ninety-eight percent of them agreed, and the organization was on its way. Soon 100 members had joined, and by the end of the first year 200 had joined. Again, money was running short with mounting mailing, printing, phone, and other overhead costs. Dues were raised to $60, then $75, and finally $100.
Dr. O'Block took no salary for the first two years of the organization. Still teaching full-time, he lived on his $40,000 teaching salary while working nights and weekends for the organization. He installed a separate business phone. It didn't matter if the phone rang at 6:00 a.m. or 11:00 p.m., Saturday or Sunday, he answered, spoke with members, and solidified the organization.