09-07-2009, 10:49 AM
RespectableGent Wrote:Think about it. During degree mill trials judges have never mandated minimum levels of instruction. Judges have ruled that "elements of instruction" must be provided before granting degrees. If "elements of instruction" are provided, the law is happy.
The 2006 libel case in the UK showed how courts view these issues. The local fish wrap called McKenna's unaccredited LaSalle U (Mandeville, Louisiana) degree "bogus" and he sued (UK law obviously being different than US).
Hypnotist McKenna wins 'bogus degree' libel case
Quote:"Mr McKenna had been granted a degree by La Salle, for what it was worth (as to which opinions clearly differ). He valued it and was not seeking to deceive anyone by making reference to it," said the judge.
"Mr McKenna was not, in my judgment, dishonest and, for that matter, whatever one may think of the academic quality of his work, or of the La Salle degree, it would not be accurate to describe it as 'bogus'."
La Salle allowed McKenna credits for "work or life experience", and for his book, co-written with two other authors, called The Hypnotic World of Paul McKenna. He was awarded his PhD "magna cum laude" in 1996.
Unknown to him, however, the university's president, Thomas Kirk, pleaded guilty at around the same time to misleading students into believing that his institution was accredited, when in fact Kirk had set up the accrediting body himself.
Misrepresent "accreditation" in the US, go to jail. Do a little work, get a degree you "value," do not try to deceive anyone, and in the UK it's jackpot time if someone calls it bogus. Obviously, the US laws are being enforced to protect the accreditation agencies and the billion-dollar endowments of the wealthy higher-education cartel they represent. It's only when the cartel views your operation as a threat that they drop the hammer on you.
More's the shame that the SRU case didn't go to trial. It would have been interesting to see how a jury of normal people viewed that operation as different from, say, TESC, COSC or Excelsior, the vaunted RA "Easy 3." Even the feds testified that SRU was not strictly pay-to-pay, and that they had to submit verification for PLA. Seems like the feds were engaged in more fraud than the defendants.