AMU Idiocy

[Yancy Derringer]

And to restate the point, if you are serious about intelligence studies and are looking for a program with credibility, AMU/APUS is not the answer.?

Right you are, Armando.? Here's a couple of other online alternatives to AMU:

Fairleigh Dickinson (RA)
MS in Homeland Security

Henley Putnam (DETC)
MS in Strategic Security and Protection Management

Towson University (RA)
MS Integrated Homeland Security Management


BTW, another source provided me with some background on the origin of the ghastly course materials that are being foisted off on unsuspecting students in the AMU intelligence studies program.? As was noted elsewhere, the individual profs don't create the courses but are stuck using a uniform format created by others.?

In this case, the illiterate buffoon who creates the garbage used at AMU/APUS is department head Elena Mastors.? She claims a PhD in Poli Sci from Washington State University, where apparently being dumber than dirt is no impediment to an academic career.


Elena Mastors
Dumber than dirt

Here are some more examples, this time from her INTL 698 course:

* The word "mandatory"? was misspelled repeatedly as "mandatroy."?

* "The comprehensive exam is will [sic] test your capabilities regarding the program objectives."?? It "is was"? only the second sentence in the course Announcement, but apparently it "is was"? just too much work for someone to bother proofreading that far.?

* Here's another one: "This assignment must be completed before the end of week one and is to be a 200-250 work [sic] requirement."? Possibly she meant "words," but it's anybody's guess.? She can't even seem to determine what the subject of the sentence is.? Perhaps she meant that the required length of the assignment is 200-250 words, but wouldn't a real PhD just say that?

* One of the students pointed out that although the course "Announcement"? was signed by the purported course instructor, it was described as "from"? Elena Mastors.? The student must read our site because the point made elsewhere about the profs copying their anti-plagiarism course materials without attribution was re-stated there.? Shortly thereafter Mastors altered the post by adding this...at the end:

"The following guidance was provided by the Capstone INTL698 lead Dr. Elena Mastors, who is also the Program Director for the Graduate Intelligence Program."?

Apparently she either can't tell the beginning of the document from the end or she doesn't understand the difference between "following" and "foregoing."??

And yes, the original was in purple bold letters.? Other portions of the same document were in green, turquoise, pink, red underlined and even some in black.? The acid trip color scheme may have disoriented her momentarily.? Or maybe she just has a retard's fascination with pretty colors.

And her problems are not just limited to her online stuff.? Apparently one of the required readings in her INTL 506 class included some of her published crap, and it was completely illiterate as well.? Example:

"This is known as the misinformation effect, which occurs when some [sic] incorporates 'misinformation' into their memory of the event after receiving misleading information about it."?

Cottam, M.L, Mastors, E., Preston, T. & Dietz-Uhler, B. (2010). Introduction to Political Psychology. New York: Psychology Press, p. 78-79.

You would think that at least one of the four purported authors (or one of their grad assistants) might have done a little proofreading before they started sharing their profound insights with the masses.? Plus she was quoting another author so all she had to do was copy it verbatim, but she couldn''t even manage that mundane task adequately.? What a complete dope.

Finally, I'm told that the DETC has launched an investigation into the conditions at AMU/APUS.? This ought to be interesting.? Unlike the regionals, which are pretty much a rubberstamp as long as the bills are getting paid, DETC actually takes their quality assurance role seriously.? This might explain why Mastors now is trying feverishly to eradicate the evidence of her incompetence.? Let's see if the DETC can be fooled by ex post facto sleight of hand.