More UIUC Scandals, Gollin Does Nothing

[Albert Hidel]

No visa? No job?  Want a PhD without even applying?  Marry Niranjan Shah's lovely daughter and you get all this and more at UIUC!  

Sounds like a diploma mill operation to me.  At least diploma mills make you fill out an application. This Dutch guy didn't even need to give a credit card number. Want some curry with that PhD, Dr. de Jeu?

Why isn't the self-validating diploma mill "expert" George Gollin looking into this farce?  Where is the UI Conflict of Interest Officer while all this is going on?  Where are John Bear and all his fairy friends to stalk and harass these miscreants?

University of Illinois e-mails show how clout got a job

By Jodi S. Cohen | Tribune reporter
July 22, 2009

When University of Illinois board Chairman Niranjan Shah asked for help in getting his future son-in-law a job in 2007, Chancellor Richard Herman and other top campus officials responded by essentially creating a personal job-placement service, new records show.

The Tribune reported Tuesday that in response to Shah's involvement, university officials found Maarten de Jeu a job. The new e-mails, released after the original story, reveal the extent of their efforts.

Led by Herman, officials shopped him around the university and in the private sector. They created a position without conducting the usual search, secured a work visa for the Dutch citizen and paid him $115,000 -- more than most employees with the same title.

When it appeared they might have trouble getting de Jeu a visa, Herman suggested admitting him to a PhD program in business, to which he hadn't even applied. The chancellor dipped into campus reserves to pay his salary because the position wasn't funded in the department that hired him.

"I would like to thank you for your help with Marteen (sic)," Shah wrote to Herman, the Urbana-Champaign campus' top official, on May 23, 2007. "We need to make this happen."

Herman replied: "I am happy to help."...

[Dickie Billericay]

Herman replied: "I am happy to help."...

Hey Hoiman, maybe you could help me too.  I have this lovely daughter too, name of Lily.  

People are starting to check on that PhD I said I got in child psych from Columbia back in '41.  I could use a (heh heh) "real" PhD, if you know what I mean.  Especially if I don't have to make no application and you throw in a $115,000 a year job.  That's more than I made total from The Munsters.  

So what if I've been dead for three years, at least you know I won't talk when the Conflict of Interest Officer comes around asking questions.  Oh yeah, I forgot, the Conflict of Interest Officer never comes around, what was I thinking.  Let me know if you can help.

Love,

Grandpa Al Lewis

[ham]

Want some curry with that PhD, Dr. de Jeu?

No, I prefer tandoori chicken...

Great job big brother...

I think Herman was the Frankenstein man, right?

[Martin Eisenstadt]

Sounds like a diploma mill operation to me.

Think I'll check with the Crazy Guggenheimers and see if they will give me a grant to write a book about it.   There is so much corruption at UIUC that I might need to make it a whole series, like Harry Potter.  

Too bad there isn't anyone right there on the UIUC campus who could have done this, maybe someone with a wife in a high administrative position there.

Gollum (and how many friends?) is writing a book about what?  Some scheme where you had to actually apply for the degree, and don't even get laid?  Not a starter.

The FBI really missed the boat with those fake Arab scientists paying for fake degrees to get fake visas.  They could have married Niranjan's daughter and gotten real visas, real degrees and better paying jobs.

Does Niranjan have any other daughters he wants to marry off?  I could use an extra degree, a steady job and some fresh pussy.  Does he have a DL program so I won't have to move to Illinois?  

[Armando Ramos]

UIUC trustee Lawrence Eppley quits in disgrace, and urges other administrators to do the same.  Isn't it about time the UIUC Conflict of Interest Officer did the honorable thing and fell on her sword too??  Maybe she can arrange a two-for-one deal and take out the whole disgusting Gollum family.

University of Illinois trustee resigns over admissions scandal
Trustee Lawrence Eppley urges other board members to quit

By Tara Malone, Jodi S. Cohen and Stacy St. Clair | Tribune reporters
July 29, 2009

A University of Illinois trustee's resignation Tuesday made him the first casualty of the school's high-profile admissions scandal, though fellow board members and those investigating abuses suggested that others are likely to fall.

Trustee Lawrence Eppley quit in a two-page letter to Gov. Pat Quinn that implored his fellow board members to step down along with him. He also urged administrators at the Urbana-Champaign campus to take responsibility for their actions in order to help the university regain the state's trust.

"The public's confidence in the University must be restored, and one way to begin to restore that confidence is to make a clean start," he wrote in the letter.

His resignation comes amid a growing chorus of public officials and educators demanding the entire board's ouster. Earlier Tuesday, trustee David Dorris called for the governor-appointed members to resign and allow Quinn to decide who should stay.

"The best way to approach it is for all the trustees to tender their resignations so long as the governor understands that we don't believe all trustees should necessarily be removed," said Dorris, a board member since 2005. "Give him the freedom, case by case, to evaluate."

Former federal Judge Abner Mikva, who leads the state commission investigating the admissions abuses, endorsed a similar idea Tuesday.

"Instead of being trustable, the trustees have been a big part of the process," Mikva said on WGN radio. "I think the best thing that could happen, as far as the state and the governor, is if all of them would submit their resignations and he would decide which, if any, he would keep."

The turmoil falls against the backdrop of a state investigation of a shadow admissions system that gave preferential treatment to students with ties to trustees, politicians and deep-pocketed donors. About 800 undergraduate applicants had their names placed on clout lists, known internally as Category I, at the Urbana-Champaign campus during the last five years, a Tribune investigation found. Dozens more received special consideration from the law school and other graduate programs.

A Chicago-based attorney with three degrees from the U. of I., Eppley had a hand in more admissions requests than any other trustee, public records show. He also served as former Gov. Rod Blagojevich's intermediary on several cases, including one in which a relative of political fundraiser Antoin "Tony" Rezko's had his rejection overturned following Eppley's involvement.

Evidence showed that Eppley, whose law firm donated $105,000 to Blagojevich's campaigns, also appears to have played a role in a case in which officials discussed seeking five jobs for law school graduates in exchange for the acceptance of an unqualified applicant with financial ties to the now-impeached governor. He denied involvement.

Blagojevich's inner circle handpicked Eppley to serve as chairman in 2003, allowing him to leap over more veteran trustees for the powerful position. Under his leadership, which ended this year, the university board made the controversial decision to retire Chief Illiniwek as the school's symbol.

In the end, some trustees said, his links to the disgraced former governor could not be overcome.

"I guess he felt that, with his loyalty to the university, that he was more of a liability," trustee Frances Carroll said.

Eppley, who is out of state this week, could not be reached for comment. In the letter, delivered to the governor's Chicago office Tuesday afternoon, he said he would serve for 90 more days or until a replacement is named.

"I thank him for his years of service and wish him well," Quinn said in a statement accepting the resignation. "The search for his successor will begin immediately."

A spokesman for the governor's office said Quinn would not comment on the demands for further resignations or address the admissions scandal further until the commission has issued its report Aug. 8.

The commission, which is slated to finish its hearings this week, voiced frustration with Eppley when he appeared before the panel this month. Eppley failed to recall several specific admissions requests that he forwarded even when provided copies of his own e-mails.

Several commissioners told the Tribune this week that they planned to call for his firing when the panel forwards its recommendations to the governor next week.

"It was the exactly the right thing to do," Commissioner Ric Estrada said of Eppley's resignation. "The only thing I regret is that he didn't do it sooner."

Estrada and Commissioner Bernard Judge also said they would support the firing of board Chairman Niranjan Shah, who sought advantages for his relatives and friends in admissions, housing and employment opportunities. Shah referred questions to his spokesman, who declined to comment.

Several school officials lamented Eppley's departure as the loss of one of the U. of I.'s biggest cheerleaders.

"He's now taken the first step of many to try and cure this," Dorris said. "I am sad for Larry personally. I know how much he loved the university, but at this point, all of us have to do what is right."

Dorris began trying to build consensus for a group resignation earlier this month, but only trustees Devon Bruce and Edward McMillan agreed, he said. Eppley and Shah were staunch opponents of the plan, Dorris said.

Trustee James Montgomery, who rarely delved into admission matters, dismissed a mass resignation as impractical.

"My thinking is very simple: This board as it currently exists has some excellent people," Montgomery said. "I think any calls for a sweeping removal of the entire trustee board is ridiculous. There's too much institutional knowledge."

[Armando Ramos]

Eppley's Resignation Letter

Note to UIUC Conflict of Interest Officer Melanie Loots, wife of UIUC physics prof and self-appointed public nuisance George Gollin: It’s okay to cut and paste to write your own resignation letter. Don’t worry about plagiarism, you won’t be working anyplace where anybody will care.

[Armando Ramos]

Does Niranjan have any other daughters he wants to marry off?  I could use...some fresh pussy.

You really want to check the expiration date on that.

[Herbert Spencer]

So far no specific mention of the UI Conflict of Interest Officer, Melanie Loots, in the calls for administrative resignations.  

It seems reasonable that if they really want to end the culture of impropriety that permeates UI they need to can the Conflict of Interest Officer too.  After all, didn't she write a letter of recommendation for her dimbulb husband, George Gollin, to get him the CHEA job that he wasn't otherwise qualified for, and not mention that she is his wife?  

WTF does she know about conflict of interest, except that she isn't any better at preventing it than she is at preventing mutant lab pigs from being sold for food.

Mikva says all U. of I. trustees should resign

Mikva says all U. of I. trustees should resign
But 1 board member says only those tainted by scandal should leave posts

By Stacy St. Clair and Tara Malone | Tribune reporters
July 31, 2009

The chairman of a state panel investigating admissions practices at the University of Illinois said Thursday he will ask his fellow commissioners to recommend that the school's entire board of trustees resign because of the scandal.

Former federal Judge Abner Mikva said he will make the proposal Friday when the Illinois Admissions Review Commission meets to work on its final report. Under Mikva's plan, Gov. Pat Quinn could then decide which resignations he wants to accept.

"I think the governor would be well-suited if the trustees submitted their resignations," he said after participating in an American Bar Association forum on corruption.

Mikva will need support from a majority of the seven members of the commission in order for the recommendation to be included in its official report, due next week.

Trustee Lawrence Eppley, who involved himself in more admissions cases than any other trustee in the last five years, resigned this week and called on his fellow board members to do the same.

The resignation came amid a state investigation into a shadow admissions system that gave preferential treatment to students with ties to trustees, politicians and deep-pocketed donors. About 800 undergraduate applicants had their names placed on clout lists, known internally as Category I, at the Urbana-Champaign campus during the last five years, a Tribune investigation found.

Scores more received special consideration from the law school and other graduate programs.

After reviewing more than 5,000 pages of documents and hearing from nearly three dozen witnesses, Mikva said Thursday it is clear the university had a flawed admissions process. The judge said the evidence suggests that no other public university has an institutionalized clout system like the U. of I. "Unfortunately, as in other cases, Illinois has carried it to an extreme."

In the wake of the scandal, a growing chorus of public officials and educators has demanded the entire board's ouster, and pending legislation in the General Assembly would remove them all from office.

At least one commission member, however, has cautioned against painting all trustees with the same brush. Commissioner Maribeth Vander Weele worries a recommendation for mass resignations would imply that the entire board behaved dishonorably.

Throughout the hearings, Vander Weele has drawn a distinction between Eppley, who lobbied for relatives of deep-pocketed donors to then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich, and board members like Frances Carroll, who intervened on behalf of students from underrepresented areas or demographic groups.

"I want to be respectful of the reputations of the well-intended and not besmirch anyone who was not involved," Vander Weele told the Tribune. "But anyone who advocated for a relative or business associate -- or that facilitated the advocacy at a high level -- should be removed because that's a direct violation of the state's ethics act."

Trustee James Montgomery has rejected the idea of clearing out the entire nine-member board because it would sweep away the board's expertise and institutional knowledge with it. The Chicago attorney called the admissions scandal an "opportunity" to shut the door to outside influences, whether in the application process or other day-to-day matters. "It's pretty clear many folks fell into a culture that is inappropriate," Montgomery said.

Mikva said the panel's findings will address the roles played by President B. Joseph White, Chancellor Richard Herman and law school officials, but not make any recommendations about their employment. "I don't think we should be micromanaging the university," he said. "The trustees have done enough of that."

[ham]

"I want to be respectful of the reputations of the well-intended and not besmirch anyone who was not involved," Vander Weele told the Tribune. "But anyone who advocated for a relative or business associate -- or that facilitated the advocacy at a high level -- should be removed because that's a direct violation of the state's ethics act."

Of course...how gallant...truth & time are gentlemen, eh?
That until Barney violates a sacred boundary...then it's Zundel (Churchill...Mosley...Finkelstein...Irving...Hayward...) time, eh?

[Herbert Spencer]

[A]nyone who advocated for a relative or business associate -- or that facilitated the advocacy at a high level -- should be removed because that's a direct violation of the state's ethics act."

Anyone?  We'll see about that.  If selling mutant lab animals to the public for food doesn't get you fired, and calling Catholics "papists" and belittling Ash Wednesday rituals doesn't get you fired, it doesn't seem likely that just violating the state's ethics act is going to get you fired.  This is Illinois, after all, home of the Great Leader of the Obamunist Regime.  These types of things are known as "teachable moments."

I think Gollum has finally commented on his wife's role in the U of Illinois corruption scandal:

I got an unsolicited "Degree" in the mail yesterday: a sample of "Degree Deodorant," which offers "Mind-Blowing Protection."

http://www.degreediscussion.com/forums/v...130#p53472

Clearly Gollum's mind-blowing personal hygiene issues trump his wife's administrative incompetence and corruption.  It's all about George.  So there just may be something to this article after all:

My Wife Illegally Sold 386 Mutant Pigs for Food! The Truth About My Weird Family, My Unusual Sexual Practices and My Embarrassing Body Odor