08-21-2007, 02:23 AM
(This post was last modified: 08-30-2007, 05:24 PM by Randall Flagg.)
"To make an informed decision on graduate school, I consulted the most authoriative reference in print for alternative education, Bear's Guide. This guide highly recommended Columbia Pacific. Bear also rates schools from 1-5 (5 is fully accredited, and Columbia had a 4."
--Jerry Bergman--The Religion of Vague
Now Jerry Bergman did it the right way, or so he thought. He found a school he was interested in and went to what he had been told was THE guide to alternative education, Bear's Guide. He looked up Columbia Pacific University and found Bear was in love with CPU. His description was one of complete satisfaction. Thus satisfied Bergman did the work and got a CPU degree.
Now this is why all those very positive words, from Bear, are so important. Many people, as they have said, either found CPU in the guides or used the guides to support their beliefs that CPU was a good school. Bear said it was and they became students and eventually graduates. Now how must they feel to see Bear say that unaccredited schools are either very substandard or completely phoney. He has also singled out CPU as too light and problematic. You know, I have looked through his guides and don't see these warnings to the public, only praise for CPU. As late as 1996 it was still being described as one of the best schools in America. In 1997 it still received a positive mention in the guides.
Bear is the cause of many people being first intrduced to CPU. He is also the safety net used by many to be sure CPU was good enough. Unfortunately, of late, the safety net has developed many holes as the author of the guides moved on to greener pastures. $$$
He said CPU was one of the best, a number 4. People believed him and used CPU, and now they are shills-liars-frauds, according to the gang, supported by the same man, John Bear. He made the pitch to the public that non-traditional education was a good substitute for years of sitting in classrooms, did he truly believe? did he mean it? or was it just something to sell? He says times change and that he was right when he said it was one of the best and right now when he says it really wasn't. Well, I say you can't have your cake and eat it too. You can't sell it and then out your customers. And they were his customers. He owned stock in CPU and he recommended it to one and all, including his consulting clients. If it was good enough for he and his wife to work there, it was good enough to use by people seeking college degrees, unless he wishes to admit he lied or was ignorant of the facts.
Here is my take on CPU. It was a real school, though not the great school that Bear hyped and pushed. It was in the same grouping as CCU and Pacific Western. I think CCU was better but that is just me, others disagree and like CPU best, so be it. But CPU was a real school that met the needs of many people for years. Anyone who has a degree from CPU during the years it was state licensed and later state approved has a degree that is legal and real. Only ignorant people are now going back and saying it was nothing. Bear called a Ford a Corvette for his own benefit, not the benefit of those who used the school for degrees. But a Ford is a decent car and though not a Vette, it's a vehicle that will get you there and back in reasonable style and comfort. For him to now try and walk away from his own hype and advertising plan is ridiculous and unfair. Hell, Bear helped design CPU and certainly helped the main owners ( Bear was a minority owner ) sell the school to the public. Well, he convinced all of us it was real, now the question, was it? Bear now says it's too light, and then? he said it had great strength and weight. Take your pick, that's what everyone does. The gang goes with the new Bear and says it sucks. The graduates still recall the song Bear sang for over 20 years and say it's real. My vote, for what that's worth, REAL. Bear just got cold feet and ran like a sissy. He also no longer has any financial interest in the school and counts his money from other locations. His heart and his money are elsewhere and he has forgotten those who listened and bought his 497811 ideas.
497811 tells it just as Bear claimed to believe. It is the measure of the honesty and integrity of the man. He meant it or he didn't. He told the truth then or now, not both.
John Gray's Ph.D. in 1982 was legitimate and real or Bear lied over and over for years, it's that simple.
Here's Bergman's full story, and it's a sad one, one that Bear helped create.
I got Beared: Link
--Jerry Bergman--The Religion of Vague
Now Jerry Bergman did it the right way, or so he thought. He found a school he was interested in and went to what he had been told was THE guide to alternative education, Bear's Guide. He looked up Columbia Pacific University and found Bear was in love with CPU. His description was one of complete satisfaction. Thus satisfied Bergman did the work and got a CPU degree.
Now this is why all those very positive words, from Bear, are so important. Many people, as they have said, either found CPU in the guides or used the guides to support their beliefs that CPU was a good school. Bear said it was and they became students and eventually graduates. Now how must they feel to see Bear say that unaccredited schools are either very substandard or completely phoney. He has also singled out CPU as too light and problematic. You know, I have looked through his guides and don't see these warnings to the public, only praise for CPU. As late as 1996 it was still being described as one of the best schools in America. In 1997 it still received a positive mention in the guides.
Bear is the cause of many people being first intrduced to CPU. He is also the safety net used by many to be sure CPU was good enough. Unfortunately, of late, the safety net has developed many holes as the author of the guides moved on to greener pastures. $$$
He said CPU was one of the best, a number 4. People believed him and used CPU, and now they are shills-liars-frauds, according to the gang, supported by the same man, John Bear. He made the pitch to the public that non-traditional education was a good substitute for years of sitting in classrooms, did he truly believe? did he mean it? or was it just something to sell? He says times change and that he was right when he said it was one of the best and right now when he says it really wasn't. Well, I say you can't have your cake and eat it too. You can't sell it and then out your customers. And they were his customers. He owned stock in CPU and he recommended it to one and all, including his consulting clients. If it was good enough for he and his wife to work there, it was good enough to use by people seeking college degrees, unless he wishes to admit he lied or was ignorant of the facts.
Here is my take on CPU. It was a real school, though not the great school that Bear hyped and pushed. It was in the same grouping as CCU and Pacific Western. I think CCU was better but that is just me, others disagree and like CPU best, so be it. But CPU was a real school that met the needs of many people for years. Anyone who has a degree from CPU during the years it was state licensed and later state approved has a degree that is legal and real. Only ignorant people are now going back and saying it was nothing. Bear called a Ford a Corvette for his own benefit, not the benefit of those who used the school for degrees. But a Ford is a decent car and though not a Vette, it's a vehicle that will get you there and back in reasonable style and comfort. For him to now try and walk away from his own hype and advertising plan is ridiculous and unfair. Hell, Bear helped design CPU and certainly helped the main owners ( Bear was a minority owner ) sell the school to the public. Well, he convinced all of us it was real, now the question, was it? Bear now says it's too light, and then? he said it had great strength and weight. Take your pick, that's what everyone does. The gang goes with the new Bear and says it sucks. The graduates still recall the song Bear sang for over 20 years and say it's real. My vote, for what that's worth, REAL. Bear just got cold feet and ran like a sissy. He also no longer has any financial interest in the school and counts his money from other locations. His heart and his money are elsewhere and he has forgotten those who listened and bought his 497811 ideas.
497811 tells it just as Bear claimed to believe. It is the measure of the honesty and integrity of the man. He meant it or he didn't. He told the truth then or now, not both.
John Gray's Ph.D. in 1982 was legitimate and real or Bear lied over and over for years, it's that simple.
Here's Bergman's full story, and it's a sad one, one that Bear helped create.
I got Beared: Link
James
A.S., B.S., M.B.A.
A.S., B.S., M.B.A.