And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > -----Original Message----- > From: Craven, Jim > Sent: Wednesday, September 15, 1999 6:06 PM > To: Campus Master List > Cc: '[EMAIL PROTECTED]' > Subject: A Tale of a Community College > > Here is a true tale about an Indian community college; it shall remain > nameless as it doesn't matter and sadly it is not atypical from that found > on many Indian reservations in America and reserves in Canada. > > This community college was visited by an accreditation team and passed. > The accreditation team visited, surveyed and made some suggestions but > essentially gave it a clear pass. They were shown around the school and > reservation, but there was a whole other reality--sub rosa--they were > never shown and didn't do much to look for. > > For example, the accreditation team missed the fact that the President and > her husband, a faculty member, plus other family members also on staff or > faculty, were running up travel bills amounting to $73,000 per year for > one person and close to that amount for others individually. They were > going to "conferences" in Stockholm, Paris, Hawaii. Recently, the > bookkeeper of that College quit out of disgust and out of fear of a > federal investigation. The key computer person of that college, with > access to all the records, and herself trained in law and who had tried to > leak some sensitive information out of the college, was recently found > dead in a highly suspicious car wreck that several insiders are calling > murder. > > The accreditation team missed the fact that for over three years, planning > and funding had been in place to put in a T-1 line and to hook up the > college to internet (especially critical since the library at the college > is abysmal) but that college still remains not hooked up due to the > squandering of designated funds and a now former dean who was a chronic > and lazy alcoholic and coke-head. > > The accreditation team missed the fact that on the Board of Trustees, all > but one were trusted insiders put and kept on the Board through insider > processes by other trusted insiders of a corrupt Tribal Council and > several prominent and corrupt families; those Board members acted as a > rubber stamp for anything the College administration wanted to do. > > The accreditation team missed the fact that several of the faculty members > had been hired through insider and family connections, had no teaching > experience, had embellished or falsified credentials, or no credentials, > and were nonetheless in critical positions and caused critical damages > vis-a-vis critical and foundational subjects not being properly taught by > those with proper qualifications. > > The accreditation team missed the fact that large amounts of funds > designated for capital expenditures had been diverted into travel and to > cover deficits in non-capital accounts such that critical capital > construction was put off and when a pending audit was coming down, faculty > and staff were pressured to surrender 10% of their monthly salaries in an > attempt to cover the illicitly diverted funds. > > The accreditation team missed the fact that "honors graduates" of this > college were being admitted to surrounding colleges and universities and > were being found horribly deficient in the most basic skills and knowledge > necessary for any beginning freshman or sophomore to have any chance of > success; the non-honors graduates were even in worse shape, and the > graduates of the college, percentage-wise, were small in relation to total > enrollees and potential graduates. > > They missed diversions of Pell Grant and Workforce/Worker Retraining > funds--to cover shortages in other accounts-- desperately needed by poor > students on limited time and money allotments of training.( Some students > getting checks for $4.95 after normally getting checks around $80 to $160) > And when these and other matters are investigated, as they will be some > time, there will be even more damages as the college is turned upside down > with possibly excellent faculty and staff lost--along with hopefully the > corrupt ones. > > In all of this and in much much more missed by the accreditation team, > this college and its students were given no favor by being given a pass. > No doubt, some of the acccreditation team members with genuine sympathies > for the plight of Indians and the pressures/constraints of an Indian > community college, were motivated out of a desire not to be too harsh and > to give the college a chance to improve. But out of this accreditation > visit, and all that was hidden or missed, many opportunity costs ( lost > potential returns of lost or foregone opportunities) occurred and are > mounting. This college, and its precious young--and older--students, the > only hope for a Tribe on the verge of extinction--in terms of training the > future leaders and workers and families of the Tribe--was left neglected > and superficially or parochially examined; and worse of all, it was left > with some very corrupt elements still in control and now ratified and > legitimated by outsiders doing a superficial accreditation visit. > > When anyone, fails to do their best, fails to be honest and fails to be > accountable or held accountable, there are indeed myriad and very > dangerous and damaging opportunity as well as direct costs. And these > costs and damages go on and on and on with those least able to pay paying > the bill while those who only have taken for themselves and their cronies > reap the short-term spoils. > > If this Tribe winds up in total chaos and extinguished, as is a very real > possibility, some perhaps "well meaning" individuals on that accreditation > team, who failed to do their best and were swayed by superficiality and > "escorted access" by those who had something to hide, will be partially > culpable even if they never come to know it. Like the legacies of the > residential schools, the infected blankets, the hubris and parochialism of > the Federal Government, broken treaties and racism, the legacies and the > destruction from these and other failures will continue with mounting > costs and victims. > > Jim Craven > > James Craven > Clark College, 1800 E. McLoughlin Blvd. > Vancouver, WA. 98663 > (360) 992-2283; Fax: (360) 992-2863 > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://www.home.earthlink.net/~blkfoot5 > *My Employer Has No Association With My Private/Protected > Opinion* > > Reprinted under the Fair Use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html doctrine of international copyright law. &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Unenh onhwa' Awayaton http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ UPDATES: CAMP JUSTICE http://shell.webbernet.net/~ishgooda/oglala/ &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
