September update on American World University.

The September student bulletin for AWU has some interesting tidbits.

(1) In the course of reporting a Singapore graduation ceremony for 100 Chinese students Asher mentions that the "next" graduation (for Chinese students??) will be at the Miami Airport Hilton on April 7, 2002. Plan to be there!

(2) Asher claims to have all sorts of new approval for AWU degrees "throughout" the "country" of Palestine. Now, whoever is wrong or right in the mideast situation, there is no country of Palestine, right? So, it makes sense I guess that people in a nonexistent country get degrees from a nonexistent university. The honorary degree she gave to Yasser Arafat has evidently paid off, and she thanks him, Nabil Inshasi, and Abdel Rahman Alhour.

(3) She makes mention of a supposed Los Angeles student whose husband attended the University of Phoenix. The student states, "My assignments were much more vigorous and comprehensive than his." Hogwash! In any case, isn't it illegal for A.W.U. to be selling degrees to students in California?

(4) Another student writes, "Thank you for the confirmation of my defense." Oh, I'll bet Asher was happy to do it. Can't everyone just picture Asher and all the other faculty sitting around taking part in vigorous debate over the merits of a thesis or dissertation? What crap.

(5) Despite having been told to leave the state of Iowa, Asher states that all "payments checks and papers to be graded (and other communications" must still be sent to 361 East College Street in Iowa City. Very strange. She also tells people to call one "Matthew Burgess" at their Iowa City phone number during business hours. If you're in Iowa City or elsewhere, you're welcome to research this, since I would expect to be lied to or stonewalled, but I don't think there is any such person in Iowa City. There used to be, according to the list of "equipe" on the AWU Brazil Web site a "Mathews Burgess, Ph.D. Prof. Dr. Coordenador Academico da AWU/USA." Where would that Ph.D. come from and would such a high-level academic as Mr. Burgess be the office-boy for the office that AWU isn't even supposed to have in Iowa City?

(6) The awuniversity.com Web site for A.W.U. in Brazil has comes down, apparently. I wonder what the deal with THAT is.

 

An interesting report. Maybe the diplomas are awarded as the graduates get on the plane or are getting off. It would make the perfect receiving line. \

John

 

And here's some further information I forgot to give:

(1) Asher also notes in her one-sheet double-sided xeroxed bulletin (on orange paper--that's important), "A notable new student in Kenya is Mr. Joab H.O. Omino. Mr. Omino is the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly and has been a Senior Government Official in Kenya for over thirty years." Presumably, Asher's import-export marketing middleman in Kenya has bandied about AWU degrees with enough success that someone decided to buy an honorary one for Mr. Omino. If Mr. Omino was foolish enough to buy one for himself--well, it's a sad capstone for his thirty-year career.

An article, "Stop joking, Omino tells Ministers," mentions how, "The Deputy Speaker, Joab Omino, yesterday told two assistant ministers to take Parliament seriously." There's no point clicking on the link because it's pretty boring and there are no identifiably direct quotations. But I can picture Mr. Omino as a comical character in one of those, I don't know, Merchant-Ivory-type films in which the anglophile native talks in his clipped African/former-Empire accent, saying "You must stop your joking.... The Parliament is a very serious thing.... We must take it seriously.... This joking, it is quite played out!"
http://www.eastandard.net/thursday/parliament/parl26072001008.htm

There are other pages where Mr. Omino's comments and wording could inspire mirth, but I suppose I should not go on about it, and it's probably not fair to make fun of people for turns-of-phrase and habits of mind that are simply what people in Africa use and show when they are speaking English.

Here's a page from a 1996 U.S. State Department report about human rights abuses that mentions how in Kenya police broke up a dinner at Omino's house as an "illegal" meeting of opposition party leaders. Obviously, that doesn't reflect poorly on Mr. Omino at all, but it does reflect on the government for which he serves and the environment in which A.W.U. degrees would be accepted by anyone:
http://www.privacy.org/pi/reports/hr95_privacy_report.html

(2) Just a few days ago, I saw that Asher was offering on the awu.edu Web a fabulous low-low-price of $1,000.00 for a degree, in light of the current world situation. BUT, it's for only the first 100 respondents, and is a time-limited offer. Act now! Checking the site again today, I believe I notice that she's changed the ending date for this one-time-only, super-fantabulous deal. I don't know, should I wait for the Xmas sales, the back-to-school sales, the next Millenium sales, or the summer sales, when the temperature goes up and the prices go down? (And, yes, the last is I believe a direct quotation or close paraphrase of things I've seen on Asher's Web site.)