High ranking D.C. ethics official lies about degree, but is not fired.

Schools Official To Keep Job Despite Lying About Degree.

"Good news for Vialetta Graham: She gets to keep her $92,000-a year government job. The bad news is that she has been exposed as a liar. Graham applied for a job with the D.C. government. She was hired two years ago. On her résumé, she said she had a college degree from American University. Just one little detail was wrong -- she never graduated from college. Now to make this more fun: For which D.C. government agency doe she work? The answer: The D.C. Board of Education and Ethics."

"Yes, a high-ranking supervisor in the agency overseeing ethics in the city lied to get her job and has been told she will not be fired because the fact that she does not have a degree in computer science isn't important, since her job is to be their chief technology officer."

The Hill <http://thehill.com/shadow/020304.aspx>

 

Those who live in and around D.C. get so used to the corruption that it takes a big thing to even notice.

This reminds me of Abena Walker, the school teacher who received more than $160,000 to develop an African-centric curriculum for elementary kids. It was revealed that her claimed master's degree was from "Pan-African University." Pan-African was not accredited, was not licensed by the District of Columbia, and had only graduated one student: its founder, Abena Walker!

It turns out she made up the whole thing. Pan-African conducted a few training sessions on her curriculum, and from that she awarded herself a master's degree. If you haven't guessed yet, she was allowed to keep the contract--and the money--even after all of this was revealed. This was around 1992. Nothing changes in D.C. It is as corrupt as Lagos, or even Tijuana.

(I think Walker is still employed by the DC school district.)

 

Another article about same story: Official keeps job despite lying

 

Incredible. They justify keeping her on by saying that a computer science degree is not needed for her position. A 20-year-old computer science wouldn't be very relevant they say, because the field has changed so much over the years. They didn't even have email 20 years ago, one of her defenders claims. Never mind that computer science, now, or 20 years ago, has almost nothing to do with email, per se. The larger question of her credibility and lying about her qualifications is unaddressed.

What the heck, by the same logic, I'll claim a PhD in computer science from, say, 1957. Never mind that there probably was no such thing back then. All the better to make me untouchable - in D.C. at least.

 

Surely no one is surprised, but it does give an interesting twist to "identity politics."

 

What disturbs me here is that honest IT workers with CS degrees are having their jobs outsourced while the D.C. government is filling key positions with unqualified personnel.

John

 

It was Kenneth J. McGhie, general counsel for the DC Board of Elections and Ethics (where Vialetta Graham is Chief Technology Officer), who said, "They didn't even have e-mail 20 years ago."
http://washingtontimes.com/metro/20040118-103509-4475r.htm

"Ray Tomlinson Wrote the first e-mail system to run between two separate computers; led to modern system of Internet e-mail (1973)". http://www.computerhalloffame.org/nominate.htm
I personally first used e-mail in 1980, and I suspect every CompSci grad from 1984 used it.

 

I was using email at grad school in 1982, and by then it wasn't considered particularly novel. Though at that time I think I only used email to communicate with others on the campus. This changed (for me) with the advent of Bitnet circa 1984.

 

Indispensable or not, accomplished or not, she deserves no mercy. She should have been summarily and dishonorably kicked out.

Ike

 

I didn't actually realize it was email but I guess I used it for a computer course in the early 1980s.

In the early 1970s, on my first computer course, I would have had to send a stack of punchcards.

 

Rich: "It is as corrupt as Lagos, or even Tijuana."



Cehi: Common Rich, Lagos is my birthplace. I thought you knew that people in and from Lagos, the commercial capital of Nigeria and the people in and from Nigeria, are the most happiest people in the world. That was the result from a survey published in an american journal last november. Nevertheless, your point is well taken. It was unfortunate that these people could keep their jobs even with such evidence of holding degrees that were self awarded. Very interesting.

 

That and the fact that I may some day have to work for these dishonest types. The quote at the end of the Washington Times article sums up my feelings. Get these frauds out of government jobs.

"I think this raises a serious question about ethics and ethical behavior," Mr. Graham said. "For an agency that is trusted as the guardian of ethical behavior of political officials, well, this is just astounding to me."

 

Couldn't it be both happy and corrupt, our old Adam being what he is?

But seriously, I'm trying to figure out what the Latin term for people from Lagos would be: Lagotes? Lagenses? Lagoni? (It can't be Lagoi, which would just be a Greciform plural of Lagos itself.) This may not seem important now, but you just never know.

 

It's also mine but Lagos is unquestionably a very corrupt place. I spent my early years in Cameroon but received my secondary and undergraduate education in Nigeria. I witnessed corruption in Nigeria firsthand. Nigerians may proclaim that they are the happiest people on earth but I totally disagree with that assertion because evidence on the ground shows that the entire populace are glaringly hurting. Nigerians are inured to false living. They misleadingly exhibit impression of contentment while inwardly they are actually hurting. I am in no doubt that the level of corruption in Tijuana can’t compare with that of Lagos or Abuja. Lagos is simply peerless in that regard.

 

Uncle Janko: "Couldn't it be both happy and corrupt, our old Adam being what he is?"


Cehi: Yep, it could be, Uncle. I cannot defend most of the corrupt actions going on in the city. Sure, the city has its own problems. Also, for the latin name for Lagos, you got me on that.

 

Marion Barry anyone?

We are talking about the city that reelected Marion Barry people. Honesty and integrity, apparently, aren't required to serve the public trust there. His successor has been criticised for being an "Uncle Tom" because he had the temerity to go to good schools and dress conservatively.

 

Vialetta Graham was suspended for 60 days because of her false claim. Could the moderators possibly change "is not disciplined" to "is not fired" in the title of this thread?

 

"The source further informed the OIG that Collier-Montgomery, the Director of OCF, and Miller, the Executive Director of the Board of Elections and Ethics (BOEE), had engaged in a scheme to adjust the payroll system in order to increase their annual salaries from $109,515 to $121,406. It was alleged that Vialetta Graham, now the Chief Technology Officer at BOEE, assisted them in the scheme. [...] This investigation disclosed that Vialetta Graham, the Chief Technology Officer at the BOEE; had apparently falsified her academic achievements on two District government employment applications, including the application she filed with the BOEE at the time she was hired by the BOEE in December 2001."
http://www.dcwatch.com/govern/ig030522.htm

 

Ike: "It's also mine but Lagos is unquestionably a very corrupt place. I spent my early years in Cameroon but received my secondary and undergraduate education in Nigeria. I witnessed corruption in Nigeria firsthand. "


Cehi: There is corruption in every society. I agree that corruption is well entrenched in Lagos, and as a matter of fact, Nigeria. My view is that corruption in Nigeria is "in your face attitude." I think corruption in other societies is as bad as in Nigeria. The act just have different names and meanings in other societies. You know, I see people who bribe other people in Nigeria (bribery as in something that serve to influence or to persuade). In the western world, I see people who lobby other people (as in to try to influence an official to take a desired action). My view is bribery and lobbying create a process whereby "you get something for giving something" or "you give something for getting something." My view is that they both are corrupt acts.


Ike: "Nigerians are inured to false living. They misleadingly exhibit impression of contentment while inwardly they are actually hurting. "


Cehi: I don't know about this comment. This is one view. My view is that there are enough evidences in our current backyards to show that this happens in every society. I think, the point that was been driven home by the authors of the publication was that people in Nigeria still find a way to celebrate or rejoice no matter how unhappy or hurting they may be (ofcourse, this is also possible elsewhere). It is just that they do celebrate or rejoice more over there.

Thank you for your comments.

 

I am not sure what the Latin equivalent of Lagosian is but the city was named after another Lagos in the Iberian Peninsula (that is Lagos, Portugal). Lagos in Portuguese means Lagoon city (as in lagoa or lake in Portuguese). Before the Portuguese set foot on the city, indigenes knew the area as Eko. I think that Lagosian is Lagosiensis in Latin (??? I am not sure).

Ike