Theft of My Dissertation--2 Years Later

A thread on another part of this board (about the Irish official with the fake PWU doctorate who won't release his dissertation) got me thinking. I have given away dozens of copies free for the asking. I think it's obvious why McSweeney wants to keep his under wraps. (Perhaps that's why he's practically in hiding--he's got a team of people trying to come up with a dissertation!)

Anyway, right after UMI got what they thought was my dissertation, a link to it appeared on A.E.D. Someone (Peter French, posting as "Carlysle") put it there, but wasn't the one who purchased the link. That was Dick Suhar, a graduate of Kennedy-Western University, which I've been rather vocal about over the years.

Suhar purchased the rights to download an electronic copy for himself. To facilitate this, UMI provides a link for 72 hours so the user may successfully download the document. But the purchaser is not to transfer that link to anyone else, just as they are not supposed to transfer the document to anyone else. And considering that what we're talking about is doctoral dissertations, one would think that's pretty secure. I mean, who else would care about some obscure academic paper? Well, lots of people, in this case.

When I saw the link, I downloaded a copy to see what was going on. Imagine my surprise when I found that it wasn't my dissertation at all. Instead, it was my Program Summary, a document my school requires all learners to produce to summarize their learning in their Ph.D. programs. The document summarizes the learning modules covered, residencies, a personal reflection, and much more. It also has highly personal information like names and addresses. Needless to say, I was shocked at both Union for giving UMI the wrong document, and at Peter French for putting it out on the internet.

I called UMI and told them what was happening. UMI told me that Suhar had purchased it (from a UoP server, where he teaches as an adjunct). They also told me it had been downloaded 67 TIMES in two days. Needless to say, I halted electronic sales and had the link disabled. But some damage had been done. It wasn't the distribution of my dissertation I feared, nor the loss of royalties. Again, I distribute it freely anyway. But what I was mad about was that it was the wrong document and, of course, the theft itself.

Peter French and Dick Suhar have never apologized for this bit of shenanigans. Suhar is a degree mill shill and I don't expect anything from him. (And I could have done far worse to him; as a Campus College Chair at UoP, I had access to all of his personal information, even the ratings he'd received from students. That would have made for an interesting post!)

But Peter? In the past, Peter's said a couple of very disturbing things to me, including a vieled threat. (Not that he would do something to me, but something bad would happen to me if I pressed on against the bad guys. Perhaps he meant it as a warning, not a threat?) Still, Peter's been playing nice lately, and has stood up to some very bad people over at Jamesville. So, is the enemy of one's enemies therefore one's friend? He's been receive rather warmly lately here, so I'd like to think so. But I'd also like him to come clean with what was a highly invasive and personal attack.

 

A bit of a bolt from the blue? What brought this on?

I have already commented on this before in this forum, and I am not about to repeat it all again.

I am not 'Carlysle' and never have been so ... ?

You state that Dick Suhar is a shill - your opinion, with which I disagree. He did his work at KWU for a valid reason, and being a fellow Industrial and Manufacturing Engineer I can attest that his work is high level research and regarded as such in our industry globally.

A veiled threat? I'll let you read your mail again, and if you still think that, I respectfully suggest you read it yet again.

It is not my intention to get into an argument with you or anyone for that matter, so this is my only post under this heading.

As far as Jamesville in concerned, I have not stood up to anyone - I have simply stated facts and principles as I see them.

May I suggest that you relax a bit - eh? You are a bit jumpy of late.

 

This keeps Rich in the spotlight. Notice he was not posting for sometime and no one inquired about him.

So he inquired about himself with his "Where's Rich" thread.

 

Uh, huh. That's a very convenient comment, but you have no basis for it.

I see Peter is sticking to his story. I should have expected as much. A leopard and his spots.....but this page belies his claim:

http://ifets.ieee.org/past_archives/archiv_260200_070201/0285.html

Google Groups finds Peter posting the link here: http://groups.google.com/group/alt.education.distance/browse_thread/thread/6d1696aa7d725a68/e60639981aa6dd62?q=carlyle+french+rich+douglas&rnum=3#e60639981aa6dd62

You'll also find some other very interesting things posted by Peter in that thread. A side of him I would think he'd want to put away, rather than cling on. A simple apology would do.

(I misspelled "Carlyle" in my original post starting this thread. But it was "Carlyle" that posted the link, and "Carlyle" is Peter French. The e-mail address he used ([email protected]) is the one he used to post the link.)

Using Jimmy's new-found criterion, this thread has already exhausted its purpose. Thanks for that valuable perspective!

 

I read the references, and I smiled again

Try it - it takes far less effort to relax and smile than to get upset and scowl

As I said before, relax a bit - eh? You are a bit jumpy of late.

And as you said "...this thread has already exhausted its purpose..." I tend to agree, but possibly for far different reasons - it is over as a thread, so lets forget it all happened.

 

It doesn't take a psychology degree to come to the same conclusion.

 

Liar. There, I'm done.

 

This thread DOES have a useful, if unintended, function, however. It causes those of us who did not go into academia to realize that our choices might have been wiser than we thought.

As an undergraduate, I was not exposed to the nastiness that sometimes festers in ivy covered halls. I sort of assumed that academicians are somehow above "that kind of thing".

It's damned unfortunate, especially in light of the high esteem in which I hold professors in their various subjects. To me, you are the high priests of rational thinking and objective inquiry, two founding principals of my personal religion.

 

Yes . . . it's funny.

It also provides an opportunity for me to ask Rich something I have not asked him in several years: Would you like a little cheese wih your whine?

But seriously, I don't even know this Suhar dude (nor do I care to find out about him). Peter, however, has been consistent for years, and nothing will change him.

But somthing should have changed Rich by now - you're a doctor, dude. The fakes shouldn't matter, and you don't have to defend yourself. Now chill out - go out and have some good sex. Or at least masturbate - that should get you to stop thinking about Peter. Well, so to speak.

 

I commented on this in another thread, I said that Peter seemed to be trying hard to be liked.

Just thinking out loud here on why Peter might be trying hard to be liked....????

It cannot be denied that this Board offers a type of respectability for those that are known and active in the academic world pertaining to DL:

Examples I place before the Judges:

1) Dr. Anthony P.
2) Dr. John Bear
3) Dr. Levicoff
4) Dr. Douglas
5) Rev. Clifton
6) Rev. Janko
7) George Brown
8) Dr. Grover
9) Dr. G Gollin

Regular Commentators such as the caliber of:

1) Bill Dayson
2) Many More............

etc.........

so, to somehow have your views and opinions endorsed by these individuals produces a RUB-OFF effect on lesser mortals and if you are an individual that now craves acceptance, this would be the place to start making amends.

Just a couple of thoughts.

 

Oh, I thought I'd give Peter a chance to be an adult about a very churlish thing he did. But your points are well taken, and I'll take your advice, "so to speak."

 

I too read the references and it appears conclusive to me that everything that Rich said is absolutely true. (Note that you can click on a link to get header information. Would you like me to verify that the server the post was from is in Australia?) The only way that it is not true is if someone was impersonating you for a fairly long time over at a.e.d. which is very unlikely, IMHO.

 

It's hard to forgive and forget.

Some things people write sting, years later. (I can still remember phrases like "doesn't appear to have even a junior college education" being applied to me from years back.)

Putting asside the whole dissertation-theft issue ... Richard Douglas is still a human being, and was roasted mercilessly and publicly over what appears on the part of UMI and Union's administrative mistake in posting his Program Summary, rather than his dissertation.

Lacking an apology for those comments --without prejudice to the dissertation-theft issue which is a hornet's nest I'd rather not poke my nose into -- I don't blame Richard one bit for stinging over the issue.

I don't agree with everything Rich says. Not in the least. He doesn't agree with everything I say. Not in the least. But I'll venture to say we share a common bond in that we've both had our private lives invaded by people who cross lines that ought not be crossed.

The whole thing stinks to high heaven. If you think you can write a better dissertation than Dr. Douglas -- go ahead and write the damned thing. Suck in your gut and serve the time. Bust your ass. Pay the price of screwed up eyes and screwed down hairdo, like some cat from Japan. Show some testicular fortitude. Stand up and throw your own ratified dissertation in his ratified dissertation's face, and say "smoke this!" Sing in the aisles, sing it in the streets, wave it on a pole, send it to Her Majesty the Queen, the Pope, or whomever you wish to read it and tell you you know how to write one of the damned things. Like Dr. Levicoff says (and I don't often agree with him, so this one will go down in history) -- Richard Douglas is a doctor now, and doesn't have to defend that. Anyone wants to butt their noses into the quality of Douglas' dissertation has every right to do so by the accepted conventional means: write a dissertation of his or her own that shows him wrong, and have that ratified and referenced. Good luck if that's the way you want to fight -- but that's how the fight is properly fought. Not by throwing some hissy fit. Not by having a primal scream moment on Alt.Education.Destruction. Oh, and if you don't like the fact that his was done at Union under such-and-so-supervision -- then do yours at Cambridge UK for crying out loud. Go on. I dare ya. Have fun, have a few laughs, take a few photos of the bridge. Pick up an accent while you're at it.

But for God's sake -- keep out, out, out, right the hell out of people's personal lives and headspaces.

 

It seems that what Douglas posted speaks directly to whether we should regard information on other matters from one of the perps as credible. Said other poster's credibility appears to be knocked into a cocked hat. Telling a jerk off has its place, especially if defending one's self from abuse has admonitory value for others.

 

What Huffman said, and that dead on.
What Jackson said, and that right well.

 

As I said otherwhere -- the whole scene needs a 40 foot doobie and 24 hours a day of listening to "Imagine." Under such conditions, one needn't be on personal friendly terms to "Smile when you say that, Pilgrim."

 

To Quinn: Wow!
To Unk: Thanks!

To Peter: Forgive and forget begins with acknowledgement and apology. Why now? Why not? Please read my first post for details.

Again, I've had my say and so has Peter. Others might feel the need to post theirs, but I've had mine.

 

Re: Re: Theft of My Dissertation--2 Years Later

Not even an honorable mention among the notables? Sniff, Sniff!!!!!!

 

Rich,

You might want to take stock of your daily activities and add to them - either an extra adjunct class or perhaps an exercise program.

Some things you need to "let go" of.