Maxine Asher and American World University

I'd like to offer a thought here, concerning this whole debate. I visited the American World University site, as well as the WAUC and Atlantean Research whatever its called site. If indeed these organizations are controlled by Asher, has anyone besides myself wondered if this woman suffers from serious mental illness, possibly Paranoid Schizophrenia? There seems to be an underlying feeling of unjust persecution inherent in all these organizations, from the mission statement at WAUC to the speculation about conspiracy at the Atlantean thing. I must admit that I didn't have enough flagpoles to raise all the red ones raised by AWU in particular, but possibly being a money-grubber does not necessarily mean that some one is also not potentially delusional, and incapable of judging right and wrong. Of course, its just a thought.

 

Flyingbiscuits makes some good points, which I won't elaborate on because I would just be saying more of the same, and I don't want to be getting into any more of this personal quagmire sort of stuff. But perhaps I should mention that this spring Asher actually sicced my local police department's head detective on me!! I guess he didn't have enough to do with investigating rings of drug dealers, and was happy to follow up on the ravings of someone half a country away. If Asher doesn't like impertinent questions, she can have email bounced back to the sender. Honestly.

What I would like to follow up on is this business about the nonprofit, tax-exempt status of Asher's WAUC and AWU. Her Ancient Mediterranean Research Association is listed on the California Secretary of State Web site as being of a "dissolved" status. (I don't know when that "dissolved" status dates from.) So, I don't get what business the AMRA even has collecting yearly and lifetime membership dues, etc., etc.

 

Having learned from Bill Gossett in another thread to check the PDF-type document that is presented as a link at the bottom of Mississippi SOS pages giving incorporation info., I have found another detail about AWU's Mississippi incorporation. The incorporator is given as AWU's "vice president" Russell D. Murray, 3422 Old Capitol Street, Suite 703, Wilmington, DE 19808.

I imagine the "vice president" business is just a fiction, but who knows. In any case, Mr. Murray runs "Delaware Business Incorporators, Inc.":
http://fs7.formsite.com/delbusinc/legaladdress/

This business offers "legal address[es] in Delaware," and the usual secretarial-service identity-package services. You can find on the Web a wide variety of suite numbers associated with the street address, which is the "Capitol Office Center." Most of them--consultants to Ukrainian businesses, etc.--are probably associated with Murray's business. The firm also offers a "U.S. Bank Account Opening Service."

It all sounds pretty doubtful, but it's pretty similar to the kind of businesses run by Asher's representatives in other countries. One wonders how far back Asher's relationship with Murray goes, and if he has helped her to find middlemen/representatives/marketeers in other countries.

 

Two things you folks may already know, but worth noting anyway:

1. AWU has been added to the Oregon list of less-than-wonderful schools.


2. AWU still seems to have a presence in Louisiana. Since they've been registered as a nonprofit for so long, I think it should be possible to request copies of the annual financial report from the Louisiana Secretary of State's office.


Peace,

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Tom Head
www.tomhead.net

 

I forgot to mention: that means they're registered in at least three states as a domestic nonprofit, all apparently without the relevant IRS registration. That's hilarious when you think about it.


Peace,

------------------
Tom Head
www.tomhead.net

 

I've just been reviewing a bit of the American World University Web site, and re-discovered the mention of their "chancellor" as being one Terrance Devney. While there is a paucity of information on any Terrance Devneys online, I think it's interesting that a Terrance Devney just retired, 5/31/01, from his position as principal at Schurr High School in Montebello, CA, which is just to the east of East Los Angeles. I suspect that they are one and the same.

The awukorea site lists one of the faculty members as being "Terrance Devney, J.D." and that he teaches "Education." What would a person with a valid law degree be doing teaching "Education"?

As for the other faculty listed on the various AWU sites, it's difficult to find much about who they might actually be and what qualifications they might actually have in the real world. One of the faculty members listed, when I emailed him, informed me that all he had ever done was assist a single journalism student with a single project several years ago, and that he had done it for free. He said that he felt "exploited" to be listed as a faculty member (he was never informed of this), and that his own higher degree was just being used to give credence to AWU in a way he found offensive.

 

Make that four -- Louisiana, Iowa, Mississippi and South Dakota.

South Dakota's records aren't online, so I sent e-mail and received a reply that AWU was registered as a nonprofit.



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Kristin Evenson Hirst
DistanceLearn.About.com

 

Several thoughts on Maxine, AWU and related topics in this thread:

1. Nonprofit status. I'm no attorney, but I was a Board member and officer for a 501(c)(3) nonprofit for a number of years. Part of my responsibilities included compliance, and we had wonderful legal counsel that specialized in nonprofit issues, so I learned a little. My understanding is that there is a huge difference between being a nonprofit and being a nonprofit public charity. There are lots of classes of nonprofits that are neither tax exempt nor can grant tax deductions to contributors. An example is Greenpeace, who is essentially a political lobbying organization, and therefore ineligible. My suspicions are that AWU is incorporated as a nonprofit, but has never filed for (and probably wouldn't be eligible for) tax exemption, so it simply pays taxes and such. Monticello did the same thing.

2. I have just finished reading "Ancient Energy", a 1976 book by Maxine. While published by Harper and Row, the book is full of typos, misspellings, and clumsy grammar... but it does appear to have some legitimate citations, and Maxine's work appears to be associated with some credible archaeologists.

Her viewpoint and methods are definitely "out on the edge" (essentially relying on intuition as a means of enhancing the ability to locate artifacts and areas of interest while in sites of archaeological significance), but, for those who are openminded to things like dowsing, the concept is what I'd classify as in the fringe, not over the edge into ridiculousness... but that's opinion, and others who are more skeptical or cynical will probably have a different opinion.

3. As I was reading this book, which seems a genuine and sincere effort to talk about an area that I actually have some interest in (parapsychology), I was constantly trying to reconcile the two sides of Maxine Asher:

a. A woman who understands the scientific methods and seeks a way to evaluate unusual methodologies, such as intuition, into the scientific method and working to get mainstream acceptance for her research;

b. A woman who runs a fraudulent accreditation scam, lies to Spy Magazine about it's location and credibility, and also runs a highly questionable "school," of which no one can discern the location of the campus.

It doesn't make sense at all... unless one considers that maybe, in her mind, she has somehow justified the school and accrediation scams as a means of funding her archaeological research.

It's the only thing that I can come up with that makes any sense at all.

Is it right, ethical, moral? Absolutely not. Could someone who travels all over the world to visit remote archaeological sites find a way of twisting his/her ethics to justify this as means to an end? Maybe.

The next book to tackle is "Tapping Into the Force", and then "The Atlantean Conspiracy"... more info later

 

Please--for your own sake--don't do this to yourself. Don't read anything more by Asher than you have to. You may go blind. You may go into convulsions. I wouldn't wish the reading of Asher writings on the mangiest, most flea-bitten street mut.

Regarding the charitable status and taxes issues, at least one Asher project does go the whole hog in claiming status as a tax-exempt charity. The Web site for Asher's Atlantis charity states that the memberships, up to and including the $200.00 "lifetime membership" category are wholely tax-deductible. I doubt that this would bear examination by the Internal Revenue Service, because of the way the organization is run, and because of the apparently nonexistent status of the organization as a presently operating California corporation. It's also important to note that the country's premier charities make no such claims for similar memberships. For example, as I recall, the Metropolitan Museum's membership categories give a whole menu of what percentage of each category is actually tax-deductible. Now, maybe Asher's charity, assuming that everything else were OK, would qualify for complete tax-deductibility if only it were not giving such valuable benefits to its members. After all, members get a thin mimeographed newsletter a few times a year....

Regarding Asher's AWU and WAUC, I doubt that they could really withstand much IRS scrutiny even if Asher is paying taxes. I think that these are arranged in such a complicated manner, with money being made abroad and funneled to various parties in those foreign countries as well as the United States, that keeping proper books documenting it all would be nearly impossible unless one retains on one's staff competent, ethical accountants. Considering that Asher won't rent an office or hire a full-time secretary for either AWU or the WAUC, I doubt that she would spend such money on accountants. Perhaps her brother James Klein, AWU accounting professor, does her accounting for her, but is he keeping books on every scrap of foreign revenue and to whom it goes? I doubt it.

 

Don't forget the upcoming action-adventure film about her life, starring Angelina Jolie: Maxine Asher: Tomb Raider/.

I'm sorry; that was truly dreadful.


Peace,

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Tom Head
www.tomhead.net