Date: Mon, 19 Dec 1994 17:31:51 -0800 From: Paul Trummel ***************************************************************** CONTRA CABAL 5(3): Internet Censorship Spreads to the University of Louisville ***************************************************************** If vicious people unite and form a technological power, then honest people must do the same. Rephrase of a quotation by: Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoi (1828-1910) War and Peace (1865-1869) ***************************************************************** The precensorship of CONTRA CABAL by Elliott S. Parker, Central Michigan University (CMU), and the subsequent cover-up by President Donald C. Swain, with his Attorney, Thomas H. Lyons, University of Louisville (UL), has national implications. Both precensorship and censorship construe as a contravention of rights granted under the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Despite the constitution, censorship of the Internet has become common in the academe. This directly prejudices students (clients of the university) who pay high tuition. It also impacts upon those faculty members who try to maintain high ethical standards under incredibly totalitarian circumstances. The case reported here exemplifies those circumstances. Parker (CMU), precensored the CONTRA CABAL article "Public Intellectualism or Public Fraud?" from the Internet. His first response to the article provides evidence of this, and his subsequent messages show, that he has denied access to listserv list (see archive.parker). He acquiesces in a stream of obscenity written by a verminous minority of the journalists who post to . Moreover, his subliterate discourse probably identifies him with those journalists [see archive.parker.obscenity]. Lyons (UL) has sent an intimidating letter to the editor of CONTRA CABAL. It supports the precensorship by both Parker and James Cocks (a computer administrator at UL) [see archive.parker]. Swain, Lyons, and Thomas Sawyer (Assistant Vice President for Information Technology, (UL)) continue to aid and abet both Parker and Cocks by a cover-up. More importantly, this cover-up displays a blatant disregard for the right of free speech. Apparently, Swain, Lyons, and Sawyer support totalitarianism: a pernicious evil that becomes more prevalent in the academe each day. Consequently, the assertions here do not relate to the behavioral dysfunction of individuals like Parker and Cocks. They relate to high-level political expediency and a new kind of cultist totalitarianism disguised as political correctness. Its proponents deny free speech to those who do not conform to political correctness, or what one may define as "new totalitarianism." This column also addresses the apparent and implicit support given to this totalitarian ideology by three university presidents: R. Byron Pipes, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) Leonard E. Plachta, Central Michigan University (CMU) Donald C. Swain, University of Louisville (UL) These presidents use creative inertia to avoid answering personally addressed correspondence. Both Pipes and Swain, use their attorneys in endeavors to silence those who protest. Especially, they have used irrational and preemptive action to undermine the public's right to know about academic fraud in the Department of Language, Literature, and Communication, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (LLC/RPI). A dispute over censorship by an administrator, presently raging at Carnegie Mellon University, has attracted international attention. The excellent article, by Thomas J. DeLoughry (The Chronicle of Higher Education, November 16, 1994 (ppA22,A24)) contains a discussion about the recent Carnegie Mellon affair. It provides another perspective on the precensorship and censorship reported in CONTRA CABAL. The failure of Swain to answer personal correspondence, and his use of an attorney to intimidate the sender, typifies the behavior of Pipes (RPI). Many university presidents now employ legal whores to threaten whistle-blowers when they report wrongdoing. The law presently bars reprisals against those who expose university corruption; however, many academic whistle- blowers frequently face retaliation by harassment, expulsion, and destruction of their careers. Fortunately, this type of behavior may soon decline. The federal Commission on Research Integrity may soon produce a Whistle Blowers Bill of Rights. Subsequently, the Commission will mandate that all government contracts with universities contain this Bill of Rights. This document will instruct administrators how they must deal with people who present evidence of academic fraud. Pipes now ignores the existing laws and allows his provost, Gary Judd, to retaliate against whistle-blowers by forgery and expulsion without due process. He also condones other retaliatory measures used by Judd to cover up the academic fraud endemic in several departments at Rensselaer. Rensselaer receives both direct and indirect federal funding. They also blatantly subvert existing law and deny due process to both students and faculty members in attempts to cover up malfeasance. Hopefully, the new rules will prevent institutions like Rensselaer from receiving federal research support in the future. Read the article by Stephen Burd (The Chronicle of Higher Education, December 14, 1994 (pA30)). Like Pipes, Swain has chosen to cover up the criminal activity described in CONTRA CABAL. Like Pipes, Swain has absurdly chosen to try and suppress Internet information. Like Pipes, Swain has delegated his problem to a legal hack rather than accept the responsibilities of his position. Like Pipes, Swain has neglected to diligently investigate a complaint that seriously affects both academic and journalistic freedom. Moreover, Swain's neglect shows his contempt (prior to any independent investigation) for the constitutional right to freedom of speech. He implicitly condones the criminal activity at Rensselaer. He continues to allow his staff to suppress information vital to public awareness of academic fraud. He aids and abets his employees who censor the Internet to prevent disclosure of information that he considers politically incorrect. No wonder that many students and members of the public (who pay exorbitant tuition to support academic scams) now place some university presidents at the same ethical level as most of their attorneys: one level below various car salesmen and prostitutes. ***************************************************************** The description of the Technical and Graphic Communication program, propagandized by the Department of Language, Literature, and Communication, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, blatantly misrepresents the actual offering. Merrill D. Whitburn, LLC/RPI Chair, has neither qualified faculty members nor resources to support the program that he describes. Those students who consider enrollment in LLC/RPI programs may write to CONTRA CABAL for information about the corruption and fraud prevalent in that department. Many have already taken advantage of this opportunity and decided to enroll in more ethical programs at other universities. ***************************************************************** To receive archive.parker send an email. To: concabal@u.washington.edu Subject: archive.parker Text: [FirstName] [LastName] ***************************************************************** To receive archive.parker.obscenity send an email. To: concabal@u.washington.edu Subject: archive.parker.obscenity Text: [FirstName] [LastName] ***************************************************************** To subscribe to CONTRA CABAL send an email. To: concabal@u.washington.edu Subject: subscribe Text: [FirstName] [LastName] ***************************************************************** To unsubscribe from CONTRA CABAL send an email. To: concabal@u.washington.edu Subject: unsubscribe Text: [FirstName] [LastName] ***************************************************************** CONTRA CABAL has an estimated 100,000 international readers on the Internet and several newspapers have republished either complete articles or segments. The publisher encourages electronic copying and forwarding of articles if the copyright information remains intact. However, he retains the copyright and expressly denies the right to convert the articles into any form of printed medium without prior permission. Send requests for permission to the publisher by email or fax. Paul Trummel, Managing Editor and Publisher. Email: trummel@u.washington.edu Fax: 01-206-227-9486 Copyright 1994 by Paul Trummel. All rights reserved. *****************************************************************