Comments on: Jerk du jour: Matt Arnold, Republican liar for CU regent

By: Comradde PhysioProffe

Comradde PhysioProffe — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 16:41:14 +0000

Unreal. Of course, this is the modern republican model: fill the governance structures of public institutions with people who hate those institutions and seek to destroy them.

By: cgeye

cgeye — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 23:18:00 +0000

It’s a dark day when the Denver Post has to go against any Republican, on (*choke* *sputter*) general principle. It’s as if someone has to start the Model A of their conscience with the Hulk’s elbow grease, a Formula One-quality lube pit and Kenneth Strickfaden’s electric apparata.

By: sleepschmeep

sleepschmeep — Sun, 10 Jun 2012 23:59:01 +0000

And let’s not forget Christine O’Donnell’s academic embellishments: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/plum-line/2010/09/another_christine_odonnell_emb.html .

By: Historiann

Historiann — Sat, 09 Jun 2012 18:47:03 +0000

Word. If you are a local, you will recall the gift that Scott McInnis gave us back in 2010! Priceless.

By: grumpyscholar

grumpyscholar — Sat, 09 Jun 2012 18:35:29 +0000

I missed the other article, but I agree – the editorial vote of no confidence was an obvious call, but the DP still took a pretty strong line. I’m on an honor code subcommittee at my school, and one thing we’ve talked about recently are all the real-world examples – like this one – of how cheating and lying in the end really do not pay. So: I can’t stand Arnold’s self-righteous claims, but I’m glad to have them as an example to talk over with students.

By: Student evaluations of online courses: rife with hostility? : Historiann : History and sexual politics, 1492 to the present

Sat, 09 Jun 2012 13:46:57 +0000

[...] (Clearly, these students should run for CU’s Board of Regents!) [...]

By: Historiann

Historiann — Sat, 09 Jun 2012 13:15:19 +0000

Thanks, grumpyscholar–I just read that in my home delivered print version of the DP. Kind of an obvious call, in my view! There was another article on p. 2 detailing the three endorsements that Arnold has lost, including former Senate President John Andrews, an infamous right-wing crank, but no idiot. Even he recognized that Arnold is too dodgy to be supported.

By: grumpyscholar

grumpyscholar — Sat, 09 Jun 2012 11:16:08 +0000

The Denver Post has a strong editorial in today’s paper, recommending against him for the fake degree and for suggesting that he had the CO Republican Party’s endorsement (its a non-partisan position). I’m pasting part of it below. My favorite part is the final paragraph:

… recent disclosures involving Arnold have caused us to question his judgment and fitness to become a University of Colorado regent, an office he is seeking.

First of all, Arnold seems to have been deceptively imprecise in describing academic credentials he got from Johns Hopkins University.

In addition, somehow an e-mail implying the Arapahoe County Republican Party endorsed Arnold in this month’s primary was sent from an e-mail address known to belong to the candidate.

The trouble is, the party scrupulously avoids taking sides in primaries. It’s against party bylaws and state law.

Arnold denies sending the e-mail — instead blaming a supporter — but he does admit to having “input” into the content, which is enough of an indictment in itself. Voters should have seen enough by now to know they don’t want this guy having a hand in running the University of Colorado.

In a story earlier this month, Denver Post reporter Tim Hoover described the e-mail sent to Republicans in Arapahoe County, which contained the subject line “Get out the vote!”

The message contained the Republican Party logo and concluded with the words “Arapahoe County Republicans.” It’s clear that the missive was intended to sound like it was from the party.

Party officials contacted Arnold and asked that another e-mail be sent out retracting the prior message. And while a second e-mail did go out, it wasn’t a clear retraction and the party felt compelled to send its own message saying the “Captain Arapahoe” e-mails were not from the party.

In the controversy regarding academic credentials, The Post’s Lynn Bartels reported that Arnold has erroneously told voters he has a master’s degree in international economics from Johns Hopkins.

He does not. He has what a university spokeswoman called a “graduate-level certificate.” Arnold termed the discrepency “minutiae.”

We think someone who wants to sit on the governing board of Colorado’s flagship university system ought to have a better appreciation for the differences in those credentials.

The full piece is: Editorial: CU regent hopeful Matt Arnold lacks credibility – The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_20816057/editorial-cu-regent-hopeful-matt-arnold-lacks-credibility#ixzz1xIHF7ZyL.

By: The Mad Dreamer

The Mad Dreamer — Sat, 09 Jun 2012 00:51:07 +0000

If only it were a criminal offense to fraudulently claim a degree one has not earned.

By: Historiann

Historiann — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 20:06:23 +0000

But–this guy didn’t get his M.A. degree because (at least in part) he didn’t finish his thesis. He has a certificate from the program, but not an actual degree, according to the linked Denver Post article.

I don’t blame JHU. I blame business culture at large, which frequently looks the other way (if not outright rewards) resume fraud and inflated credentials. These people have contempt for academic achievement, even as they try to convince everyone that they have academic achievements. I say fine with me if you have contempt for credentials–but then don’t go laying claim to the credentials you allegedly hold in contempt!