pzarquon
September 24th, 2004, 02:22 PM
Let's face it. Hawaii has had a bit of a reputation as a breeding ground for "diploma mills." Vague and generous laws and requirements basically made it possible for anyone to get a P.O. Box, print up some business cards, and start handing out Ph.D.s from the Hawaii Academy of Hard Knocks.
State dominates the $200 million quick-degree industry (http://www.bizjournals.com/pacific/stories/2000/05/29/focus1.html)
State, federal officials aim legal guns at diploma mills (http://www.bizjournals.com/pacific/stories/2004/05/17/focus4.html)
Recently, a thread in soc.culture.hawaii pointed out a Hilo-based institution called Akamai University (http://www.akamaiuniversity.us). We all had a good chuckle over it, although president Douglass Capogrossi quickly chimed in with an earnest plea for the benefit of the doubt. "We intend to do all things right and ultimately provide East Hawaii with its own fully accredited distance learning institution," he wrote.
Today, I stumble across this article on diploma mills (http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2004/09/d526607d-299e-40cd-a6df-6324a396767a.html) in Iran. And would you believe... a Hawaii-based operation is one of those cited?
Tehran Province Justice Department spokesman Abbasali Alizadeh [...] does not recognize degrees from the American University of Hawaii (http://www.auh.edu/), the Islamic Republic of Iran News Network reported. The university, which utilizes distance learning and has its worldwide headquarters in Hawaii, has offices in Tehran. A few days earlier, Alizadeh said the institution's chancellor, Ardeshir Qassemlu, is banned from leaving Iran and his accounts have been frozen...And, indeed, the American University of Hawaii at Iran (http://www.auhiran.com/) has its own website.
I don't know what to say. Weird.
State dominates the $200 million quick-degree industry (http://www.bizjournals.com/pacific/stories/2000/05/29/focus1.html)
State, federal officials aim legal guns at diploma mills (http://www.bizjournals.com/pacific/stories/2004/05/17/focus4.html)
Recently, a thread in soc.culture.hawaii pointed out a Hilo-based institution called Akamai University (http://www.akamaiuniversity.us). We all had a good chuckle over it, although president Douglass Capogrossi quickly chimed in with an earnest plea for the benefit of the doubt. "We intend to do all things right and ultimately provide East Hawaii with its own fully accredited distance learning institution," he wrote.
Today, I stumble across this article on diploma mills (http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2004/09/d526607d-299e-40cd-a6df-6324a396767a.html) in Iran. And would you believe... a Hawaii-based operation is one of those cited?
Tehran Province Justice Department spokesman Abbasali Alizadeh [...] does not recognize degrees from the American University of Hawaii (http://www.auh.edu/), the Islamic Republic of Iran News Network reported. The university, which utilizes distance learning and has its worldwide headquarters in Hawaii, has offices in Tehran. A few days earlier, Alizadeh said the institution's chancellor, Ardeshir Qassemlu, is banned from leaving Iran and his accounts have been frozen...And, indeed, the American University of Hawaii at Iran (http://www.auhiran.com/) has its own website.
I don't know what to say. Weird.