From: Steve Levicoff Subject: Re: Interesting post found - forward Date: Monday, February 26, 2001 8:43 AM Lurker wrote: > Newsgroups: > alt.games.bc3000ad, comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.space-sim, comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.strategic > [Almost total sniperooney] I have rarely commented on the Derek Smart situation at all. Why? Because I have no interest in it. Computer gaming is not my thing, period. However, I cannot help but notice that "Lurker" used an e-mail address, phony as it is, with a ".pt" extension. Since ".pt" generally means Portugal, do any of our regulars find any coincidence here (like the fact that Portugal is the location of the originating server for messages from Factwatcher, johnbear_scam, etc.)? > Derek Smart Ph.D. > Designer/Lead Developer > The Battlecruiser Series > www.3000ad.com ICQ: 158435 Having not commented at all on this situation except for a brief response on the degreeinfo.com board that was deleted by the powers-that-be at degreeinfo.com along with Smart's original post, let me posit a simple theory here . . . Derek Smart signs his name with the Ph.D. title, but has consistently and openly refused to reveal the source of his Ph.D. In my opinion, *anyone* who claims to have a Ph.D. should be prepared to immediately, and withuot evasion, reveal its source. We know, at the least, that Smart has said that his degree is from an institution that John Bear has listed as a degree mill in the 12th edition of his book. But past that point, Smart continues to be secretive. The issue is not whether Derek Smart is the creator of the games he has claimed to create; no evidence has been presented to dispute those claims. Nor is the issue whether Derek Smart is, indeed, smart; he may even be quite brilliant. But there are indications that he holds a phony doctorate (if, indeed, it comes from a school labeled as a degree mill by John Bear) As many readers know, John does not use the degree mill label recklessly; indeed, having been sued more than me, he uses it much less than I do. In short, Derek Smart may be everything he claims to be. (Frankly, I don't know, and I don't care. Again, computer gaming is not my schtick.) I've known several brilliant people who have skewed (or screwed, if you prefer) their otherwise spotless reputations with a phony degree. Which brings us to the simple theory, a three-point example of an old algabraic concept: 1. If anyone refuses to reveal the source of his or her doctorate, that person is a fraud. 2. Derek Smart consistently refuses to reveal the source of his doctorate. 3. Therefore, Derek Smart is a fraud. He may, indeed, be everything he claims to be - except a legitimate user of the title "Ph.D." And that, in my book, is enough to make him - or anyone else who engages in the same practice - a fraud. Moreover, he has continued to compound that fraud by continuing to use the title *and* continuing to refuse to reveal the source of his doctorate. All he would have had to do, when exposed, is stop using the Ph.D. title. [Which, of course, brings up another example of the frailty of human ego . . . Here's a guy with a phony doctorate that cannot convince himself of the wisdom of not using a phony title. I have a real doctorate (if any newbie are curious, it's a Ph.D., which I earned in 1991 from The Union Institute in Cincinnati) and almost never use the title. Which illustrates something that I have said here many times: The old cliche "If you've got it, flaunt it," is bullshit. When you've got the real thing, you don't have to flaunt it.] As I recall, I included one other minor observation in my degreeinfo.com post . . . I find it fascinating that Smart lives in Sunrise, Florida. As our regulars may be aware, like Bill Huffman, I am also being sued - for calling the Monterrey Institute for Graduate Studies (MIGS) a degree mill. Everyone's favorite member of the board of trustees of MIGS, Sheila Danzig, also lives in Sunrise, Florida. I hope that perhaps Derek and Sheila can get together and "do lunch," at the least. Talk about a *real* hoot . . . -- ,-~~-.___. / | ' \ ( ) 0 \_/-, ,----' ==== // / \-'~; /~~~(O) / __/~| / | =( _____| (_________| --------------------------------- Steve Levicoff levicoff@ix.netcom.com http://levicoff.tripod.com --------------------------------- Read about the wacky but very real degree mill lawsuit DEGREE.COM v. Levicoff at http://angelfire.com/pa4/levicoff ---------------------------------