Top Officials Hold Fake Degrees

(CBS) They are safety engineers at nuclear power plants and biological weapons experts. They work at NATO headquarters, at the Pentagon and at nearly every other federal agency. And, as CBS News Correspondent Vince Gonzales reports, they're employees with degrees from phony schools.

"These degrees aren't worth the paper that they're printed on," says one insider, who asked CBS News to protect his identity.

The man worked at a so-called diploma mill where students pay a lot of money to get a degree online or through the mail for little or no work.

He says he's not surprised to know that there are people working at almost every level of government who have degrees from these types of operations.

Assistant Secretary of Defense Charles Abell has a master's from Columbus University, a diploma mill Louisiana shut down. Deputy Assistant Secretary Patricia Walker lists among her degrees, a bachelor's from Pacific Western, a diploma mill banned in Oregon and under investigation in Hawaii.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/05/10/eveningnews/main616664.shtml

i wouldn't be living pay check to pay check.

I actually looked into one of these scams years ago, when I was passed over for a promotion because even though I was doing the work of the higher-paying job, I didn't have the proper little letters after my name to qualify for the title and the higher pay that went with it. Phony diploma would've cost several grand, which I didn't have (because I didn't get the promotion).

Eventually, years later, I went back to college, got a bunch of little letters after my name, but still no "real" job, hence no paychecks to live from one to the other.

The worst part about this latest little "scandal" is that many of the people in govt. who got these phony degrees paid for them with our tax money.

... where can I get one of these. I mean, how hard can performing heart surgery be?

There was a woman who worked in the DC Government -- I think she was a political appointee of then-Mayor Marion Barry's.

She was found to have a "degree" from one of these places.

When the local media made a big deal of it, I believe she accused them of being racist.

GO figure.

It's actually been about four weeks since our last horrifying scandal. We are well over-do.

Tony Williams is a very poor substitute for a scandal-plagued mayor.

You're quite right -- it has been about four weeks or so since our last scandal.

When Marion Barry was in office, hardly a week went by without some scandal.

I wonder what Joseph Yeldell is doing these days?

They gave that last superintendent a huge bonus for about six months of work. And I know that some of the schools have not been doing standardized testing correctly. So that may be the early favorite.

Tony Williams is not in town enough to get caught up in a scandal. But I am sure if we get Major League Baseball, a few people will go to jail.

Please don't tell me that you feel that that good people of the District of Columbia should not pay, through their taxes, to fund the construction of a multi-million dollar playground for Major League Baseball.

Wouldn't you just love to see some "Luxury Boxes" set aside for the residents of Ward 7 -- free of charge -- in recognition of their "contributions" to a new stadium for MLB?

One of the people named in the CBS Story is Jennifer Carroll. She is an African-American and is a darling of the Florida GOP. She ran against Corrine Brown a few years ago on a "we need integrity back in Congress" platform! Collin Powell even endorsed her and did ads for her!

I think that both of them may have a phd but not in the sence that the callers to their shows think.

I want to puke everytime some admiring fan calls savage Dr. Savage!

that these degrees wouldn't work unless these people were directed there in the first place.

an emergency Title augmentation service

were legitimate."

How the HELL can you "work hard" towards a degree from a college that DOESN'T EXIST, LOL!?

Yeah, they "worked hard", all right. It's hard work trying to hunt down a diploma mill that that manufactures degrees that look authentic. :wtf: :eyes:

What blatant bullshit.

(P.S.: They ARE GOPsters.)

I think that there should be an investigation into this.

I think that there should be an investigation into this.