July 31, 2008Your degree is from where?
The Spokesman-Review, the newspaper for Spokane, Wash., and surrounding areas, has been reporting on the fate of a diploma mill out that way whose operators face jail time for selling phony college degrees. I find the whole concept of buying a fake diploma disgusting. A college degree isn't about the piece of paper; it's about the education you receive earning that piece of paper. If you just buy the diploma, you've missed the point. Yet some people do buy these degrees, and they put them on their resumes, deceiving potential employers. Sure, an employer should check that St. Regis University and Concordia College actually exist, but the fundamental fault is the deceivers'. The Spokesman Review acquired a list of nearly 10,000 people who spent $7.3 million buying fake degrees and diplomas and placed the entire list online. Among the most foolish were people who used their work e-mail addresses to place their orders. These included 135 with military ties, 39 with educational institution ties and 17 employed by government agencies. Because only half of the records or so had e-mail addresses, the actual numbers are almost certainly higher. (The Washington Post picked up on the story today.) And guess what? One of the 17 government employees lives in Roanoke. Dale L. Louderback sought a fake degree with a .gov e-mail address. He received a BBA (bachelor of business administration). A spokeswoman for the Virginia Department of Social Services confirmed that a Dale L. Louderback works for the department's Division of Child Support Enforcement in the Roanoke office. He has worked there since Dec. 1, 1992. The spokeswoman would not reveal details about his resume but did point out that a college degree is not a requirement for his job finding deadbeat parents. Nevertheless, barring some miracle coincidence that two Dale L. Louderbacks live in Roanoke and work for government agencies, the DCSE might want to check to see if they hired Mr. Louderback or ever gave him a raise based on a fake diploma. |
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Comments
[July 31, 2008 9:08 PM]
HenryShoot, one guy bought a degree from Texas A&M.
[August 1, 2008 11:29 AM]
concerned nowWonderful, the Witbeck guy listed on there is the President of Columbia Research Corporation in VA: "CRC is a privately held corporation with Dr. Norman C. Witbeck as President. CRC has its corporate headquarters in Washington, D.C.; CRC has three divisions, located in Woodbridge, Virginia"
Just googling the names of the PhD holders from VA is alarming as to what turns up.
Why would someone waste their time buying a HS diploma or A.A. diploma??
A friend of mine has Louderback as his DCSE contact but he has never been late on support much less a 'deadbeat dad'. Its nice to see how a potentially overpaid receptionist views the people her Dept. is supposed to represent.
[August 1, 2008 11:46 AM]
c. trejbalTo clarify: The term "deadbeat dad" was my own and should not be attributed to the department spokeswoman.
[August 1, 2008 3:24 PM]
JoshDoes it seem a little out of line that a newspaper staffer is calling a local resident's employer, squealing on him, and asking for information about his resume, then publishing the whole account?
This is from a guy who is so paranoid about government agents prying into his affairs, he scrambles his emails.
Buying a fake diploma isn't a crime. The prosecuting attorney in the Oregon case purposely shielded the identities of purchasers for a reason. Looks like some weasel at the Spokane newspaper got hold of the list and published it anyway.
If Mr. Louderback were a neurosurgeon misrepresenting himself, then, yes, this is a public concern. But it sounds like he's making 28 grand doing a thankless job, the measure of which is how much his clients hate him.
In his case, we know a degree wasn't a requirement for his positionm and he's done a satisfactory job for 16 years. For all we know, he bought the diploma, considered using it down the road, then changed his mind. Mr. Trejbal admittedly doesn't know the story, and has no right to speculate about this guy in print.
[August 1, 2008 3:55 PM]
mhammondAlthough it is clearly a cheesy move to buy a fake degree, it is not illegal. It gets into a grey area when you put it on your resume, and it can definitely get illegal when you use it to defraud...
But I must say that it is trivially easy to check academic credentials. Any HR person worth her salt would require an official transcript of any hired employee, and a quick phone call to a Registrar will confirm that an individual attended (not 'graduated from', that is private) a college.
At an alumni reception the Registrar of my pretty famous college told me that they get a call a day from some employer checking up on a supposed alum who turns out to never have attended.
[August 1, 2008 6:17 PM]
MichelleI find it hilariously funny that just last week the editorial board was all for restoring the voting rights of convicted felons because they “don't think men and women who serve their time should continue to be treated like criminals every day for the rest of their lives” yet this week you lynch some guy in print for purchasing a bogus degree over the internet – a degree he may or may not have used to bolster his academic credentials on a state employment application. You contacted his employer. Did anyone contact Mr. Louderbacks and ask him why he purchased a degree online? Was it a joke? Was to impress his girlfriend? Was it to line the bottom of his birdcage? He’s been with DCSE for 16 years. That’s a long time. Did he purchase the degree before or after he was hired by the DCSE? Inquiring minds want to know. I agree that the concept of buying a fake diploma is disgusting, but you might want to give some thought to digging a little deeper before you pass judgment.