Dear Joel and Ethan,
So, last week I was reading this article complaining about the state of movies today by film producer Linda Obst. She writes that the only ones that seem to get made these days are those based on comic books and video games, with lots of explosions, dumb laughs, and hot boys under the age of 24. Obst blames the recession, arguing that studios have no money, and are therefore completely unwilling to take on the risk of producing movies that are actually thoughtful or well-written if they don’t have sparkly vampires or require 3-D glasses. (Which doesn’t really make sense to me–wouldn’t movies with big stars and killer special effects require tons of money to produce? Do you have any insight on this?)
I guess I had this article somewhere in the back of my mind when I read this story about diploma mills (h/t Jessie Daniels) about a physicist who happened to see a viral pop-up ad for a bogus university, which somehow led to him falling down the rabbit hole, unearthing a vast transnational network of scam artists. It is a fascinating read full of intrigue, as Dr. George Gollin teams up with the FTC and the Secret Service in a sting operation (OPERATION GOLD SEAL!) to chase and bring down diploma mills. It involves the Liberian embassy, a clandestine meeting at the Mayflower Hotel in DC, and Pentagon officials with fake degrees. It’s like some Cold War-era spy thriller, only about diploma mills instead of assassination and state secrets! Who knew?
You guys are smart. I bet you know where this is going. Please, please, please turn Operation Gold Seal into a movie. It seems right up your alley, a kind of madcap noir. Forget about what Obst said about what kind of movies can be produced these days. I’m sure you are just as sick of the CGI-ification of every single cartoon and toy from the ’80s as I am.
Can’t you just picture Russell Crowe as the rogue physics professor? Or perhaps you’d like to go with an older, more distinguished type like Ben Kingsley or Michael Caine. John Cho and George Clooney would make awesome Secret Service agents, and Holly Hunter and Jeff Bridges can be the couple in Spokane who cooked up the diploma mill scheme.
Okay, and just in case Obst is right, how about a compromise: throw in some of those kids from “Twilight” as undergraduate research assistants, and we’re golden.
Thanks for listening.
Sincerely,
A fan
You will be amused to know how much the head of the Spokane Secret Service looks (and sounds) like Bruce Willis. So I would suggest Mr. Willis to play Agent Miller. And my lawyer, a very bright, very serious fellow, sometimes hears that he looks like Bill Murray. So that would be another suggestion.
I was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship to support research for a book on the case; I am about 190 pages into the book so far, and hope to have the first draft done by the end of the summer. Working title at the moment: “Burning Saint Regis: Taking Down the American Criminals Who Hijacked Liberian Education.” It is True Crime, not at all a dry higher education policy book. The story begins with a bust, jumps back a few years, and probably ends at a Fourth of July party a dozen miles east of Spokane.
Since I worked on the investigation for four years I have an insider’s view of things. I know it was frustrating to David Wolman when he wrote the article that the feds were skittish about publicity. It’s too bad, because the investigators and prosecuting attorneys are heroes, and deserve tons of recognition. Wolman’s a great guy, by the way–
regards,
George Gollin
Professor of Physics
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
g-gollin@illinois.edu
This is fabulous. I cannot wait for the film version:)
Thanks for chiming in, Professor Gollin. I love the image of Bruce Willis as Secret Service agent. Good luck with finishing the book!
CHEA director George Gollin (George D. Gollin, George Dana Gollin) took part in a Liberian shakedown operation intended to drive a Christian medical school out of business when it refused to pay bribes, documents filed in a Los Angeles federal court allege.
Gollin, a notorious anti-Christian bigot and University of Illinois physics professor, played a key role in the shakedown directed against St. Luke School of Medicine, according to a complaint filed March 11, 2010. St. Luke students had an 88% pass rate on their medical licensing exams, an outstanding performance for a school in the heart of war-torn Liberia. But when the school declined to pay the bribes demanded by Liberian officials to continue its accreditation, defendant George Gollin designed and implemented a scurrilous publicity campaign to discredit the school as a “diploma mill,” according to the complaint.
Gollin claims to be an “expert” in accreditation, even though he has no background, education or experience in accreditation matters, and has never taught or taken a distance learning course. To promote himself and divert attention from his lack of achievement in his dead end academic career, in 2003 Gollin began stalking, threatening and harassing startup operations and small Christian schools that couldn’t afford or refused formal government accreditation. Although he was ordered by University of Illinois administrators to discontinue these practices, he then joined forces with admitted homosexual Alan Contreras–an adjudicated anti-Christian bigot and civil rights violator–to continue and expand his sordid activities.
Gollin’s employer, the University of Illinois, is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit. So far there has been no comment from the university about whether Gollin will continue to be employed there at taxpayer expense, or if he will be forced to resign in disgrace.
A UIUC physics professor acted in concert with Liberian thugs to shakedown a fledgling medical school that refused to pay a $6,000 a month bribe, documents filed in the US district court in Los Angeles allege.
George Gollin (George D. Gollin, George Dana Gollin), a tenured professor at scandal-plagued University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, aided corrupt Liberian politicians affiliated with rebel groups by spreading false stories in documents and presentations that St. Luke School of Medicine was a “diploma mill” operation, all to force the school to pay bribes, according to the complaint filed March 11, 2010.
Gollin, an avowed Marxist who has been under fire from religious and civil rights groups for his anti-Christian and racist statements, had previously been ordered by the university to discontinue his extortionate conduct and remove his defamatory materials from university internet servers. However, Gollin hooked up with adjudicated anti-Christian bigot and civil rights violator Alan Contreras to post his slander on an Oregon government server in an attempt to sidestep his employer’s mandate. The University of Illinois is also a defendant in the complaint.
Plaintiff St. Luke School of Medicine previously obtained a US$120 million dollar judgment in Ghana against some of the same defendants named in the current complaint. Legal experts believe that Illinois taxpayers may find themselves on the hook for at least that amount, thanks to Gollin’s reckless and irresponsible conduct. So far neither the Illinois attorney general’s office nor the US Attorney’s office have commented on whether state or federal criminal charges may be lodged against Gollin for his part in the extortion operation.
Gollin’s wife, UIUC “Conflict of Interest Officer” Melanie Loots, has been heavily criticized for her part in the recent conflict of interest scandal that rocked the university and cost Chancellor Richard Herman and President B. J. White their jobs. She also was cited by the FDA for selling 386 mutant lab animals to the public for food.
Will a physics professor’s “hobby” cost Illinois taxpayers $120 million? University of Illinois physics professor George Gollin (George D. Gollin, George Dana Gollin) is being sued in a Los Angeles federal court for his part in a Liberian shakedown scheme.
St. Luke School of Medicine was a small, accredited medical school that helped to provide doctors and medical care to the poor and sick in war-ravaged Liberia. But when they refused to pay a $6,000 a month bribe, George Gollin began a campaign to falsely portray the school as an illegal “diploma mill” to force them to pay the bribe, according to the complaint.
George Gollin’s current employer, the University of Illinois, is also named as a defendant in the complaint. In 2003 university spokesperson Robin Kaler stated that the university did not support George Gollin’s hobby of stalking and attacking small Christian schools because it was outside the area of his supposed expertise.
But in the face of these admonishments George Gollin continued with his hobby, aided by gay Oregon bureaucrat Alan Contreras. Contreras was judged to be an anti-Christian bigot and civil rights violator in an Oregon court proceeding, and that judgment was affirmed on appeal.
George Gollin and his wife Melanie Loots, who also is employed at the University of Illinois, have been involved in number of scandalous incidents recently.
George Gollin claims to hold a doctoral degree from Princeton University in New Jersey, whose university policy expressly prohibits collaborative dissertations. Gollin admits the document he submitted was a collaboration, in violation of university rules. The dissertation bears a striking resemblance to a research paper purportedly authored by Gollin and 15 other students, and the synopses for both documents are virtually verbatim.
George Gollin used violent imagery similar to that used by the infamous Zodiac Killer to threaten people he believed had posted an embarrassing photo of him on the internet. He also is alleged to have violated federal law by falsely posing as a government official, and has been caught allegedly posting other people’s social security numbers on his university web site.
Using the code name “galanga,” George Gollin made 1,280 posts on an internet website operated by a pedophile-pandering gay pornographer.
Gollin’s wife, Melanie Loots, served as “Conflict of Interest Officer” for the University of Illnois during the conflict of interest scandal that rocked the university and resulted in the sacking of top administrative officials, including President B. Joseph White and Chancellor Richard Herman.
Loots also was cited by the federal Food & Drug Administration for selling 386 mutant lab pigs to the public for food. In another incident, religious groups demanded Loots’ resignation when it was discovered she had made bigoted, anti-Catholic slurs and belittled Catholic religious rituals.
Despite these incidents the pair remains employed by the university at taxpayer expense, with George Gollin receiving a $100,000 salary, and his wife receiving $160,000.
Plaintiff St. Luke previously obtained a $120 million judgment against some of these same defendants, but so far corrupt Liberian officials have prevented them from collecting. Illinois taxpayers could potentially be on the hook for that amount or more, thanks to George Gollin and his reckless hobby.
[img]http://www.dltruth.com/gollum/GollinHater02.jpg[/img]
George Gollin is a University of Illinois science teacher who claims to be an “expert” in accreditation—despite having no formal education or training on the topic.
“These sons of bitches who smell money are just using the situation there for their own ends,” says George Gollin. “They’re monsters. They’re just disgusting monsters.”
Who is George Gollin talking about? Perhaps it’s the pedophile-pandering gay pornographer who ran the website where George Gollin made 1,280 posts? No, not a word about that from George Gollin.
Maybe it’s that woman who sold 386 mutant lab pigs to the public for food, and got cited by the FDA for violating federal health laws? That was no woman, that was his wife, Melanie Loots, and no comment on that from George Gollin either.
Or could it perhaps have been that gay Oregon bureaucrat who was adjudged by a US federal court to be an anti-Christian bigot and civil rights violator? Nope, that was George Gollin’s “collaborator” Alan Contreras, to whom George Gollin sent all the slanderous web pages his employer ordered him to remove from their server.
No, George Gollin is talking about people like Dr. Jerroll Dolphin.
All Dr. Jerroll Dolphin wanted was to bring doctors and medical care to the poor, sick and dying of Liberia, an African country in the throes of violent chaos and civil war. Against all odds he nearly succeeded, opening St. Luke School of Medicine, obtaining government accreditation, and even graduating medical doctors who achieved an excellent 88% pass rate on national medical board exams.
Thanks to Dr. Dolphin’s efforts, for the first time in ten years doctors brought medicine to hundreds suffering in refugee camps. Twenty-five new doctors were licensed, many of whom paid nothing at all in tuition for their education.
But then the rebels controlling the education system in Liberia began demanding a $6,000 a month bribe from Dr. Dolphin and St. Luke. When the school refused to pay George Gollin went into action, court documents allege.
Acting as a “consultant” to the corrupt Liberian regime, court documents allege that George Gollin began a campaign to slander St. Luke as an illegal “diploma mill” operation.
As a result of George Gollin’s alleged treachery, St. Luke School of Medicine could not provide the doctors and medical care that the African people so desperately needed. And without such care, untold numbers of African men, women and children suffered needlessly and died cruelly.
Now Dr. Dolphin and St. Luke School of Medicine are suing George Gollin and the University of Illinois in a California federal court. Dolphin already has obtained a $120 million judgment against some of the defendants in an African court.
But who is really the “monster” using the Liberian situation for his own ends? The answer is written in the blood of dead African babies.
All Dr. Jerroll Dolphin wanted was to bring doctors and medical care to the poor, sick and dying of Liberia, an African country in the throes of violent chaos and civil war. Against all odds he nearly succeeded, opening St. Luke School of Medicine, obtaining government accreditation, and even graduating medical doctors who achieved an excellent 88% pass rate on national medical board exams.
Thanks to Dr. Dolphin’s efforts, for the first time in ten years doctors brought medicine to hundreds suffering in refugee camps. Twenty-five new doctors were licensed, many of whom paid nothing at all in tuition for their education.
All leftist college professor George Gollin (George D. Gollin, George Dana Gollin) wanted was another line to add to his 29 page resume. Gollin, employed as a physics teacher at the University of Illinois, desperately craved recognition as an “expert” in higher education accreditation, despite having no education or experience in the subject. Stuck in a dead end career, and with his wife earning 60% more money than he did at the same school, Gollin urgently needed a trophy to establish his credibility.
His opportunity came when the rebels controlling the education system in Liberia began demanding a $6,000 a month bribe from Dr. Dolphin and St. Luke. When the school refused to pay, George Gollin saw his opportunity. Acting as a “consultant” to the corrupt Liberian regime, court documents allege that George Gollin began a campaign to slander St. Luke as an illegal “diploma mill” operation.
As a result of George Gollin’s alleged treachery, St. Luke School of Medicine could not provide the doctors and medical care that the African people so desperately needed. And without such care, untold numbers of African men, women and children suffered needlessly and died cruelly. George Gollin got that extra line on his resume, written in the blood of dead African babies.
Now Dr. Dolphin and St. Luke School of Medicine are suing George Gollin and the University of Illinois in a California federal court. Dolphin already has obtained a $120 million judgment against some of the defendants. But how much are dead babies worth to George Gollin?
You can see that I’ve irritated some of the folks who have had diploma mill affiliations. The nastiness above was probably posted by an unhappy guy on the west coast who was associated for a short time with a mill, but comes at this not because of a financial interest but rather because of his politics, which he will describe as “Libertarian.” His deviant form of Libertarianism is not widely accepted as legitimate. So keep his ravings, or delete them as your terms of service dictate.
Book is moving forward: I am at the 220 page mark, approximately. And the Turkey Who Howls My Name isn’t in it: he doesn’t matter, is irrelevant to the story.
cheers,
GG