tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-188586382024-03-07T00:10:16.454-05:00Region 19 BOE Gazette<b>This is an unofficial and oftentimes humorous look at my former Region19 Board of Education experience. I will try to stimulate interest and discussion along the way. This is a sandbox of ideas that we'll explore together so feel free to comment.</b>Frank Krasickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01484416897999464357noreply@blogger.comBlogger939125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18858638.post-2947179409036153512023-10-15T18:17:00.001-04:002023-10-15T18:17:32.863-04:00Resolving Age Discrimination and Elder Abuse at the Hands of UCONN<p> Last week I dropped <a href="https://region19.blogspot.com/2023/06/a-draft-affidavit-of-educational.html" target="_blank">my complaint against UConn</a> for age discrimination practices in exchange for a promise by their counsel to address the issues involved.</p><p>I received the following email from Nicole Fournier Gelston, General Counsel at UCONN.</p><p><br /></p><p></p><blockquote><p>Dear Mr. Krasicki- </p><p>We appreciate your agreeing to engage in the pre-answer conciliation process with respect to your complaint. As we shared with Mr. Cobb, we regret that the information you received regarding UConn's policy with respect to the Senior Tuition Waiver was not accurate. The Senior Tuition Waiver applies to both undergraduate and graduate program tuition. </p><p>We are committed to taking steps to ensure individuals responsible for or otherwise involved in the admissions processes are fully informed that the waiver applies to undergraduate and graduate level programs. We are also committed to ensuring "Seniors" have clear and complete information. </p><p>Toward those ends, an email communication will be sent to remind individuals involved in the admissions processes of the applicability of the waiver. In addition, the policy on the University Bursar website will be revised to include a statement that the Senior Tuition Waiver applies to both undergraduate and graduate program tuition. </p><p>We apologize for any inconvenience this misinformation caused you. </p><p>Sincerely, </p><p>Nicole Fournier Gelston </p><p>cc: Dr. Kent Holsinger, Graduate School Dean </p></blockquote><p></p><p><br /></p><p>The letter has virtually nothing to do with the complaint itself but okay UConn has no interest in correcting the glaring and blatant discriminatory practices I outlined in detail in the complaint. In fact this letter and the pre-answer process was a futile exercise, IMO but, again, okay - UConn is incapable of intelligently responding to the issues at hand.<br /><br />To that end I drafted and sent a letter that outlined my expectations of what needs to be resolved for individuals applying to any State Higher Education institution using the tuition waiver.<br /><br />Here was my response.</p><p></p><blockquote><p>RE: CHRO Case: 2440052</p><p><br /></p><p>Dear Ms. Gelston,</p><p><br /></p><p>This is a letter of acknowledgment of our pre-answer conciliation agreement.</p><p><br /></p><p>Please attach this as my understanding of your responsibilities in understanding and accepting responsibility for resolving the issues I raised.</p><p><br /></p><p>All State faculty need to be aware of the law. I filed the complaint against UConn because it is the state’s flagship institution and claims to be a research institution. As such, it needs not only to model its educational architecture to honor this law, it also needs to to advocate its adoption to all institutions that are affected by it.</p><p><br /></p><p>My complaint further documented the fact that any State law that ensures the rights of any minority group can be systemically neutered through adversarial bureaucratic complexity. More specifically, older students are not necessarily contiguously engaged with educational institutions. When asked for academic references, most of my closest and most complementary mentors are dead. When you require that elders attempting to take advantage of free tuition contact faculty, you are asking older people to somehow contact, busy and difficult to contact individuals, for an exception to attending their (unwelcoming?) class.</p><p><br /></p><p>This faculty contact request and response dynamic needs to be made uniform and transparent to all involved and it needs to be that way statewide. This, yet another opportunity for UConn to lead. </p><p><br /></p><p>This is nothing less than a discriminatory request and obstacle to equitable participation. This process needs re-imagination and reform. Our reconciliation cannot force you to change any of this but your existing model of class registration is a textbook model of how systemic discrimination is practiced in a multitude of social practices. In your capacity as legal counsel I hope you make it loud and clear that this is a research topic that needs to be studied and corrected statewide.</p><p><br /></p><p>The fact that Connecticut offers free tuition to older workers is a lost opportunity under existing practice.</p><p><br /></p><p>There is already a nationwide debate about the cost of education that needs no further explanation. And in a gig economy where older workers often find themselves unemployed and whose skills are antiquated, Connecticut is offering free up-skilling opportunities is a business magnet assuming the State’s Higher Education institutions bothered not only advocating its availability but recognizing its potential to complement business needs or celebrating its authentic, no-social-engineering-required, diversity.</p><p><br /></p><p>Finally, though my complaint is being dismissed, the facts I presented were true and actionable. In other words, you can responsibly examine the material provided or not. But if CHRO is alerted to the same charges anytime in the near future then this case should remain a part of the institutional memory that UConn was made aware of the issues, promised to remediate them, and didn’t take it seriously.</p><p>Regards,</p><p>Frank W. Krasicki</p><p><br /></p><p>cc: Dr. Kent Gelston, Zachary Cobb, Uconn Board of Trustees</p></blockquote><p></p><p><br /></p><p>In a correspondence before this meeting I alerted them to the following additional context for the complaint.</p><div class="gs" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Google Sans", Roboto, RobotoDraft, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; width: 1213.28px;"><div class="gE iv gt" style="cursor: pointer; font-size: 0.875rem; padding: 20px 0px 0px;"><table cellpadding="0" class="cf gJ" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border-collapse: collapse; display: block; font-size: 0.875rem; margin-top: 0px; width: auto;"><tbody style="display: block;"><tr class="acZ" style="display: flex; height: auto;"><td class="gF gK" style="display: block; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; max-height: 20px; padding: 0px; text-wrap: nowrap; vertical-align: top; width: 961.426px;"></td></tr></tbody></table></div><blockquote><div class="gE iv gt" style="cursor: pointer; font-size: 0.875rem; padding: 20px 0px 0px;"><table cellpadding="0" class="cf gJ" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border-collapse: collapse; display: block; font-size: 0.875rem; margin-top: 0px; width: auto;"><tbody style="display: block;"><tr class="acZ" style="display: flex; height: auto;"><td class="gF gK" style="display: block; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; max-height: 20px; padding: 0px; text-wrap: nowrap; vertical-align: top; width: 961.426px;"><table cellpadding="0" class="cf ix" style="border-collapse: collapse; table-layout: fixed; width: 961.426px;"><tbody><tr><td class="c2" style="display: flex; margin: 0px;"><h3 class="iw" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: auto; color: #5f6368; font-size: 0.75rem; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 20px; margin: inherit; max-width: calc(100% - 8px); overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; text-wrap: nowrap;"><span class="qu" role="gridcell" tabindex="-1" translate="no"><span class="gD" data-hovercard-id="krasicki@gmail.com" email="krasicki@gmail.com" name="Frank Krasicki" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; color: #1f1f1f; display: inline; font-size: 0.875rem; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="position: relative; vertical-align: top;">Frank Krasicki</span></span> <span class="cfXrwd"></span><span class="go" style="color: #5e5e5e; vertical-align: top;"><span aria-hidden="true"><</span>krasicki@gmail.com<span aria-hidden="true">></span></span></span></h3></td></tr></tbody></table></td><td class="gH bAk" style="align-items: center; color: #222222; display: block; margin: 0px; max-height: 20px; text-align: right; text-wrap: nowrap; vertical-align: top;"><div class="gK" style="align-items: center; display: flex; padding: 0px;"><img alt="Attachments" class="f gW" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/images/cleardot.gif" style="background: url("https://www.gstatic.com/images/icons/material/system_gm/1x/attachment_black_20dp.png") center center / 20px no-repeat; height: 20px; margin: -3px 6px 0px 0px; opacity: 0.54; vertical-align: top; width: 20px;" title="Outlook-Logo, Outlook-See the so.png, Outlook-See the so.png, Outlook-Logo" /><span alt="Sep 7, 2023, 12:41 PM" class="g3" id=":x7" role="gridcell" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: auto; 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max-width: 92%; overflow: hidden;"><span class="hb" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: auto; color: #5e5e5e; font-size: 0.75rem; line-height: 20px; vertical-align: top;" translate="no">to <span class="g2" data-hovercard-id="Zachary.Cobb@ct.gov" email="Zachary.Cobb@ct.gov" name="Zachary" style="vertical-align: top;">Zachary</span>, <span class="g2" data-hovercard-id="generalcounsel@uconn.edu" data-hovercard-owner-id="98" email="generalcounsel@uconn.edu" name="generalcounsel@uconn.edu" style="vertical-align: top;">generalcounsel@uconn.edu</span></span></div><div aria-haspopup="true" aria-label="Show details" class="ajy" data-tooltip="Show details" id=":x1" role="button" style="align-items: center; border: none; display: inline-flex; justify-content: center; margin-left: 4px; outline: none; position: relative; vertical-align: top; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><img alt="" class="ajz" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/images/cleardot.gif" style="background: url("https://www.gstatic.com/images/icons/material/system_gm/1x/arrow_drop_down_black_20dp.png") center center / 20px no-repeat; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: flex; height: 20px; margin: 0px 0px 0px auto; opacity: 0.71; padding: 0px; position: relative; right: 0px; top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 20px;" /></div></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div id=":x4"><div class="qQVYZb"></div><div class="utdU2e"></div><div class="lQs8Hd" jsaction="SN3rtf:rcuQ6b" jscontroller="i3Ohde"></div><div class="btm"></div></div><div class=""><div class="aHl" style="margin-left: -38px;"></div><div id=":8a" tabindex="-1"></div><div class="ii gt adO" id=":x5" jslog="20277; u014N:xr6bB; 1:WyIjdGhyZWFkLWY6MTc3NjM5NDQ3NzIzNDEwMzcwNyIsbnVsbCxudWxsLG51bGwsbnVsbCxudWxsLG51bGwsbnVsbCxudWxsLG51bGwsbnVsbCxudWxsLG51bGwsW11d; 4:WyIjbXNnLWE6cjIwMTQzODIwODA1MjQxOTk5MjUiLG51bGwsW10sbnVsbCxudWxsLG51bGwsbnVsbCxudWxsLG51bGwsbnVsbCxudWxsLG51bGwsbnVsbCxudWxsLG51bGwsW10sW10sW11d" style="direction: ltr; font-size: 0.875rem; margin: 8px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;"><div class="a3s aiL " id=":8b" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: small; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: 1.5; overflow: hidden;"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family: georgia, serif;">I may be out of town late in September. Oct 5 works for me. </div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family: georgia, serif;"><br /></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family: georgia, serif;">To provide some context for this meeting, allow me to offer the following;<br /><br />Two points of interest from: <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://law.justia.com/codes/connecticut/2015/title-46a/chapter-814c/section-46a-83&source=gmail&ust=1697493882980000&usg=AOvVaw2Q8FciRzy-8HVD2lSZrOKz" href="https://law.justia.com/codes/connecticut/2015/title-46a/chapter-814c/section-46a-83" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">https://law.justia.com/codes/<wbr></wbr>connecticut/2015/title-46a/<wbr></wbr>chapter-814c/section-46a-83</a><br /><br />"(i) After finding that there is reasonable cause to believe that a discriminatory practice has been or is being committed as alleged in the complaint, an investigator shall <b>attempt to eliminate the practice complained of by conference, conciliation and persuasion not later than fifty days after the date of the finding.</b> The refusal to accept a settlement shall not be grounds for dismissal of any complaint."<br /><br />"(m) The executive director or the executive director’s designee may enter an order of dismissal against a complainant who (1) after notice and without good cause, fails to attend a fact-finding conference; (2) after notice and without good cause, fails to attend a mandatory mediation conference; or <b>(3) refuses to accept an offer of settlement where the respondent has eliminated the discriminatory practice complained of, taken steps to prevent a like occurrence in the future and offered full relief to the complainant."<br /></b></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family: georgia, serif;"><br /></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family: georgia, serif;">My interpretation of this legal contradiction is that the elimination of the discriminatory practice is optional based on the discretion of the respondent. My complaint rests on the fact that the practices employed by UConn are wholly illegal, unethical, and unacceptable. The practice must be remediated to comply with the spirit, intent, and goodwill interpretation of anti-discrimination law.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family: georgia, serif;"><br /></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family: georgia, serif;">Some demographic context based on a lightweight google search:</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family: georgia, serif;"><br /></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family: georgia, serif;">"<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://aging.ctdata.org/&source=gmail&ust=1697493882980000&usg=AOvVaw2Jb_wPP0uCCoLK6USXrT3_" href="http://aging.ctdata.org/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">http://aging.ctdata.org/</a></span></div><br />Search for: What percentage of the population is over 50 in the US?<br />How many senior citizens are in Connecticut?<br /><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family: georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The state, the seventh oldest in the country, has nearly 590,000 people over age 65 and the most diverse (17.5%) older population in New England. More than 28% of people over 65 live alone and more than 66% of those over 85 are women.</span>"</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family: georgia, serif;"><br /></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family: georgia, serif;">Definition of Elder Abuse<br /><br />What age is considered elderly in the state of Connecticut?<br />(ages 60+)<br />ELDER ABUSE UNDER CONNECTICUT LAW<br /><br />Elder abuse also includes neglect, exploitation, and/or abandonment of an elderly (ages 60+) person.<br /></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family: georgia, serif;"><br /></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family: georgia, serif;"><br /></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family: georgia, serif;">Finally, another recent example of potential UConn discriminatory practice that make violate NCAA rules, money laundering or kickback law, or other less than scrupulous DEI practice:</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family: georgia, serif;"><br /></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family: georgia, serif;">"<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How many scholarship players can a NCAA basketball team have?</span></div>13 scholarships<br />In NCAA Division 1 basketball, coaches can offer a maximum of 13 scholarships per team. These are called headcount scholarships, also known as full-ride scholarships. The average NCAA Division 1 team rosters 16 athletes, so there might be three players on the team who walked on and don't qualify for athletic aid.<span style="font-family: georgia, serif;">"</span><div><span style="font-family: georgia, serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, serif;">"</span>DEI: <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.foundation.uconn.edu/uconn-nation-donates-23-million-in-support-of-diversity-equity-and-inclusion/&source=gmail&ust=1697493882980000&usg=AOvVaw1v4MbIKVW5PfByHWK5aAId" href="https://www.foundation.uconn.edu/uconn-nation-donates-23-million-in-support-of-diversity-equity-and-inclusion/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">https://www.foundation.uconn.<wbr></wbr>edu/uconn-nation-donates-23-<wbr></wbr>million-in-support-of-<wbr></wbr>diversity-equity-and-<wbr></wbr>inclusion/</a></div><br /><div>"The Star Kids Kathy and Geno Auriemma Scholarship supports undergraduate student-athletes who are members of the women’s basketball team, with preference given to students demonstrating financial need"<span style="font-family: georgia, serif;"><span class="gmail_default">"</span> </span><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family: georgia, serif;"><br /></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family: georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">regards,</span><br /></div><div><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature" dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div><br /></div><div>Frank Krasicki</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></blockquote><div class=""><div class="ii gt adO" id=":x5" jslog="20277; u014N:xr6bB; 1:WyIjdGhyZWFkLWY6MTc3NjM5NDQ3NzIzNDEwMzcwNyIsbnVsbCxudWxsLG51bGwsbnVsbCxudWxsLG51bGwsbnVsbCxudWxsLG51bGwsbnVsbCxudWxsLG51bGwsW11d; 4:WyIjbXNnLWE6cjIwMTQzODIwODA1MjQxOTk5MjUiLG51bGwsW10sbnVsbCxudWxsLG51bGwsbnVsbCxudWxsLG51bGwsbnVsbCxudWxsLG51bGwsbnVsbCxudWxsLG51bGwsW10sW10sW11d" style="direction: ltr; font-size: 0.875rem; margin: 8px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;"><div class="a3s aiL " id=":8b" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: small; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: 1.5; overflow: hidden;"><div dir="ltr"><div><div><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature" dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><p>There is no excuse for UConn being unaware of these glaring issues nor for negligently and, for all intents and purposes, maliciously ignoring the aging population of Connecticut while employing an army of DEI officers statewide dedicated to everyone else but the elderly as individuals who need their attention.</p><p>I encourage anyone who, going forward, experiences similar experiences in any State Higher Education institution to contact the Connecticut Human Rights and Opportunities Commission - they'll evaluate your problem fairly and armed with complaints such as mine will be armed to ask the right questions.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><blockquote><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.480000000000004pt; margin-right: 316.32pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin: 0pt 316.32pt 0pt 0.48pt;"><br /></p></blockquote>Frank Krasickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01484416897999464357noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18858638.post-46940991094083702023-06-16T02:52:00.000-04:002023-06-16T02:52:42.736-04:00A Draft Affidavit of Educational Illegal Discrimination Based on Age<p>The following is a draft version of the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities <span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center; white-space-collapse: preserve;">AFFIDAVIT OF ILLEGAL DISCRIMINATION</span> I plan to submit.<br /><br />I am crowd sourcing the proof-reading and accuracy testing of what I'm presenting that affects individuals aside from myself. I can be confidentially contacted at krasicki@protonmail.com if you have concerns or corrective criticism. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> <span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I provide the following particulars:</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-3fc7ff2c-7fff-55a0-4b75-b70e2ebc9d33"><br /><ol style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.3800000000000001; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">The Respondent employs more than 15 persons.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /><br /></span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.3800000000000001; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">I am a 71-year-old male with an undergraduate degree (1974) in Studio Art and Education from Doane University (then Doane College), a Liberal Arts institution. I wanted to continue and further my Studio Art education by applying for an opportunity to be selected into UConn’s Master of Fine Arts ( MFA ) program at the Storrs Campus at the University of Connecticut.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">On March 24, 2023, I received written notification that I was not selected by Judith Thorpe – the Chairperson of the MFA. And the reason for the denial was there were only five opportunities for admittance and I wasn’t one of the individuals still under consideration.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">My complaint has absolutely NOTHING to do with that selection process. This item simply provides a context and baseline for the following situation that not only affects myself but anyone who is older and not already an insider to the system.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Footnote 1 - </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">The number of accepted applicants to UConn’s MFA program is tightly coupled to the MFA program’s boast that all MFA candidates are “fully-funded” therefore the very acknowledgement that someone attended an MFA program by means other than those already in place will somehow diminish its prestige or competitiveness.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /><br /></span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.3800000000000001; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">I had collected a number of fallback positions in the event that I was not selected. One alternative approach was to attend a UConn Studio Art course to introduce myself to faculty and demonstrate both my talent and seriousness in being reconsidered for the program going forward. Concurrently, I learned that senior citizens can attend State institutions tuition free.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">On March 25, I emailed Judith Thorpe to confirm this was true.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">And I inquired about the possibility of attending a UConn studio Art course or the potential to design a DIY MFA that wouldn’t interfere with their current prestige track.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">She replied on March 26 by saying that “Tuition free courses are allowed only at the undergraduate level. You should consider auditing an undergraduate course in drawing, painting, or printmaking to develop your work…”</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Footnote 2 - </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">This is a legitimate [tho misinformed] response from the Chair of the Art Department that provides an insight to faculty understanding of how things work.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /><br /></span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.3800000000000001; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">On March 27, I contacted the UConn registrar’s information office to ask what policy governed the“undergraduate courses only” constraint. The website merely alluded to the policy but there was no cross-reference as to where it came from or who was accountable for it. The information desk person didn’t know but said that an email to the registrar was required to get that answer. On March 27, I sent an email to the registrar asking for the information required to appeal the policy because I found it unfair and potentially illegal.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Footnote 3 - </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">This was the basis of my original CHRO complaint.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">By April 14, I had called CHRO and was corresponding with Robert Aldi to say that I never did hear from the registrar. In order to file this complaint I set about investigating it myself which has far broadened the scope of the discriminatory nature of UConn and the State’s ageism problem. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /><br /></span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.3800000000000001; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">I spent a lot of time attempting to navigate UConn and other State educational facility website attempting to understand how any senior citizen could know about, navigate, or take advantage of higher education based on the law, DEI protections, or even as a matter of interest. I will detail some of this below.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /><br /></span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.3800000000000001; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">On May 3, Uconn’s registrar - thanks to an audit of their email activity or lack thereof - finally responded to the question asked in section 4.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">“</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">To clarify, the Over 62 Waiver does cover tuition only for both degree-seeking and non-degree seeking courses in the fall and spring. The webpage on the Bursar's Office is here: </span><a href="https://bursar.uconn.edu/tuition-waivers-graduate-students/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">https://bursar.uconn.edu/tuition-waivers-graduate-students/</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"> “</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">…</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">The policy authors are the CT State Legislature, and the statute is cited at the top of the page.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">That link defines the Over 62 Tuition waiver thus,</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">“</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">This waiver pertains to any person 62 years of age or older who has been accepted for admission, provided this person is (1) enrolled in a degree-granting program or, (2) for a person not enrolled in a degree program, provided, at the end of the regular registration period (on or after the first day of classes), there is space available in the course in which the person intends to enroll. Students must be a Connecticut resident and 62 years old prior to the beginning of the term they wish to enroll in. The waiver is only available for fall and spring semesters, and is valid for TUITION ONLY. Residual fees are the responsibility of the student. For any person who receives a tuition waiver and also receives educational reimbursement from an employer, the waiver is reduced by the amount of the educational reimbursement. Some fee based programs may not qualify for this waiver. The senior tuition waiver does not apply to students in graduate certificate programs. Please contact </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #3075a6; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">bursar@uconn.edu</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"> for any questions. For registration inquiries please contact the Registrar's Office.”</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Footnote 4 - </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">There is nothing here that indicates Undergraduate Only courses for seniors. Nor is there a means test to qualify for such a waiver.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Not only is the website wrong (and subversively discriminatory) but so is the faculty understanding of such a waiver (see item 3 previously). </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">The discrimination against senior citizens is systemic and this is just one aspect of what soon develops into a Kafka-trap of ignorant and disingenuous, plausible deniability on the part of these State institutions. Details to follow.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">You might also ask yourself why this information is so deeply buried in their website. I’m a lifelong Software Engineer/Software Architect and I never stumbled across this. Imagine any senior ever having the chance to know this exists. IMO, this qualifies as Elder Abuse just as withholding health information or necessary drugs from someone does.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Footnote 5</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"> - Notice that the law isn’t discriminatory. UConn’s interpretation, disingenuous dissemination, and implementation is.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /><br /></span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.3800000000000001; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Armed with this new information, I contacted Judith Thorpe once again.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">“</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Given this clarification of tuition waiver;</span></p></li></ol><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.3800000000000001; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 0pt 18pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><br /></p><ul style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; margin-left: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.3800000000000001; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">my application for admission to the MFA program is no longer contingent upon either a grant, scholarship, or other arrangement - the tuition is covered and I can cover any other expenses required</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; margin-left: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.3800000000000001; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">the prestige of UConn's fully-funded MFA program remains intact</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; margin-left: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.3800000000000001; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">UConn's misleading website references that institutionally and functionally promote age discrimination based on disingenuous interpretations of the law that create a classic example of passive systemic age discrimination will be addressed through a CHRO complaint that I am currently compiling</span></p></li></ul><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.3800000000000001; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 0pt 18pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">For the sake of clarity, I don't necessarily require studio space. I live just a few miles up the road. While I am open to both the critical nature and informational aspects of the program, I don't believe I add undo or unnecessary overhead to anyone's teaching or guidance role.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.3800000000000001; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 0pt 18pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.3800000000000001; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 0pt 18pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">So. What do I need to do to be accepted into the graduate program? Such acceptance no longer is dependent on the five students already accepted which, presumably was the critical decision in eliminating my portfolio from further consideration. “</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Judith never replied back.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /><br /></span></p><ol start="8" style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.3800000000000001; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">On May 9, Kent Holsinger - </span><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor, Vice Provost for Graduate Education, and Dean of The Graduate School </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">sent me an unsolicited opinion email to reassure me that the system is self-insulating and to go away.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">“</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">I understand your disappointment at being declined admission to the MFA program in Art. As Professor Thorpe described in her original email to you, admission to the program is </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">highly</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"> competitive. Only a small fraction of the many talented applicants are finally recommended for admission. I have not spoken with Professor Thorpe or with anyone else associated with the decision in your case, but nothing in the correspondence below leads me to believe that the decision to decline your admission was related to your ability to pay tuition, whether through the Over 62 Waiver or not.</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">If you believe that references on any University website are misleading and promote age discrimination, you may refer your complaint to…” [all of the gatekeepers who enforce these policies in the first place].</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Footnote 6 -</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">This is a guy who used to teach science. Brutal.</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">He never asked me what the issue was so he can’t know the question. But he has the systemic response in his back pocket. He doesn’t care about discrimination at all. He personalizes the problem, it’s me (any person), who is unworthy - go test our website out for us - and don;’t go away mad, just go away and don’t forget what a big shot just corresponded with you - just a warning!</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Needless to say I responded in kind.</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /><br /></span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.3800000000000001; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">RE: Footnote 3 - My research into the details because nobody else - not UConn, not DEI, not their Board of Trustees, nor anyone else incentivized to raise an eyebrow for American Connecticut senior citizens - </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">fuck ‘em, they can’t prove it!</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">a.) 2019 State Programs for Older Adults (</span><a href="https://www.cga.ct.gov/2022/rpt/pdf/2022-R-0131.pdf" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">https://www.cga.ct.gov/2022/rpt/pdf/2022-R-0131.pdf</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">)</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">“Tuition Waivers for Older Adults By law, state residents age 62 or older may qualify for a tuition waiver at any of the state’s public higher educational institutions, if at the end of the regular registration period enough students are enrolled in the course for it to be offered and enough space is left to accommodate the senior citizen (CGS §§ 10a-77(d), -99(d), and -105(e)). “</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">b.) Revisit Item 3 - “consider auditing an undergraduate course in drawing, painting, or printmaking to develop your work…”</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">See: </span><a href="https://nondegree.uconn.edu/senior-citizen-audit/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">https://nondegree.uconn.edu/senior-citizen-audit/</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">“Senior citizens who do not seek degree credit may audit </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">undergraduate courses only</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">. Consent of the instructor is required. …[snip]... The senior audit </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">does not</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"> apply to laboratory or studio classes.”</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">In other words, not only are senior citizens denied an opportunity to take or audit a graduate level course, they cannot take a necessary [laboratory or studio] undergraduate course either. In Footnote 4, I described the discriminatory practice as systemic. This is another example of the Catch-22 nature of attempting to take advantage of a State-sponsored tuition waiver and the intentional roadblocks that the University invents to prevent in succeeding - </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">you can’t get there from here. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">This likely affects other such waivers - say for veterans as well.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Note the systemic nature of the discrimination is the reminder of the brain-dead “undergraduate only” UConn policy that no one seems to be accountable for except to deflect blame somewhere else. For individuals who already hold undergraduate degrees this makes zero sense while for those without either an undergraduate degree or relevant life-experience, the policy works. In other words, it is written to constrain the academically immature or unprepared from advancing beyond their preparedness. Applying this to individuals who have earned degrees, succeeded in a life’s journey, and want to proceed is something that makes this unnecessarily punitive and petty.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">But even these arguments fail to fully describe the broader scope of discriminatory practice at UConn that involves not only ageism but a failure to provide uniform, consistent diversity practice throughout the State.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">To compare and contrast the difference between the treatment of senior citizens and younger students one need look no further than E.O. Smith high school - the only high school that UConn allows qualifying junior and senior high school students the opportunity to attend tuition-free, undergraduate courses.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">The comparison is stark. A high school student can “</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">step up into</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">” undergraduate courses that have empty seats (the priority of these students with veterans and other qualifying candidates is unclear). What is clear is that these students do not even possess a high school diploma yet and can move ahead.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Seniors with either life experience aplenty, an undergraduate degree or more </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">are not able to move up into</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"> appropriate courses.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">But as obvious as this difference is, there are even more complicated nuances involved. The E.O. Smith students who enjoy these benefits are more often than not related to UConn employed local citizens can mean that ensuring that “consent of the instructor” qualifications are wholly impartial is a questionable requirement for seniors or older vets to contend with. I served on the E.O. Smith Board of Education for 12 years so I’m confident of what I’m saying.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">But the rabbithole of cascading discriminatory practice digs even deeper. E.O. Smith students who succeed in these courses enter UConn not only with a pocketful of tuition free courses that give them a head start. UConn’s process of course selection includes a Byzantine hierarchy of who gets first preference in selecting courses. These high school/UConn courses are applied to that course selection priority ranking. All things being equal, these students can and do enjoy an entitlement that even better or equally qualified undergraduates cannot match.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">And deep as this rabbithole is, it has even more consequences that UConn’s virtue signaling marketing hides. The Storrs campus is surrounded by lily-white suburban communities. If high school kids from the area can take tuition-free courses based on geography alone then logically - I, as a senior citizen of the area - should also enjoy that preference.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">But it’s not about geography, it's about the comfort of nepotism. UConn and other State institutions have urban extensions throughout the State. The E.O. Smith high school entitlement is not extended anywhere else - not Hartford, New Haven, Bridgeport, or a dozen other locations - despite the University’s virtue signaling rhetoric about the importance of student opportunity and diversity. This is an institution that needs fresh governance and a serious and honest audit of their current educational practice. While my complaint is constrained to age it should be obvious that the cancer of structural and systemic discrimination is chronic and widespread.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /><br /></span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.3800000000000001; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"> The Roots of Discrimination</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Age discrimination is explicitly expressed in </span><a href="https://www.cga.ct.gov/current/pub/chap_185b.htm#sec_10a-100" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">https://www.cga.ct.gov/current/pub/chap_185b.htm#sec_10a-100</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">“</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">PART III</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">THE UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Sec. 10a-102. (Formerly Sec. 10-117). Object of The University. Enrollment. Degrees. The University of Connecticut shall remain an institution</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"> for the education of youths whose parents are citizens of this state.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"> The leading object of said university shall be… [snip]... The board shall establish policies which protect academic freedom and the content of course and degree programs.”</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Bolded mphasis mine.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Compare and contrast this to (</span><a href="https://www.bestcolleges.com/blog/free-college-tuition-senior-citizens/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">https://www.bestcolleges.com/blog/free-college-tuition-senior-citizens/</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">)</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">“</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 17pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><a href="https://www.bestcolleges.com/schools/colorado-state-university/fort-collins/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Colorado State University</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"> — Fort Collins, CO</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 17pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4d4d4d; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">CSU's </span><a href="http://policylibrary.colostate.edu/policy.aspx?id=541" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">senior citizen class visitation policy</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #4d4d4d; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"> allows resident instruction classes on a space-available basis to students age 55 and over. </span><a href="https://registrar.colostate.edu/lifelong-learners/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Lifelong learners</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #4d4d4d; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"> can register for classes in subjects like theater, Italian, and women's studies without paying tuition. “</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4d4d4d; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4d4d4d; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4d4d4d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Nationwide the use of terms like “lifelong learners” is wholly non-discriminatory and wholesomely accurate. Uconn’s indifference to 18% of Connecticut’s population who are potentially lifelong learners is criminal. It is the responsibility of the State’s flagship higher education institution to correct this.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4d4d4d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /><br /></span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.3800000000000001; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">To synthesize my complaint I offer this draft summary.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">There are unnecessary UConn policies that violate the spirit and intent of the anti-discrimination State and Federal laws. These policies not only compound the inability of senior citizens to take advantage of a benefit from institutions that many of us have spent decades supporting with our taxes but these benefits are subverted by obfuscating their existence not only to senior citizens but UConn faculty, communications, and administrative services.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">I think I’ve sufficiently documented how self-serving and self-insulating the system is. What UCONN is doing is a form of discrimination under Title VII, the ADAA, ADEA, and a host of State and regional legal protections.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /><br /></span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.3800000000000001; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Upon belief & knowledge, I and many more are being discriminated against by the university because of age. </span></p></li></ol><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800000000000001; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I request the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities investigate my complaint, secure for me my rights as guaranteed to me under the above cited laws and secure for me any remedy to which I may be entitled.</span></p><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></div></span>Frank Krasickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01484416897999464357noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18858638.post-47801955954733009652023-02-20T10:13:00.003-05:002023-02-20T10:13:23.254-05:00Resources on the Teaching Effects of AI Chat Bots<p> This from Yale: </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="318" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XujIeqWxCQ4" width="382" youtube-src-id="XujIeqWxCQ4"></iframe></div><br /><p></p>Frank Krasickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01484416897999464357noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18858638.post-30434230795249362852021-01-12T00:28:00.003-05:002021-01-12T00:28:35.912-05:00The End of the American Bill of Rights - The Freedom of Speech is Dying<p> In the early hours of the dawn of Liberal Fascism, the first empirical casualty is the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. The assassins are twofold - a public education system that has imprinted the idea that speech is violence and a social media war that rewards on a first come first serve basis the solicitation of censorship.<br /><br />The society of the United States has normalized a global social practice which is the idea that free speech is only practiced between trusted cohorts. In repressive and unstable countries, the individual is no less capable of Free Speech but it carries a heavy risk. What separated the United States conceptually was the idea the the free exchange of ideas was precisely what liberated society and the country to greater art, science, and political stability. After all, if only tolerated speech was common, free speech that differed was not only risky but psychologically retarding.<br /><br />In recent years, the main stream media (major networks and streaming services large and small) have vocally advocated the kind of Freedom of Speech that repressive societies practice.<br /><br />It is usually expressed in one way or another this way - "Say whatever you want but there are consequences!" And it isn't expressed in a way that implies that Freedom of Speech is a healthy exchange of ideas, a reasoned civil disagreement, or simply a temporal opinion or belief based on recent thinking.</p><p>No, Freedom of Speech today is a chilling subliminal warning that saying anything that isn't believed or tolerated by the urban liberal majority WILL be subject to immediate consequence. That could mean loss of job, loss of access to one of the many 21st century communications platforms, physical harm, exposure of family to social retribution, and so on.<br /><br /><a href="https://xkcd.com/1357/">This xkcd website political cartoon</a> puts a smiley face on the obvious ominous warning;<br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/free_speech.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="577" data-original-width="566" src="https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/free_speech.png" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The door being illustrated is to a gas chamber, a person cancellation that is publicly humiliating and that carries draconian punishment that far outweighs any harm that the speech might contain. It invites and encourages "people listening" to imagine and fashion a door of their own choosing that somehow teaches the speaker of an unacceptable narrative a punishing lesson.<br /><br />The new theater lesson isn't the fear that someone will yell 'fire' in the crowded theater, it is the fear that the crowed theater will all yell 'kill' should anyone dare speak something unwelcome.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br />Frank Krasickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01484416897999464357noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18858638.post-34830870046717670912020-10-29T01:39:00.004-04:002020-10-29T01:39:47.090-04:00Snow Days a Thing of the Past<p>In 2006, as a member of the school board, I created a post advocating <a href="https://draft.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/18858638/114429393629141119">Virtual Make-up Days</a>.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.fox61.com/article/news/education/school-resource-center/remote-learning-day-could-replace-snow-days-this-school-year/520-28902cbb-1216-4712-9ed2-6453367a0d51">Fourteen years later, the State of CT - thanks to a worldwide pandemic - has finally figured it out.</a></p><p><br /></p><p>Someday learning will apply to teachers, administrators, and education bureaucrats as well.</p>Frank Krasickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01484416897999464357noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18858638.post-69926180406411726042020-05-18T00:14:00.000-04:002020-05-18T00:14:07.576-04:00Sol Pais, Semantic Tagging, and the Toxicity of Google Visual Search This are the final observations I will offer about the Sol Pais history.<br /><br />Before Sol Pais was found dead in the woods of Colorado, she came to my attention in some information streams I religiously monitor. The authorities, according to these reports, were looking for her because of some mysterious connection to a Columbine anniversary. I found the ambiguous nature of the evidence to be disturbing. This country has far too many self-righteous vigilantes who shoot first and ask questions later for a young girl to be widely advertised to be a threat to a community perpetually "on edge".<br /><br />Years ago, I had worked (as a Software Engineer) on the Homeland Security Information Network (HISN) that I suspected was used to communicate between Florida and Colorado authorities. The more I read about this real-time manhunt, the more concerned I was about this woman's safety.<br /><br />The other oddity about this event was the release of two photographs of Sol, one that made her look like a woman in her thirties and uncannily simulating a Patty Hearst ambiance. I had a gut feeling she would not be seen alive again.<br /><br />So, curiosity piqued, I started doing what I do well - research. I took screen shots of the Sol Pais images and dropped them into Google search to see who she was aside from the shady pictures being published. I didn't get the results I expected.<br /><br />A picture search should, theoretically, return images that match the images you submit. A picture of Sol Pais <i><b>should have</b></i> returned one of the many pictures of her I later found on numerous websites. Instead what was returned were dozens of the same photos semantically tagged with Columbine, school threat, and so on. And the rest of the photos returned were not young 18 year old girls but female killers and criminals. The photo search was not comparing pictures but inferring semantic matches based on the tagging of the photos and the not the likeness of photos. Furthermore, the photos released by the authorities and cloned in every MSM outlet were weighed to be given priority. Sol Pais may as well have been wearing a target on her forehead.<br /><br />Given the ubiquity of this profile, Sol Pais was a marked target whose presumption of innocence was stripped from her systematically in multiple systems that were failing to ensure the veracity of the data being transmitted. To this day, from what I can puzzle together, I believe local Florida authorities twisted the words of a traumatized father to manufacture a nonexistent psychopath. A sandbox psychopath that authorities in Columbine welcomed with open arms - target practice to satisfy a community on edge.<br /><br />I continued to research the story for a few weeks after reports of her death. My previous posts document what I found. If she, in fact, committed suicide she should be recognized as a heroic figure. Our society should be so lucky as to have suicidal individuals wander off somewhere and make decisions about themselves alone instead of inflicting violence to strangers. Sol Pais is a tragedy and a study in our social mean but her image should have her semantic tags changed - updated for posterity as collateral damage.<br /><br />I believe she did commit suicide - there's good evidence to that effect. But there is also plenty of reason to fear for the health and welfare of anyone who gets caught in the pathological paranoia that is every community that has experienced a mass shooting.<br /><br />Our systems no longer have a fail-safe mechanism to distinguish truth from lies and when government systems lie to MSM and Big Data search engines the result is a real-life terror that makes Black Mirror episodes seem tame. Be afraid, be very afraid. <br /> <br /><br />Frank Krasickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01484416897999464357noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18858638.post-48190272067106977422020-02-23T23:46:00.002-05:002020-02-23T23:46:45.162-05:00Sol Pais: The Hypothermia Problem<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypothermia">According to Wikipedia</a>, a person suffering from hypothermia who takes their clothes off is suffering from Extreme Hypothermia.<br /><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> In mild hypothermia there is </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shivering" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Shivering">shivering</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> and </span><a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mental_confusion" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Mental confusion">mental confusion</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">.</span><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-NEJM2012_2-11" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 11.2px; line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypothermia#cite_note-NEJM2012-2" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">[2]</a></sup><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> In moderate hypothermia shivering stops and confusion increases.</span><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-NEJM2012_2-12" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 11.2px; line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypothermia#cite_note-NEJM2012-2" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">[2]</a></sup><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> In severe hypothermia, there may be </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypothermia#Paradoxical_undressing" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-decoration-line: none;">paradoxical undressing</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">, in which a person removes their clothing, as well as an increased risk of the </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiac_arrest" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Cardiac arrest">heart stopping</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">.</span><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-NEJM2012_2-13" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 11.2px; line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypothermia#cite_note-NEJM2012-2" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">[</a></sup>"</blockquote>
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Assuming this is true, why would authorities clear an area in which there was a report of a woman running around nude? <br /><br />The situation implies by its very nature to be a case of hypothermia that is life-threatening. Clearing the area means reducing the chance of finding the person before they die of cold. And assuming a fear of an armed Sol Pais not being *that* woman, are we to believe they thought Sol Pais had retreated to woodland she had zero familiarity with to ambush someone else as lost as she?<br /><br />Because it is not unreasonable to assume that they might have believed it could likely be Sol Pais and if it was, clear the area, let her freeze to death, and their job made that much easier.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/17/us/columbine-shooting-sol-pais.html">The New York Times reported</a> [bolding my emphasis]:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"It was a tactical team from the Clear Creek County sheriff’s department that found Ms. Pais’s body, near Echo Lake, according to the sheriff, Rick Albers. According to the sheriff, Ms. Pais had taken a rideshare to a lodge by the lake.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
At some point she had hiked about half a mile from the lodge, and then about 100 yards up a hill. She would have had to hike through snow to get there, somewhere between one and four feet deep, officials said. Clear Creek deputies found her by a stump, dead from a gunshot wound. She was in the same clothing the F.B.I. had reported her as wearing — boots, camouflage pants and a black shirt.<b> She was also wearing a plaid jacket, </b>and had a bag and a shotgun with her. Mr. Albers said that he did not know of any other guns found on her."</blockquote>
The massive manhunt for Sol Pais was resolved by locating the drop off point of the ride share and following the footprints up a hill nowhere near a school or publicly exposed area.<br />
<br />
The story of the nude woman running around in the woods was false but it cleared the area. No one would bear witness to anything that went on.<br /><br />
The internet community as represented by Reddit was filed with assertions that Pais was nude, could not be suffering from Hypothermia, was mentally ill, and so on - virtually nothing resembling the reality of her isolation.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.denverpost.com/2019/04/19/sol-pais-manhunt-mount-evans-suicide/">The Denver Post reported a far more detailed and accurate picture</a> of Pais on the day she died.<br />
<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"<span style="background-color: #fafafa; font-family: "Source Serif Pro", Helvetica, sans-serif;">Florida teenager Sol Pais likely killed herself Monday evening on Mount Evans, never knowing that she was the target of a police dragnet more than 50 miles away or that her actions had incited panic as the 20th anniversary of Columbine approached, said the Clear Creek County undersheriff who led the search for the young woman on the mountain.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: #fafafa; font-family: "Source Serif Pro", Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pais, who was from Miami, would have been on a remote mountainside without cellphone service, no car and lacking the gear to survive the brutal weather conditions. There were no credit card purchases or cellphone pings that would have indicated she left Mount Evans once a rideshare driver dropped her off late Monday afternoon.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: #fafafa; font-family: "Source Serif Pro", Helvetica, sans-serif;">“She had no idea what occurred from late Monday afternoon to Tuesday when a search for her began and to Wednesday when her body was found,” Clear Creek County Undersheriff Bruce Snelling told The Denver Post. “The logical likelihood was she was here to end her journey.”</span></blockquote>
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<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: #fafafa; font-family: "Source Serif Pro", Helvetica, sans-serif;">Snelling was part of a sheriff’s tactical team searching the mountain for Pais. They followed footprints in deep snow, interviewed the rideshare driver who took her to the area and talked to experts to try to understand her mindset. Eventually, they found her body, which appeared to have been dead for more than 24 hours, about three-quarters of a mile from Echo Lake Lodge.</span>"</blockquote>
and [bold letters are my emphasis]...<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">Investigators had discovered Pais was infatuated with the Columbine shooting. An online journal she kept included sketches of one of the killers and of guns. Social media posts along with comments she made to others led the FBI to see her as a credible threat, Dean Phillips, special agent in charge of the Denver office, said Wednesday during a news conference. </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit;"><b>However, she never made a specific threat to a specific school, he said.</b></span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">As the FBI began tracking Pais’ whereabouts, agents also began informing local law enforcement that Pais was in the area and that she was armed. Hundreds of schools along the Front Range canceled classes Wednesday as the manhunt intensified.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit;"><b>By the time a massive media campaign was unfolding</b></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">, Snelling said, authorities had evidence that she was at Mount Evans with no means to come back to the city.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit;"><b>The FBI provided the Clear Creek Sheriff’s Office with information that showed Pais was dropped off 56 miles west of Columbine High School</b></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"> at a pullout on Highway 103 at the base of Mount Evans in Clear Creek County.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">From that moment, the 18-year-old dressed in a black T-shirt and camouflaged pants was on foot, Snelling said. She had no tent, no sleeping bag </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit;"><b>and no coat</b></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit;"><b>The Clear Creek Sheriff’s Office never received any evidence that Pais planned to use the shotgun to shoot others</b></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">, Snelling said.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit;"><b>“I had no direct information from the FBI that any of her writings indicated she would do a school shooting,” Snelling said. “She didn’t have a master plan.”</b></span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">But Jefferson County Sheriff Jeff Shrader, whose jurisdiction includes Columbine High School, said there was strong, generalized evidence that an attack was imminent.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">Because Pais bought a one-way ticket, purchased a gun and ammo, and expressed a fascination with Columbine, authorities had reason to be concerned, Shrader said.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">“A lot of that added up to give me quite a bit of concern,” he said. “Knowing what we knew — until her body was found — </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit;"><b>there was a belief of a general threat.</b></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">”</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">Even as schools began increasing security Tuesday afternoon, searches had begun in and around Mount Evans.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">Shrader sent the Jefferson County mountain team. The FBI sent a team, Snelling said. And Clear Creek deputies began searching at the top of Colorado 103 near the Echo Lake Lodge.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">Snelling interviewed the rideshare driver, who told him that he had dropped her off at a pull-out on Colorado 103 about 7 miles from Idaho Springs. Pais had told the driver she wanted to see snow, and the driver did not think that she appeared to be distraught or on edge. She got out of the car carrying a duffel bag and a gun case, Snelling said.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">Snelling said he consulted with an FBI agent who specializes in cold cases as well as a nationally recognized police psychologist to understand her possible mind-set. After those conversations, Snelling said he developed three theories about what Pais was doing:</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">Pais could have traveled to Echo Lake Lodge to hide out or practice shooting but didn’t realize it was closed. Her cellphone didn’t work, so she was stuck in the wild.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">After visiting Echo Lake, Pais could have hitchhiked to Idaho Springs and then called for another rideshare to get back to the metro area and carry out a shooting.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">Or, Pais’ sole reason for flying to Colorado on a one-way ticket and heading to a mountain was because she intended to commit suicide.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">“She went dark,” Snelling said. “There was no digital footprint anywhere. No phone. No credit card use. </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit;"><b>To me, that pointed to a near impossibility that this ill-equipped, 18-year-old teenage woman would fly from sea level in Florida to Colorado and then go up into the mountains with plans to go on a killing spree. I believed the third scenario was the most likely one.”</b></span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">-snip-</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">Almost two hours after their search began, deputies saw footprints veering off Resthouse Trail.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">“There was a little flat spot in the woods, and that’s where we found Ms. Pais,” Snelling said. “It was isolated and off the beaten path. It was peaceful. She was by a tree stump. Everything she had brought with her was in arm’s length of her.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">Pais’ body was still clothed in the same camouflage pants and black T-shirt, and she had a small duffel bag that contained two boxes of shotgun shells, he said.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">It snowed later Wednesday, and Snelling said he was thankful that deputies’ work had led to the discovery. Otherwise, Pais’ tracks could have been buried and could have prevented anyone from finding her body until summer.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">At the time of the discovery of Pais’ body, law enforcement and school officials were discussing shutting schools for another day.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">“What would today be like if we hadn’t found Ms. Pais?” Snelling said Thursday morning. “We would be operating under the umbrella of fear with the Columbine anniversary approaching.”</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">When Pais’ body was found, there was a simultaneous sense of relief and sadness, Shrader said.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">Snelling described the same feelings. He was proud that his team had found Pais and ended the panic and chaos along the Front Range.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">“In the waning hours, I was struck by how sad it was,” Snelling said. “This poor, mentally ill girl needed help and probably never got it.”</span></blockquote>
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The plaid "jacket is what she was wearing at the airport. She was also wearing black pants that look nothing like camouflage and an Alice in Chains t-shirt. The description of the authorities, even after her death, implies a far more threatening profile than the reality.<br />
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The point of this exercise is that it was the "massive media campaign" that provoked the panic and hysteria more than anything Sol Pais had in any way provoked. And while the sanity of Sol Pais was and is continually questioned, it is the sanity of the Columbine survivors and their neighbors that must also be considered questionable.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.9news.com/article/news/local/fbi-says-investigation-will-continue-after-florida-woman-suspected-in-school-threats-found-dead/73-07c36f60-85d6-4157-8b9a-7f9f0fbb9be8">The rhetorical paranoia obvious in this Jefferson Couty Officials press conference should make everyone uncomfortable.</a><br />
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The presumptions about "outsiders" visiting the area are haunting and threatening in themselves. Yes, bad things can happen but when public officials address public profiling as potentially 'evil', we may be crossing a very dangerous crossroad.Frank Krasickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01484416897999464357noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18858638.post-21239332651876760182019-10-13T23:22:00.002-04:002019-10-13T23:22:37.447-04:00Sol Pais: The Two Boxes of Ammo MysteryOne of the curiosities of the Sol Pais suicide was that she purchased two boxes of ammunition for the shotgun. Before 8chan was scrubbed, that community thread debated this anomaly.<br /><br />If she intended to commit suicide (which she actually did), why buy two boxes of ammunition.<br /><br />I have a new, recent theory about this based on a comedy sketch by Dave Chappelle that aired on Netflix. In it he describes going to a gunstore to buy a shotgun for self protection and asking the gun shop owner for advice. The gunshop owner grabs two boxes of ammunition from the case because that's what is usually bought.<br /><br />My theory is that Sol Pais was confronted similarly and not wanting to look naive, bought one box of each.<br /><br />Here's Chapelles skit - IMO, its compelling.<br /><br /><br />
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Frank Krasickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01484416897999464357noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18858638.post-38704986951367806882019-08-20T23:47:00.001-04:002019-08-20T23:47:17.438-04:00Sol Pais: Camouflaged for Suicide?<br />
<a href="https://region19.blogspot.com/2014/11/government-sanctioned-murder-of.html">I've written on this subject before when it concerned the killing of Tamir Rice.</a> And the subject is the allegation that a suspect who has not yet committed a crime is dressed in camouflage clothing.<br /><br />In the case of Sol Pais, the authorities alleged that she was dressed in camouflage. Now this may seem like a minor point but the authorities in Colorado had evacuated schools based on the fact that a 5'6" 18 year old who was painfully thin had purchased a shotgun. The shotgun purchase was wholly a legal transaction. And a shotgun, while a weapon that can kill in the hands of someone who was proficient enough to load, point, aim, and shoot it, is not an automatic, high capacity weapon.<br /><br />Did I mention that she was a high school student in Florida unfamiliar with Colorado climate?<br /><br />Sooo.<br /><br />The question remains why the authorities who lost track (and we'll soon circle back to this rather dubious claim) of Pais - presumably for days after arriving in Colorado would claim she was dressed in camouflage when she was wearing a black heavy metal group T-shirt, black shoes and black designer camouflage pants at the airport.<br /><br />Are we to believe this outfit would disguise her as something other than who she was - a short, slightly built eighteen year old? One would think that any teenager of this description would blend in at a high school regardless of what they were wearing.<br /><br />Now, don't get me wrong, a teenager carrying a shotgun into school would be the giveaway, again - regardless of what they were wearing.<br /><br />But Sol Pais was not traveling to Colorado to visit a high school. She was there to commit suicide. You don't need ineffective, fashionista camouflage to do that. And out in the snowy forest, how could that outfit camouflage her no matter what her motivations were.<br /><br />No, the truth is that when authorities smear descriptions such as this on subjects they are ratcheting up the ante. Police who might otherwise approach her calmly will approach her with apprehension and a reflexive trigger-finger. Likewise its plausible deniability for every wannbe Batman or Wonder Woman to shoot first and ask questions later if they go bounty hunting.<br /><br />I have yet to find an official autopsy or postmortem for this tragedy - it appears to be getting whitewashed. That's too bad. There are lessons to be learned.<br /><br />Frank Krasickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01484416897999464357noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18858638.post-29027488649944647652019-07-14T02:51:00.002-04:002019-07-14T02:51:20.941-04:00Sol Pais: The Fabricated School ThreatsThe major search engines are no longer dependable repositories of objective information. For the most cynical critics this observation is not new but in my experience there was a time when an individual could search the web and find all kinds of alternative interpretations of newsworthy information.<br />
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In researching Sol Pais's suicide and the events leading up to it, I've had to slog through an ocean of disinformation lucratively distributed by the Main Stream Media as its dictated by government officials who fabricate it for public consumption. The MSM reports this fiction seamlessly and without question. And now Google and the mainstream search engines and social media sites comply as well.<br /><br />The narrative that is almost ubiquitously coughed up when searching anything having to do with Sol Pais is that she threatened schools.<br />
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Dark as these times may be to compare various sources and opinions about information, there are always cracks in the cyber censorship model.<br />
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<a href="https://eu.coloradoan.com/story/news/local/colorado/2019/05/02/coroner-sol-pais-obsessed-columbine-died-before-warnings/3652974002/">In this news report, information missing or obfuscated by the broader MSM is yet uncensored</a>;<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
""Columbine and other schools tightened security the afternoon of April
16 and closed entirely on April 17 when authorities still had not
located Pais. <b><span style="font-size: large;">She never threatened a specific school, authorities said. </span></b></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Her body was found on April 17 in the foothills west of
Denver. Authorities knew Pais was last seen in the area on April 15 but
it was unclear when she killed herself until the coroner’s report
Wednesday. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“Based on the information we had at the time, local,
state, and federal law enforcement agencies, in conjunction with school
districts in the Denver Metro area, took the necessary steps to ensure
our communities, and particularly our students, stayed safe until there
was no longer a threat,” Jefferson County Sheriff Jeff Shrader said in a
statement. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
An FBI spokeswoman declined comment Wednesday."</blockquote>
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In fact, Pais never threatened any school or individual. This is precisely why FBI spokespeople refuse to speak. It is far more advantageous to allow the innuendo that Pais threatened a school or schools to float around on social media than to truthfully admit that this was a precautionary, cover-your-worthless-government-ass speculation.<br />
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Later, the same article notes,<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"An autopsy summary by the Clear Creek County coroner estimated that
18-year-old Sol Pais likely died on April 15 — the day authorities said
she flew to Denver from Miami. The FBI’s Denver office said it learned
of Pais’ travel the following morning. Agents also learned the day after
she died that Pais had gone directly to a gun store from the airport
and purchased a shotgun and ammunition. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Pais was already dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound
by the time agents began retracing her steps, according to the coroner’s
initial autopsy findings. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Chief Deputy Coroner Harriet Hamilton said Wednesday that
the office is awaiting test results before producing a final autopsy
report. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The gun purchase and other warning signs, including Pais’
past conversations about the 1999 Columbine shooting, led the FBI and
local law enforcement to consider the young woman a potential threat to
schools and issue a public warning about her, authorities have said."</blockquote>
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Had Sol Pais threatened a school in any way a voice recording of that threat would exist. I have yet to encounter any such thing. To be specific, such a recording would be, as we say in the legal vernacular, "empirical proof" - "evidence", "motive" - more than just plain old bullshit.<br /><br />The so-called "threat" was an imagined threat to a community whose psychological well-being is in worse shape than its many cult tragedy tribes. I'll delve into this subject in a later post. The authorities and post-traumatically-stressed community figures project their fears into opportunities like this. The recipe is simple - mention Columbine, visit the area, ask about or buy a gun legally and spark a conversation with a local. Instant crisis.<br />
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Here's a copy of the "public warning":<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgipqrmb1E1hrHKqCQ6mkC58URXXRom99a0-ZvCx7g4xOViFxYhTOnwYHfP3_W75UnBdbpnHH6aPp6wDyhyLdP0dmn-HPHyHe-rsamS0pGZXuHXs0clVa5B9Aq8N1vHSv-Al8Y/s1600/sol-pais-bolo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="512" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgipqrmb1E1hrHKqCQ6mkC58URXXRom99a0-ZvCx7g4xOViFxYhTOnwYHfP3_W75UnBdbpnHH6aPp6wDyhyLdP0dmn-HPHyHe-rsamS0pGZXuHXs0clVa5B9Aq8N1vHSv-Al8Y/s400/sol-pais-bolo.jpg" width="383" /></a></div>
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You will notice the No Probable Cause to Arrest heading. You will also notice "considered armed and dangerous" - again based on the <i>infatuated with Columbine School shooting</i> semantic tag that they assigned to her identity.</div>
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These kinds of public warnings expose the individual to potential vigilante justice while dog whistling to the authorities that the media by-product of such a warning will trigger a social encounter that will justify terminating the subject's life.</div>
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And given this kind of warning, what could local officials conclude other than emptying the schools? The confluence of the expectation of violence on the anniversary of the Columbine shootings, the mischaracterization of misguided souls such as Sol Pais, and the hair-trigger, over-reaction by the Columbine community toward even the faintest hint of local interest is a recipe for collateral damage every anniversary period.</div>
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The actual autopsy results are yet to be made public. Nor has any official postmortem analysis of the event been publicized.<br />
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<br />Frank Krasickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01484416897999464357noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18858638.post-20267543475499474062019-04-25T21:50:00.001-04:002019-04-25T21:50:29.306-04:00I Got an Idea, Let's Split Up!Audiences never groaned often enough toward the end of grade 'B' scare movies when the individuals who remained alive during the killing spree came to the conclusion that they should "split up". We all knew how that would work out.<br /><br />
In recent years there have even been product promotions making fun of the meme. Just a little something to keep in mind...<br />
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Over the decades of mass shootings, American schools have been hardened to become fortresses that could thwart violent invasion by one or more lunatics. There are cameras that can count the pimples on student's cheeks, secured entrances and exits, one-way glass, and so on.<br /><br />Now, its true that the security officers in any given school may be nothing more than a retired lady or gentleman who isn't intimidating anyone. Still, its more than nothing.<br /><br />Furthermore, the entire staff at schools and many businesses are trained in survival techniques - hiding, sheltering, and much more. The most critical advice involves the question of <b>fight or flight</b>. This is not a decision that is to be taken lightly and a healthy feedback loop of information -<i> one would think</i> - will include the risk involved in taking a stand. After all, the concept of "Can I win this fight" - "What are my chances of survival" - and other such considerations come in -cough- <b><i>handy</i></b>.<br /><br />I think you can sense where I'm going with this line of reasoning.<br /><br /><br />I think its fair to say that the Sol Pais example richly illustrates how fucked up law enforcement has become in protecting citizens, in accurately identifying the problem, in covering up their compounded stupidity, and in, far too often, aggravating already bad situations into total cluster fucks of incompetence.<br />
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Let's peel the onion together.<br /><br />Sol Pais was a 5'5" (65") tall high school student who bought a shotgun to kill herself with. That information was telegraphed in plain english for any intelligent human being to see. And we know the authorities saw it before the rest of us did.<br /><br />She wasn't intending to attack a school or anyone other than harm herself. She wasn't buying easily concealed automatic weapons or even heavy artillery long guns. No. I mean if she wanted to attack anywhere, she would have done *that*. After all, she probably never shot a gun of any kind in her life - she spent her time in her room, depressed listening to death metal music, and she curated a website pretty much dedicated to it. She certainly wasn't at the shooting range. And she certainly wasn't trying to sneak into a school with an obviously difficult-to-hide shotgun given her stature.<br />
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So when the authorities circulated a photo that made her look like a thirty year old crack addict, machine-gun momma they were not only wrong, they were causing a panic in Denver. Furthermore, they claimed she was insane because her father (drinking the official kool-aid) said there must be something wrong with her. The complete context of this exchange is yet to be pieced together.<br /><br />So. Circling back to our previous thoughts about fight or flight - people in the area had no reason to believe it was not riskier to fight than flee if it came to that. It seems to me that the public should expect a more comprehensive profile than that.<br />
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By now the parents were crawling up the asses of the authorities to do *SOMETHING/ANYTHING*! And so they did. The authorities quietly panicked. They not only dismissed Columbine but schools all over the area - because, hey, you can't be too careful.<br /><br />Right?<br />
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Right??<br />
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Of course that meant instead of being locked down in a protected fortress students were sent home in unprotected school buses that clogged traffic lanes and neighborhood streets. Had an actual shooter or shooters been loose, these targets would have been easy pickings. Or malls congested with congregating teenagers.<br />
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Genius.<br /><br /><br />
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First draft.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />.<br /><br />
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<br />Frank Krasickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01484416897999464357noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18858638.post-43432442757831542312019-04-22T22:22:00.001-04:002019-04-23T21:03:30.393-04:00Sol Pais WAS NOT Obsessed by Columbine AT ALLI spent this evening examining <a href="https://dissolvedgirl.neocities.org/welcomepage.html">Sol Pais's journal on her website</a>.<br />
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The journal consists of 61 pages curated by Sol to be discovered after her suicide attempt [keep in mind she might have been assassinated first]. The reference to potentially have been killed by someone other than her own hand will be dealt with in a separate blog entry.<br />
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There is not a single reference to Columbine in any of it. NOT A ONE.<br />
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There is not a single reference to killing anyone other than herself anywhere in the journal.<br />
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There is not a single drawing of anyone associated with Columbine or any other such event anywhere in the journal.<br />
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There is not even a temporal overlay to suggest she had any awareness of Columbine at all. Columbine happened before she was born. If she had been exposed to something that fascinated her, not a single link on her quite sophisticated website even hints an interest. Any fair reading of her journal is compelling eveidence that she would not have been shy about it.<br />
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The authorities are demonizing and slandering this young woman's reputation.<br />
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She was never a threat to anyone. She was gifted and brilliantly suicidal. She was not mentally ill in any criminal sense of the terminology.<br />
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She was a tortured soul who found solace in Death Metal music and lyrics. Its often difficult to disambiguate her words against the fabric of lyrics from songs that express her feelings. The journal, taken as a whole, is an American Post-Modern mantra that gives the Tibetan Book of the Dead a run for its money.<br />
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Sol Pais, much like a terminal patient with something to leave behind, speaks privately what she cannot express in her day to day life. The doctored photograph of her face covered is a classic metaphor for those who might bellow, "I have no mouth and I must scream!"<br />
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Sol Pais could not reconcile her existence. Its a terrible self-knowledge she agonizes with on page after page. She, like everyone who commits suicide, welcomes an end. Its not something most of us can understand or accept but it is real.<br />
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The only indication she gives of why she feels an outsider is expressed on page 29, dated 6/29/18. She feels an outsider in an [oppressively] liberal high school. Her rant could well be a meme for anyone who is intelligent and forced to witness the masses at work.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKwIRebMjavJJL6UQljEIuGD5JYgKDzTvDyGPdfp7TRN6825AlwR9MYmhgqJAh2606ksvnlM8bei7Yrrkztu3z-w0Dm2bQtSAFx3lA9jB5j0dRm0e2ry2KCXKe66kElPPuR-8/s1600/StupidPeople.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKwIRebMjavJJL6UQljEIuGD5JYgKDzTvDyGPdfp7TRN6825AlwR9MYmhgqJAh2606ksvnlM8bei7Yrrkztu3z-w0Dm2bQtSAFx3lA9jB5j0dRm0e2ry2KCXKe66kElPPuR-8/s400/StupidPeople.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
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The agony of Sol Pais as a conservative student in a liberal school should serve as an important milestone for all of us. The current political climate is adversely affecting generations of youth who may be as ready to check out of this world as engage it. <br /><br />We can't "woke" the dead.<br />
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Her suicide was planned and she would do it in the woods of Colorado. She drew both the shotgun she would buy and a landscape that was her destination accurately looking like the woods of Colorado. This illustration is on page 24 no date but sandwiched between 6/18/18 and 6/21/18.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgamPxJyYmuP7GGBXqcN1DLVeR-V9_yiJ3Y-4XyKtuy71O24SFZjt4rOM3iRiYxo8n0m-OywEtiVtChZK2Wf0sYGajvFFbjTstjFoNHsb7omGUPbAAHwXMUL2yUwh_FBnrU25Q/s1600/p24RockyMtns.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="612" data-original-width="1600" height="151" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgamPxJyYmuP7GGBXqcN1DLVeR-V9_yiJ3Y-4XyKtuy71O24SFZjt4rOM3iRiYxo8n0m-OywEtiVtChZK2Wf0sYGajvFFbjTstjFoNHsb7omGUPbAAHwXMUL2yUwh_FBnrU25Q/s400/p24RockyMtns.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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The shotgun shows up on page 35 dated July 14, 2018. I need to triangulate this to the correspondence about acquiring guns in Colorado by someone also using DissolvedGirl as an avatar. Dissolved Girl is a sub-genre rock song that could be used by many fans of the music.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnEtEKEErGpXb5VhxldQY3Fecl2ZociMM2AOsXzoqgp06e_iX6DPuQQvig5mk2Q4jCzi1vgmPsxygFXs31qmIRX3Dd-nJV3WYTypJkAJKYbziwKhRXJ_UVyMNGh5GSxLHX8XI/s1600/p35Shotgun.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1241" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnEtEKEErGpXb5VhxldQY3Fecl2ZociMM2AOsXzoqgp06e_iX6DPuQQvig5mk2Q4jCzi1vgmPsxygFXs31qmIRX3Dd-nJV3WYTypJkAJKYbziwKhRXJ_UVyMNGh5GSxLHX8XI/s400/p35Shotgun.jpeg" width="310" /></a></div>
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The journal pages are sequential and occasionally dated. The illustrations circulated by authorities appear before page 5, dated May 27, 2018.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKjqCLji6F8ErJQJqoDw1fCM5zuJuToJo0knONXds4RhdZNON1hyphenhyphenDE63FsrktsVoMlwwMBJF2_31OTedI0lUp01qdJzHOyVm8-QbDNNy1wDFeXm_4d6cjb91qW9Gv-K37kBgQ/s1600/ManWithBook.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="162" data-original-width="306" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKjqCLji6F8ErJQJqoDw1fCM5zuJuToJo0knONXds4RhdZNON1hyphenhyphenDE63FsrktsVoMlwwMBJF2_31OTedI0lUp01qdJzHOyVm8-QbDNNy1wDFeXm_4d6cjb91qW9Gv-K37kBgQ/s400/ManWithBook.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
The illustration being sold as a Columbine shooter is in fact a man holding a large book. We know that because Sol practiced drawing the book just to the left of the character who could be a priest, rabbi, speaker, or fantasy movie figure (see illustration). Of course if what you are trying to sell is the Columbine myth, books are dangerous weapons.<br />
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It is on page 11, sandwiched between May 27, 2018 and June 17, 2018.<br />
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This is a second, updated, draft, I'm pressed for time but I'll flesh this out even more.<br />
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My warning falling on deaf ears and now obsolete but preserved for reference...<br />
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April 22, 2018 - New suspicious activity and assertions by the Cult of Columbine authorities is that Sol died wearing a guerrilla camouflage outfit. This woman was committing suicide not honing her skills as a sniper using a shotgun. There is a nasty cover-up being perpetrated here.<br />
<br />Frank Krasickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01484416897999464357noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18858638.post-13981590097241657292019-04-21T18:08:00.000-04:002019-04-21T18:08:13.789-04:00The Social Media Fabric that Swallowed Sol PaisInvitational disclaimer: Years ago, I had much more free time to spend investigating topics of special interest The best I can do is offer educated speculation that I hope provokes and stimulates attention and goodwill discussion of the topics at hand. I'm more than happy to be proved wrong. That's a long way of saying the you're welcome to complement anything you read here with comments, criticism, or your own writing elsewhere.<br /><br />As of this writing we are still debating the ebbing tide of concern about fake news. Fake news, for the most part, is information that is widely distributed to distort the reality of political events. Fake news isn't exclusive to politics but that's where it garners the most attention.<br /><br />I became aware of the Sol Pais story on Thursday, April 18. When I started looking for information it seemed to have appeared whole cloth - Sol Pais was imitating the Columbine shooters, the FBI was looking for her, she was dead, and here's all the corroborating evidence she deserved to die. Boom.<br /><br />The story didn't develop from one event to the other. Mostly, its over. back to Mueller and Russia, and Trump-hate news.<br /><br />Burp.<br />
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I am blessed and cursed by sensing patterns. And nothing about the news reports, before or since, strike me as anything but empty echoes by law enforcement that rationalized their hunting down of Sol Pais. The closer I look, the more I distrust everything being asserted about this teenager.<br /><br />I first wrote about the <a href="https://region19.blogspot.com/2014/11/government-sanctioned-murder-of.html">subject of "swatting" back in 2014</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/teen-gamer-pleads-guilty-in-deadly-kansas-swatting-case?fbclid=IwAR2ulnfRcCfl4APy7cvYucAAn7-ByQBVYAi9Eg71N79EuUM4jootc5USjio">A more recent example involved gamers. </a><br />
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There's not only a pattern emerging, but an escalation.<br /><br />The Pais narrative smells like the next step. The authorities, acting on a tip, somehow don't act fast enough to detain this girl for questioning long before she flies to Denver and [allegedly] buys a shotgun, and somehow is found dead after wandering around in the woods.<br /><br />Take that in for a minute. AND! AND! they have a trove of [laughably preposterous] back story about her and her [imagined] destination and intentions.<br /><br />The question for me, aside from the lack of any hard facts or objective analysis of the information at hand, was and continues to be - has the law enforcement community incorporated "swatting" as a tool in their arsenal of plausible deniability in exterminating suspects without the presumption of innocence, without warning, and without subsequent consequence.<br />
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When information is weaponized in this way, its not fake news - its more like propaganda on steroids - it pushes emotional response buttons in its intended audience. This incites an agency in that public cohort to eliminate the discomfort.<br />
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When that cohort is an intolerant, vigilante organization then the response is the equivalent of throwing meat into a tank of hungry piranha.<br />
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The public is looking away from Sol Pais's death - believing the cover stories - secure in the knowledge that it was justified. The tsunami of official terror porn has done its job.<br />
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But what if it wasn't an inside cover-up?<br />
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An even more disturbing is the distinct possibility, Pais was swatted by a zealot from a special interest group whose myopic interpretation of art, or interest, or objection to opinion or comment triggered outrage. That outrage manifested in licensing a swat killing of the offending party.<br /><br />The trajectory of this kind of violence and rational to violence will not end with Pais. If Americans are concerned about hackers participating in politics online, what happens when one of those hackers or political operatives decides to target a politician, or their family, or their sponsors? This is a slippery slope covered in blood.<br />
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These anonymous tips need to be vetted. They need transparency, and they need to be evaluated by even tempered analysts. That is clearly not the case today.<br /><br />The tools to unravel this sequence of alarm and violence is readily available.<br /><br />We need an accurate timeline of events - actual classic news. Who, what, Where, When...<br /><br />And then it gets interesting.<br />
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<br />Frank Krasickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01484416897999464357noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18858638.post-65375734032507933622019-04-20T13:45:00.001-04:002019-04-20T13:45:36.075-04:00Ruminations on the Credible Innocence of Sol PaisThe bizarre story of the hunting and death of Sol Pais fit a pattern I've written about before and that continues to play out with predictable inevitability. The pattern I'm speaking of is the use of sometimes over-eager or paralyzed by fear law enforcement officials to "swat" an unsuspecting victim.<br />
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The deadly game starts with an anonymous tip that someone/somewhere has or may have a weapon and the tipster is "just doing their duty" to report that maybe/just maybe they are a threat to the general public. The consequence is almost always tragic for the unsuspecting target.<br />
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In this case, an eighteen year old honors student is dead. Based on the sketchy and preliminary information I can gather, I think this may be a case of wrongful death.<br />
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The fabric of our contemporary American civilization needs to be carefully reconsidered. The preposterous "evidence" promoted by the authorities is little more than a thimble full of dross. The subsequent social media dissemination of this nonsense serves as a cautionary tale that journalism is broken, social media search engines are corrupt, and our social media society is psychologically being programmed to kill, destroy, or maim by proxy.<br />
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I'll be writing about the details of these issues as I have time. Yesterday, Good Friday, I spent some time privately discussing the possibility of raising the Julie Group from the ashes of a long hiatus. The investigative work that needs to be done includes substantiating source of truth material. Virtually everything that has been publicized is either hearsay, innuendo, or a cover-up to justify a manhunt that could only end in tragedy. If government officials have gone rogue, we are all in deep trouble.<br />
<br />
An accurate timeline of events is critical. Confirming the veracity of Ms. Pais's notebook, website content, email correspondence, geo-location evidence and so on is critical. There's more that must be discussed confidentially.<br />
<br />
Law enforcement has not only sold the public on a de facto guilt of this young woman but are compounding that mistake by broadening their investigation into her friends and associates.<br />
<br />
There are real problems with this myopic approach. If Ms. Pais was lured into some kind of entrapment scheme, her friends and associates may also be. If there are official bad actors involved, they need to be dismissed. The FBI should have a strong incentive to assign an internal affairs investigation into what's going on.<br />
<br />
My own investigative sense has raised a concern antithetical to my personal politics. The initial "tip" may have come from an anti-gun advocate or vigilante group. I'll attempt to examine these possibilities later in detail.<br />
<br />
However, the possibility exists that Pais, upon legal purchase of a firearm in the vicinity of Columbine, provided all the personal identification required for a misguided local to call in a self-serving tip to Florida police.<br />
<br />
Given the school-shooting tragedies in Florida and the subsequent gun reform mobilization, Pais may have run afoul of political correctness regarding these issues prompting a retaliatory anonymous tip.<br />
<br />
Another possibility is that her family, being from Argentina [based on MSM reports], may have been targeted by an anti-immigration group.<br />
<br />
Or maybe the tip was legitimate.<br />
<br />
It's important to establish the facts for obvious reasons.<br />
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<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Frank Krasickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01484416897999464357noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18858638.post-45927623092971801802019-03-12T22:25:00.002-04:002019-03-12T22:25:37.481-04:00Educational Fraud, You Need Not Look FarToday, Valerie Strauss of <a href="https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-03-12/feds-arrest-dozens-including-famous-actresses-largest-college-admissions-scam-ever"> the Washington Post reports</a> on a set of fraud cases that are but the tip of an iceberg in secondary education.<br /><br />This has long been one of my special interests as the undeserving leap-frog the deserving systemically with open eyes and welcoming hospitality.<br /><br />A few years ago, a fellow BOE member once whispered to me, "So what if her Dad gave her a helping hand, why not!"<br /><br />Here's an excerpt from the Post,<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div data-elm-loc="1" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #111111; font-family: Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18.367px; line-height: calc(1.5em + 0.3333vw); margin-bottom: 16px; margin-top: 4px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Following are excerpts from the explosive 204-page criminal complaint charging more than 30 wealthy people — including Hollywood actors and college coaches — in a years-long scheme to bribe and cheat to get their children into exclusive colleges and universities.</div>
<div data-elm-loc="2" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #111111; font-family: Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18.367px; line-height: calc(1.5em + 0.3333vw); margin-bottom: 16px; margin-top: 4px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
The Washington Post<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/fbi-accuses-wealthy-parents-including-celebrities-in-college-entrance-bribery-scheme/2019/03/12/d91c9942-44d1-11e9-8aab-95b8d80a1e4f_story.html?utm_term=.cade2d52a5c0" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(213, 213, 213); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c6cb4; font-size: 18.367px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> story on the complaint says:</a></div>
<blockquote class="citation blockquote" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-bottom-color: initial; border-bottom-style: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); border-left-style: solid; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 0px 6px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #111111; font-family: FranklinPro, FranklinITCProLight, "Franklin Gothic Medium", "Franklin Gothic", "ITC Franklin Gothic", "Apple SD Gothic Neo", "Myriad Set Pro", "Helvetica Neue", "Helvetica Neue Light", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 18.367px; margin: 35px auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 35px; quotes: none; vertical-align: baseline;">
<div data-elm-loc="3" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 0.9em; line-height: calc(1.5em + 0.3333vw); margin-bottom: 18px; margin-top: 4px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
The alleged crimes included cheating on entrance exams, as well as bribing college officials to say certain students were coming to compete on athletic teams when those students were not in fact athletes.</div>
<div data-elm-loc="3" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 0.9em; line-height: calc(1.5em + 0.3333vw); margin-bottom: 18px; margin-top: 4px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
The criminal complaint paints an ugly picture of high-powered individuals committing crimes to get their children into selective schools. Among those charged are actresses Felicity Huffman, best known for her role on the television show “Desperate Housewives,” and Lori Loughlin, who appeared on “Full House,” according to court documents.</div>
<div class="attribution" data-elm-loc="3" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 0.85em; line-height: calc(1.5em + 0.3333vw); margin-bottom: -10px; margin-top: 18px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
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</blockquote>
<div class="interstitial-link " data-elm-loc="4" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #111111; font-family: Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18.367px; line-height: calc(1.5em + 0.3333vw); margin-bottom: 16px; margin-top: 4px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<i style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.367px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">[<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/fbi-accuses-wealthy-parents-including-celebrities-in-college-entrance-bribery-scheme/2019/03/12/d91c9942-44d1-11e9-8aab-95b8d80a1e4f_story.html?utm_term=.37e7664989d3" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(213, 213, 213); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c6cb4; font-size: 18.367px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">FBI accuses wealthy parents, including celebrities, in college-entrance bribery scheme</a>]</i></div>
<div data-elm-loc="5" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #111111; font-family: Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18.367px; line-height: calc(1.5em + 0.3333vw); margin-bottom: 16px; margin-top: 4px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
According to the criminal complaint, the schools targeted included Georgetown University, Stanford University, UCLA, the University of San Diego, the University of Southern California, the University of Texas at Austin, Wake Forest University and Yale University.</div>
<div data-elm-loc="6" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #111111; font-family: Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18.367px; line-height: calc(1.5em + 0.3333vw); margin-bottom: 16px; margin-top: 4px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
The complaint says that many of the children involved did not know what their parents had done to get them into school."</div>
</blockquote>
I think that list is short a school or two.<br />
<br />
The system remains gamed to favor the sons and daughters of entitlement, privilege, wealth, and political pull. Critics of educational reform usually have a vested stake in this game. These occasional speed bumps will do little to change it.<br />
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Frank Krasickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01484416897999464357noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18858638.post-18185263597340197162019-02-09T23:38:00.003-05:002019-02-09T23:38:27.414-05:00The Tech in Schools Debate<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #2d3237; font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 19.2px;">"In a recent </span><a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2018/02/05/579554273/screen-addiction-among-teens-is-there-such-a-thing" rel="nofollow noopener" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #008578; font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 19.2px; line-height: inherit; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">NPR report</a><span style="color: #2d3237; font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 19.2px;">, writer Anya Kamenetz notes that clinicians are debating whether technology overuse is best categorized as a bad habit, a symptom of other mental struggles (such as depression or anxiety), or as an addiction."</span></blockquote>
From: <a href="https://www.edsurge.com/news/2018-02-07-former-google-design-ethicist-relying-on-big-tech-in-schools-is-a-race-to-the-bottom"> https://www.edsurge.com/news/2018-02-07-former-google-design-ethicist-relying-on-big-tech-in-schools-is-a-race-to-the-bottom</a>Frank Krasickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01484416897999464357noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18858638.post-22194336942503769912019-02-09T23:31:00.002-05:002019-02-09T23:34:05.791-05:00Unschooling American EducationWhen I was in college, I became a fan of the de-schooling authors and followed their work enthusiastically. John Holt, Ivan Illich, Paulo Friere, and others found a warm place on my bookshelf.<br />
<br />
Some 50 years later, those concepts have evolved.<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: #e6ecf0; color: #14171a; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">see: http://reason.com/reasontv/2019/01/24/these-unschoolers-say-children-dont-need</span><br />
<br />Frank Krasickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01484416897999464357noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18858638.post-21449763633179067962019-01-23T20:51:00.002-05:002019-01-23T20:51:28.306-05:00Carnegie Mellon Releases Free High School Computer Science Curriculum<a href="https://www.cmu.edu/news/stories/archives/2019/january/cmu-launches-high-school-computer-science-curriculum.html">https://www.cmu.edu/news/stories/archives/2019/january/cmu-launches-high-school-computer-science-curriculum.html</a>Frank Krasickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01484416897999464357noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18858638.post-52456717977847283702018-12-24T11:42:00.001-05:002018-12-24T11:42:19.714-05:00Goodbye 2018Since letting go of the School Board position I've turned my attention elsewhere. I just noticed I had no new posts for the year and that didn't seem right.<br /><br />This year I've discovered that inexpensive online learning is very good stuff. I took a Udemy course for $10 and it was worth every penny. Frank Krasickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01484416897999464357noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18858638.post-24462417909910464182018-06-27T22:22:00.003-04:002018-06-27T22:22:13.721-04:00Beware the Entitled and Entitling Parentshttps://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/24/opinion/rich-parents-hurt-schools-economic-segregation.htmlFrank Krasickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01484416897999464357noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18858638.post-63861401822801039562018-06-17T14:44:00.003-04:002018-06-17T14:44:29.065-04:00SKAMThis should be of interest to everyone:<br />
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https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/06/18/skam-the-radical-teen-drama-that-unfolds-one-post-at-a-timeFrank Krasickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01484416897999464357noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18858638.post-76241466122319753412017-11-17T02:07:00.000-05:002017-11-17T02:07:04.481-05:00Twelve Years, So Much Time, So Little Progress - A PostmortemAfter twelve years on the Board I decided not to run again. With the recent election I'm no longer a Region 19 Board member but I've been offered the opportunity to continue participating on the EO Smith High School Building Committee as a citizen participant. Having attended all of the previous architectural studies and proposals for the school is some institutional knowledge that I'd like to keep alive for at least the short term.<br />
<br />
I also plan on keeping the blog alive. I haven't written much lately but when I get the urge, I get the urge.<br /><br />For twelve years I spent my energies in advocating for the students, the taxpayers, and the soul of the institution. And not blindly. *Everyone* associated with public education has an agenda. To the degree that I could contribute to good things that were accomplished, it was to the credit of a coalition of the willing and they know who they are.<br /><br />The establishment of the Reynolds, Big Picture inspired satellite program, the realization of an artificial turf sports field (I had advocated for all the fields to been renovated), the establishment of "Bring Your Own Device" internet access, and a few more Board stretch goals were largely the work of Bruce Silva, Lou DeLoreto, and a handful of Board members who rolled up their sleeves.<br />
<br />
I mention these things because two of the three mentioned are NOT the way the system typically works. In fact the system is hardwired to self-insulate itself from anything innovative or different.<br /><br />This bears some explanation because most of the critical rhetoric of public schools will condemn the institution for being <i>dysfunctional</i>. In my experience that simply isn't true. Public education is a highly evolved set of self-serving ecosystems that complement each other's comfort zone so as to eliminate every and all outside disruptive influence. Rather than being dysfunctional, these ecosystems are highly refined and ruthlessly efficient.<br /><br />Obvious and self-evident as it sounds, schools should prepare students for a life of learning, constant change and reexamination of the status quo. And public school teachers and administrators exercise a vernacular of words and phrases that sound exactly as if this is what they do. But the fact of the matter is that they cannot do for students what they cannot do for themselves. One of the last things an administrator said to me at my last meeting was, "This place isn't built for change."<br /><br />The teacher's Unions, the administrative unions, the local Boards of Education, the State Board of Education, the commercial education interests, the lobbyists, the status quo parents of college track students, and the armies of sub-professional employees all act in the interest of the system. The system being a paper mill that certifies public school seat time. The system prefers being a monopoly.<br /><br />Is there anyone out there who would not roll their eyes when someone mentions that "a fox should not be allowed to guard the henhouse"? Yet in education, most School Boards are populated by former teachers, teachers from a district away, vested interests, government unionists, and so on. School Boards negotiate personnel contracts, curriculum, and much more. Board members who don't fit that profile are considered incompetent outsiders. You're expected to be a fox to know a fox.<br /><br />These days I think that public school alternatives may be the only thing that can save humanity. The public schools need competition.Frank Krasickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01484416897999464357noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18858638.post-56524825921331002802017-02-07T15:41:00.003-05:002017-02-07T15:41:57.508-05:00Congratulations Betsy DeVosNow do something about this stuff: http://region19.blogspot.com/2010/06/random-stuff.htmlFrank Krasickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01484416897999464357noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18858638.post-33226871443855988022016-12-11T18:28:00.002-05:002016-12-11T18:28:51.924-05:00Miracle at the Connecticut State Education Department - Somebody Woke Up!This news was unreported and buried by Connecticut's MSM. CT News Junkie seems to be a sole source. This is the kind of news the State government wants to keep buried. Business as usual. Hide the racism. Hide the incompetence.Let's all be polite because that's what its all about.<br />
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I've been watching Connecticut do everything in its power to ignore, slow, and kill any attempt at closing a racial and class divide that keeps generations of children and young adults on a treadmill to early death, povrty subsistence, or a life in prison. We don't call it that. We call it an education gap. the gap being that the poor and urban populations of color must understand that there's nothing here for them - no college track, no snowflake, entitlement treatment - no future except that their children will rinse and repeat this same cycle.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.ctnewsjunkie.com/archives/entry/board_members_to_officials_stop_sugarcoating_bad_test_results/#cmt">So yeah, a miracle of sorts happened</a>. A State of Connecticut Board member aroused from a bureacratically induced coma;<br />
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<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 1.3em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">State Board of Education member Malia K. Sieve listened for close to an hour Wednesday as her fellow board members and professionals in the field discussed Connecticut’s disappointing results on a well-known nationwide science test.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">She listened to speakers and watched slide-after-slide on an overhead projector of other states surpassing Connecticut in the 2015 National Assessment of Educational Progress science assessment.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><
She listened as some said the “good news’’ was that the achievement gap between minority and white students has shrunk since the last testing period in the state.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">When she finally spoke up, her words captured the full attention of her fellow board members.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">“I’m so fired up, not in a good way,” Sieve said. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sieve is a director at HCM Strategies where her full-time job is to work with institutional leaders on education policy. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">“I’m tired of us all talking so politely,” Sieve said. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">What the test results clearly indicate, Sieve said, “is we do a better job with one population. We’re doing a whole lot better by our white kids.”</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Apologizing for getting emotional, Sieve went on to say that, “We act like if we talk politely — it will all be fine.”</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">But by doing that it means “we have not decided that we have to do anything differently yet,” Sieve said. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sieve’s passionate words came after a presentation about nationwide science tests taken by fourth and eighth graders in 2015 that showed Connecticut is falling behind other states, though Education Department Chief Performance Officer Ajit Gopalakrishnan and Renee Savoie, an education consultant, termed the state’s performance as “stagnant.’’</span></blockquote>
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Yeah, "stagnant" is one way of putting it. <b>Maliciously racist </b>might be another. we've been engaged in this dance of irresponsibility for many, many decades. The State Board of Education has been as worthless a bureacratic body as any in government. Hickups such as this one are a rarity and as you an see, you'll never hear about them unless you look hard.<br />
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Truth is that the high stakes testing is a lousy metric for evaluating our schools. CT is mired in the Orwellian double-speak OF No Child Left Behind and all its draconian successors. All these programs dumb-down educational experiences for kids, Even by this poor metric iyt becomes obvious that CT schoolchildren can be reduced to incompetent parrots when subjegated to generations of comformity indicing brainwashing.<br />
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"Stagnant". Brain-dead is closer to the truth. Malooy needs to flatten these organizations and repeal all the idiotic legislation that has so poisoned the system that we no longer recognise it. making it all go away is the best remedy for this nonsense.</div>
Frank Krasickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01484416897999464357noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18858638.post-44045860984649082672016-12-11T17:54:00.000-05:002017-11-17T02:08:45.553-05:00Renditioning Teenagers<div class="tr_bq">
In a recent article in the Vice digital magazine entitled "The Legal Industry for Kidnapping Teens" by Serena Solomon we are given a tour of one of the more controversial aspects of the never-ending "tough-love" industry.
</div>
<br />
The recipe for finding consumers for this business is simple.<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.7rem; margin-bottom: 2rem; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 630px;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">"A critical aspect of the whole operation is gaining parental permission through an affidavit or power of attorney agreement. These agreements temporarily transfer parental rights to the youth transport company, giving workers permissions that include authorizing medical attention or restraining the young person.</span><span style="background-color: transparent;"> </span></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.7rem; margin-bottom: 2rem; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 630px;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">"In general, parents have enormously wide discretion with respect to decisions regarding their children. They can decide to leave their children with people and give them parental rights and no one can interfere," Philip Elberg, an attorney who has worked on cases involving the troubled teen industry, told me.</span></blockquote>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.7rem; margin-bottom: 2rem; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 630px;">
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Elberg added that the large number of abuse complaints triggered by the troubled teen industry isn't matched by the small number of lawsuits because, among <a href="http://www.astartforteens.org/assets/files/Legal%20Issues%20in%20Residental%20Placement" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">other reasons</a>, unless there is a serious physical incident such as injury, sexual abuse, or death of a young person, there isn't much legal ground to stand on after authority has been handed over by the parent.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">"Parents are often the victim," said Bush. "They are desperate to help their child and someone who is supposed to be a professional tells them that this is what they are supposed to do.""</span></blockquote>
</blockquote>
So what happens to the teenager when their parents sign over parental rights?<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.7rem; margin-bottom: 2rem; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 630px;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The troubled teen or "tough love" industry is made up mostly of for-profit companies that promise to fix drug addiction, mental illness, and attitude problems. At the center of this industry are the behavioral programs, some accused of abusive practices and even <a href="http://www.vice.com/read/thousands-of-american-teens-are-trapped-in-abusive-cult-like-treatment-centres" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">causing the death of teen clients</a>. If the behavioral program is the entrée, then the transportation service is the appetizer, often setting the tone for the treatment the young person will endure for the months or years to come.</span><span style="background-color: transparent;"> </span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">"They can be abducted against their will and this meets all the criteria of trauma," Dr. Nicole Bush, an associate professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco, told me. Bush helped found the</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><a href="http://www.astartforteens.org/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; font-family: inherit; font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Alliance for the Safe, Therapeutic, and Appropriate Use of Residential Treatment</a><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">(A START) to help protect young people from negligent residential programs and youth transport services.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Several of her teen clients who attended residential programs attribute their post-traumatic stress disorder to the youth transport services that picked them up. One client said she was taken when an SUV pulled up next to the family car. Another described two large men escorting her from a restaurant where she was eating with friends.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">"They talk about nightmares, not being able to sleep alone, or needing a night light," Bush told me. "These are people are in their 20s and 30s, more than a decade after the event."<br />Bush is quick to point out that not all youth transport services are equal. A <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10566-015-9301-6" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">2015 article</a> in the <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Child and Youth Care Forum</em> found after surveying 350 young people who attended a wilderness program (where nature expeditions are used as a type of therapy) that whether young people were transported or dropped off by a parent had little impact on the treatment outcome.</span></blockquote>
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As far as I can see, "tough love" sure looks a lot more like "rough love" than anyone cares to admit.Frank Krasickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01484416897999464357noreply@blogger.com0