June 13, 2010

Ignorance, Arrogance, and Delusion

Relative to ignorance, arrogance, and delusion, one has to wonder how deep the well must be that the dean draws from. It must be plenty deep because she continually brings up a new draft of each. Only a potent mixture of these 3 could allow her to perpetually feign the moral, spiritual, and educational superiority and integrity of the school. It must certainly be a mix of these that prompted her to send out an email (in addition to the MTSA newsletter which was barely a week old) glorifying and describing the past-lapdog-president’s “contribution to several “important developments” at MTSA. Here’s the line of thought:

In case you missed reading in the newsletter about how great the past president was, here’s an email essentially telling you the same thing we told you in the newsletter. He was a really, really great guy and we want you to know how sad we are because he is gone. By the way, we have a new guy as president. We can’t control him. But Phil sure was great.

The article goes on to highlight the expansion, development, renovation, construction, and fundraising campaign the he so importantly contributed to. What is so conveniently left out of this article are several important facts that contribute to MTSA’s ranking of 69th in the nation. Here is the rest of the story. About 8 or so years ago some really nice plans were hatched for building a brand new school. Obviously, building a new school would be no inexpensive undertaking. That’s when the administration found they were in a Catch-22. They needed money, and lots of it. They needed to fire up an alumni fundraising campaign. Along with this campaign they would ask several local deep-pocketed individuals, organizations, and corporate benefactors for additional funding. The grandiose plans came to a screeching halt along with the realization that virtually no alumni are willing to contribute to the school. Deep pockets like to see a large percentage of alumni giving prior to committing their dollars to large projects. The plan had to be scrapped because a great many alumni hate the school so much they want nothing to do with it, let alone give money!

Fast forward to 2005 when the dean’s lapdog becomes president. Since getting any real money from the alumni was out of the question, an alternate plan was devised.

Admitting, understanding, and dealing with the lack of alumni respect and involvement was never an option. That would mean having to deal with the wide-spread perception among alumni that religious fanaticism and cronyism is pervasive at MTSA. It was much easier to ignore the discontent among alumni and forge ahead with whatever support they could garner. Luckily for the dean, her lapdog was quite good at cajoling and squeezing some financial support from the few alumni who might have fond regard for the school. He is as tenacious as a badger and has the personality to match. He has an uncanny ability to tell anyone -- with a feigned sincerity that is almost imperceptible -- anything he perceives they want to hear. He will say or do anything to accomplish his goals and purposes. He is part badger, part snake-oil salesman, and part Edward Kennedy. These characteristics are necessitous and highly desired if you want to expand a school without much alumni support or involvement. I am disappointed however, that he couldn’t manage to get the school to at least a 68th ranking.

The dean loves to crow about how Ol’ 69 has been around for threescore years now. Let’s take a cursory look at this relative to the alumni. Assuming a very conservative figure of 10 graduates per year multiplied by its 60 years; that’s 600 graduates. In the most recent edition of the MTSA newsletter I count only 32 people who attended recent alumni dinners that were held regionally. That’s roughly 5% of a 60 year base. Again, I believe that to be an ultra-conservative number. In part, it is the religious fanaticism existing at the school that has totally alienated the majority of alumni. Here’s a sample of alumni comments received on this blog that highlight this point:

“Keep telling it like it is! But I wanted to correct a comment you made, " ‘They wield their zealous beliefs in an unbalanced manner that is uncharacteristic among most of Adventism.’" I grew up Adventist, and lived here as well as out of state. Let me tell you, [in my experience] that behaviorIS common . . . especially so if you dare to question their "doctrine." Cults act like this. That is why it’s a doctrine-first-before-anything-else kind of place . . . [They] don’t follow their own church-taught doctrines.”

“Here's something taken from the MTSA Website under their "About MTSA" section:

Our Mission, Vision, Values, and Goals...

. . . to provide a Christian, Seventh-day Adventist learning environment

. . . The School will be known for its integration of Christian, Seventh-day Adventist values into its learning, scholarship, and service.

Core Values...

. . . A Christian, Seventh-day Adventist values-driven curriculum and program

. . . A family-centered approach to administering the program

Our Educational Philosophy...

. . . Spiritual: To create a safe, nurturing community of learning in which students are exposed to concepts of developing a right relationship with God, their Creator, and to facilitate integration of these Christian beliefs and values.

“This is comedy at it's best!! Having been a student there, and experienced their "SDA Philosophy and Values" firsthand, I would say they are a load of liars, UNLESS treating people like slaves and excrement IS the heart of Seventh-day Adventism. All that supposed “godliness” was not how I was treated when I was a student there. Can you sue them for false advertising?”

These comments, and others like them, were submitted by alumni. Again, it’s easy to see from these comments and from the schools philosophy that the primary focus is propagation of religious fanaticism. Educating quality anesthetists is secondary. It’s a wonder they got ranked as high as 69th!

Stay tuned. We will next examine whether or not the U.S. Air Force Academy has impacted the dean’s long held religious beliefs!

June 08, 2010

MTSA Gets Its Own Version Of Der Stürmer

For those not familiar with propaganda -- you need look no further than the latest edition of the MTSA newsletter to gain an understanding of what it is and to see propaganda at its very best. The dirtier the edifice, the more whitewash one needs to make it look clean. The past president’s reign was so debauched it took several layers of whitewash to make this sepulcher of a president glisten. Since no authorship is noted for the piece dedicated to the ancien régime of the past president one could argue that the piece was written by Phil himself. It has every element one would expect to find within good propaganda: bandwagon, loaded words, testimonial, transfer, and repetition. Let’s examine these:


Bandwagon: Look at how great the past president was. We like him and you should too


Loaded words: See how great he was? He initiated, implemented, led, reminded, hoped, served, and was instrumental He is godly, honored, pleased, and disappointed. He had great influence and presence.



Testimonial, transfer, and repetition: From none other than the godly dean herself: She is “fully aware of God’s leading in sending Dr. Hunt.” “He has brought beauty . . . peace . . . leadership . . . and vision.” Dr. Hunt [was] “listening to the voice of God.” He provided “Godly [sic] advice and influence”, i.e. she is godly too because she got to be near someone else so godly. They are both just so godly. So very godly. So terrifically, incredibly godly. I mean, if you want to know what godly really is, well . . . friend – it’s them. Godly, godly, godly. It doesn’t get any godlier than this -- hearing God’s voice and all. Ah, to be like the godly duo of the dean and past president. It was like watching the interaction between Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker. Just . . . so . . . well . . . godly! They ultimately must take their place alongside many other “godly” people such as Jim Jones, David Koresh, Ernest Angly, Benny Hinn, Robert Tilton, and Tony Alamo. All of whom steadfastly proclaimed their godliness. (See previous comment in this blog -- godly people don’t have to get on a soap box and tell you how great they are. This is your first indication that you’re listening to a charlatan.)

Phil also provides his own testimonial concerning how godly he is: “God is in control.” God knows the final answer. “God had other plans” for him. He states that he follows God’s leading. Whew! I was tired of this whitewashed drivel after the first few insinuations that he seemingly has God in his pocket. It seems as though Moses and the prophets should be envious of Phil’s self-implied closeness to God. Just ask Phil! Oh, and by the way – if you look to Mr. Godly as an example, you will find that honoring and keeping the 8th and 9th commandments are entirely optional. Those two commandments, and likely the other eight, may be disregarded entirely as it suits furthering your individual needs and purposes. This example in itself is enough to warn any person with half a brain that the voice the president and dean are claiming to hear is not God’s voice at all but instead it is the voice of self-delusion. All this talk of godliness is yet another layer of subterfuge intended to cloak the ugliness of fanatic agendas, selfish motives, lust for control, and an overwhelming, maniacal, win-at-all-costs desire to perpetuate cronyism and the familial dynasty.

The one item in the newsletter that did bring a smile to my heart – that which I’ve waited 5 years to read and will benefit the school greatly – the president’s farewell letter. I hope you are all packed and have taken with you any trace of what you did at MTSA. Don’t forget DoD 5220.22-M.