How Much Are They Paying You, Dawn Connor?

I can only hope that the for-profit scam artists and their friends on Capitol Hill are paying you, Dawn Connor, or at least forgiving some of your student loans for shilling on their behalf. Either you will make millions continuing to lobby on the behalf of for-profit colleges, or you will be back in Eau Claire neutering cats and dogs for the rest of your life -- if you're lucky.

This makes my blood boil, but this looks like the few options for-profit graduates have these days. Either become part of the industry that scammed you, or end up thousands in debt with no job prospects.

A few months ago, Dawn Connor was just another college student, attending night courses to become a veterinary technician and practicing her trade by spaying and neutering dogs and cats from a local shelter.

These days, the 33-year-old from Eau Claire, Wis., is shaking hands on Capitol Hill and speaking at news conferences in Las Vegas, the new public face of the satisfied for-profit college student.

Standing closely behind her is the Career College Association, a lobbying group for for-profit schools that provided the organizational muscle to launch the grassroots-sounding Students for Academic Choice at a time when for-profit colleges are under fire.

The Career College Association helped the students establish a website, draft bylaws and set up an online election that resulted in Connor being elected the group's president — all at a time when for-profit colleges are intensifying lobbying efforts against tougher federal regulations expected to be proposed in the coming days.

Who is Dawn Connor? The article lists her "credentials" which include enrolling in three different nonprofit colleges without earning a single degree. She is the face of the for-profit industry because, really, what else would she have done to pay off her student loan debt without her new job rubbing elbows with politicians to make more money for the for-profit thieves?

Connor was a collegiate drifter. She said she graduated early from high school and enrolled at three different nonprofit colleges, changing majors a few times without earning a degree.

Then she found the Eau Claire campus of for-profit Globe University, which offered a flexible schedule that allowed her to attend class at night while she worked full-time in a health care job.

It wasn't cheap. Tuition to complete a two-year associate's degree in veterinary technology at Globe runs $44,820, and lab fees and books are extra. Connor said it cost her less because she had transfer credits.

Even so, she said the state-of-the-art surgical suites and small classes is worth the extra expense.

Connor seems to come off as the type of person who never should have went to college, would have been better off working for the last ten years instead of drifting from one crappy for-profit to the next, but continued to rack up student debt at any "college" that would take her in. She is the perfect example of why these nonprofit schools should be closed down and a warning to students like her. Do you want to be 33-years-old, still in school with no job skills, and owe thousands of dollars in student debt?

The article does not state how much student loan debt she owes. I wouldn't be surprised if she owes upwards of $100k after attending four different colleges before finding her calling as a for-profit shill for a so-called student organization that Lauren Asher of the Institute for College Access & Success calls "an industry-sponsored group".

Any last words, Ms. Connor?

Connor said lower tuition "would be great. In the real world, that would be great if we could lower the price for everything. But that's just not an option at this point in time. That's not the point we're trying to get to right now."

She is an idiot and a clueless hack, which makes her perfect for the for-profit industry in their propaganda. I suggest Connor to milk as much as possible from these thieves while she still can or convince her for-profit school to hire her as a spokesperson, because there is no way she will be able to survive in the "real world" as a 33-year-old with no work experience and a Global University associate's degree. Good luck paying off that $45,000 loan and whatever else you owe to those three other diploma mills.

Wall of Shame: Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick

Kwame Kilpatrick is emblematic of the idiocy and corruption that runs through our political system because of those important family connections. Here is a little background for those of you who only know about Kilpatrick's recent legal troubles (I'll get to that in a minute).

Spoiled and irresponsible, Kilpatrick was handed prestigious, six-figure jobs his entire life due to shady family connections in politics. His mother, Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, is a Congresswoman for Michigan's 13th District. His father, Bernard Kilpatrick, served as chief of staff to former Wayne County Executive Edward H. McNamara.

Kilpatrick immediately succeeded his mother in the Michigan State House of Representatives when she vacated the seat to run for Congress. Kilpatrick was only 26 years old at the time. During his time in the Michigan State House of Representatives, Kilpatrick received a JD from third tier Michigan State University College of Law. Yep, another reminder that a TTT degree is useless unless you have the connections to get you a law firm or political job. Five years after being elected to the House of Representatives, Kilpatrick would become the youngest mayor of Detroit at the age of 31.

I really don't know what he did during his first term as mayor of Detroit, but everything that I've read has been bad. According to Wikipedia, he closed the century-old Belle Isle Zoo and Belle Isle Aquarium. An Associated Press article reveals more into some of the crimes that he and his family committed while he was in office:

Brash and arrogant, Kilpatrick was criticized during his first term for improperly using city credit cards to pay pricey restaurant tabs. It was later revealed that his wife used a city-leased vehicle for her personal use. Each time, he asked for his constituents' forgiveness, and he came from behind to win re-election in 2005.

This is video of Kilpatrick's mother stumping for him during his re-election campaign. I guess we can see where he got his brashness and arrogance.

Another article by the Associated Press stated that Kilpatrick charged at least $210,000 on his city-issued credit card during the first 33 months of his first term. I don't think anyone needs to be reminded that Detroit is cash strapped and one of the poorest and most dangerous cities in the United States. This idiot wasted money on cars and vacations when kids in that city are falling victim to senseless violence everday. The most recent story that made national headlines was a 7-year-old girl who was shot to death by the Detroit Police while she slept. Awful.

This man is involved with so many controversies and crimes that I don't have the time to list them all in one post. You can go over to Wikipedia again and read about Kilpatrick's wild Manoogian Mansion party and his connection with the murder of an exotic dancer who attended the party in 2002. You can also read about the whistleblower trial and the text-messaging scandal that finally ended his "career" in politics.

To make a long story short, Kilpatrick pleaded guilty to obstructing justice by committing perjury in connection with an investigation into sexual text messages he had sent his former chief of staff, Christine Beatty. He was supposed to have paid the city of Detroit a million dollar fine. Instead, he refused to pay the required monthly restitution payments and has been living it up in a Texas mansion and working (yes, a convicted felon who stole possibly millions from Detroit can find work and we can't) at Covisint, a Texas subsidiary of Compuware.

Yesterday, Kilpatrick was sentenced to 18 months to 5 years in prison. Kilpatrick has abused the legal system long enough and deserves his punishment, but I'd much rather see him pay the citizens of Detroit the million dollars they so desperately need to rebuild the city. Shame on you, Kwame!

Wall of Shame: 2010 Edition

But I Did Everything Right hasn't done a Wall of Shame post since December so I thought I'd start the first Wall of Shame post of 2010 with the latest lawyer/thief to pull a Ponzi Scheme on innocent clients.

Mini Madoff

From today's Herald Tribune:

Arthur G. Nadel pleaded guilty Wednesday to 15 federal fraud counts, publicly admitting for the first time that he orchestrated a massive Ponzi scheme in Sarasota.

Once a key player in social and philanthropic circles, Nadel is now known as a "mini-Madoff" who bilked hundreds of millions of dollars from clients.

...

Nadel, 77, may spend the rest of his life in prison after his guilty plea to six counts of securities fraud, one count of mail fraud and eight counts of wire fraud. Each count carries a maximum sentence of 20 years.

...

"Arthur Nadel cheated his victims out of hundreds of millions of dollars of their retirement money and savings by lying to them over and over again and claiming false returns and profits," said Preet Bharara, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

"Many of Nadel's victims were elderly and relied on the money that they invested in Nadel's funds for their retirement. While he deceived and impoverished others, Nadel funded a luxurious life for himself and his associates," Bharara said.

Nadel paid himself $55 million in performance and management fees. He also diverted $23.5 million in investors' money and allocated $22 million in profitable trades to his own accounts.

He bought real estate developments, businesses, the Venice Jet Center and a fleet of jets and helicopters with proceeds from the Ponzi scheme. He will forfeit those assets in the plea deal.

He and his wife were large donors to a number of local charities and foundations with money that prosecutors say came from the scheme.

******************

I also recommend reading L4L's latest post on another TTT dean who deserves a mention on our Wall of Shame, Dean Karen Rothenberg of U. Maryland Law. According to L4L, Rothenberg "received $350,000 in compensation for several sabbaticals she apparently never took" which was "on top of her $371,000 a year “base” salary".

Interview With the $500K Doctor, Michelle Bisutti!

Today was my lucky day. No, I didn't get a job, don't get overly excited. I had a chance to speak to the famous, or infamous, Dr. Michelle Bisutti--from the Wall Street Journal article entitled The $500K Student Loan Burden. She was sweet as apple pie, and was very excited to reach out and talk to my readers, who have also suffered from the student loan scam. I spoke to her on the phone and I tried my best to quote her verbatim. Excuse me, Michelle, if I didn't get it quite right. But the message certainly there. Michelle is not a sob story. She's allowing herself to be the poster child for a revolution. I hope she didn't tell her story in vain. Enjoy...

1. Are you surprised at how popular the story from the WSJ has become?

Yes. I knew it would grab people’s attention because of the number, but I’m surprised at how many people picked it up. Rush Limbaugh, Ron Paul and Michael Moore picked it up. Radio commentary and on-line as well. Rush Limbaugh blamed the govt. for the high fees that I was charged. At the time, I thought that he didn’t know what he was talking about, but I’ve learned some things [which I will get into later]. On Michael Moore’s website, one of the most popular articles is one featuring my story. They are on opposite ends of the spectrum, but they both used the article to make their points. It was very strange. Those are the just the ones that I got to. It was nauseating at first to see how popular the article was; I’m a private person and to see my name all over was very embarrassing. But people need to know what’s going on. What’s happening to students is criminal. In regards to the government’s involvement, I thought that Sallie Mae owns Financial Management Systems (FMS), my lender, but FMS is basically a government agency. 80% of its revenues come from the government. It contracts with the Dept. of Education and Dept. of Treasury. It’s basically a government agency. So, it’s the U.S. govt. that charged me that $53K penalty for default. FMS collects on student loans, Medicaid, and Medicare for the government.

2. Why did you decide to give your story to the WSJ? Two reasons. First, I wanted people to know about these crazy fees that you are charged if you default on your student loans. It’s outrageous and criminal and legalized loan sharking. Second, I want parents and their kids to know what they’re getting into when they get a loan. What does it mean for interest to accrue, what does it mean to defer, what happens if I default? These are the tough questions that kids need to ask if they decide to sign on for a student loan.

3. If you could do it again, would you? What would you do instead? I don’t know. There are not too many things that I love to do and medicine is one of them. I used to be a personal trainer. Both professions go hand in hand, really.

4. Why did you decide to leave being a Personal Trainer? That was a side job. I did it while I was going to school. I didn’t think it would be satisfying. I wanted to go to law school, but I found out that Columbus has the most attorneys anywhere per capita. So I decided that isn’t a good idea. At the time, I foresaw taking out 70K in loans, and not finding a job as an attorney. So I went back and did pre-med requirements in two years after college and went to medical school.

5. What is your current monthly payment? My loan is partially in collection. $550-600 and the other one, $990, with only $100 going to the principal. They are trying to charge me another $32K penalty fee, so that the loan can be sold to another student loan company. They are asking that I sign on and agree to that penalty. I am meeting with attorneys and trying to figure out what I can do to avoid this. I’m trying to enter the Income Based Repayment program but I’m not sure what portions of the loan will qualify and what won’t. It’s been 2 months since I applied. I know I’ll be paying this back the rest of my life.

6. What caused you to fall behind? I did my residency and Wells Fargo loans came due 2 years into my residency, so I started paying on those loans. I deferred the others while I did my residency and then I did a fellowship in sports medicine. While I was in my fellowship, I defaulted. I was not making enough to survive, so I couldn’t pay it.

7. Did you live extravagantly while in Medical School? Do you live extravagantly now?? Far from it. I drove a used Honda and lived in an apartment. I haven’t been on a vacation in five years. I still own a used Honda accord. I live in a house my boyfriend owns. Like I said, I haven’t been on vacation in 5 years.

8. What is your plan for tackling your student debt? I have applied for IBR and that’s all I can do. You can’t get out of student loans. I can’t not pay them. They garnish wages. I’m getting 100s of emails about stories much worse than mine. At least I don’t have children and I have a job. I’ll be okay and I’ll be able to pay these, but the fees are absolutely criminal. A lot of these people are not going to be okay. It’s horrible what they are doing to people that tried to get an education, better themselves and live the American dream and now they are indentured servants for the rest of their lives.

9. If called to testify before congress about your student loan experience, would you? Yes, I have become the poster child for the student loan crisis. Without a doubt.

10. Do you have any feelings on the student loan scam? Do you think that the system should change? I think there is a scam, evident by some of the actions of the Bush Administration when they created the 2008 budget. I won’t get into that, but there was something seedy in the way that Sallie Mae was dealt with. But this take over by the U.S. Government of student loans is a good thing, to take out the middleman. But it’s the government is the one that charged me these unreasonable fees. So, I don’t know what to say about that. But I know that the middleman is making billions of dollars off of us, which is criminal.

11. Any advice to students? I advocate higher education, but doing it smart. Take out as little as you can, if you can live at home and stand your parents, take out low interest loans, and be aware of what would happen if you get out and can't find jobs in your chosen field. Especially now, when so many people can’t find a job in their field. Know what kind of money you will be looking at repaying. You cannot get out of student loans. You have to pay them. People say the two things you can be sure of are death and taxes, but add to that—paying off student loans. They need to know what can happen. Get a major that you can get a job with, like being an engineer. But don’t go to school, just to go. Like getting an art history degree. That won’t work and you’ll probably be waiting tables. I don’t want to keep people from going to college, just know what you’re getting into. I have given some thought to whether we’re better as the uneducated masses or the educated masses. I think it’s better that we’re educated. Because if we’re educated, we can fight this.

Wall of Shame Part IV: Attorney Steals for a few Luxuries in Life, and gets Disbarred!

Minneapolis Criminal Defense Attorney gets disbarred for being a criminal and stealing approximately $125,000 from his partners at Halberg. Classic. And what did he spend it on? Stupid shit. Really. I wish I could say that he needed it for his mortgage.

Halberg was founded in 2005. Thomas A. Rothstein was in charge of his small firm's finances. He had several partners, each owning 25%. A annual distribution would be made to the partners and every time Rothstein cut a check, he would write an extra check out to himself. I guess he thought the few extra thousand would go unnoticed.

In 2006, "he also used the company credit card for unauthorized purchases, including $562 at iTunes, $230 at a car wash, $824 at Pilgrim Cleaners, $2,875 at Continental Diamonds, $527 for flowers and $2,500 at the Trent Tucker Poker Tournament." In 2007, Rothstein used the company credit card and spent "$767 at iTunes, $403 for Pilgrim Cleaners, $347 for flowers, $506 at Continental Diamonds and $1,250 for personal trainer Judy Beyers."

That's a ton of music. I'd love to have access to his iTunes library. I certainly hope he's got a nice body too, with all of those personal training sessions. I'm wondering if the jewelry and flowers were for a Mrs. Rothstein or for Ms. Beyers--since he was her best customer. And, why poker? I guess the money he was swindling wasn't enough. He needed to gamble as well. And he needed to have some CLEAN and pressed clothes on while he gambled. Also, I'm sure he showed up to his personal training session with flowers and a shiny ride every time.

What strikes me about this selfish slug, was that he didn't steal to pay for anything that could arguably be considered necessary. I guess he was doing okay as an attorney. He wasn't struggling to make ends meet. But he needed to steal to live glamorously???? I guess this can be considered an Angel's Fable. You know, like "The Fox and the Grapes," "The Tortoise and the Hare" or "The Boy Who Cried Wolf." I'll call it, "The Lawyer and the Luxury Lifestyle." And the moral of the story is: Lawyers that have glamorous lifestyles are probably swindling someone; clients, partners, employees... someone.

The Glory Days for our profession are over. Most lawyers I know are living paycheck to paycheck. Even the ones that kept their big firm jobs. The lure of the glamorous lifestyle will cause you to spend money you don't have, when/if you land that big firm job. And for the other 95% of lawyers that never get the Big Firm job, it's very hard to reconcile attorneys' reputation for excess with your bank account. Everyone out of law school thinks that they should be at least as well off as their parents, with a nice home, two cars and yearly vacation. Meanwhile, with such a tremendous debt on their backs, they are hardly paying their rent. Not to mention that everyone around an attorney thinks that they "can afford it." The situation is only made worse. Most lawyers can't afford very much at all. A quick perusal of the worn soles of shoes and frayed hems of suit pants at the courthouse will speak volumes about an attorney's lifestyle.

I'm a member of the generation that was supposed to be the first to do worse than its parents. I think it's my generation, and the next few as well.