Update on the Supposed Lone Scammer, Paul Pless:
On August 30, 2013, OTLSS posted an epic entry labeled “Update re: Paul Pless and Illinois Law.” Take a look at the segment below:
http://outsidethelawschoolscam.blogspot.com/2013/08/update-re-paul-pless-and-illinois-law.html
“Pless is a realtor, as we all know, but on one site, he gives away a little too much information – one word too much, in fact. On his Trulia profile, he posts the following as his interests, and gives away a little piece of information that connects all the dots:
Interests: When not helping clients buy or sell their home I enjoy spending time with my family. My wife, Stacey Tutt, is a Professor and very active in the community as a Board Member of United Way. We have a wonderful daughter and 300 pounds of dog in the energetic Duke and Ramsey.
Married to a professor? Hmmm. I looked up Professor Stacey Tutt. Guess where she works. Yup, Stacey Tutt is a professor at Illinois University College of Law, the very same place that ruined her husband’s career. That alone is odd.
But look at those dates. She was hired in June 2011, right before the school went public with the stats scandal. Right at the time where Pless would have been in the dean’s office trying to work out a solution. The dean is worried sick because he knows he told Pless to fudge the stats. Pless is crying, perhaps, because how will he look after his baby daughter with no job and a wife who makes around $55K (as per the current vacancy for a managing attorney, her prior job at Prairie State Legal Services, which is hardly going to compensate for the loss of Pless's $130K salary at the law school)? The family relied on Paul's healthy salary, and a drop from a combined income of almost $200K to just over $50K would have been devastating.
So the dean – or Pless – has a great idea.” [Emphasis mine]
Then again, the timing and circumstances could simply be a series of incredible coincidences, right?!?! According to the Salary Guide provided by the Daily Illini, Stacey L. Tutt “earned” $90,500 as an assistant clinical “professor” - in 2012. Thanks to the anonymous OTLSS commenter from 8:35 am, for that info.
Commenter dybbuk23 posted this reply at 4:46 am:
“This has appeared nowhere in the media. However, the University Ethics report, issued on Nov. 7, 2011 (prepared by Jones Day and Duff & Phelps under the direction of the University) mentions this fishy decision in a single footnote (below) (p. 104, n. 43).
http://www.law.illinois.edu/content/aba/Nov7-UofI-FinalReport.pdf
"Pless’s wife was hired by COL as a clinical instructor beginning in the current academic year. (There are no COL policies prohibiting the hiring of the spouses of employees—Pless’s wife had previously worked in COL’s placement office; she has never been employed in the Admissions Office.) Smith and other COL administrators and faculty members considered this hiring during the preceding academic year (2009-2010). At times, certain COL personnel viewed the prospect of hiring Pless’s wife favorably based, in part, on Pless’s position and performance at COL. For his part, Smith expressed to faculty and administrators that the decision whether to hire Pless’s wife would be made without regard to Pless or any desire to retain Pless. The investigation has not revealed any irregularities with respect to this hiring."
This is oddly-worded footnote that does not refer to Pless's wife by name. Moreover, Stacey Tutt is not listed as one of the 23 University employees interviewed during the inquiry. (p. 16)” [Emphasis mine]
For $ome rea$on, this report - funded by this public univer$ity - omitted this “trivial” data. Could this merely be another one of those supposed “oversights” that benefits the school?! If you buy the school’s explanation, then you need to be placed on a window sill and watered twice a week.
Richard Herman, Former UI Chancellor and Currently Overpaid Faculty Member:
This public sewage pit is no stranger to corruption. Check out this Chicago Tribune article, entitled “University of Illinois admissions: Chancellor says 'we have to fix' system.” Reporters Jodi S. Cohen, Stacy St. Clair and Tara Malone wrote the piece, which was published on July 7, 2009. Look at this excerpt:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-u-of-i-clout-college-07-jul07,0,370456.story
“The University of Illinois' favoritism toward students backed by powerful sponsors must come to an end, the principal enforcer of the campus' secret admissions system testified Monday.
Chancellor Richard Herman took responsibility for the special treatment given to students with political connections but weak academic credentials. He also acknowledged trying to mitigate damage to the law school by seeking jobs for graduates and thereby improving the school's job-placement rate.” [Emphasis mine]
Jodi S. Cohen’s follow-up piece, “After scandal, U. of I.'s former chancellor isn't teaching but still makes $212,000,” appeared in the May 6, 2013 edition of the Tribune. Look at this opening:
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-05-06/news/ct-met-u-of-i-herman-20130506_1_john-prussing-richard-herman-ultimate-decision-maker
“Richard Herman doesn't have to do much teaching as part of his $212,000faculty job at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
When he resigned as chancellor after a high-profile admissions scandal, he made a deal to teach just two classes a year in the College of Education, where a professor typically teaches four.” [Emphasis mine]
Two paragraphs later, Cohen stated:
“Herman is one of several top U. of I. officials who resigned under pressure in recent years and subsequently moved into high-paying faculty positions.”
Yes, Pig Richard Herman was certainly punished for his unscrupulous actions. [Read: This bastard was richly rewarded for taking the blame and keeping his mouth shut.]
Conclusion: The University of Illinois overall - and the Commode of Law in particular - is a moral cesspool. A nest of cockroaches has more integrity than these $elf-intere$ted bitches and hags. In the final analysis, “higher education” is designed to provide academic thieves with high paid salaries for little to no actual “work.” YOU, the student, are a mere means to an end. The law school pigs don’t care if you end up owing $190K in NON-DISCHARGEABLE debt - while working as a JD barista or doc review monkey. Hell, they do not give a damn if you end up in a dumpster or in a food pantry line. The swine only look out for themselves.