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Former University of Iowa hospital employee used fake identity for 35 years
- croes 3y ago>causing the other man to be falsely imprisoned for identity theft and sent to a mental hospital. To me that is the bigger crime. How comes the government can't recognize who is the real Woods and imprisons the wrong person?
- drjasonharrison 3y agoBecause birth certificates don't have DNA. Social security numbers were never meant to be used for identification. Etc.
- croes 3y agoBut before you send someone to prison you should be sure you investigated properly. Did they question any relatives of him?
- wpietri 3y agoIn our system, one of the most serious crimes is inconveniencing a cop while poor.
- nlitened 3y agoHow often does it actually happen that rich people give money to cops who conduct a proper investigation (before or after)? Looks rather unbelievable to me.
- cqqxo4zV46cp 3y agoThat’s not really how it goes. There are layers to it. Above all though, poor people are gross and a nuisance, whereas employed family men are humans just like you and me. …obviously not my own opinion.
- Ekaros 3y agoThere is no direct bribery outside elected officials. But there is lot of nepotism have the right connections and those in power will sort things out by ordering lower levels to make it go away.
- Xylakant 3y agoYou don't need to give money to a cop to make that happen. People that have no money are an easy target for any kind of abuse, including from cops. They have no lobby. No media outrage if a poor person is falsely imprisoned. No lawyers coming to hound you. The person may even not be in a state alert enough to understand what's going on. A wealthy person has favors to call in, lawyers on call, all the things that entirely legally make a cops live hard. So now, you're a cop and under pressure to arrest someone in a case. Homeless or mansion owner, who do you pick?
- kevin_thibedeau 3y agoI was nearly killed last year by a negligent driver and sustained significant injuries. If the driver hadn't had a suspension, the cop would have let him go without any tickets whatsoever. He got one ticket for the suspension and was given a wrist slap punishment. The cop ignored the testimony of an eyewitness who saw everything, turned off his bodycam for 18 minutes to ensure the witness statement wasn't recorded, and was conciliatory toward the driver, literally saying it wasn't his fault. The prosecutor issued me a notice to testify in court only three days in advance and was uninterested in knowing what happened to me or doing anything once the defendant and cop didn't bother to show up. The "trial" was held four months after the collision. The police department took five months to release the bodycam video. Business as usual for the American injustice system. You don't have to bribe the police if they're already biased in your favor.
- seanmcdirmid 3y agoThe cops dealing with poor people are often different from the ones dealing with rich people. But let’s say you are in a city with lots of poor (unhoused) and rich people: the cops are pretty mean to everyone in those, since they get beat down pretty quickly. Move over next door tot eh suburb that ships unhoused people next door, the cops are much nicer.
- wpietri 3y agoThat's not at all what I said. I'm just saying that cops are on average more responsive to the needs of the "right" people than the "wrong" ones. And in the US, having money (e.g., nice house, nice car, or here, a literal nice bank balance) does a lot to make you right. Part of that is, I'm sure, their own interests. If they throw a rich person in jail for no good reason, it's much more likely to come back on them than if it's some homeless dude. But part of it's just that it's the implicit job of cops to enforce not just legal order, but the social order.
- PKop 3y agoIf this were true, we wouldn't have homeless encampments, open drug use and street crime in major American cities.
- BeFlatXIII 3y agoThose don't inconvenience cops. They drive right on by until someone else throws enough of a fit for them to do an anti-homeless sweep.
- wpietri 3y agoExactly. If anything, I think homeless encampments are proof of this. It's not like homeless people are generally eager to cluster together; as both cause and effect, the level of mental illness and general dysfunction among the homeless is off the charts. In my neighborhood, the homeless are pretty well distributed, one or two people here and there. But I'd expect that in cities with more of an anti-homeless bias, there's a strong incentive to collect in places that are out of the way for cops.
- PKop 3y agoI don't understand how any of you can see this as a lack of will from police rather than political policy coming from above them. Here is thorough documentary outlining over and over again police prevented from enforcing law by politicians, who also don't charge or incarcerate criminals who cops arrest repeatedly. https://youtu.be/bpAi70WWBlw?si=yovLyNLoQzjHmomo https://youtu.be/bpAi70WWBlw?si=yovLyNLoQzjHmomo Similar policies exist in other cities like San Francisco.
- wpietri 3y agoI never said it was a lack of will from police. And I also don't think a 5-year-old pants-wetting video from a company well known for pushing right-wing views will convince me of much of anything. Especially that Seattle was dying 5 years ago, given that it doesn't seem to be dead. [1] Homelessness is not a problem that will get solved with violence, which is what police have the monopoly on. It won't get solve with criminalizing homelessness, either, because it's mostly not a choice people make, but a situation they end up in. So I think it's generally good that cops generally ignore the homeless, because as this article shows, bad things can happen when they don't. [1] except for comedic value: https://theneedling.com/2023/09/20/after-courageous-3-year-battle-with-right-wing-media-seattle-dead-at-age-172/ https://theneedling.com/2023/09/20/after-courageous-3-year-b...
- hinkley 3y agoSchool mates…
- toomuchtodo 3y agoThis is one of those edge cases where DNA databases are invaluable, as they do not lie (retests can be done if an error is suspected) and the data (genetic provenance) cannot be destroyed (such that a vital record or entire archive could be). You can “walk” the vital record web/matrix from known good identity to unknown identity. Vital records should probably have DNA attached. Maybe eventually they will.
- Hendrikto 3y agoWhat happens when that data inevitable gets stolen? The fact that biometrics cannot be changed or removed is also a huge drawback.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- ktosobcy 3y agoWould proper IDs helped avoid the issue? Not necesarily state-of-the-art biometric ones that we have already (on this side of the pond) but even rudimentary with owner photo, personal ID and document ID?
- janmo 3y agoThe real Woods was a homeless, while the fake woods had a job and family. The police and justice system are very biased, it is a well known fact.
- Seattle3503 3y ago> University of Iowa Police Detective Ian Mallory opened an investigation into the case. Mallory found the biological father listed on Woods’ birth certificate — which both Woods and Keirans had sent him an official copy of — and tested the father’s DNA against Woods’ DNA. The test proved Woods was the man’s son. Detective Mallory is the hero of this story. He believed a man who few people would at that point.
- jalapenos 3y agoThis. There's no substitute for competence.
- andrelaszlo 3y agoI'd watch the movie about detective Mallory.
- zarzavat 3y agoAlice and Bob are on a crime spree and planning their next hit, but Detective Mallory inserts himself into their communications and sets up a sting using a replay attack against Bob.
- another2another 3y agoI'd watch it twice if Tom Hanks played detective Mallory.
- cooperadymas 3y agoOnly if Leonardo DiCaprio plays the guy faking his identity for 35 years.
- 3y ago
- qingcharles 3y agoI was in jail and regularly saw where people were caught in traffic stops and gave their siblings name. They were allowed to leave, but later an arrest warrant was put out and the sibling was arrested. I was actually in court three times when I saw this come up, so it must happen much more frequently than that.
- chii 3y ago> gave their siblings name. so the name doesn't match their driver license? Or they're driving without one? I would imagine a cop just taking the name on face value seems negligent.
- qingcharles 3y agoI have to assume they told the cop that pulled them over that they didn't have their license on them (even if they did). And when the cop ran their name their picture looked similar enough (and maybe the name even matched the owner of the vehicle). Each time I saw this come up the defendants had spent 2-3 days in the jail before they got a hearing. I can't imagine how pissed I would be. The first few days in jail are the absolute worst. Imagine trying to tell all the jail staff that they've got the wrong person? Oh, how they'd laugh...
- ChrisArchitect 3y ago[dupe] Some more discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39919646 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39919646
- yieldcrv 3y ago[flagged]
- livueta 3y ago> this is a reminder that the only reason people aren't flying planes into buildings is because they don't want to One of the things about reading Stand on Zanzibar that really stuck with me was, amid all these relatively spot-on predictions of societal dysfunction, from rampant corporatism to debt-trap neocolonialism to housing affordability, the contrast between Brunner's world of high-impact, low-complexity domestic terrorism and our reality. There are shockingly few people blowing up box trucks full of anfo on major bridges.
- fwipsy 3y agoWhat makes this story interesting is that he built a more valuable identity than the real William Woods did. This court case destroyed that value, as the hospital likely won't employ either of them, even though presumably Keirans was doing an acceptable job up until now. Perhaps the smart thing for Keirans to do would have been to find Woods and pay him to swap identities. I wonder if anyone's ever pulled that off?
- Anotheroneagain 3y agoI believe you are actually allowed to call yourself whatever you wish in common law countries. There had to be more to that than just using a different name.
- mikrotikker 3y agoLol he could've just changed his name, and the imposter would have been caught off guard.
- nmstoker 3y agoYes, this is correct. Provided you are not doing it to deceive it's perfectly legal in the UK - however you can't go changing other details like your date of birth, which Kierans did here. The problem in the UK is many people in places like banks are unaware of this and they obviously cause difficulties for people when the account name and their given name do not match, even when explained (I have a relative with this situation) - it's not often enough to make it impossible merely very inconvenient at times (the relative of mine is in their 80s and been mostly fine since getting an account aa a child)
- voidUpdate 3y agoI've had a lot of problems changing my name with my bank in the UK to a name of a different gender. Despite bringing a valid deed poll signed by two witnesses that stated someone with my old name is now using my new name, validating I owned my card with my PIN and bringing along my passport showing that the person with my previous name did indeed look like me, they denied my request saying that "Anybody could do that"... which I believe is sort of the point
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- richrichie 3y agoABQ! Sounds like a classic Better Call Saul story.
- CogitoCogito 3y ago> The real Woods was arrested and charged with identity theft and false impersonation, under a misspelling of Keirans’ name: Matthew Kierans. Are they saying that they thought the real Woods was actually Matthew Keirans? How did they conclude that? The article is full of evidence of how the real Matthew Keirans had been pretending that he’s actually William Woods, but what evidence was there connecting the real William Woods to the name Matthew Keirans? It’s not like the real Woods would have any (fake) documentation attesting to it. Why would there be anything connecting him to the name at all? I could see them charging him as a John Doe since they don’t know who he is but “know” he’s not William Woods but I don’t understand why they would charge him as Matthew Keirans.
- smeej 3y agoCame here wondering the same thing. It's not like Woods would even had a reason to come up with Keirans' name, so did Keirans provide it when the bank was investigating? Like, "Oh, I'll bet I know who you're talking to. I'll bet it's Matthew Keirans. We've had issues in the past"? If I were Keirans, I wouldn't even want to bring the Keirans name anywhere near Woods, lest someone realize they were switched. I'd have acted like I had no idea who might be pretending to be me. So how did Keirans' name end up associated with Wood when he was arrested and charged?
- pxmpxm 3y agoI have to wonder if they made an agreement to swap identities, otherwise Woods would have to be to be clairvoyant to know his hot dog stand colleague from 30 years ago is using his ssoc.
- pqs 3y agoI think that in Spain, or any other country with a national ID card, this would be mucho more difficult. Police has fingerprints of everyone. In case someone says someone else is using his identity, the police just need to check the fingerprint with the national ID database.
- avar 3y agoSomeone steals your identity, and is also committed enough to burn off their fingerprints in a way that looks accidental. What now?
- ktosobcy 3y agoIn general IDs also have photos and currently everything is digital/stored so there is a trace of previous documents issued thus apart from burning off fingerprintes a face operation would be needed... or hacking national databases...
- verve_rat 3y agoThat wouldn't work unless they manage to burn off your finger prints too.
- Pikamander2 3y agoYou become a Phoenix Wright antagonist.
- KomoD 3y agoWell, I can still prove I am the real one? And he can't prove he's me... He didn't burn my fingerprints off.
- stef25 3y agoAs a European it's baffling to me that this is even possible. Afaik this is close to impossible here. Everyone has a mandatory ID card with a chip on it that's used to identify you. Maybe it sounds dystopian but so is getting drugged up in a mental hospital in a case of mistaken identity ... I mean WTAF. Not that these wild exception should determine the rule either.
- tyingq 3y agoI suspect the US system where each of the 50 US states have their own rules for birth certificates, id cards, etc, is the big reason. So, for example, you can craft fake id for one state...and it doesn't have to be good enough to fool anyone in that state. Just good enough to fool any one of the other 49. Which you then can bootstrap into a "real id" from that second state. Especially given this happened decades ago. It has become much harder over time.
- sva_ 3y ago> Everyone has a mandatory ID card with a chip on it that's used to identify you. Or you just get rid of your documents, claim to be a refugee, and just fabricate all the data.
- Macha 3y ago> Everyone has a mandatory ID card with a chip on it that's used to identify you. Only in some European countries
- mixmastamyk 3y agoOh, a chip. Must be foolproof, right? ;-)
- tim333 3y agoIn the UK we don't have mandatory ID and also seem to manage to not bang people up like that.
- smeej 3y agoI like to think my commitment to the truth is high enough to do what Woods did and stand up for my identity, but honestly after getting out of jail and a mental institution for insisting I was Woods, I might just accept being Keirans from now on. How could it be worse than risking being sent back?
- cbsmith 3y agoYou'd be Kierans. ;-) That was such an ironic twist to the story.
- smeej 3y agoWould I, though? If I was convicted as Keirans, I should probably be able to make a stronger case for that spelling than the other!
- cbsmith 3y ago> The real Woods was arrested and charged with identity theft and false impersonation, under a misspelling of Keirans’ name: Matthew Kierans. > > Because Woods continued to insist, throughout the judicial process, that he was William Woods and not Matthew Kierans, a judge ruled in February 2020 that he was not mentally competent to stand trial and he was sent to a mental hospital in California, where he received psychotropic medication and other mental health treatment. It's a bit unclear, but I think he was convicted as Kierans.
- cynicalsecurity 3y agoBut why? What was the point?
- nvr219 3y agoThey should hire him to be the new Mossad guy
- kazinator 3y agoThe strange thing is that Kierans used Woods' identity since 1988, but somehow didn't cause Woods enough trouble to the point of getting him arrested until thirty years later. The situation took curiously long to come to a head.
- omneity 3y agoThis happens to be the plot of a famous french comedy show in the 2000’s. Not sure if I should spoil as it’s literally the very last revelation in the series.
- mcswell 3y agoHis real name was Dr. Richard Kimble.
- ngcc_hk 3y agoInteresting story but cannot pass the first page.
- jeanlou 3y agoWhat a hell it must have been for Mr Wood
- nytesky 3y agoSuddenly, the government having my DNA record seems less terrible. I’m only half kidding…
- jj999 3y agoSo you trust the database to be exact?
- bartonfink 3y agoClassic case of letting perfect be the enemy of good. Try harder next time, jj999. DNA would be significantly harder to fake over 35 years when you're still walking around with your own DNA. Is it perfect? No, but it's a lot more trustworthy in this case than an SSN or driver's license were.
- Aerroon 3y agoBut you don't need DNA to prove it though. You have interacted with other people in the past. Parents, siblings, relatives, school mates, teachers, bosses, medical records, taxes etc. If imperfect is fine then all of these are options too. Not to mention... Photo id.
- bartonfink 3y agoDid you read the article? Clearly not. Gtfo.
- Aerroon 3y agoI did read the article, which clearly stated that after they had sent an innocent man into a mental institution against his will a detective decided to track down the man's father. And a DNA test proved that what the innocent man said was true. Which begs the question: why was the judge/court so incompetent/malicious that they didn't do that in the first place?
- kevin_thibedeau 3y ago
- coderintherye 3y ago>Because Woods continued to insist, throughout the judicial process, that he was William Woods and not Matthew Kierans, a judge ruled in February 2020 that he was not mentally competent to stand trial and he was sent to a mental hospital in California, where he received psychotropic medication and other mental health treatment. That's the stuff of nightmares. I hope the real Woods sues the system that put him through this.
- Ekaros 3y agoSadly the system never gets punished. I think these judges and prosecutors would do much better if there was ever present risk of either life in prison or even death penalty.
- BartjeD 3y agoDo you think you yourself would do better? Are crime rates significantly lower in US States that have the death penalty? Are crime rates lower in States that punish more severely compared to States that punish less severely? The state of art in preventing crime is to focus on rehabilation and education, not punishment. So it would be novel if the statistics prove that punishment works better.
- fwipsy 3y agoNobody would take that job. If they did they would be hyper-cautious and never prosecute or sentence anyone. Better to just abolish the judicial system. Maybe you disagree, but I think that would be worse than the status quo. There's always room to improve the system, but the way to do that is to make it resilient to individual failures, not by placing more pressure on the individual not to make mistakes.
- Ekaros 3y agoSo it would be better. No innocent would go to prison. Abolishing system is valid option. If it is clearly failing it is not worth keeping.
- carbocation 3y agoNone of the petty crimes he was wanted for seemed worth the effort he put into maintaining the false identity. It makes me wonder whether there is more to uncover.
- croes 3y agoMaybe just the crime of the identity theft itself. Preventing 30 years of jail time is a big motivation.
- Ballas 3y agoProbably just unfortunate timing when he met his wife, and then had to keep using the name for fear of losing his wife/girlfriend?
- csomar 3y agoHe is already in too deep with this. He already has a family, job and probably a mortgage. A full situation in which everyone think he is "Woods".
- P_I_Staker 3y agoYou might be shocked how quickly it becomes "I'm an outlaw that can't exist normally in society" It doesn't seem that way to you, but it's shocking the jobs that will be choosy. Things are a bit different now, changing culture, labor shortages, etc. However especially ~1990s-2010ish, the mindset was "as long as there are people out there without issues, we will hire from that pool of candidates". So practically having more than a parking ticket could result in mass rejection from jobs. Sorry, but we have 20 candidates with NO parking tickets, so get lost.
- nytesky 3y agoAgreed. He must have done something terrible and was running from it.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- livinginfear 3y agoI think I'm missing something here. What did he have to gain from doing this? I understand that he was able to incur large amounts of debt under someone else's identity, but at that point he effectively was Woods. He was married under that name, he was employed under that name... If the authorities ever came looking for the Woods that incurred all the debt, it would be him that paid.
- AlgoRitmo 3y agoHe probably couldn’t get a real job with his true identity.
- pbj1968 3y agoI worked with a guy that had falsified some records to hide some misdeeds in his younger years. He made it 19 years before something unrelated forced us to do thorough background checks on our employees. He was escorted off the premises by police and his benefits voided by HR. All I’m saying is… at some point you got away with it. We did him dirty.
- alexey-salmin 3y agoWhy were his benefits voided after 19 years of work? What does it have to do with identity?
- fbdab103 3y agoHow much leeway does HR have to yank earned benefits? After two decades of doing the work, seems like they are entitled. If someone lied about getting a degree, would HR pull the 401k after a 20 year career? Faked a few certifications? Any lie is enough?
- 1123581321 3y agoThey can’t yank any vested money, whether it’s 401k contributions from the employer or accrued pension benefits. An employee of 19 years shouldn’t have lost much but missing a 20-year milestone for a pension might’ve hurt. This is the case even if you’re convicted of a crime, let alone just fired.
- bombcar 3y agoAt some point there should be squatters rights to an identity.
- nytesky 3y agoWoods was an employee at a hot dog stand, why did he steal his identity?
- beepboopboop 3y agoProbably a clean record
- benrapscallion 3y agoDupe: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39924309 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39924309
- neilv 3y agoWhich is a dupe of: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39919646 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39919646
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- wolverine876 3y agoWhat happened to Woods since it was uncovered? The story doesn't tell us. It showed great courage to keep fighting, even when effectively powerless.
- AnarchismIsCool 3y agoCan I just point out the hilarious disparity of punishment in this statement: >Matthew David Keirans, 58, was convicted of one count of false statement to a National Credit Union Administration insured institution — punishable by up to 30 years in federal prison — and one count of aggravated identity theft — punishable by up to two years in federal prison.
- n2d4 3y agoThat's because "aggravated identity theft" can never be the only crime you are convicted for. It is always dependent on another felony. The identity theft just adds two years on-top of whatever the other crime would've gotten you. Here, of course the two extra years don't matter, but if you commit identity theft to steal your grandma's candies, I don't think you should be getting 30 years in prison. Relevant: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1028A https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1028A
- Anotheroneagain 3y agoI suppose it may have something to do with the guy becoming homeless, and they don't want to show the whole extent of the horrors that they made real guy go through.
- Hnrobert42 3y agoI suppose the disparity is as a result in the difference of aggrieved party. Steal from a bank, off with your head. Steal from a person. Meh.
- givemeethekeys 3y agoYou’re allowed to scam whomever you want except for the wealthy or connected.
- elteto 3y ago> He was indicted Dec. 12, on five counts of false statement to a National Credit Union Administration insured institution and two counts of aggravated identity theft. It's actually 6 years max per false statement charge, so in total 30 years.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- achow 3y ago> University of Iowa Police Detective Ian Mallory.. tested the father’s DNA against Woods’ DNA. The test proved Woods was the man’s son. Such an obvious thing to do. Why it had to reach to University police for this to be initiated, why LA police did not do this at the start? Why the judge who sent the real Woods to mental hospital asked this to be done before giving that 'judgement'?
- yieldcrv 3y agohomeless with no money and no representation gets you these results really embarrassing for the California system, I want to know if there is any path for correcting this given the Iowa judgement and the Federal judgement
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- michaelt 3y agoTheoretically, I believe (in addition to the police's duty to get the right guy) the accused is supposed to have a defence attorney who goes looking for exculpatory evidence. AIUI America has an "adversarial" legal system, where the court is not involved in investigating the facts of the case. Instead, the defence and prosecution each make the strongest possible case and the judge and jury have to make their decision based on the evidence presented to them. For example the judge and jury don't get to question witnesses directly. In contrast, Germany has an "inquisitorial" justice system, where the judges are actively involved in investigating the facts of the case and get to question witnesses and suchlike.
- ngcc_hk 3y agoMay be it is good. But sound bad. Got a lot of these in Hong Kong and you wonder, can the judge be biased in these.
- RecycledEle 3y agoThere are rarely any real tests performed. There was a story on HN recently about a scumbag attorney who would think his client was lying then would prevent the evidence from being tested There can be no due process until every piece of evidence is documented publicly, tested, and the test results are posted publicly. I have had cops claim they needed a DNA sample from me, then they went to their car and said maybe 3 words to another cop there before coming back and reporting DNA test results that were obviously made up. Until it is a felony for anyone associated with The System to lie or to fail to perform all forensic tests, we will have corruption without end.
- siva7 3y ago> In 1994 — six years after he started using Woods’ name — Keirans got married. He had a child, whose last name is Woods. I wonder what goes around in the mind of the SO to accept that he couldn’t have shown anything from his past live.
- kelnos 3y agoThat was a pretty wild story, but honestly what disturbed me the most was right near the beginning: > one count of false statement to a National Credit Union Administration insured institution — punishable by up to 30 years in federal prison — and one count of aggravated identity theft — punishable by up to two years in federal prison. So you get 30 years for lying to a bank, but only two years for stealing someone's identity for decades, resulting in the real person being involuntarily committed to a mental institution just for insisting they are who they actually are? It should be the other way around. Two years for the lie, 30 years for the identity theft.
- sverhagen 3y agoWhat strikes me here is that they get thirty years for this at all. What he did was absolutely horrible, but a thirty year sentence seems excessive. That's, as I understand it, more than other countries give you for murder. This was a non-violent (albeit terrible) crime.
- brigandish 3y ago[flagged]
- daemoens 3y agoThose cancer kids have been getting a free ride for too long! Also, Voltaire didn't say that, it was Kevin Alfred Strom, a white supremacist. Voltaire knew who ruled over him. The French monarchy ruled over him.
- brigandish 3y ago[flagged]
- wds 3y agoWe're all dirt under the boot of cancer patients and orphaned animals
- 3y ago
- givemeethekeys 3y agoReminds me of the MIT dean that lied about her credentials and kept her job for years.
- hilux 3y agoMarilee Jones, MIT Dean of Admissions, worked there for years before she was found out. When her lack of any(!) degree was uncovered, she had to resign.
- givemeethekeys 3y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marilee_Jones https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marilee_Jones 19 years at the helm. She worked hard to keep a system that works hard to keep people like her out. She's a hypocrite and they would have looked like hypocrites too, had they let her keep her job. We should celebrate Marilee Jones every year - perhaps on the first day of school in homage to anyone who has truly faked it till they made it!
- hilux 3y agoIIRC she was credited with making MIT a more diverse place; she really was good at her job. BUT ... I've worked for a couple of major universities (not MIT, but similar), and you would not believe what degree snobs they are. Ideally, even staff should have a "terminal" degree from as famous a school as possible. The whole image is part of what they're selling.
- avar 3y ago> When her lack of any(!) degree > was uncovered, she had to > resign. Maybe you should fire someone with a history of flagrantly lying, but shouldn't that make MIT consider dropping its degree requirement for that job? Clearly it's not necessary.
- hilux 3y agoUniversities - I worked for two big ones - are in the business of selling degrees. The importance of a degree(s) is a religion at most universities. I agree with you that it's not necessary. And I don't expect their religion to change.
- jeffbee 3y agoWhich of these guys gets the social security benefits?
- ZaleZephyr 3y ago[dead]