Saturday, June 04, 2016

Intellectual Freedom Frauds

 Remember when Bill Cosby won all these awards for his contributions to the moral development of our youth?

Turns out that while he was making family-friendly entertainment meant to help children develop moral character, Bill Cosby was also slipping drugs into women's drinks and sexually abusing them!

Well, in May 2016, a student group at UH-Manoa has given the Sarah K. Vann award ( an award to library professionals in regards to service, ethics, and intellectual freedom ) to Dr. Noriko Asato.






Wait, what? Dr Noriko Asato getting an award for promoting intellectual freedom? 

The same exact person who pressured me to sign this?




You're telling me a person who wanted me to sign that document is a promoter of intellectual freedom?

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?



It's not just that document (which by the way,  I REFUSED TO SIGN!)

There's much more which you can read at
http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2015/06/professional-victim-professor-part-2.html
http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2015/07/professional-victim-professor-part-3.html

The following is more about Rich Gazan, but is so related to Asato's situation




This award winning teacher of professional ethics and promoter of intellectual freedom......... gets upset when interns refuse to lie about their situation, doesn't like it when interns complain about unethical supervisors, tells interns to withdraw complaints about their situation, calls herself "very afraid" and "feels threatened" when confronted by assertive disagreement, tells others not be upset about workplace trauma, yet she has easily hurt feelings
photograph & annotations copyright to Pablo Wegesend
Dr. Noriko Asato


This award winning teacher of professional ethics and promoter of intellectual freedom.........

gets upset when interns refuse to lie about their situation,

doesn't like it when interns complain about unethical supervisors,

tells interns to withdraw complaints about their situation,

calls herself "very afraid" and "feels threatened" when confronted by assertive disagreement,

tells others not be upset about workplace trauma, yet she has easily hurt feelings

everything mentioned above is true and the facts are available online to anyone worldwide with an internet connection



And here's more memes on Dr Noriko Asato

disagreement makes her feel very afraid


Hi, my name is Noriko Asato. My next award will be for my ability to use phrases like "I feel threatened" and "I felt very afraid" to guilt trip those who expressed assertive disagreement with me!




My next award will be for my ability to use phrases like "I feel threatened" and "I felt very afraid" to guilt trip those who express outrage at my dishonesty and my attempts to silence dissent

When someone disagrees with me and I'm unable to back up my previous statements with a logical response, I just call myself "very afraid" and "feel threatened" even though the other person NEVER made a real threat

If someone disagrees with me and I can't think of a logical response, I'll just evade the other person's points by stigmatizing them as "anger"



None of those memes are exaggerations!  She really does respond to spoken & written statements of disagreements as if they were threats!


If you are an advocate of intellectual freedom, you are not supposed to be afraid of a disagreement!


If you are an advocate of intellectual freedom, you are supposed to be embrace the disagreement!


If you are an advocate of intellectual freedom, you are supposed to engage with disagreement!



If you are an advocate of intellectual freedom, you respond to written or spoken statements of disagreement by  either
  • saying  something like "interesting, I never thought of it that way"
  • saying something like  "in response to that point,  you said this, but it's actually that because (fill in the blank)"


An advocate of intellectual freedom NEVER 
  • ask another person to withdraw a complaint
  • calls oneself afraid when someone writes an email explaining a disagreement
  • calls oneself afraid when a person express dissatisfaction with a supervisor

Dr Noriko Asato calling herself an "advocate of intellectual freedom makes less sense than

  • Bill Cosby calling himself a "victim's rights advocate"
  • Genghis Khan calling himself a "pacifist"
  • Adolf Hitler calling himself "advocate for ethnic diversity" 
  • Donald Trump calling himself "the king of sensitivity"
  • Ted Nugent calling himself a "vegan"


 Just like how Andrea Constand exposed Bill Cosby as a sexual predator, I exposed Noriko Asato as an unethical phony who doesn't really respect intellectual freedom!




===================



Another intellectual freedom fraud associated with the LIS Program is Dr Andrew Wertheimer!


Wertheimer was the head of the LIS program when I started (in 2013) until he stepped down from that role to be replaced in 2015 by Dr Rich Gazan (mentioned in http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2016/01/database-man-out-of-his-league.html)

Wertheimer was also my academic advisor after Dr Rebecca Knuth (one of the most honorable people in the LIS program, and a true advocate of Intellectual Freedom) retired after the Spring 2014 semester!

He was the facilitator for my independent research that I did in the summer of 2014, when I focused on the library services for the blind & visually impaired!

He also the person I talked to for advise on various academic & professional issues!


So it is not easy for me to expose the negative side of Dr Wertheimer, but it has to be done!


I don't go blogging about every little disagreement I have with people, but this goes WAY BEYOND just simple disagreement!

I find Dr Andrew Wertheimer to be lacking in ethics in multiple ways 

For one, he once conducted the LIS 615 (collection management) which was a required course. However, during my first 2 years in the LIS program, the class was only available online.  He takes ONE MONTH after the course has started to put up a syllabus and mentions assignments. ONE MONTH AFTER THE COURSE WAS SUPPOSED TO START!

When his online students email him legitimate questions, he does NOT respond!  I had to confront him in person to get a response! 

This is straight up laziness and negligence on Wertheimer's part!

That issue got solved in 2015 when the class was finally offered as a "classroom class" instead of an online class! By then it was too late for me!


But that is NOWHERE NEAR THE most negative side of Dr Wertheimer




You see, Dr Wertheimer discourages students from standing up for themselves when it comes to dealing with corrupt internship supervisors.  He thinks that students/interns/recent grads should put their careers ahead of justice


This BS"defender of intellectual freedom" felt that I shouldn't have contacted the manager of Hawaii State Library over the way Tisha Aragaki treated me!  (see http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2015/04/problems-at-hsl.html)



He tried to scare me with "people aren't going to hire you if you ask for workplace justice"



Even worse, when I saw him in public recently, he asked about my life after graduation. I said I am applying for positions within public library system.  He said "Pablo, you burned a lot of bridges with public library system, Your fighting for justice is making employers leery of hiring you"

He's telling me I should be silent about injustice!

Sir, those are fighting words!

Telling me to remain silent about injustices is the ACT OF LOWLIFE SCUM! 

I am much, much,much,  much faster to forgive a person who calls me a "stupid idiot" than I am to forgive a person who wants me to be silent about injustices I've experienced!





  A few days I later emailed a message with some
 memes to Dr Wertheimer about his attempts to keep me silent!


interesting that the very people who tell you to "put your career ahead of justice" are the very people who wouldn't even have a career if it wasn't for those who sacrificed their careers for justice!  #RealTalk


interesting that the very people who tell you to "put your career ahead of justice" are the very people who wouldn't even have a career if it wasn't for those who sacrificed their careers for justice!  #RealTalk


The reason I said that is because Dr Andrew Wertheimer is Jewish, a group long persecuted by various regimes throughout history! The fact that he is even allowed to have a university professor position (instead of being segregated or placed in a concentration camp) is BECAUSE OF PEOPLE WHO SACRIFICED THEIR CAREERS AND LIVES FOR JUSTICE!  These people put their careers and lives on the line so that other Jewish people can have the right to survive, even thrive!


Dr Andrew Wertheimer owes his career and his life to those who sacrificed their careers and lives for justice!


Same is true for Dr Noriko Asato, who would've been placed in an internment camp had she been born a few decades earlier!

The reason Arab-Americans weren't placed in internment camps after 9/11 is BECAUSE people said NEVER AGAIN will we allow a repeat of the Holocaust, NEVER AGAIN will we allow a repeat of the internment of Japanese-Americans (or any other ethnic group) during wartime!

 



Dr Wertheimer also praises all these progressive social programs, ALL OF WHICH existed ONLY BECAUSE people put their careers at risk to make it possible!

Now look at this meme!


This "champion" of intellectual freedom....... tells people they should put their career ahead of purusing justice........... tells people they should put their career ahead of fighitng injustice. He wouldn't have his career if people didn't sacrifice their careers (and even their lives) so that his people could have a career (or even a life)

AMEN TO THAT!




Discouraging others from having courage is a form of psychological torture! The cover-up is usually worse than the crime! #RealTalk

Discouraging others from having courage is a form of psychological torture! The cover-up is usually worse than the crime! #RealTalk




It's bad enough that Tisha Aragaki is an emotionally insecure tyrant that can't handle a disagreement! But Wertheimer (plus Asato and Gazan) MAGNIFY THE PROBLEM by trying to silence me on the issue! 



It's like what I tell the kids:   your parents may not like it if you tell the truth (ie. yes mom, I did that) but they will be MUCH MORE ANGRY AT YOU if you  lie about it)


Covering up is never a good idea! 


Asato/Wertheimer/Gazan wanted to cover-up for Tisha Aragaki! I DONT DO Cover-Ups!


this attempted cover-ups made the issue much worse than it had to be!  

Had Asato/Gazan/Wertheimer followed my idea of meeting with Tisha Aragaki or her supervisor, The Problem would've been solved and none of those memes & blog posts would've existed!


Instead of silencing people, ADMIT THE PROBLEM AND SOLVE IT! 



Asato/Gazan/Wertheimer are accustomed  to dealing with library science students who are either introverts, ass kissers, and some combo of both!  They are accustomed  to be conflict-avoidant people who run &  hide the minute negative publicity comes their way!   They're not accustomed to dealing with a person like me, a person who fights back with blogs & memes! 



And get this ......... being that I was born in 1980 and grew up in public housing................. I didn't even learn to blog & meme & make YouTube speeches until I became an adult! 

 The new generation learn to do all that before they start middle school! 



Let this be a warning to Asato/Gazan/Wertheimer, the next generation of students you'll be dealing with will have much more advanced blogging & social media skills than I do! They're also the generation that already have personal experience using  social media to fight their own  battles with teachers, principals and other students!



In other words, you tell the new generation to "suffer in silence", they will come out swinging much harder and with much more advanced techniques than I did!


Considered yourselves warned!

==========================


And my last message to Dr Andrew Wertheimer



I live life on my own terms! I tell it like it is! That might've kept me from having some economic opportunities, but you can't put a price on mental health! #RealTalk

I live life on my own terms! I tell it like it is! That might've kept me from having some economic opportunities, but you can't put a price on mental health!
#RealTalk



Take that Dr Andrew Wertheimer! 

Same to Dr Noriko Asato and Dr Rich Gazan! 


=======================






PS: Whereas Dr  Andrew  Wertheimer and Dr Noriko Asato constantly advises students to be overly cautious and risk-averse or else "people are less likely to hire you", here's an article by businesswoman Heidi K. Isern that proves THE EXACT OPPOSITE!

"Open Up, Close More Deals"


When a friend read my last post on “Leaving Perfection”, he was concerned, “Are you sure you want to be that vulnerable online? You’re a leader in a well known design firm. Isn’t your open writing style bad for business?”

Would revealing emotions cause others to doubt my professional ability?
Would I forgo the trust I had established with clients?

My answer? Hell, no.

Over the years I have found that being vulnerable leads to much greater business success than staying buttoned up.



and more


Then an industrial designer stopped me in the hallway, hair wild, eyes alert with intrigue.
“Heidi, I have a confession. I started reading your blog…”

I was surprised. Back then my blog had few followers outside of my mom and ex boyfriends.

He continued, “And um, wow, it was really intimate. I didn’t know MBAs like you had emotions. You know, I went through that same thing last year. Maybe we should work on something together. Maybe I can help you.”
and more

Two years ago, I was particularly excited about a proposal to work with an established technology company and rethink the future of entertainment. However, right when the statement of work should have been signed, silence ensued. I hit “refresh” on my inbox until my fingers bled. Our bottom line depended on the contract so I called the Vice President of our client company to inquire about the holdup.

“Well, I’ll admit. I spent some time Googling you and the team and I came across your blog,” he said.

I was horrified. I had just written about freezing my eggs. And my prior post compared dating to mismatched socks. Shit. Had my blog just torpedoed our business relationship?
“I must say,” the client continued, “You reveal a lot. But hell, I think it’s great. My wife had fertility issues once and we found no one talked about it. Happy you did. I always want to know who I’m doing business with. With you, I have a VERY clear picture. If you can take risks and empathize with others, you can empathize with us. I’ll sign the contract today.”

A year and many dollars later, the same client reached out to me for advice on making a career change. Because he trusted me, he felt comfortable asking me for advice on where to go next. Vulnerability connected us as humans and fostered a long term relationship that extended beyond singular contracts and companies.

If you want to do business in the long term, it can never just be business. It needs to be personal.
 and finally this

This year I’ve had many leaders from different industries send me personal emails thanking me for my openness and in turn, gave me the gift of being open with their own challenges. They’ve told me about domestic violence, catastrophic divorces, company lay-offs, and a litany of other failures. People I never thought I’d have a chance to meet are now my allies. Well, at least on Twitter.



What that writer understands (but Andrew Wertheimer and Noriko Asato DONT) is that in order to experience greatness, YOU MUST TAKE RISKS, YOU MUST TAKE A STAND!

If that means a few opportunities go to other people, so what?  That just means a more suitable opportunity is on the way! 

You can't satisfy everyone!  You have to live life on your own terms. That comes with its own opportunities, and with it, greater mental health!

Sunday, May 29, 2016

summer begins

School year has ended, and it's a few hours from Memorial Day!


Summer has begun!

Summer is fun for students who are on vacation!

Summer is not so fun for those who are substitute teachers, who have dramatically reduced work hours and therefore have to cut back on expenses.

However, a new temp work opportunity is coming soon (pending paper work and a start date that is more than a week from now).


I'm not ready to publicly say what it is!  I haven't started yet!


But I'm optimistic that it could be start of something great!  It could open doors to future temp opportunities, or even something more long-term.

It can help me with my long-term career goals!  It could be something great to put on a resume! It could give me something great to discuss in future job interviews.