In Part’s I and II of this ongoing saga, I tell the tale of how “Politico Corrupticus Syndrome” became rooted into the hallowed halls of one of our local academic institutions, Purdue Calumet. But I still did not know just how well this weed of a syndrome had been cultivated. And cultivated it was. The next explicit manifestation of “Politico Corrupticus Syndrome” was a real doozy.
Sometime during Fall 2005, Cohen decided to “forward” Tom McDermott Jr.’s “resume” to Dr. Saul Lerner (the department head at that time) about providing Mayor McDermott Jr. with an adjunct teaching position within the Department of History and Political Science. So here’s a guy (McDermott Jr.) with a whole year of experience as Mayor of Hammond and not only does Dr. Lerner “decide” to “utilize” Mayor McDermott Jr. to teach a class in the Department of History and Political Science, he “assigns” him a 300 level course called “Lake County Politics.” According to Cohen, he had nothing whatsoever to do with Lerner’s decision. From all accounts, Lerner is sticking to that story.
But I have my suspicions that this is not exactly how the story goes. Call me crazy, but I was a bit suspicious when, Mayor Tom McDermott Jr., just so happened to “pop up” teaching a 300 level course in my department. After all, this is the guy that Chancellor Cohen – as a State official by virtue of his position of as chancellor of a State funded university – decided to defend vis-à-vis my criticism.
And there was a mutually beneficial history between Chancellor Cohen and Mayor McDermott Jr. to take into consideration as well. Mayor McDermott Jr. of Hammond, Indiana gave Purdue University Calumet, $100,000 of City (e.g., City of Hammond) money to PUC in order to fund a scholarship, a scholarship that Cohen agreed to name after McDermott Jr’s father, Tom McDermott Sr. (University news release dated May 23, 2005.) Then, Mayor McDermott Jr. named Chancellor Cohen as Hammond’s representative on the newly created Regional Development Authority (RDA, a political, public agency). (University news release dated June 27, 2005.) Now McDermott Jr. would have a 300 level course at Cohen’s university in my department.
According to information I received from the departmental secretary, information offered voluntarily and without a query, Cohen asked that a class be found for McDermott. I found this to be an interesting tidbit of information, so I sent an e-mail to myself to document it. Being a good “packrat”, I still have that piece of documentation (note_to_self.mht).
Turns out, I wasn’t the only one a little suspicious of this newfound arrangement. Editorial writers from both the Post-Tribune (post_tribune_editorial.mht) and the Hammond Times (times_editorial.mht) had something to say about it. And the something that they had to say was that it looked a little fishy to them as well. I think we can go by the “if it looks like a duck and sounds like a duck, it’s a duck” theory here.
Of course, I vehemently objected to this state of affairs. And the matter would have stayed an internal University matter if the University had not decided to issue a press release. After all, having a Mayor with a whole year of experience as Mayor teaching a 300 level course on Lake County Politics is a big “to do” and a press release was a “must do”. After the press release, given my vocal criticism of Mayor McDermott Jr. and the fact that I was routinely writing about local politics, I got a call from reporters covering the story. I suppose I could have refused to comment, but I didn’t, and this is how my private internal objections went public.
I did not know it at the time, but my department head, Dr. Lerner, decided he had to apologize for my public comments about lawyers teaching in our program (lerner_letters.mht). This is yet another one of those items I have received from a freedom of information request. Dr. Lerner is not quite honest in what he tells the esteemed lawyers teaching for Purdue Calumet in the History and Political Science Department. That is okay. I have come to expect duplicity from University administrators. Nothing, it seems, is more horrid than the actual truth. And trust me when I tell you that this aversion to the truth does not begin or end with Dr. Lerner.
Yes, the esteemed Ms. Julie Cantrell, Mr. Jeffrey Harkin, and Mr. John Cantrell all got personal apologies from Dr. Lerner who said “Professor Eisenstein, I am certain, also supplied information in an attempt to tar the reputations of Judge Julie and John Cantrell, along with Mayor McDermott.” This is not true, but no matter. Lerner goes on to say something about “objections that Professor Eisenstein” has to Robert Cantrell who is Julie and John’s father, as if to suggest that I went after the children because of the father. None of that is true either. (Seriously, do the Cantrell’s need me to tar their reputation?) In the wake of all this, Dr. Lerner decided to hire Robert Cantrell to teach in our department as well. Robert Cantrell is no longer teaching at PUC, something to do with a federal indictment. Maybe Dr. Lerner ought to apologize to the taxpayers for that one. (Let us not forget that according to local prosecutors it was Julie Cantrell and John Cantrell who Robert Cantrell – the father – allegedly received illegal insurance for under the scheme with the Counseling Service).
Has this previous mess deterred Purdue Calumet from hiring political cronies, all Democrats, as adjuncts? Not at all. Not only is McDermott Jr. still teaching, but so is his events coordinator, Ms. Lisa Berdine, along with the usual list of Democratic suspects. Are there no Republicans who want to make extra cash as an adjunct? Apparently not.
In Part IV, I’ll come back to former State Representative John Aguilera.
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