Ace Yonder
Well-Known Member
http://www.quackwatch.org/04ConsumerEducation/News/cpu.html
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Court Orders Columbia Pacific University
to Cease Operating Illegally in California
In December 1999, the Marin County Superior Court ordered Columbia Pacific University (CPU), of Novato, California, to cease operations within the State....
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The bureau further stated that students who received degrees or credentials from CPU before June 25, 1997 should not be affected because the school had legal authorization to operate until that date. This merely means that the school was allowed to issue degrees. It does not mean that the school was accredited or that employers should regard the degrees as representing education equivalent to that of accredited schools. During the 1980s, an official of the California Postsecondary Education Commission confirmed to me that CPU had been authorized to operate but was not accredited [4].
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Health-Related "Degree" Holders
Well-run correspondence schools, whether accredited or not, can provide courses that are legitimately educational and useful for some types of jobs. However, they lack the depth of full-time college or graduate school programs and cannot prepare anyone to provide competent clinical services to patients. Competence cannot be achieved without a long period of supervised experience in seeing patients. In fact, in a recent e-mail to me, CPU co-founder Lester Carr stated:
CPU did not prepare any students for the clinical practice of nutrition. CPU in its entire history never offered internships or clinical practicums associated with a masters or doctoral degree program of any kind which is the established requirement to justify professionally the "clinical practice of nutrition." [5]
CPU alumni with health-related "degrees" include:
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- Jerry R. Bergman, BS, MA, MEd, MPH, PhD (2), one of whose doctorate degrees is a PhD in human biology from CPU. Biographical information describes him as a creationist, licensed clinical counselor, consultant and teacher at several colleges.
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- Frank J. Bracelin, said to have a Ph.D in Health Sciences and listed as a member of the Faculty of Life, Health, and Environmental Sciences at City University of Los Angeles, a school that is not accredited.
- Stephen Cherniske, who obtained a masters degree in nutrition in 1982. and represents himself as a "renowned health educator" and nutrition consultant. He cofounded the Oasis Wellness Network, a multilevel company that sells "The Ultimate Anti-Aging System" and other supplement products.
- Annemarie Colbin, PhD, CHES, who founded and operates The Natural Gourmet Cookery School in New York City, has a master's degree in "Wholistic Nutrition" from CPU. Her PhD is from Union University, which is accredited but its degree requirements and standards for health-related doctoral degrees are vastly inferior to those of traditional universities.
- Arthur L. Copes, marketer of a questionable scoliosis treatment system, who describes himself as an "orthotist" with BS and PhD "degrees" in orthotics. In 2006, he was arrested for insurance fraud and practicing without a license [6].
- Catherine J. Frompovitch, Ph.D., who practiced "nutritional consultation" in Richlandtown, Pennsylvania. Her publications described her as "a practicing natural nutritionist who has a Doctor of Science in Diet and Nutrition [and] a Doctor of Naturopathy." During the mid-1980s, she founded and directed the now-defunct Coalition for Alternative in Nutrition and Healthcare (CANAH), whose primary goal was passage of a Healthcare Rights Amendment" that would forbid Congress from restricting "any individual's right to choose and to practice the type of healthcare they shall elect for themselves or their children for the prevention or treatment of any disease, injury, illness or ailment of the body or the mind."
- Charles Gant, MD, PhD, NMD,, whose "PhD" from CPU is in psychology, is a graduate of the University of Maryland Medical School whose medical license was suspended after New York State licensing authorities sustained charges that he "practiced the profession with negligence on more than one occasion, practiced his profession fraudulently, engaged in conduct which evidences moral unfitness, filed false reports, received consideration from a third party for patient referrals and failed to maintain accurate records." [7]
- Michael H. Greene, "PhD," who acquired PhDs in counseling psychology and music composition in 1984. His Behavioral Systems, Inc. Web site states that for the past 21 years, he has maintained a private psychotherapy practice
in the Northern Virginia/Washington, D.C. area and treated over 17,000 individuals with hypnosis. A letter from CPU's office of alumni affairs states that Greene enrolled in April 1984 and was awarded his "degrees" four months later. - Jeff Haebig, PhD, a "wellness promoter" in Rochester, Minnesota.
- Monte Kline, "PhD," founder and director of Pacific Health Centers, holds a "PhD in Nutrition & Wholistic Health Sciences." The Center's Web site described it as "a nonmedical health practice working with natural healing methods from a Christian perspective. More specifically, we integrate biblical principles of health in body, mind and spirit with computerized Electro-Dermal Testing (EDT) for nutrient deficiencies, food sensitivities, toxicities and other health factors." In January 2002, the Oregon Attorney General obtained a stipulated judgment under which Kline, an associate, and the Center had to pay $15,000 in costs, make refunds available, and notify customers that electrodermal testing has not been approved to assess the above-mentioned problems. Kline was also permanently enjoined from representing that he possesses any academic degree unless it is from a school that was accredited or was approved by Oregon's educational authorities [8].
- John A. Rush, PhD, DSc, ND states that he practices "medical anthropology" and that his "specialties involve diet and nutrition, detoxification, cancer therapy, hormonal re-regulation, and aging." His PhD is from CPU His other two doctoral "degrees" are from Clayton College, another nonaccredited correspondence school.
- Gordon S. Tessler, "PhD,"author of The Genesis Diet, who practices "clinical nutrition" in North Carolina and represents himself as a "nationally recognized consultant in the fields of clinical nutrition and Biblical health." His Web site states that he charges $300 for a two-hour consultation using the Phazx BodyScan test that "provides an accurate, non-invasive testing procedure using head, wrist, and ankle electrodes to determine functional imbalances in the body.""
