The two posts before this one contained Canadian content and this one will as well. Consider them, like my year-end monetary donations, to be tokens of gesture to our government. That this is important Canadian content will be obvious in that it was noticed in the United States. It is also the case that this content will still be relevant in the new year.
Mastriano in the Maritimes
I should be reluctant to tackle this subject since Senator Mastriano was a career military officer who reached the rank of colonel and taught at the U.S. Army War College in the state of Pennsylvania where he is a senator. My rank was much lower and I left the service prematurely. Dr. Mastriano also had a successful academic career, during which he obtained four masters degrees and one doctorate. My academic career was far longer than his, but I fell far short of his accomplishments. To make up for my educational shortcomings I will, as usual, supply sources from the more credible.
Senator Mastriano was the recent Republican candidate for governor in the neighbouring state of Pennsylvania. He lost, although 2,238,477 people voted for him. He would probably dispute that number, as he disputed the numbers associated with the recent presidential election which he thought was stolen. He was endorsed by the real president pictured above. Mastriano is described as a right-wing Christian nationalist and worse, or perhaps better, if you think as he does. For more, see Doug Mastriano's Wikipedia entry.
We will now move to the Maritimes. That is where Dr. Mastriano received his Ph.D in 2013 from the University of New Brunswick. When questioned about some of his ideas during the campaign, he sometimes showed his authority by mentioning his doctorate. The issue now is that the dissertation upon which his doctorate is based, has been scrutinized and many think it would not pass muster at most universities. Naturally Dr. Mastriano is upset about this, as is the University of New Brunswick.
Your natural reaction is likely that we have here is another example of extreme partisanship and assume that this is merely a case of left-wingers going after right-wingers during a political campaign. Although Mastriano does not typically talk to the Lamestream Media, he agrees and noted recently:
“The left wing goes after our academic work on the right,” said Mastriano, whose hard-right platform has gained national attention since the Trump endorsement. “Of all the things I’ve done, it was brutal .? And I did have concerns that some of the left-leaning professors there would hold my politics or my military background against me.”
It should be noted, however, that problems with the dissertation were spotted years ago and that even a member of his advisory committee raised them back in 2013 when the degree was granted. (As an aside and in UNB's defence, I will say, I don't know how much time Mastriano actually spent on campus in Fredericton, but it is likely that the committee members would have been impressed by the colonel pictured below who already had four masters and would surely have been smart enough to be deferential to them. It simply may have been a perfunctory affair.)
You are probably less interested in academic politics than American elections, so I will present a short summary of the "Mastriano Affair," followed by sources which you can use to see if the summary makes sense. If you don't want to bother, see the section on "Allegations of Academic Misconduct" in the Wikipedia entry for Mastriano. Or, go directly to the Wikipedia entry for "Alvin York" and look at the "Legacy" section where the controversy over Mastriano's dissertation is discussed.
Alvin York you may recognize as "Sergeant York" and picture him as Gary Cooper. During World War I his actions were heroic and they may have been made more heroic by Mastriano. Some divine intervention also may have been involved. Mastriano has recognized that mistakes were made in his dissertation and corrected some of them. It is not unusual that mistakes are noticed in such manuscripts, but the volume of them in this dissertation has grown along with the seriousness of the accusations. They were noticed at the time by a member of the history department at the UNB and they have been compiled by a graduate student at the University of Oklahoma who is working on Sgt. York. James Gregory, the Oklahoma researcher, discovered them while doing his own research. They were submitted to the folks at the UNB and the gravity of the situation is now recognized and being investigated.
It took a while for the folks at the University of New Brunswick to become interested in all of this and it took longer than usual for the dissertation to be made available. The problems with the dissertation were evident before the American political election, but they became more important during it and the president of the UNB thought it best to wait until after the election to deal with them. They are being looked into as this is written and you will certainly be reading about them in 2023.
Sources:
If you happen to be a serious scholar interested in military history you can read the actual dissertation. Or, you can read the book by Mastriano (pictured above) which is based on it and is published by the University of Kentucky Press. The folks in Kentucky are also looking into the matter. Perhaps the subtitle of the book suggests that Dr. Mastriano may have been inclined to glorify too much the actions of Sgt. York.
Much has been written about the "Mastriano Affair" and more will be. Here are some basic suggestions.
The Associated Press raised the subject in early September: "Amid Campaign, Mastriano's Disputed Dissertation Made Public," Mark Scolforo, Sept. 9, 2022.
The University of New Brunswick responded a month later. Here is the response:
Newsroom - UNB Statement -"Recent Media Coverage Regarding Thesis Debate:"
Oct. 6, 2022:
"The University of New Brunswick (UNB) has a proud 200 + year history as an institution with academic integrity and exemplary educational programs. Recently questions have been raised in the media regarding a thesis by former student Dr. Douglas Mastriano. We recognize that for our students, alumni and the public, there may be some concern or confusion regarding the situation as they hear it portrayed in the media.
We want to assure individuals with concerns that allegations of this nature are taken seriously and investigated accordingly. UNB has a clear policy for dealing with any allegations of research misconduct, which we follow in all cases.
The Right to Information and Protection of Privacy Act clearly states that we cannot discuss the personal information of our students, including educational information, whether the student is a public personality or not, without the student's consent.
As stated previously, UNB will review its internal processes and procedures to ensure our systems and policies around the awarding of PhDs remain of the highest standard. This review will be conducted by two qualified independent academics and will begin as soon as possible.
Our commitment to our students and the UNB community to continue to strive for nothing less than academic excellence in all we do has never waivered and will never diminish."
The Canadian Press then followed up with two stories and there have been many more since:
"University of New Brunswick investigating how Trump ally was awarded PhD in 2013," By Michael MacDonald, The Canadian Press, Posted October 18, 2022
Among other things, there is this:
"Richard Yeomans, a PhD candidate in UNB’s history department, said students on the Fredericton campus want to know what the university is going to do to uphold its academic standards.
“I think that everybody is just shocked at the fact that the department has said nothing since this became an international news story,” Yeomans said in a recent interview. “The university has chosen to save face rather than come to terms with what this means. A certain level of trust has been breached.”
This CP story was followed by another:
"New Brunswick University had to Remain Quiet About Mastriano Controversy: UNB Head," By Michael MacDonald, The Canadian Press, Posted November 2, 2022:
"The president of the University of New Brunswick says he’s kept a lid on publicly discussing the controversy surrounding an American politician’s PhD because the institution did not want to be accused of interfering in U.S. politics.
Paul Mazerolle said that with U.S. midterm elections slated for next Tuesday, it was decided the university should refrain from commenting on allegations of academic fraud levelled at former history student Doug Mastriano, who is now running for governor of Pennsylvania.
“We have an allegation of academic fraud and it’s happening ? on the eve of an election,” Mazerolle said in an interview late Tuesday.
“In effect, we’re talking about a politicized process. If we undertake activities that could sway people’s views of any particular candidate, I think we have a responsibility to be very careful on how we could influence an election.”
Until now, members of the university’s administration have declined requests for interviews from The Canadian Press."
The Bonus: "Wrapping Up WIth Some Rappers."
You deserve one after slogging through all of that. It will still have some Canadian content.
Back in July 2020, Megan Thee Stallion (pictured above) was shot at and hit by some of the many bullets fired at her. It is not unusual for rappers to be involved in gun fights. It is also not unusual in our gender complicated times, for a female to be referred to by a term usually applied to a male horse.
The rapper who did the shooting (pictured above) is Tory Lanez and he was just found guilty on three felony counts in December, He faces 20 years in the slammer and will be sentenced soon. Tory Lanez was born as Daystar Shemuel Shua Peterson and he is Canadian.
("Here's What to Know About Tory Lanez and Megan Thee Stallion," NYT, Dec. 23, 2022.)
