San Francisco Weekly August 1, 2012 : Page 11

cases where someone with a degree in vid-eogame design was counted as working in his field because he sold videogames at Toys R Us. She was told to convince a Starbucks clerk that making the menu sign each day was using her graphics design degree. Once, Bittel saw a co-worker lying on a form about a graduate’s salary. The same employee showed her how to doctor e-mails so that students’ replies favored the Art In-stitute. Both times she reported the scams to her boss. But instead of being fired, the co-worker soon received EDMC’s North Star Award for exceptional performance. EDMC is hardly alone in its transgres-sions. Two years ago, the feds conducted a sting on for-profit colleges, with investi-gators masquerading as prospective stu-dents. They tested the sales practices of 15 schools. Four encouraged outright fraud. They were all found to be deceptive. Congress sees no evil I n the age of austerity, you’d think Con-gress would be anxious to root out waste, especially after allowing mortgage fraud to crash the economy. But money talks loud enough to make any representa-tive hard of hearing. So despite a 20-year history of fraud and failure, for-profit col-leges appear as bulletproof as ever. Washington’s been aware of the racket since Sen. Sam Nunn (D-Ga.) held high-profile hearings in 1992, demonstrating how for-profits were recruiting students from welfare offices, housing projects, and home-less shelters — anything to get bodies through the door. They were subsequently barred by from paying salespeople based on enrollment. It would take just a decade for Wash-ington to eviscerate these protections. In 2002, President George W. Bush created profits. “There is so much money on the table they can afford to hire everybody.” Needless to say, Durbin hasn’t gotten far with his probe. He’s found some support among fellow Democrats, but not a single Republican bothered to attend his hearings. “I don’t want to hear their sermons from the mount about wasting federal money when they won’t even take a look at these obscenely subsidized for-profit schools,” he says. “If they were talking about food stamps, they would cut people off in a sec-ond for this level of fraud. This is a waste-ful expenditure of hard-earned consumer dollars to some of the wealthiest people in America, and that has to come to an end.” Congress’ shrillest voices on waste re-fuse to even look at the industry. Despite sitting on the Senate committee examining for-profit fraud, Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has ex-pressed no curiosity about this money pit. Nor have fellow committee members Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and deficit hawk John McCain (R-Ariz.). Not one responded to repeated interview requests for this story. President Obama has stepped into the breach, though with customary timidity. In July, the Department of Education made it once again it unequivocally illegal to base salespeople’s pay on enrollment. But other reforms were so watered down they were meaningless. Taxpayers should probably be thankful Obama did anything at all. At hear-ings last year, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) called it the most intense lobbying campaign he’d seen in his 32 years in Washington. To truly appreciate how weak the fi-nal regulations were, consider this: The day they were revealed, for-profit stocks soared. The stock prices of EDMC and ITT Tech in particular increased by 20 percent. In one day. HOT FUN IN THE SUMMER TIME! at F. Joseph Smith’s Massage Therapy Center “A Marin Healing Center” sfweekly.com 1/2 Hour Private Hot Tub for Two 1 1/2 Hour Massage for Two 1/2 hour Private Cedar Sauna for Two Ultimate Couple’s Special $229 | 1 Hour Private Outdoor Hot Tub or Private Cedar Sauna $15 per person Must mention SF Weekly. Offer good through 9/5/12 Contents CONTENTS 1/2 Hour Infrared Sauna $12 | Letters LETTERS MASSAGE -PRIVATE OUTDOOR HOT TUBS ESTHETICIAN -CRYSTAL SHOP PRIVATE INFRARED & CEDAR SAUNAS O pen e very D ay 10 -10 & by a ppt 158 Almonte Blvd., Mill Valley | 415.383.8260 www.JosephSmithMassage.com Gift cards available by phone. | suCka SUCKA Free FREE City CITY | night+Day NIGHT+DAY | FiLm FILM | “i didn’t know when i got into the issue of for-profit sChools that it was the best way for me to have a reunion with every member of Congress as they parade through the door, all representing these sChools.” — Sen. Dick Durbin (D-ill.) a series of loopholes and announced that violators would no longer be punished. Then Bush and Congressman John Boehner (R-Ohio) opened the door even wider, working to repeal a rule that re-quired schools to educate at least 50 per-cent of their students on-campus. It gave birth to an online gold rush, with for-prof-its flooding the Internet. Last year, 6 million students enrolled. The industry had discovered the value of paying protection money to Congress. It spent $16 million on lobbying last year alone, buying a dream team of former of-ficials that include former House Major-ity Leader Dick Gephardt (D-Mo.) and no less than 14 former congressmen. “I didn’t know when I got into the is-sue of for-profit schools that it was the best way for me to have a reunion with every member of Congress as they parade through the door, all representing these schools,” says Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), who’s held hearings investigating for-The government ignores the problem at the country’s peril. Total student loan debt, now over $1 trillion, has surpassed credit card debt. These burdens will limit students’ ability to contribute to our con-sumer economy for years to come. Worse, unlike an underwater mortgage, Congress has made it illegal for people to walk away from student loans they can’t pay. The debt will follow them the rest of their life. “This is basically a parasitic industry that is preying upon not just some of the most vulnerable members of our society, but the best of these most vulnerable members, people who listen to the rheto-ric we feed them and who are actually attempting to better themselves,” says Nassirian. “This is an industry that takes people’s hopes and dreams and cashes them out.” And they won’t stop until they’ve emptied the till. E-mail Feedback@SFWeekly.com 11 eat EAT | musiC MUSIC | SF Weekly WEEKLY A A UGUST ugust 1-A 1-A UGUST ugust 7, 7, 2012 2012

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