{"id":7850,"date":"2010-11-24T06:56:06","date_gmt":"2010-11-23T21:56:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=7850"},"modified":"2010-11-27T08:29:42","modified_gmt":"2010-11-26T23:29:42","slug":"elt-news-and-daily-yomiuri-columnist-mike-guest-misrepresents-not-only-the-record-but-also-his-own-academic-credentials","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=7850","title":{"rendered":"ELT News and Daily Yomiuri columnist Mike Guest misrepresents not only the record, but also his own academic credentials"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Handbook<\/a>\"\\\"<\/a>\"Foreign<\/a>\"\\\"<\/a>\"\u300c\u30b8\u30e3\u30d1\u30cb\u30fc\u30ba\u30fb\u30aa\u30f3\u30ea\u30fc\u3000\u5c0f\u6a3d\u5165\u6d74\u62d2\u5426\u554f\u984c\u3068\u4eba\u7a2e\u5dee\u5225\u300d\uff08\u660e\u77f3\u66f8\u5e97\uff09\"<\/a>\"JAPANESE<\/a>\"sourstrawberriesavatar\"<\/a>\"debitopodcastthumb\"<\/a>
\nUPDATES ON TWITTER: arudoudebito
\nDEBITO.ORG PODCASTS on iTunes, subscribe free<\/p>\n

Hi Blog. \u00a0There is a person out there (one of many, no doubt) who takes a dim view of what we do here at Debito.org. \u00a0To the point of saying things in a published column we did not say. \u00a0Have a read of this. \u00a0Comment from me follows.<\/p>\n

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/<\/p>\n

EFL News, October 29, 2010<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Uni-Files
\nA candid look at EFL life and lessons from a university teacher’s perspective.
\nBy Mike Guest, Miyazaki University<\/strong>
\nhttp:\/\/www.eltnews.com\/columns\/uni_files\/2010\/10\/today_a_unifiles_interview_wit.html<\/a><\/p>\n

An “interview” with controversial human rights activist Orudo Debiru
\nCategories: \u00a0Amusement\/Fiction\u00a0foreigners in Japan
\n<\/strong>
\n Today- a Uni-files interview with the controversial activist and newspaper columnist Orudo Debiru<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

(For those who don\u2019t know, Orudo Debiru is a naturalized Japanese citizen, originally from the U.S. His main claim to fame is his activism for human rights, especially the rights of non-Japanese in Japan. He is also wholly fictional and if he happens to resemble some actual person from say, Hokkaido, that\u2019s because you, dear reader, made an unwarranted connection. Today he joins us with one of his most ardent, and equally fictional, supporters- Jay Newbie).<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Uni-files: Debiru, in a recent newspaper article you argued that even non-Japanese living outside Japan, including those who have never set foot in Japan, should have the right to vote in Japanese elections. You also argued that they should be eligible for all the public and social services offered by the Japanese government, including pensions and welfare benefits. This seems to be a bit radical don\u2019t you think?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Debiru: No. Otherwise you\u2019re discriminating between Japanese people and non-residents. Why should only Japanese have access to the benefits of \u2018Team Japan\u2019?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Newbie: Japan owes something to the world. It can\u2019t just always be take, take, take. Japan has to give in return.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Debiru: Japan is the only \u2018developed\u2019 county that doesn\u2019t provide the vote for it\u2019s non-citizens who live elsewhere.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Uni-files: Really? No country in the EU does that, nor do Canada, U.S., or Australia.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Debiru: What other countries do is irrelevant! What\u2019s right is right! Are you saying that it is right for Japan to be discriminatory?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Uni-files: Debiru, you and your supporters often mention that some attitudes, policies, or states of affairs occur \u2018only in Japan\u2019 among developed countries. It seems that you buy into notions of Japanese uniqueness or exclusivity. Do you?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Debiru: Not at all! The notion of Japanese uniqueness is a nationalist myth!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Newbie: Of all developed countries, only the Japanese think of themselves as being unique. It seems to be part of the Japanese mentality. They believe whatever the government tells them. You won\u2019t find this type of belief in Western countries anymore, only in Japan.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Uni-files: Ok. Let\u2019s move on. You’ve also blogged about \u201chow the Japanese authorities plan to incarcerate all foreign residents as a precaution against the foreign criminals\u201d. I haven\u2019t come across any such policy statements. Can you ground this?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Debiru: Well, I was scouring the internet looking for anything that might prove my preconceptions about the ulterior motives of the Japanese authorities when I came across another blogger who talked about how his upholsterer in Inaka Prefecture thought he had overheard a conversation at a vegetable stand about the local district council becoming more vigilant about registering foreigners for social services and helping them with securing housing. And I can substantiate it too- with a link to the blog. Anyway, to me, being told to \u2018stay in your house\u2019 in this manner is equivalent to incarceration. And the registration is clearly a way of rounding up the foreigners- just like a crminal <\/strong>[sic] dragnet.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Newbie: In any civilized country this would cause mass rioting in the streets. But because the Japanese are such compliant sheep, not to mention the blatant racism here, no one will stand up for us. The Japanese just pretend that foreigners don\u2019t exist. They stare at us like we\u2019re from another planet.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Uni-files: That must be tough for them to do, both ignoring your existence and staring at you at the same time!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Debiru: This is just the start of the whole racist process. Next thing you know, your pension is declared null and void and your ‘ha-fu’ kids are kicked out of school for not being Japanese enough.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Newbie: Wow, Debiru. That was your best answer yet!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Uni-files: Let me ask about these racism charges a bit. For example, I know that you oppose the fingerprinting of non-Japanese at airports but can this really be called racist? After all, it is based upon citizenship, right? For example, Debiru, you are racially Caucasian but, as a Japanese citizen, you don\u2019t have to be fingerprinted. And someone who is racially \u2018Japanese\u2019- although Japanese isn’t even a racial category- but doesn\u2019t hold a Japanese passport still has to be fingerprinted. So while it may be other things, how can you say it is \u2018racist\u2019?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Debiru: Don\u2019t feed the troll, Newbie. Don\u2019t feed the troll.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Uni-files: Ok, nect<\/strong> [sic] question. Regarding a specific recent blog entry of yours… You recently criticized the city of Sonzainashi for exploiting non-Japanese. Apparently, the city authorities had developed a \u2018Welcome Foreign Guests\u2019 plan in which selected hotels, hot springs, eateries, bars and so on offered English information and services and had started a promotional campaign that actively encouraged non-Japanese to visit. So, what was the thrust of your criticism?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Debiru: When they carry out this facile, deceitful put-on for non-Japanese they\u2019re only doing it because they want their business. \u201cLet\u2019s take the foreigner\u2019s money away from them\u201d is the real motivation. ‘Yohkoso Japan!’- Yeah, right!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Newbie: I consider it a form of robbery; another way of victimizing us, the weakest members of this society.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Uni-files: You guys seem to be very negative about anything to do with Japan, even when Japan scores an apparent success.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Newbie: That\u2019s because Japan places everyone into an us and them paradigm. They do it all the time. They have institutionalized the formula. They use it to justify oppressive policies. We would never do that in the U.S. We have laws that forbid it and an education system that teaches us not to do so.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Uni\uff0dfiles\uff1aSo, given that Debiru is Japanese, would you put him among that number?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Newbie: Well, I mean, he\u2019s not really a Japanese in the same way they are. (Debiru stares at Newbie). Well I mean, like, he\u2019s not exactly Japanese like them. So to speak. He\u2019s a different Japanese from all the other Japanese. (Debiru continues staring at him). Well, of course he\u2019s just the same as them in that he\u2019s a Japanese citizen. But Debiru is more\u2026ummm… progressive. (Debiru smiles).<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Uni-files: OK. Back to the point. Wouldn\u2019t you at least agree that public order and efficiency here is quite excellent?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Debiru: Japanese public order is maintained by coercion and implicit threat. It\u2019s fifty years behind most other countries in this regard.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Uni-files: OK. How about robotics? Or even toilet technology?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Newbie: Robotics here is 36 years behind every other country in the world. And Japan is 23 years behind as far as toilets go.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Uni-files: On what basis can you make such bold claims?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Newbie: Three months ago in the U.S., before I came to Japan, I visited another state for the first time. And their toilets were better than here. Not as xenophobic.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Uni-files: Ok. How about manga and animation? Surely Japan\u2019s ranking in these\u2026<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Newbie: You sound like a Japan apologist, acting as if racism never occurs here. Like nothing ever happened in Nanjing!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Debiru: Speaking of which, China has overtaken Japan as the world\u2019s #2 power so Japan can\u2019t possibly be leaders in those fields and therefore must be on the decline in all catgories.<\/strong>[sic] And it is this frustration at being a washed up, has-been society that it causing Japanese to lash out at foreigners.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Uni-files: Really? How so?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Debiru: It happens all the time. Read my blog.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Uni-files: I don\u2019t doubt that there are individual cases but I don\u2019t see it as systemic.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Debiru: If it isn\u2019t systemic, why would I have so many blog posts? That\u2019s all the proof you need! Anyway, just on our way over to this interview the taxi driver spat at us, called us \u2018Dirty foreigners\u2019 and told us to \u2018Get out!\u201d.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Uni-files: Wow! In twenty years in Japan I have never even come close to experiencing anything remotely like that. Can you elaborate? He spat at you?!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Debiru: Well, he was making disgusting sucking sounds with his teeth so that you could hear the saliva washing around. To me that\u2019s spitting.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Uni-files: I wouldn\u2019t call that spitting\u2026<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Debiru: Stay on topic! The point is he would never have done that if the passenger was visibly Japanese.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Uni-files: I see. And he called you a \u2018dirty foreigner\u2019?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Debiru: Well he called us \u201cgaikokujin no kata\u201d.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Uni-files: But that\u2019s a very polite way of just saying \u2018foreigner\u2019! Where\u2019s the \u2018dirty\u2019 part?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Newbie: Well we already know that the Japanese are racist and xenophobic so we can safely assume what he must have been thinking.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Uni-files: And the \u2018Get out!\u2019 part?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Newbie: He asked us where we wanted to \u201cget out\u201d. (awkward silence). It’s semantics.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Debiru: Not only that but I am not a foreigner. I\u2019m a Japanese citizen. (starts sniffling) I was\u2026 racially profiled!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Newbie: (patting Debiru\u2019s slumping shoulders) There, there. Now you are a racial profiling survivor!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Debiru (brightening up): If Japan had an anti-discrimination law with any teeth he\u2019d have his ass hauled off to jail.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Newbie: Exactly. And you know what, you\u2019ll never see the weak-kneed Japanese media or the history textbooks pick up on stories like this either. They don\u2019t want to hear about these high-octane truths.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Debiru: This is precisely why we need laws against racism, xenophobia, being opposed to immigration, questioning multiculturalism, and other wrong and hateful thoughts.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Uni-files: So you\u2019re in favor of more state authority and policing over what people think?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Debiru: Are you kidding? The police and judiciary here are totally inept and corrupt. They should stay out of people\u2019s lives\u2026 ummm\u2026except for the lives of those people who hold unhealthy views.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Uni-files: One more thing about this case. You say that you were racially profiled because the taxi driver believed that you were a foreigner, which by the way, is a mistake that most non-Japanese would probably make as well. But how do you know that the driver was in fact Japanese. Couldn\u2019t he have been ethnically Korean or Chinese? In other words, didn\u2019t you profile him equally?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Debiru: (closes his eyes) Don\u2019t feed the troll, don\u2019t feed the troll.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Uni-files: Ok. Last question. I\u2019m wondering how you chose your Japanese name.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Debiru: It\u2019s the closest phonetic approximation to my previous name. In fact, I asked to have a different, more suitable name first but was refused by the [iyami deleted] Japanese authorities.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Uni-files: And what name was that?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Debiru: Martin Luther King.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Leave a comment (47)<\/em><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.eltnews.com\/columns\/uni_files\/2010\/10\/today_a_unifiles_interview_wit.html<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

==============================<\/p>\n

Author’s Profile at ELT News
\n<\/strong> Mike Guest is Associate Professor of English in the School of Medicine at the University of Miyazaki. Originally from Vancouver, Canada, he has been living, working, and researching in Japan (not to mention lounging in the professors-jacuzzi and taking lengthy, fully-funded research trips to 5-star beach resorts in Bora-Bora) for almost twenty years.<\/em><\/p>\n

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/<\/p>\n

COMMENT<\/strong>: \u00a0What a card. \u00a0Well, for those unfamiliar with Mr Guest, he is a columnist at ELT News and the Daily Yomiuri (I even wrote about one of his DY columns here at Debito.org, favorably<\/a>). \u00a0However, what inspired a column of this caliber and tone in the ELT News (under the heading of “a candid look at EFL life and lessons from a university teacher’s perspective”) is a bit beyond me. \u00a0Its fallacious attributions (these statements are not quotes from me; if Mr Guest had critiqued actual quotes — and lordy knows there are years of my words online he could have referred to — that would have been better, no? \u00a0Better yet, why not just interview me?), the presumption that people who support or comment at Debito.org must be malinformed Newbies, the general mean-spiritedness of it all, et cetera — are quite unbecoming for a person aiming to be a respected opinionist by taking puerile pot-shots at people on professional educational fora.<\/p>\n

Especially in the Comments section where, amongst other obnoxious ripostes, he had this to say:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Alright, since Mr Guest decided to compare academic credentials, I decided to research his. \u00a0Here’s what I found at his university website, where he has a one-year contract as an English teacher:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This looks okay, until you do some research. \u00a0Aston University is a distance learning school in Birmingham UK that does indeed offer his degree (probably this one here<\/a>). \u00a0Fine.<\/p>\n

However, Regent College<\/a> is NOT the University of British Columbia<\/a>, one of Canada’s top universities. \u00a0Regent College is a Christian Studies school next door to UBC. \u00a0As was confirmed with Regent College the other day:<\/p>\n

=========================
\n Subject:\tRE: Degree
\nDate:\tTue, 16 Nov 2010
\nFrom:\tRegent College Admissions <\/strong><\/p>\n

Thanks for your email. Regent College is a completely separate institution from UBC.<\/em> We have some partnerships\/affiliations with UBC, but a degree awarded from Regent College is solely from Regent and unrelated to UBC entirely<\/strong>. [emphasis added]<\/p>\n

I hope this helps – please don’t hesitate to ask if you have further questions! If you are interested in receiving information about our MDiv degree, I’d be happy to send you our MDiv materials.<\/em><\/p>\n

Blessings,
\nAmy Petroelje, Inquiries and Housing Coordinator
\nRegent College
\n5800 University Blvd Vancouver, BC V6T 2E4<\/strong>
\n phone 604.224.3245 toll.free 800.663.8664 fax 604.224.3097
\nwww.regent-college.edu
\nwww.facebook.com\/regentcollege
\nwww.twitter.com\/regentcollege<\/strong>
\n=========================
\nemail ends<\/p>\n

So when I asked Mr Guest about his qualifications last week after his presentation at JALT Nagoya, here’s what he claimed:<\/p>\n

SOUND FILE: \u00a0mikeguestUBC112010<\/a><\/p>\n

Reconfirmed. \u00a0No possible misunderstanding about (putting UBC in parentheses) on his school katagaki<\/em>. \u00a0He says UBC only, no mention of Regent College. \u00a0He has misrepresented his educational background.<\/p>\n

Now, some might say that this might just be a form of shorthand, for an audience that might not know what Regent College is — as Mr Guest argued shortly afterwards:<\/p>\n

SOUND FILE: \u00a0doctorguest112010<\/a><\/p>\n

but as even his alma mater acknowledges, a degree from Regent College is not a degree from UBC. \u00a0It’s like saying somebody who graduated from Ithaca College, or Cornell College for that matter, graduated from Cornell University.\u00a0 Not an ethical thing for an educational professional to do, especially when he wishes to establish himself as a credible critiquer of educational matters.<\/p>\n

So if Mr Guest wants to scrutinize others, I hope he will accept the same public scrutiny. \u00a0Sadly, I’m not sure he will. \u00a0The following, written shortly after our first meeting at JALT Nagoya on a site called “Tepido.org<\/strong><\/a>” (an interesting choice of venue; it’s a website devoted *solely* to trashing me personally and people who contribute to Debito.org, run by blogger<\/a> Mr Ken Yasumoto-Nicolson<\/a> and toy store employee<\/a> Mr Lance Braman<\/a>), indicates that Mr Guest’s antagonism, dismissiveness, defensiveness, and blame-shifting continue unabated:<\/p>\n

====================================================<\/p>\n

Mike Guest<\/a><\/cite> Says:
\nNovember 21st, 2010 at 7:51 am<\/a><\/small><\/p>\n

http:\/\/tepido.org\/heterogeneous-responses\/182#comment-1204<\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s funny that this discussion about credentials should come up here now. Yesterday, Debito attended my presentation at the JALT Conference in Nagoya and confronted me afterwards. I wasn\u2019t really surprised. First, during the Q and A session, he asked what my credentials were. A left-field question to be sure and I knew that he was up to something. Later he came to the front as I was packing up, with a bit of a manic gleam in his eye, a voice recorder in his hand, looking like an intrepid young reporter who\u2019s \u2018gonna take yer ass downtown\u2019, and began a prepared spiel, trying very hard to be intimidating (but looking me to me a bit more like a caricature).<\/em><\/p>\n

He said (among other things) that I was a fraud because I had misrepresented my academic credentials (I imagine this will be up on his site soon if not already). For the record, the crux was this: I have a BA from Simon Fraser Univ. (Canada) in Philosophy, an MSc in Applied Linguistics from Aston U. (U.K.) and a Masters in Theology from the graduate theological seminary on the UBC campus, Regent College. Regent issues its own independent degrees because of its religious affiliation, despite sharing the UBC campus and facilities, some teaching staff, plus several credits and classes (many of which I took for classical languages and linguistics). I also did an ESL teaching certificate course at UBC but whatever\u2026.<\/em><\/p>\n

Anyway, when I mentioned a \u2018Master\u2019s from UBC\u2019 in answer to his credentials question, Debito reacted like he had just found a photo of me in a compromising situation with a goat, thererafter harping upon my misrepresenting myself as having graduated from UBC.<\/em><\/p>\n

Of course, way back when the personnel at my current university wanted to know my academic background I naturally went into detail about the relationship between Regent (the theological seminary) and UBC. Why hide anything? But when some guy asks you this from a crowd at an ESL presentation you\u2019re not going to go into great detail. People don\u2019t know what the theological school at UBC\u2019s name is. It\u2019s like if someone abroad asks where you live in Japan- you live in Chiba but you work in Tokyo. So you say Tokyo. No one expects the interlocutor to start suddenly playing prosecutor.<\/em><\/p>\n

Debito also added that \u201cwe\u201d (who?) had contacted Regent in Canada to find out about its relation to UBC and had also checked out my U of Miyazaki database in advance. So this underscores what I wrote in my parody, about his habit of scouring about in search of ways to find any potential striking point in any perceived adversary and then blowing the results out of proportion as if this credentials quibble constituted a weighty riposte to my earlier criticisms of him.<\/em><\/p>\n

The upshot of this seems to be that Debito took umbrage at a comment I made here on Tepido about us having the same credentials. My comment had been in response to someone on his site saying that Mike Guest is in an isolated university bubble (or words to that effect), arguing that if someone wants to devalue my opinion based upon the claim of being an out-of-touch egghead, the same must apply to Debito. Instead, Debito seemed to take this as an invitation to an academic pissing match, and when confronting me in Nagoya, duly informed of his Ivy League school pedigree, which apparently trumps all: \u201cSo, we don\u2019t have the same credentials do we, Mike?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Well, I guess that\u2019s true in a sense. For example I have two masters degrees whereas\u2026 oh, wait a second. None of this has any bearing on the validity or non-validity of my original criticisms of Debito does it? It\u2019s just a sad attempt at rank pulling- arguing from assumed authority. I don\u2019t know where Regent ranks in terms of thological seminaries, but even if my education was limited to Uncle Peter showing me how to bait a hook, my criticisms of Debito remain. Fishing for quibbles in how I answer an awkward question on-the-spot from the audience at an ESL presentation is rather pathetic But you know he\u2019s going to do stuff like this.<\/em><\/p>\n

I tried to talk with him after this, seeing if he might pull out of Debito mode but what followed was basically stonewalling on his behalf (plus a few choice words aimed in my direction) and eventually I gave up. I just look at it this way- it\u2019s Debito being Debito. I expected a reaction from him at some point- after all, I took a shot at him and he\u2019s trying to take one back- but the fact is that I just lose interest in these kind of one-dimensional people. I\u2019ve already spent too much time writing about him…<\/em><\/p>\n

====================================================<\/p>\n

(NB<\/strong>: \u00a0I might add that Mr Guest suggested I “switch to decaf” during those four allegedly unantagonistic and disinterested attempts to talk with me. \u00a0Again, what a card.)<\/p>\n

Clearly, Mr Guest doesn’t seem to understand the gravity of what he’s done. \u00a0I have no truck with someone’s right to hold opinions about someone and express them in public. \u00a0But there are limits, of course — as in, are those opinions accurate? \u00a0If not, there should be scrutiny to make those inaccuracies clear. \u00a0However, it’s hard to scrutinize someone hiding behind “parody” to claim somebody said something he never said (it absolves Mr Guest of the responsibility of providing evidence or doing verifiable research). Makes one question the professionality of the ELT editors, who should be offering better safeguards to preserve the integrity of their forum.<\/p>\n

However, scrutinizing someone’s alleged professional background is much simpler. \u00a0You don’t say you graduated from a place you did not graduate from and expect to be treated as an honest professional.<\/p>\n

And you don’t pick on people like this (misrepresentation of the record is definitely a pattern in Mr Guest’s world) without expecting some scrutiny yourself. \u00a0Now face the scrutiny. \u00a0Like an adult.<\/p>\n

That’s why I decided to go ahead with this expose on Debito.org. \u00a0People can make their own decisions about what kind of future relationship they wish to maintain with Mr Guest as a columnist, scholar, and professional. \u00a0Arudou Debito<\/p>\n

==================================<\/p>\n

UPDATE NOVEMBER 27<\/strong><\/p>\n

The deceptions continue. \u00a0Mr Guest writes:<\/p>\n

“Regent is a Theology School located on the UBC Endowment Lands. Many facilities are shared. If you want to do a Master’s degree in Theology you go to Regent, because UBC can’t offer Theology courses. Several credits I took as part of this Master’s I took at regular UBC classes (mostly linguistics) since some courses are cross-transferable. I also did an EFL teacher training course at UBC.”<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.eltnews.com\/columns\/uni_files\/2010\/10\/today_a_unifiles_interview_wit.html#comment-1447<\/a><\/p>\n

“Regardless, if you want to do a Graduate degree in Theology at UBC you have to attend Regent or Vancouver School of Theology. Both are on the campus but are required to issue their own degrees as religious institutions. At both you can take classes and get cross credits from the standard UBC curricula and have full access to all UBC facilities. I used this to take linguistics courses- which were not offered at Regent. I also did a further ESL certification course at UBC.”<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

http:\/\/tepido.org\/more-handbags\/187#comment-1288<\/a><\/p>\n

COMMENT<\/strong>: \u00a0Let’s cut through the fog. \u00a0Nowhere on your degree from Regent College, the one you cite as part of your academic credentials, does it say “University of British Columbia”. \u00a0They are not the same institution. \u00a0Claiming UBC on your employer’s website and at JALT, and insinuating as such online, does not change that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mike Guest, a columnist for the Daily Yomiuri newspaper, had a mean-spirited spoof interview on the ELT News website of a person named “Orudo Debiru”, a “naturalized Japanese citizen, originally from the U.S. His main claim to fame is his activism for human rights, especially the rights of non-Japanese in Japan” — and whose first choice for Japanese name after naturalization was “Martin Luther King”. (Mr Guest asserts that any associations with the author of this blog are our fault, “unwarranted connections”.) Interestingly enough, after misrepresenting in print both my opinions (there are no quotes, only apparent paraphrases) and the people who contribute to this blog, we gave him the same scrutiny. That’s how we found out that he also misrepresents his own academic credentials (which he even claimed were “similar to mine”) by publicly stating in lecture and in print that he graduated from a university he did not graduate from. Yet Mr Guest doesn’t quite seem to understand the gravity of this issue, as his antagonism, dismissiveness, defensiveness, blame-shifting, and deception continue unabated online. This pattern of misrepresenting the record is most unbecoming behavior for a columnist who deals with educational issues in trusted professional forums.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36,19,26,48,31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bad-social-science","category-education","category-ironies-hypocrisies","category-shoe-on-the-other-foot-dept","category-tangents"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7850","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7850"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7850\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}