This is VERY old hat. The “info” is maliciously (and libelously) false. It
is based on the Wikipedia, the “encyclopedia” that anyone can edit and which
I nearly sued a few years ago (regarding an unrelated issue).

In retaliation, Wikipedians (as members of this cult are known) started to
disseminate (anonymously) libelous tidbits about me:

http://www.narcissistic-abuse.com/wikipedia.html

I studied in 1982-3 in ENCINO, California. At that time, there was a
university there called “Pacific” (yes, replete with a campus with very real
students, faculty, exams, and all the paraphernalia of higher education.)

Later, to distinguish itself from other Pacific universities, it added the
moniker “Western”. Sometime during the 1990s it merged out of existence.

I have never been to Hawaii, let alone studied there. The diploma mill that
used to call itself “Pacific Western University” (and then was litigated
into changing its name) was based in Honolulu.

To obtain my Ph.D., I had to submit a dissertation and defend it.

That I have a bona fide doctorate is very easy to prove: it is available
from the Library of Congress and from UMI.

HOW TO VIEW MY DOCTORAL DISSERTATION

To see a list of some of the books I had published in the English language,
please follow this procedure:

1. Go to the Library of Congress Catalog by clicking on this link
(http://catalog.loc.gov/ )

2. Click on Basic Search

3. Select Author/Creator Browse from the Search Type pull-down menu

4. Type “Vaknin” in the Search Text dialog box.

My books (and doctoral dissertation) are listed under Vaknin, Sam; Vaknin,
Sem; and Vaknin, Samuel.

To view my books click on “Vaknin, Samuel” and “Vaknin, Sem” and select the
Full Record tabs.

To view my doctoral dissertation, click on “Vaknin, Sam”.

You will be forwarded to a page titled:

Time Asymmetry Revisited

Select the Full Record tab.

My dissertation is also included in UMI’s databases (University Microfilms
International).

Here is some correspondence which may be of interest to you (though it is 10
years old):

—– Original Message —–
From: “Dawn Perri”
To:
Sent: Sunday, November 23, 1997 1:01 AM

Here is the reply I received with respect to your dissertation

Pax.
D Perri

From: “Connell, Bonnie”
To: “‘puccinsk@2xtreme.net’”
Subject: RE: Vaknin
Date: Thu, 20 Nov 1997 15:08:21 -0500
X-Mailer: Microsoft Exchange Server Internet Mail Connector Version
4.0.995.52

From: Liming, Lee
Sent: Thursday, November 20, 1997 1:31 PM
To: Sales Support
Subject: FW: Vaknin
From: Dawn Perri[SMTP:puccinsk@2xtreme.net]
Sent: Thursday, November 20, 1997 12:41 PM
To: Webmaster
Subject: Vaknin

I am looking for a dissertation that was registered with your service in
the early 1980’s. The Author is Sam Vaknin, and the title of the
dissertation is “Time Asymmetry Re-Visited” , I did not have any luck
finding it with your search engine. I am reasonably sure that it is
registered with your service, as the author himself has directed me here
for a copy.

Thank you for your time,
Dawn Perri

Thank you for your recent inquiry. The dissertation(s) or thesis(es) you
requested is/are available from UMI. To order by phone please call
1-800-521-3042. If you wish to pay by check or money order, please mail
your request to the address listed below. Copies can also be orderedover
the Internet at http://wwwlib.umi.com/dxweb/gateway. Please feel
free to contact a UMI representative if you require further assistance.

Best regards.

Pricing: Catalog #LD00714

Academic(students/faculty) Non-Academic
Paper – softcover: $36.00 Paper – softcover: $57.50
Paper – hardcover: $43.50 Paper – hardcover: $69.50
Film/Fiche: $32.50 Film/Fiche: $46.00

Author Title Order #

Please allow 2-3 weeks delivery time.
A 5 to 6 day rush service is available for an additional $25 per copy.
Some restrictions may apply.

—–Original Message—–
From: Michael Hart [mailto:hart@pglaf.org]
Sent: Sunday, May 06, 2007 9:05 AM
To: Book People
Cc: Michael S. Hart; hart@pobox.com; hart@readingroo.ms
Subject: [BP] Sam Vaknin’s PhD Thesis

A bit of factual evidence on Sam Vaknin’s doctorate that, perhaps,
takes us a little more out of the subjective realm:

While I am certainly no authority on “diploma mills” and the like,
but I have never heard of one that would have required or accepted
a 225 page Doctoral Thesis. Even more suprising would be accepted
theses of such institutions by Uniersity Microfilms Interenational
of Ann Arbor, Michigan, pretty much the world thesis authority and
then accepted by the Library of Congress, whose entry follows:

Time asymmetry re-visited by Sam Vaknin.
LC Control Number: 85133690
Type of Material: Book (Print, Microform, Electronic, etc.)
Personal Name: Vaknin, Sam.
Main Title: Time asymmetry re-visited [microform] / by Sam Vaknin.
Published/Created: 1982, c1984.
Description: [225] leaves.
Notes: Thesis (Ph. D.)–Pacific Western University, 1982.
Microfilm. Ann Arbor, MI : University Microfilms International,
1984.
1 microfilm reel ; 35 mm.
LC Classification: Microfilm 85/871 (Q)

So Sam has accurately reported where his PhD came from on his own web site. I’m not sure what there is to this message once one deletes the rhetoric.

I don’t have any doubt about Sam’s intellect. My PhD comes from a religious organization that no longer exists. I don’t think that has anything to do with my ability.

If Sam was claiming to have a degree from Harvard and it turned out not to be true I would be concerned. If he claimed to be a therapist when he isn’t I would be concerned.

I am more suspicious of the motives and background ofour “snitch” than I am of Sam.

Google Sam Vaknin’s name and take a look at a few top results. According to what is purported to be Vaknin’s own website, http://samvak.tripod.com/cv.html, his only degree is a “Ph.D. in Philosophy (major: Philosophy of Physics)” from “Pacific Western University.”

Vaknin’s glorious Ph.D. degree, his curious “major” notwithstanding, turns out to be from a world-class diploma mill that was one of several investigated by the nonpartisan US Congressional Budget Office (CBO) in 2004.

See: “Diploma Mills Are Easily Created and Some Have Issued Bogus Degrees to Federal Employees at Government Expense.” Here’s the link to download the report:

http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d041096t.pdf.

Pacific Western University apparently changed its name after the CBO investigation. Even Wikipedia has a special entry about it. The new name, if your are interested, is “California Miramar University.” So well known is this diploma mill that the state of Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board has Vaknin’s school listed on a webpage titled “Institutions Whose Degrees Are Illegal To Use In Texas” for example.

Don’t believe it, here’s the link:

http://www.thecb.state.tx.us/AAR/PrivateInstitutions/NoTX.cfm