MVarietyNews.com

ADOLPH Hitler was a master politician, and after gaining some degree of authority; he seized control with an iron fist, a message of racism, and an agenda to consolidate power by fear.  Cowards obeyed his every command, or worse, they refused to stand up and speak out against him.
“Thou shalt not be a victim. Thou shalt not be a perpetrator. Above all, thou shalt not be a bystander.” — Holocaust Museum, Washington, D.C.
The CNMI is slandered in perpetuity by an anonymous website called saipansucks, and rather than openly answer these horrendous allegations of corruption, incompetence, nepotism, protectionism, organized crime, human exploitation, and other charges with an updated historical accounting of the story of shame, our government attacks the messenger to add validity to this source.
This week, arguably the most respected educator in CNMI history, Sam McPhetres, was informed that he would not be renewed at NMC.  My former students say he is being relieved for political polls of student design on sensitive issues in the recent election.  Insinuating that a NMC instructor can’t exercise freedom of speech in class is ridicules, and relieving an instructor with Mr. McPhetres knowledge is a disservice to every student.  One student said he was being fired due to his age.  I have spoken with Sam several times in the past two weeks and I can assure you that his mental faculties are as sharp as anyone in the commonwealth.  Further, his knowledge of CNMI and Pacific island history is in the class with Dr. Gregory Peck (deceased), William R. Barrineau, and Mr. Farrell.
Academic freedom is an integral part accreditation, and tying accomplished educators to two year contracts raises issues of integrity and repression that will taint the quality of education our students receive and the value of any degree attained from such a poorly managed campus.  My former students attending Northern Marianas College tell me they go there because they can’t afford a better school on the mainland, and so it stands to reason, that this move is another step in the wrong direction for NMC.
Perhaps Mr. McPhetres can better serve our community working for WASC while he prepares an accurate updated version of “The History of the CNMI.”  He would have a wealth of volunteer support.  And I will continue to allow dissident thought, ideas, and writing in my class, because John F. Kennedy said: “A nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people.”

RON HODGES
Puerto Rico, Saipan