Yorktown University Faculty Newsletter
March 18, 2009

I don't know if you have encountered the humor of Finley Peter Dunne , but in an attempt to escape the Political Science Department at Pitt I took a great many English classes.  One dealt with the theme of humor and selections of Finley Peter Dunne were required reading.  It was difficult to figure out why he was so popular since Irish slang wasn't spoken in my Armenian household, but eventually I figured it out.  His column on Teddy Roosevelt's charge up San Juan Hill alone titled "Alone in Cubia" is a hoot that elicited a laugh from the President's wife.  When Teddy met Dunne he told him that he recently met a woman who expressed delight with all the President's books.  "Which did you like best," Teddy asked.  She replied, "Alone in Cuba." 

Accreditation Update

Yorktown University passed a milestone last month when the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC) granted approval for accreditation of the final two degree programs awaiting accreditation.  That was a very big accomplishment, and we are now commencing a vigorous public relations effort.

Dontuquitu.com

http://dontquitu.com is a new Website that we created to reach out to students facing difficulty financial decisions during trouble economic times.  This website uses free Wordpress software to provide information about higher education costs, trends in student enrollments, government programs and Webcasts with Yorktown University faculty.

Since November 10 when Dontquitu was launched, the website had a total of 935 unique visitors, and 1,847 page views (i.e. visitors who have looked at an average of 2 posts on each visit).

Twitter

Twitter and YouTube are two of the most successful social networking sites on the Web.  "Do you twitter?" has become a common phrase among young people, so we have our own Twitter account that connects to http://dontquitu.com

Click here to see a report of the number of Twitter followers who have linked to our Twit:  http://twitterholic.com/DontQuitU/

Webcasts

BlogTalkRadio enables Yorktown University to engage in discussions with Faculty and then disseminate podcasts of those discussions via the Web.  In a recent Google search for "Yorktown University" I discover that of the first ten entries four mention Yorktown University podcasts at iTunes, Dontquitu.com or BlogTalkRadio.

iTunes

If you use an Apple iPod and have an account with iTunes, click here http://www.apple.com/search/ipoditunes/?q=yorktown+university to see a listing of Yorktown University podcasts at iTunes.   If you don't have an iTunes account, you may download lectures from the button located at the upper right corner of our website at www.yorktownuniversity.edu  Our Podcast pages experienced eighteen thousand one hundred and eleven (18,111) unique visits.

Yorktown Patriot

www.yorktownpatriot.com was launched on January 5, 2004.  The first story posted was published in WorldNetDaily and was titled "Net university teaches 'classical liberalism."  Today we posted an AP story titled "Ex-1970s radical freed from Calif prison" that explains Sara Jane Olson, a student terrorist implicated in a bank robbery in which a mother of four was killed, has been released from a California state prison.  Ms. Olson, in contrast to William Ayers, is repentant.  In the last year, the Yorktown Patriot experienced 77,492 unique visit.

By contrast, www.yorktownuniversity.edu experienced 108,271 unique visits.

Yorktown University's First Printed Catalog

In January, we mailed a copy of our first printed Catalog to persons who contacted us and requested more information.  If you did not receive your catalog, click here and we'll mail you a copy. http://business.yorktownuniversity.edu/bus_aa.cfm

Webcast Updates

In September Yorktown University discovered BlogTalkRadio and now we hold weekly discussions with Yorktown University Faculty that may be accessed at www.blogtalkradio.com, http://dontquitu.com and www.iTunes.com.

Every Wednesday (with some exceptions) we Webcast a discussion from Yorktown University's Faculty lounge.  Here's our Webcast schedule through April 15:

Mar 18:           Edward Levinson, History of Architecture 
Mar 25:           Dr. David Mulroy, Myths of Ancient Greece and Rome       
Mar 26:           Dr. Charles W. Miller, Frontier America
Mar 31:           Dr. Joseph Martino, Just Wars 
April 1:            Dr. Thomas Payne, Constitutional Law     
April 8:            Dr. Arthur Pontynen, History of Art 
April 15:          John Hilston, The Banking Crisis!

Dr. Angelo Codevilla

Founding Faculty member Angelo Codevilla responded to my request for an exclusive essay to be published in the Yorktown Patriot.  In Bipartisanship, Post partisanship, and Realignment Dr. Codevilla asks, how will American politics be realigned?

For now it looks as if the Democratic Party, with the accretion of Establishment Republicans will become the National Government Party, while the Republican Party, to the extent it survives, must do so by incorporating elements from both the Democrat and Republican Parties who are opposed to high taxation, big government, and failed foreign policies. It will be Court vs. Country.

I regret to inform you that Dr. Codevilla has been hospitalized at Stanford University and is now awaiting a heart transplant—his second.  On behalf of this member of the Yorktown University family and his family, I ask that you keep him in your daily prayers.

DC Charter School Message

The District of Columbia's Charter School program that was passed by the U.S. Congress during the Bush Administration has found an advocate in DC Mayor Adrian Fenty and superintendent of schools Michelle Rhee.  With bi-partisan support it's likely that this program will survive a change in Administrations, but the Alliance for School Choice isn't taking any chances.  You may view their new video at YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPjHUMiBSRw

Richard J. Bishirjian, Ph.D.
President