- John Bear
John Bjorn Bear, Ph.D. (born in 1938) is an American expert on and proponent of
distance education , and a writer of creativereference work s. [http://catalog.loc.gov/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?RefCodes=20&ref=1&hd=1,4&SEQ=20070105232526&SC=Redirect%7CN&SA=Bear%2C%20John%2C%201938%2D&PID=3800&SID=2] He holds bachelor's and master's degrees fromUniversity of California, Berkeley , and a doctorate fromMichigan State University . [ [http://circledance.tripod.com/ John Bear's website] ] He is the author of "Bears' Guide to Earning Degrees by Distance Learning". He is also co-author of the first two editions, (of five total) of the book now called "Walston's Guide to Christian Distance Learning". He has been engaged by theFBI in its investigations ofdiploma mills for some twenty years. [http://chronicle.com/free/v47/i28/28a03401.htm]In the past, Dr. Bear was involved with several unaccredited start-up distance learning institutions. He lists these previous affiliations in "Bears' Guide to Earning Degrees by Distance Learning".
In 2004, Bear was interviewed by CBS's "60 Minutes" for an investigation involving
Hamilton University . [http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/06/15/60II/main702058.shtml?CMP=ILC-SearchStories] He has appeared as a degree mill expert onTV shows including "Good Morning America ", "Inside Edition " and "American Journal ".Bear has written or co-authored 34 books (involving major publishers) on education, cooking, consumerism, humor, computers, and the world of publishing. One of these books is "The Blackmail Diet", a quasi-humorous but psychologically valid method of imparting motivation to lose weight by blackmailing oneself in various ways. Essentially, one creates a contract that, once given to others, has hugely unacceptable consequences to the dieter which are out of his control.
References
Books
*cite book |last=Bear |first=John |authorlink=John Bear |coauthors=Mariah Bear |title=Bears' Guide to Earning Degrees by Distance Learning |date=2003-01-01 |publisher=Ten Speed Press |id= ISBN 1-58008-431-1
External links
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/1039562.stm Bear interviewed by the BBC]
* [http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0610/p15s02-lehl.html Degree Duplicity] , "Christian Science Monitor " article published June 10, 2003
* [http://www.degree.net/html/diploma_mills.html Diploma Mills: The $200 Million a year Competitor you didn't know you had] by Bear
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