The Other Side of US Colleges & Universities

As student protests increase on College campuses in the US, we have chosen to highlight one story that sheds light on the things students face. This is a telling story for future International Students who intend to further their studies in the USA especially for graduate work. While all the situations may not mirror what every African student will face it definitely provides a learning opportunity. We hope the students, Professors and administrators at Binghamton University will also seek to improve conditions for students whose only desire is to pursue higher education.

Book Summary

It has been described as the fight of David and Goliath. This is a story of Charles Ogindo, a former PhD student in the Department of Chemistry at Binghamton University who woke up to a morning of nightmares. Locked out of research laboratory by his advisor, John J. Eisch, his notebooks confiscated, then accused of ethical violation so that he could be dismissed from college, Mr. Ogindo fought through the University system procedures. Sensing intrigue from the Department and University administration Ogindo filed a case with Supreme Court of New York for wrongful dismissal, later starting an action in federal court.The ‘intellectually corrupt gibberish’ decisions of those courts which ended in the dismissal of Ogindo’s claims did not stop his quest for the end of institutional corruption.

An Encounter with the Lords of Corruption is a narration of the fighting spirit of a David against juggernauts of corruption both in the education system and the judiciary. Ogindo argues such unfortunate events as the killing of a professor at Binghamton University would not occur if the US Courts served justice. Comparing his experience to the Penn State University scandal in which boys were sexually abused in the University showers with full knowledge of the coach and the University President, Ogindo tells his story with passion punctuated by the technical on his doctoral dissertation piece, an obvious plus for a reader with some background in chemistry. The book can be found at http://www.amazon.com/fight-Lords-Corruption-Transition-Applications/dp/1468132679#reader_1468132679

John J Eisch

He is currently Profesor Emeritus at Binghamton University. He received his B.S. from Marquette University in 1952 and then his Ph.D. from Iowa State University in 1956. He boasts of about 383 publications in chemistry and chemistry related articles. Eisch officially retired in the summer of 2012, after 55 years of teaching and research, and 29 years as distinguished professor in his 40-year career at Binghamton University.

Eisch began his academic career in 1957, as an assistant professor of chemistry at St. Louis University. From there he held a similar post at the University of Michigan and then moved to an associate professorship at The Catholic University of America, where he rose to full professor and head of the Department of Chemistry. He joined Binghamton’s faculty as chair of the Department of Chemistry in 1972, and was appointed distinguished professor of chemistry in 1983.