Pulling the metaphorical fire alarm at Dixie State University until someone realizes there’s a fire
I was recently asked by someone why I hate St. George.
I was taken somewhat aback by the question. I have often been asked why I did not simply leave if I did not like things around here, and I always took such statements with a grain of salt. But this was different.
My response was simply to ask whether perhaps looking at the work I am doing to bring to the attention of the community to things they have a right to know about — such as what people in position of power in our community are doing — reveals something more akin to a love of the place rather than a hatred for it. Just a thought.
I have been relentlessly covering Dixie State University for the better part of five years now, much to the chagrin of many. It is no small feat to go toe to toe with one of the most beloved institutions in this community and to furthermore suggest that there is something wrong with it.
I want to be clear here: There is nothing wrong with DSU the institution. There is something demonstrably wrong with its administration and what it is doing to people, however.
And furthermore, who else in the community and the state as a whole are complicit in these things? At the end of the day, these wrongdoings serve the two shortcomings worst among us as a people: egocentricity and greed.
As events on the national front continue to unfold amidst starting revelations one by one, there is a reassuring theme making its way to the forefront that, grind slowly as they may, the millstones of justice do in fact produce an exceedingly fine and thorough result — that the rapacious among us who work in earnest to use power and position to further their self interests at the cost of whomever will inevitably collide with those who will not acquiesce to their malign wills and pontifications thereof.
And this holds true for the events unfolding locally in St. George and Washington County as a whole.
The carpetbaggers who have seized upon a community ripe for the fleecing will eventually come face to face with a judge and a jury who will conclude upon things premised in facts and weighed with the gravity of the law, not the inclinations and pontifications of those who do not obey it, let alone understand it.
A case in point will be the questionably competent legal team at DSU.
These two or three “attorneys” advise and act in a manner that indicates to actual working attorneys that they are making it up as they go while serving the agenda of an administration, a board of trustees, a private healthcare entity, and possibly even members of local government.
The predisposed manner with which they mete out proceedings on campus under color of a malign interpretation of actual law will appear to work for them in the interim. But eventually, they will find themselves before an actual judge and jury, facing the consequences of a meticulously documented pattern of civil rights abuses, among other things involving the potential motives behind said abuses.
Some of the above implicated here have already perjured themselves under oath in legal proceedings that at present may seem somewhat benign but under cross examination in trial may prove to be their undoing (more on this to come).
And this is what the community at large, and those in particular who have been on the receiving end of such machinations, must be patient enough to endure.
In the meantime, my advice is simply this.
Document everything in triplicate. File complaints where you can, and be sure to document the names of the individuals and institutions who receive those complaints. Record everything as well. It is your right to do so. Eventually, the people who did nothing when they were compelled under law to do so will also find themselves caught in the grinding of those millstones.
And a final thing. Know that it is the mindset of the above implicated carpetbaggers to do their bidding in your community, make their gains, and move on. It is rumored, for instance, that one of the attorneys at DSU is perhaps presently seeking employment in Seattle.
Hey Seattle! If you’re reading, perhaps some thorough research is warranted. This one may do there what’s been done here, and furthermore, he or she might be taking some time off work to face the music down here, even after having cashed the check and left.
It was recently said by a prominent film director that what people in news-related media needed to do was pull a fire alarm, and keep doing it, often, until someone realized there was a fire. It is in that vein that we at The Indy remain committed to exposing these institutions and what they are doing until they are meted out in legitimate legal processes and those who have committed these long patterns of abuse are held to account.
More to come. Soon.
Count on it.
See you out there.
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Keep it up Dallas, every community needs a gadfly.
Despite what officials at Dixie State may think, no one will disagree in this community that your critical analysis has been beneficial, promoted awareness and ultimately changed the trajectory of human behavior. Corporations are not people. Non profit corporations are not people. Educational organizations or institutions are not people. Yet the public at large doesn’t see it that way. It takes only one person to create accountability. Human organizations are often intrinsically flawed, and need constant adjustments to address issues that arise from systemic dysfunctionalality due to normal human error and external change. No need to justify as in the end, to any critical thinker in these parts, you are preaching to the chior. Keep up the good work, and know that at least a part of the community appreciates your activism, and is aware that it is necessary to question the dogma of authority. The rest dont care or are in denial.
I wouldn’t say this if this was happening anywhere except St. George, your beating a dead horse. St. George is run by the “good ol’e boys” and will never change until you can release their grip on the community.
And since no one in St. George has the guts to actually take on the good ol’e boys, including your publisher nothing will ever change.
I tried to expose one of the good ol’e boys for what he really is and your publisher stopped me, by claiming that what I was writing was just the “same story over and over”. Yet he will run your stories that are the same story over and over, just new players.
So until your publisher is willing to actually take on a good ol’e boy and expose them for what they are, your “beating a dead horse.”
You both may think that by running these stories your going to make a difference, but in actuality every time you expose a “wrong” the good ol’e boys just sit back and laugh because they know they own St. George and all the people that could do something to put a stop to the wrongs.
Dallas your a great writer and an average investigator, but that’s not going to help St. George. Because until your publisher is willing to print a story that you have written and investigated that could end up in court, it’s nothing more than a fly bugging the good ol’e boys.
If you haven’t watched the movie “The Post” you may want to rent it and invite your publisher over to watch it with you, so you can both see what it’s like to actually lay it on the line for a story.
You and your publisher may think I have no credentials or writing skills so I don’t know what I’m talking about. Well if that makes you feel better your right. But ignoring what others think and share is not going to help you fix the problem that you have been fighting to expose for “five years” now is it.
After your publisher stopped sharing my updates I didn’t give up and go away, I just looked for help elsewhere. And I found a person that was willing to listen to what I had to say, and has the power to actually make a change. So you and he can just keep thinking that your better educated and more skilled thus the only one’s who’s opinions matter.
Keep an eye on next years legislation and remember what I’m telling you because I’m getting closer to making a change than you ever will, because of your ego’s and fear.
Actions prove who someone is, words just prove who they want to be.
Won’t see you out there, to busy making a difference.
*You’re
Sorry, and thank you. Should have proof read it.
David I respect you. So do not read into this personally. It is not us vs. them. In the end we are only ordinary men and women. The only thing that changes the paradigm is to broach the problem from a legal standpoint. The fact that your comment is attached to this article should be enough. And all I can say is do not shoot the messenger. Just consider the fact there is limited readership and that the majority of people in this town don’t even know what’s going on in the mainstream news let alone local politics and business activities. In general nobody cares, except a minority, and a small one at that. So I will put it in simplistic terms. Divided we fall / United we stand. In every small city in the United States, let alone the world , there is always going to be a good old boy network. If you put yourself into the shoes of the locals that have been here for decades, they have their own point of view. In the end it all boils down to money and unfortunately often greed. Don’t charge a windmill with a lance. You have to be in a position to shoot it with a bazooka. And then is it really worth it or are there bigger issues on this planet. No further comment. Good luck.
I could not agree more with Jim Little’s comment, as for your only other 2 readers, I’m glad that your there for imaginations.