| Phoning the Athletics Department Office, I spoke to Terry Simpson, an assistant to Mr. Greenspan. She promised to ask Rick whether or not he was related to Alan and call back. However, she didn’t do so. Instead, the Athletics Department went on Red Alert. When I phoned the next day, I wasn’t allowed to talk to Terry or even to leave a message on her answering machine. They entertained me with music for a considerable period. I hung up and tried again. A recorded message with a woman’s voice informed me that it simply wasn’t possible, at that time, to reach the Athletics Department by phone. Consulting the IU directory, I happened upon a "Benjamin Morris Greenspan," a student, and an employee on the golf course. Imagining myself the cynical private eye, I wondered if Benjamin had obtained that employment through a competitive process. Also of note was a Mr./Mrs./Ms. Kalman Greenspan. Kalman was listed as being on the faculty of IUPUI. However, no phone was listed, no e-mail, no department, and no position or duties. The strong appearance was that Kalman Greenspan was a ghost employee. In the Indianapolis phone directory I found a "Kalman Greenspan PhD." So I dialed, as we detectives say--or rather poked the buttons on my cell phone. A woman answered the phone. When I asked to speak to Kalman, she said that he'd been deceased for two years. Why was he still listed as a faculty member of IU, I asked? She said that she hadn't told them. Q: Was he still being paid? A: They never paid him. Her second responses wasn't true. Further inquiry would disclose that Kalman Greenspan had been employed by the Physiology Department of the Medical Center, and had retired in 1990. But I didn't argue, wished her a pleasant day, and hung up. Although I've tried to lighten this narrative by mentioning a projected detective novel, I should perhaps remind the reader that my story, strange as it may seem--strange as it indeed is--is entirely real. In June 2007 I was able to talk to Mr. Rick Greenspan on the phone. He refused to specify whether or not not he was related to Alan. I invited him to offer any corrections he might have to statements made in this article. I hadn't heard back from him at the time of this writing. That fall I learned that the name "Greenspan" is a variant form of the name "Gruen." The reader may confirm that by clicking at left. That was of interest to me because a woman who said her name was "Laura Gruen" had written to me earlier from the University of Chicago, my alma mater. Her letter stated that I was to be denied some of my privileges as an alum because, basically, I was a terrible person. I imagine that Laura's real name was "Greenspan" and that she used that older name variant in order to pretend to herself that she wasn't being dishonest. I certainly earned my Chicago degree and my status as an alum, What she did to me, therefore, was a form of identity theft. (This illustrates why it might not be a good idea to have the federal government soley in charge of determining the identity of citizens.) After learning about Laura's connection to the fabulous Greenspan clan, I composed an e-mail to send to her in Chicago asking for an explanation. I did this on a computer on the IU campus. As I was typing, a female voice behind me said something about going from, "Hitler to Gruen." I didn't turn around, but just kept on typing. I decided to wait a day before sending the e-mail, to make sure there weren't any mistakes. But I did check the UChicago web site to make sure that Laura was still on staff. The e-mail was sent the very next day, but by then Laura was gone from the UChicago web site. She vanished that very day. I was later told over the phone that she'd retired. The conclusion seemed inescapable that IU had monitored my e-mail as I was composing it, and relayed its contents to my good old alma mater. Though Laura has gone, wandered off into what might be called "a semi-theatrical mist," I still have her signature on a letter as may be seen at left. I submit that this isn't just my own sob story. It should raise questions about what kind of educational institution Indiana taxpayers want. Should the Fed chair and his family be above the law? Should they be granted special privileges? Should the particular Fed chair who--more than anyoone else--is responsible tor the subprime mortgage mess, be greatly honored, nonetheless, and coddled by the media and IU? Do IU students, faculty, and adminstration want the ATHLETICS DIRECTOR to be spying on their somputer screens and involving himself in their affairs? I've been told that people sometimes think of me as being too serious. Maybe so. But it isn't always a bad thing to be serious and to take responsibility. Citizens of Indiana need to take their responsibilities a little more seriously, in my opinion, if they don't want to wind up in a dictatorship. On June 30, 2007 I was walking downtown. Earlier that morning there'd been a terrorist incident in London of which I was, at that point, unaware. Since I walk a lot, sun exposure can be an issue. I have a hat with a cloth hanging down the back which I wear in summer and which might give me a sort of French Foreign Legion or quais-Arabic look. As I neared New York and Sherman streets, I noticed five or six police cars which had assembled around an object in the middle of the street. The object was box-shaped, approximately a two-and-a-half foot cube. It seemed to be wrapped in black cloth or plastic. And it seemed entirely possible that the whole scence had been created to coincide with my passing by. However, that didn't occur to me until I reviewed the incident mentally later in the day. None of the police on the scene tried to talk to me. In fact, I don't recall seeing that any of them had even left the comparative safety of their vechicles as I passed by. Since nothing was later reported on the news about the event, I assume that the mysterious object was harmless. The incident seemed a waste of the taxpayer's money. It seemed to be a charade designed to cast a vague cloud over my reputation. CONCLUSIONS & FINALE: AT THIS POINT in history, American civil liberties are threatened to an unprecedented degree. TV news can't report the whole story because it is itself part of the problem. And part of the reason American civil liberties are threatened is that the level, not only of media, but of political and business corruption is extremely high. Nast's cartoon, of the fat man with a money bag for a head, could be as emblematic of our own era as of the reign of Boss Tweed in New York. While my case is probably extreme, I have reason to think that similar methods are being used against others--probably many others. Freedom is indeed on the march, as President Bush has reminded us; the only problem is that it's marching away from the U.S. Continue |
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| In June 2007 IU's web site had a listing for listing for Kalman Greenspan. To see if it's still there, try iu.edu. At upper right is "Find People" in red letters. Click on that and then enter "Greenspan" and "Kalman." |
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| Compare and contrast: George Bush, Winston Chruchill |
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| Laura's impressive signature at the bottom of a disagreeable letter I received from her in 2005 |
| Indianapolis Police Department: see below, left, near bottom of page |