LEWISVILLE -- In what can only be briefly described as a seance, about a dozen people gathered at a dimly lit church and tried to conjure up the dead. One saw visions of a man without a face; another felt a dead girl come into the room and try to tell her grieving mother that everything is all right.

The group delving into this paranormal realm was led by a University of North Texas tenured professor and her graduate students, who believe that ghosts don't haunt, they heal.

Counseling professor Jan Holden facilitates these "induced after-death communications," or IADCs, and said she has seen them help people deal with the loss of loved ones. She gives a sympathetic ear to people who say the dead have come back to them.

"There is just no basis to say this is not a legitimate area of research. Thousands of people have had after-death communications, and probably what's most hurtful is a culture that doesn't prepare people for these experiences," said Holden, coordinator of the counseling program at UNT's College of Education. "I have no reason not to believe it's real."

But Holden, who has been at UNT since 1988, said she's more interested in the beneficial, therapeutic effects of IADCs than in ghost hunting.

Reaching a dead friend

Holden patiently watched and offered encouragement as one of her former graduate students led Elli Covelli into an IADC. The 54-year-old Dallas woman was trying to find out whether a friend, who died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, shot himself by accident or on purpose.

Covelli's eyes followed as Lisa Lane's hand moved slowly back and forth. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, just as Lane instructed, but nothing happened.

"He ain't here. There's nothing. I'm not getting anything," Covelli said. "It's going to be four years, and I don't have any answers."

They tried again. Nothing.

She tried several more times and started to see something.

An elevator took her up to a garden lush with purple flowers. There was a faceless man on a swing. Covelli believes it was her friend.

"I kind of think that was who was on the swing next to me because I got this warm, fuzzy feeling," she said….

A K-State psychology professor was arrested Thursday on charges of stalking a former member of the K-State track and field team and violating a protective order.

John Uhlarik, 63, was arrested at about 11 a.m. Thursday at his home, 2340 Park Drive. He was arrested on reports of continual intentional, malicious and repeated following or harassing of the victim, according to a release by the Riley County Police Department.
RCPD officers also served a search warrant at Uhlarik's home.

The protective order dates back to 2004 when Uhlarik was arrested for stalking the same victim at Ahearn Field House.

After the incident in 2004, Uhlarik was suspended with pay from teaching his classes at K-State for the remainder of spring 2004.

Stephen White, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, said the university is aware of the situation.

"We are assessing the situation and monitoring it as well," he said.

White would not comment on whether Uhlarik would be suspended again.

Uhlarik's bond was set at $5,000.

A candidate for the board of selectmen is coming under fire by some who say he misled the public about his educational background.

Arthur Barnes, a former Salem fire chief, said yesterday he got a master's degree in business administration from Belford University in 2002 thinking it was a credible institution. The program, however, awards degrees online at a low price without completing any classes. It is not recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

The Web site — www.belforduniversity.org — offers master's degrees based on "life experience" for $479. Users are asked to submit their work experience on the Web to qualify for the degree. And if there is no work experience, they can still get a degree by finishing an online multiple-choice test.

The program even lets users choose their grade-point averages. A 3.0 GPA is free, but they can earn a 4.0 for an extra $75. The program also promises to ship the degrees out within a week.

Barnes said he went through the program after learning that his studies at the National Fire Academy could qualify him for the equivalent of a master's degree. At the time, he said, he thought Belford was credible and decided to go with it because of the low price.

Now, he said, he realizes the degree might be illegitimate, but his experience is enough to qualify him for a master's. He finished the executive fire officer program in 1998 and got an associate's degree from Northern Essex Community College in Haverhill, Mass., in 1976. He said he chose the Belford program in 2002, knowing that he'd be retiring from the department soon and wanted something to demonstrate his education that future recruiters could understand.

"If somebody wishes to discount the diploma ... that's fine, but the work that I did to earn a diploma was certainly legitimate," he said.

Stephen Campbell, an outgoing member of the budget committee, is one of Barnes' critics. He said, after looking at the Web site, that there was no way anybody could think the degrees are legitimate. Anyone who believes they are, he said, isn't qualified for the office.

"There is no one above the age of — let's be generous — 8 who didn't know what they were doing was wrong,' Campbell said. "No one thinks you can earn a master's degree for less than $500 in seven days, so Arthur Barnes is either not ready for the responsibilities of a selectman or he's making up stories."

Campbell said he got a master's in management from Purdue University in Indiana in 1981, after earning a bachelor's degree in political science in 1979. The bachelor's degree to 3 ½ years to earn, and the master's took two years, he said. He said he doesn't think Barnes' work at the fire academy qualifies him for a master's.

"I'm under no delusion that you need a college degree of any sort (to serve as a selectman)," Campbell said. "What I do require of the candidates is that they tell the truth."