FOUNDATION FOR FREE MARKETS

Studibert had morphed the Freedom Foundation non-profit organization we went to Poland with the frist time into the Foundation For Free Markets and moved all activity from Ohio to Utah. He talked Ryan Simmonds, a Professor of Political-Economics, into being the President of the Foundation, and then faded discreetly behind the scenes. While Dr. Simmons did everything he could to lay a legitimate plan down for the course of the Foundation, Studibert began to bleed it dry for his own gain.

Because of my persistent efforts on behalf of the men and women I had met in Solidarity, I was invited to work with Studibert out of his Salt Lake offices. This was great for me, because even though my work was completely voluntary, I was now relieved of paying for every phone call I made across the U.S. and internationally to Poland, although I still made many calls from my home because of the time change between Utah and Poland.

So I went to work at the foundation almost every day, but I noticed a growing resentment for my presence. I was issued comments such as “What are we going to do with Kathy? She has so much enthusiasm and is doing so many things!” Huh? I also noticed an office romance blooming between the brain-dead receptionist at the Foundation and Frank the Lieutenant. This eventually caused Frank to divorce his current wife and marry the receptionist. Apparently the receptionist didn’t mind that he was a weasel, and was 20 years her senior. She also didn’t mind that he was vague, sneaky and always on the move.

I also saw the fax’s and messages surrounding the controversy of an SUV that a local dealership had loaned the Foundation for a short amount of time. For some reason, Frank decided it would be his mode of transportation in Utah, since he deserved it for all the work he was doing for Studibert. Studibert agreed, and later on used this precedent to swing a deal with some businessman from Hong Kong that paid off his mansion in Alpine in return for introductions to the right political people. Talk about influence-peddling!

But I believe it was Studibert’s absolute jealousy that put him over the edge where I was concerned. He was in constant contact with John B. (the underwater explorer I got to know better on our way home from Poland). John was a happy, enthusiastic guy who happened to ask how I was doing one time when speaking on the phone with Studibert. Next thing I knew, Studibert was confronting me (smiling of course) with “John loves you, you know.” “Well I love him! He’s a great guy!” was my reply. Now I didn’t mean anything by this statement, and I certainly didn’t read anything into the comment John supposedly had made. I loved a lot of people. But as far as any “romantic” love – excuse me! I was married with 5 sons, held down a part-time job as an Endodontic Assistant, and spent the rest of my time trying to make Poland safe for democracy! Studibert just grinned at my statement, and unbeknownst to me, filed it away in his squirming brain for later use.

I plodded along, and Craig and Martha would show up now and again at the office to meet about Studibert’s latest business scheme for Solidarity: A “cause” credit card. Studibert planned to send his lackey Frank over to Poland to negotiate the terms of this undertaking. The basic plan was to issue a credit card targeting U.S. credit-worthy Poles to get them to accept and use a credit card that had the Solidarity logo on the front. Then the agreement would be made about the percentage of the interest that would paid from the underwriting bank into the Solidarity Fund.

The Solidarity Fund was established when Senator Hatch from Utah presented Lech Walesa with a Million Dollars of U.S. Dept. of Commerce funding for Solidarity. This was used to create the Solidarity Fund where the organization would help those people who had been black-listed for employment by the communist government to find jobs, or at least be sustained while trying to eek out a living. When I went to Gdansk that first time, I met Julian Skelnick – the head of the Fund, and our presence in Poland was of great importance to him and this Fund, as jobs through joint-ventures and investments were made because of our efforts.

The whole idea of a cause-credit card project seemed simple enough – and it sounded a lot more feasible than the tennis-shoe factory my husband Fred had come up with out of the blue. But as I watched Studibert and Frank wheel and deal, the amount of time and finagling that was taking place eventually seemed odd to me. It seemed odd to Craig and Martha, too. But then the credit card project was also shrouded in extreme secrecy, and so what exactly was going on with it was not immediately apparent. It wasn’t until – at a later time — Studibert reminded me that no one was allowed to do business in Poland without going through him, and then Solidarity, that I realized he was not interested in a free Polish economy, but rather Polish money in his pockets! (And Solidarity thought they had gotten rid of all the communists! tsk! tsk!).