CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A story in Sunday's paper enlightened us with tidbits from "Apex Thinking," a little book written by recently fired Mountain State University President Charles Polk.

Anyone else appalled, or was I the only one?

Most universities require students to take ethics classes -- you know, so they'll act like decent human beings in their professional life. But MSU has been forcing students in its School of Leadership to read "Apex Thinking," which could be described as ethics in reverse -- and that's putting it mildly.

Take this gem, for instance: "sometimes the deliberate misuse of power becomes the only way to survive, even though such misuse may involve unintentionally harming others ...

"One must be aware that the 'bloodletting' that ensues in the misuse of power may ultimately catch up with him."

Yep, that's right -- bloodletting, like a medieval barber.

But wait, there's more. If a CEO screws up, there's no need to accept blame; just lay it on someone else. But, kids, always remember: "When passing the blame ... recognize that one must identify a target with which no one can argue." Like your employees, Polk recommends, a hapless board member or, better yet, an obscure agency.

This might be funny if it wasn't so sad. MSU employs a lot of people in and around Raleigh County. But it's rotten at the core. Its nursing school has had its national accreditation yanked, and our Sunday story noted that Polk held what he called "boxing parties," in which groups of employees would be fired, often for no particular reason.

Oh, and meanwhile, Polk pulled down one of the fattest paychecks in the nation for a college president and flew back and forth to his home in North Carolina and to his hometown in Texas on the school plane, and on the school's dime.

Any high school history student can easily see that "Apex Thinking" is a reworking of Niccolo Machiavelli's Renaissance book "The Prince," but it might better be compared historically to Emperor Nero fiddling while Rome burned.

If MSU is going to recover from this fiasco -- if these jobs are going to be saved and these students are going to have a diploma they're not ashamed to put on their wall -- the MSU board of trustees is going to have to pull its collective head out of the sand and steer this school onto something resembling the right track.

Then again, this is the same board that sat back while Polk steered the school into the ditch. Board members signed off on his $1.8 million salary in 2009 and were apparently OK with a life-size statue of him being erected at the school.

Note to the board: It's time for the statue to go ... and it's way past time for "Apex Thinking" to go.

Does MSU really want to warp young minds by teaching that lying, manipulation and instilling fear aren't just OK, but actually the keys to success?

I have to wonder: If a student cheats at MSU, do they get expelled, or do they get bonus points?

You know what is the biggest irony of all? Polk's book is not only morally wrong, it's incorrect. Sure, he made himself a lot of cash for a lot of years. If that's his definition of success, then fine. But it was his "leadership style" that brought him down.

Perhaps MSU's leadership class could just examine "The Prince" and leave the sequel behind.

Here's a quote from Machiavelli to start things off: "He who blinded by ambition raises himself to a position whence he cannot mount higher must thereafter fall with the greatest loss."

Or maybe this one: "It is not titles that honor men, but men that honor titles."

Byers is the Gazette's executive editor. Reach him at robby...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1236.