Integrity - Scientific, Academic, and Public.

The issue of integrity in science, academia, and public life is nothing
new. However, the events of recent weeks perhaps argue for a renewed
examination of what constitutes scientific, academic, and political
integrity. The IP has in mind recent revelations that more than 200
scientists working for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have been
pressured by management to alter their findings on endangered species in
order to avoid conclusions that might be harmful to business interests;
revelations that a high-visibilty, activist professor at the University of
Colorado may have embellished the facts in some of his published work; and
the recent revelation that the cost of the Medicare drug benefit is turning
out to be much higher than originally claimed by those in the Bush
Administration who pressured a civil service actuary to low ball the
estimate that was given to Congress at the time the plan was up for a vote.

Read all of the Irascible Professor's commentary on integrity in science,
academia, and public life at:

http://irascibleprofessor.com/comments-02-17-05.htm

Sincerely,

Dr. Mark H. Shapiro
Editor and Publisher
The Irascible Professor
http://irascibleprofessor.com