Dishonesty in the Service of Higher Goals

"There may be honest differences of opinion as to government policies; but surely there can be no such difference as to the need of unflinching perseverance in the war against successful dishonesty." - Theodore Roosevelt.

The goal of the 1973 Endangered Species Act was "to provide a means whereby the ecosystems upon which endangered species ... depend may be conserved." If the Secretary of the Interior determines that the habitat or range of an endangered species is threatened by human activities, then those activities can be curtailed. In practice, the act has been both praised and criticized. It has maintained habitat for endangered species, but has sometimes done so at the cost of jobs for humans. The reduction of federal lands available for logging because these lands encroached on the habitat of the endangered spotted owl is one of the most famous and controversial applications of the act.

Successful application of the Endangered Species Act depends on the unbiased identification of habitats crucial to the survival of endangered species. The importance of this responsibility makes recent events disturbing.

The Canadian lynx is endangered and the government is trying to assess its range. The location of Lynx hair samples found in the wilderness are an important means for this assessment. A number of Federal and State employees were discovered taking hair samples from captive lynx and submitting these as if they had been obtained from the wild. Some of those involved claimed they were just trying to test the accuracy of the lab to which the samples are sent, but such tests were outside the specific study protocols. That explanation has the foul stench of deception. Some believe the fudging of data as a means to prevent development is widespread. The Washington Times cites retired Fish and Wildlife Service biologist as saying, "I'm convinced that there is a lot of that going on for so-called higher purposes."

In Piper City, KS just outside of Kansas City, biology teacher Christine Pelton determined that 28 of 118 students were guilty of plagiarism on a biology assignment. Pelton awarded the students a zero on the assignment. After protests by parents concerned about the effect of poor grades on the competitiveness of their children in the college admissions race, the school board investigated. The Board found that the students had indeed plagiarized material, but thought the punishment too severe. The Board then directed Pelton to raise the grades of the affected students. Pelton resigned in protest.

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