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Subject: Honesty (was Re: Mercator vs. Great Circle Charts)
From: Richard B. Emerson (navsys@XXX.XXX)
Date: Wed Aug 29 2001 - 08:10:22 EDT
No, no, Ms. Seefer, that simply won't do. Your argument that the
course is being taken for personal enrichment (consider what this
episode says about that goal) and that "being innovative" in seeking
the answers is, to be blunt, little more than poor rationalization.
One is either honest or not; one cannot claim honesty when it suits
and put it aside when, as your message implies you've done, it doesn't
suit one's mood. Ms. Seefer, it *always* matters.
Were you only a student cheating on a test, the matter might rest
there but as an academic you are obliged to maintain a higher standard
that your students should aim to emulate. Failing to do so is,
because of your responsibility as an instructor, is doubly wrong. I
suggest you review the cases of those academics found to be falsifying
their research, their work, and their credentials. There is a lesson
to be learned there. I hope you learn it. In the meantime, I shudder
to think what your students have learned from you about ethics.
Richard B. Emerson
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