Slashdot Mirror
The Best Way To Blow the Whistle
bmahersciwriter writes "Helene Hill thought she was close to retirement when, on a whim one day, she decided to check on a junior colleague's cell cultures. They were empty, she says, yet he produced data from them soon after. Blowing the whistle on what she thinks was research misconduct cost her 14 years and $200,000. See how she and other whistleblowers fared in this story from Nature."
Unfortunately, the corporate world has become very much like the political arena.
Honesty is no longer treasured.
No matter if it's Helen Hill or Edward Snowden, as long as you blew the whistle on wrongdoings of others, you will get punished.
The world we live in is becoming more and more fake.
Lies worth much more than truth.
Fakeries work much better than honesty.
Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
From the slashdot entry at the top: "Blowing the whistle on what she thinks was research misconduct cost her 14 years..."
From the linked article: "Hill would spend the next 14 years trying to expose what she believes to be a case of scientific misconduct. "
Reading the slashdot entry, I thought that she went to jail for 14 years, which she didn't. :)
Blowing the whistle on what she thinks was research misconduct cost her 14 years and $200,000.
What actually happened, from the article: she thinks a colleague forged results, and spent 14 years and $200,000 voluntarily pursuing court action, which repeatedly found there was no wrong-doing. She was not fired, was not fined, was not imprisoned.
The summary's deliberately phrased to be inflammatory, and imply that she was persecuted for whistle-blowing.
Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there isn't an invisible demon about to eat your face
Blowing the whistle on what she thinks was research misconduct cost her 14 years and $200,000.
This sounds juicy, and if you read the actual article, it is.
If anyone is wondering why it cost her $200,000 (and doesn't want to read the article, though I couldn't imagine why), it's because after the university committee on ethics determined that there was no evidence of misconduct, she decided to file a lawsuit, which she also lost.
Even after losing the lawsuit, she is still trying to get her coworker disciplined, which is why the dean warned her that she could lose her job as a result. But she is continuing. Choice quote from the article, in explanation of why she continues the fight:
“I want to finish,” she says. “It becomes almost an obsession.”
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
i would most definitely blow the whistle anonymously, maybe post on some forums and upload videos from a public library or public wifi hotspot while using fake names for signing on anywhere
Politics is Treachery, Religion is Brainwashing
1. Research assistant at a friend's lab was fabricating data in order to shirk off. They discovered it because the variance of the fabricated data was weird. He admitted it when challenged and was fired.
2. PhD student I know fabricated data in order to do less work. He did a bad job of it, though, and was easily caught. He admitted it but further action wasn't taken because the lab wanted to avoid a scandal and the results weren't published. Eventually he produced a shitty thesis and was told to re-submit. He failed to do this but is writing on his CV that he has the degree.
3. Post-doc currently on my floor claimed to have produced a set of data but we all know it's a lie because: a. he didn't us the equipment at any point. b. he doesn't know how to use the equipment. c. he can't show the raw data. Was challenged by his boss and denied it. That was last year, he's still here, he's done no work, he's an arrogant prick, everyone hates him and nobody talks to him any more.
4. Post-doc in a friend's lab manipulated raw data out of all recognition. He was caught because the raw data looked nothing like his claims. He was challenged and fired.
I'm sure this sort of thing happens all the time.
soylentnews.org
So she said "This data is faked!" the university looked in to it, they have committees for that kind of thing as I'm sure you know, and said that no, they could find no evidence of wrongdoing. So she got the federal Office of Research Integrity involved, they looked in to it, and said "Nope we see no evidence of wrongdoing here." So she took it to court, and lost the case, appealed it, and lost that case.
This would seem to be a case where she's wrong. She thought she saw misconduct, but she was incorrect, but she's pushing this anyhow.
Remember that just because scientific misconduct happens does not mean all accusations of misconduct are true.
Yeah sure. How many tenured profs who notice misconduct are going to walk away from their post?
It doesn't matter which kind of business you are in if you blow the whistle - you will get beaten harder than the offender.
There are other ways - anonymous leaks to the top brass, press and authorities, "accidents" causing "essential" material to disappear or be destroyed. (oops, I accidentally dropped your PC out the window... Or just a "mix-up" of PC:s at the workplace) At worst a fire cleansing.
Or you just STFU.
If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
what I tell her is this:
Yes, when you lie, your peers will punish you when they find out. But that's not the real issue.
When you're a liar, you're projecting a false self as a problem solving tool. This forces you to keep multiple versions of reality in your head.
Carried systematically across a lifetime, this will cause you to become a person made up of many people, none of whom are you.
Eventually, you will not know who you are, or what you believe, and when you meet a strong person with integrity, you will be unable to hold a form of your own in their presence.
This is a road to hell on earth, a hell contained within ones own mind, where the wind can blow your identity to and fro at a moments notice, and you live in a constant state of fearful reactionary adjustment of self.
What it all boils down to is this: people are not worth lying to.
http://experiencelife.com/article/walking-your-talk-the-path-of-personal-integrity/
http://melodylovesthis.com/parentingohyes/kids-and-lying-why-truth-matters/
No, you have to do it right. She went in and made a stink, made the entire affair about her. That's the WRONG way to do it. I've had to rat some people out in my profession before, and my approach is always the same. Gather clear and obvious evidence. Take it to which-ever superior you think is clever enough to understand it. Then play dumb as a rock... "I ran across this while doing some work... I really don't get what it means. Why would be do this or this? It seems like he intentionally did it but I don't think he'd do that!" then your desire to remain out of the subject, anonymous.
You've now given the superior permission to take full credit for the discovery. Instead of it looking like YOU are on a witch hunt and personally dislike the target, it's now your bosses show. If they don't follow through or fail in some miserable fashion, you can review their failure or reason for rejecting the idea, refine your approach and go to another superior with new data. Sometimes you don't have enough evidence. That's fine, bad people like to repeat their offenses. Sit and wait and it will happen again, this time you can be ready and collect more data.
Granted, I'm in IS. So most of my Whistle blowing involves security breaches by upper management, who think security is for us Peons... or rolling out projects with no testing... that sort of thing. So it's in the companies best interest to correct the issue immediately. I've gotten several people in much higher pay scales than I fired and I doubt more than a couple of people in the whole company have any idea I was involved.
I can't reiterate enough how important it is to remain anonymous. Even if you're successful, you don't want to be "that guy" at work that everyone knows is out to get everyone. Stay quiet, let others take the glory. This kind of glory is tainted, you don't want it.