Just a quick question regarding Hester Davis' posting about agencies accepting r
eports
that do not meet standards because of other, non-scientific issues:
If an agency archaeologist approves of a report that he or she knows to be woefu
lly
substandard--not just minor quibbling, but clear evidence of
significant misrepresentations or serious omissions--doesn't that reviewer share
culpability under current SOPA guidelines? Isn't that reviewer caving into the s
ame
political and economic forces that the stereotypical contract archaeologist bows
before,
and for which the contract archaeologist faces possible inquisition and excommun
ication?
Do agency archaeologists answer to a different ethical code? Shouldn't they be w
illing
to sacrifice job and career in the name of professional ethics? Just a thought.
Jim Gibb
Annapolis, MD