"Where is there dignity unless there is honesty?" (Markingson Case)

A Restoration of Trust?

Richard Beeson, the chair of the Board of Regents, claims that reports of clinical research misconduct at the U of M "had not risen to the level of our concern." He made this assertion during a meeting with former Governor Arne Carlson earlier this year. (President Kaler was also present at the meeting and did not dispute Beeson's claim). See p. 8 of the Open Letter of Governor Carlson.

But a February 7, 2011 letter of Clyde Allen, then chair of the Board of Regents, refers to "broader concerns you raise related to protection of subjects involved in clinical research." The letter is a response to Carl Elliott and other professors in the Center for Bioethics. See the link to the letter in section (1) of The Buck Stops? Beeson was a member of the Board of Regents at that time.

How can the administration restore trust when the chair of the Board of Regents makes statements that are contradicted by the record ?

Or as one ancient statesman and orator asked: "Ubi est autem dignitas nisi ubi veritas?" ("Where is there dignity unless there is honesty?") Cicero, Letters to Atticus.

Michael W. McNabb

University of Minnesota B.A. 1971; J.D. 1974
University of Minnesota Alumni Assocation life member