tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-525778292565554519.post4628538007467491635..comments2018-01-03T07:02:32.059-05:00Comments on Institutional Review Blog: AAUP's Rhoades Takes Soft Line on IRB TrainingZachary M. Schraghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07101709506166167477noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-525778292565554519.post-57434279618460644722009-02-14T14:40:00.000-05:002009-02-14T14:40:00.000-05:00Thank you for your comment.You are quite right tha...Thank you for your comment.<BR/><BR/>You are quite right that many scholars and public officials deride human-subjects training programs as ineffective. But your essay downplayed the threat to academic freedom posed by such programs. As Professor Baron, the author of a book on bioethics, described his training, "it was more like brainwashing than education. I had to take a test, and, in order to pass the test, I had to express agreement with ethical statements that I thought were wrong." <BR/><BR/>I am delighted that the AAUP will continue to oppose overly broad regulations. I hope that this effort will include opposition to stupid training programs, not just because they are ineffective, but also because they force scholars to abjure their ethical principles.Zachary M. Schraghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07101709506166167477noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-525778292565554519.post-65359478935199471742009-02-14T11:44:00.000-05:002009-02-14T11:44:00.000-05:00Zachary,Let me assure you that I am fully aware of...Zachary,<BR/><BR/>Let me assure you that I am fully aware of the opposition your refer to, which exists on my own campus, the University of Arizona. But the larger point I was making about these exams, which is a major point in the link you provided in your comment, has to do with the inadequacy of these exams in protecting human subjects, in addition to the restrictions the IRB process provides with regard to academic freedom. So rest assured that neither I nor the AAUP are backing down on overly broad regulations that compromise academic freedom. Indeed, we have ongoing activities underway in quite the opposite direction.<BR/>Yours,<BR/>Gary RhoadesUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16455739477014950709noreply@blogger.com