Editorial: A need for openness

Monday, Nov. 26, 2007 | 7:13 a.m.

A state university system policy that allows professors to shield their outside work from the public would continue under a proposal to be discussed this week by the Board of Regents.

Las Vegas Sun reporters Jeff German and Steve Kanigher highlighted the policy in August, after they had requested external-income forms at UNLV that professors are required by the university system to file.

Two problems surfaced immediately: One, the university system had long declared the forms confidential, and, two, no one at UNLV was requiring the forms to even be completed.

The purpose of the forms is to prevent conflicts of interest. A professor working on the side for a pesticide company, for example, could be tempted to author a university-sanctioned study concluding that certain active ingredients in pesticides pose no threats to the environment.

A check of the forms by anyone interested could immediately spot the conflict.

At least now, as a result of the Sun's inquiries, UNLV and university system officials say they are requiring the forms to be filed. But they still want them to be protected from any public examination.

A proposal from system administrators will be discussed at the regents meeting set for Thursday and Friday. The proposal simply reiterates existing policy, that the forms must be filed. The names of the professors filing the forms and the names of their outside employers would remain confidential.

Members of the public should not be asked to trust that busy college and university administrators will go through every form and take action against every conflict of interest. They should have the right to check for themselves whether private conflicts are playing a role in professors' publicly funded activities, including research.

The forms should be fully open to public inspection.