<p>The temptation to exaggerate, or flat out lie, in advertising seems irresistible in this country. Corporations play games with the truth about the products all the time, and misrepresentations about corporate bottom lines abound. How the misrepresentations of the financial industry leading up to the 2008 collapse have not resulted in more criminal prosecutions boggles the mind. In many areas, overreaching corporations are overseen by government agencies corrupted by special interests. </p>
<p>Even the most venerated institutions are run by people. While occasionally, people working for such institutions may believe that their excrement reeks not, the wafting aroma of corruption generally proves them wrong to those in a position to get a snout full. Institutions that want to avoid scandals should encourage whistle blowers to stop forward by providing rewards for their courage and real protections against retaliation. People should be prompted to go against group think when they can see that something is clearly wrong - like cooking the books, changing the numbers, etc. The goal should be protecting the integrity of the entity and the people running it, not moving up a couple of spots in the rankings, or moving the stock higher the next quarter. </p>
<p>Instead, the typical view is that whistleblowers are “rats.” They are reviled and punished for disloyalty to their bosses or colleagues. Had some of the underlings at Emory felt more connection to the institution, and more support from the administration for protecting Emory from unscrupulous practices, those practices may have been halted earlier. Unfortunately, this type of gilding the lilly could happen at any college or university pressured to compete with rivals where there is far more downside than upside for an employee who contemplates reporting questionable competitive practices.</p>
<p>One prominent historian, Walter McDougall of Penn, has theorized that the U.S. is a nation of "hustlers’ in both the positive and negative senses of that word. The people at Emory responsible for the lies were “hustling” the public as part of a long tradition is less than scrupulous efforts to nose ahead of the pack. Competition (and therefore capitalism) always present the temptation of cheating to win. When society starts losing any since of shame for the manner of winning, and where “winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing,” cheating becomes inevitable and valuable in spurring innovation.</p>
<p>The labyrinthian contest between drug testers and dirty athletes at the Olympics is illustrative. The gold medal means so much to the competitors, that many will violate the rules to obtain it. The concern is getting caught, not competing fairly because “everyone else is doing it.” The good news is that such cheating employs chemists in a cottage industry of finding ways to beat the test.</p>
<p>John Adams told his son that he would rather his son “be an honest shoemaker than a dishonest senator.” Of course, we don’t know whether he really meant it, but I hope so. What part of the top achievers in society, those competing for the top jobs as measured by money and prestige, would agree with that, or with Al Davis, “Just win, baby!” The Emory scandal is an unfortunate symptom of a persistent and widespread social disease. At their best, such universities and colleges can be part of the cure by exposing the best and brightest to considerations of larger values. To see Emory, Claremont, and whichever school is next, abasing themselves in the pursuit of students to be molded into the next generation of leaders is both unsurprising, and sadly ironic.</p>