Scientific Integrity Editorial Cartoon Contest

[lonestarnot]

Go here to vote: http://ucsaction.org/campaign/science_idol_2008_vote/we5uxukrf7djjd6b?

The countdown has begun. Science Idol: the Scientific Integrity Editorial Cartoon Contest will end in just a few days, and the tallies are close enough that we still don’t know which cartoon will come out on top. Vote now for your favorite cartoon and you’ll be entered to win one of 50 copies of the 2009 Union of Concerned Scientists scientific integrity calendar featuring all 12 finalists.

The manipulation and suppression of federal government science threatens the health and safety of everybody in the United States. While we might hope that the inauguration of a new president will solve this problem, the fact is that many subtle, systemic changes have been made that reduce government openness and make science more vulnerable to interference. Restoring scientific integrity to federal policy making in the next administration will require presidential leadership and strong oversight from Congress.

The 2009 UCS scientific integrity calendar will help UCS communicate the complex issue of political interference in science more effectively to Congress and the next administration throughout 2009. And we’ll use it to engage scientists and citizens alike in our work to defend federal government science. But we need your help to decide which cartoon deserves to be on the cover.

The polls close at 11:59 p.m. EST on August 8, 2008. So check out the biographies of the 11 artists with cartoons in the finals and then cast your vote today. We’ll let you know the winner in a couple of weeks.

Sincerely,

Michael Halpern
National Field Organizer
UCS Scientific Integrity Program

P.S. But wait, there's more you can do now to help. Call the White House Office of Management and Budget and demand that they allow federal government scientists to protect the highly endangered North Atlantic right whale from collisions with ships.

If you're a scientist, engineer, or health professional, please help us defend science by joining 15,000 of your colleagues in the Restoring Scientific Integrity network.

[DCKit]

1. Some great cartoons...

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[lonestarnot]

2. I liked all of them, but voted for numero uno.

[RNdaSilva]

6. I'm flippin' a coin on numero uno y numero tres.

[man4allcats]

3. For more on ethics in science, see

physical chemist turned philosopher Janet "Dr. Free-Ride" Stemwedel's excellent blog Adventures in Ethics and Science.

[FloridaJudy]

4. All good cartoons

But this was my favorite:

[petgoat]

5. I can't resist pointing out that NIST's report on the mysterious collapse of WTC Building 7

which was scheduled for release in July of 2008 seems to
be MIA.

I haven't heard a peep--no announcement of postponement,
no report, no nothing.

I like the see-no-evil one myself.

[dickthegrouch]

7. I like the lab coats

But none of them particularly show the government bureaucrat as an illiterate luddite!

The one with a book is at least holding it the right way up and it's title is spelled correctly. We won't be able to count on even that much in 10 years the way edoocashun is going.

Dick

[Swamp Rat]

8. Mad scientists have taken over!

:D

[man4allcats]

9. I chose the "edited" report, #4 .

For me, that is Bushco all over.