PROFESSIONAL ETHICS AND PRACTICES - COLUMN 179


Topical Index-Table of Contents to the Professional Ethics and Practices Columns


A topically based Index-Table of Contents, “pe&p index.xls” cov ering columns, articles, and letters to the editor that have been referred to in the PE&P columns in Excel format is on the AIPG web site in the Ethics section. This Index-Table of Contents is updated as each issue of the TPG is published. You can use it to find those items addressing a particular area of concern. Suggestions for improvements should be sent to David Abbott, dmageol@msn.com


Compiled by David M. Abbott, Jr., CPG-04570 5055 Tamarac Street, Denver, CO 80238 303-394-0321, dmageol@msn.com


Honesty and Trust


I began drafting this topic in mid-June when the Center for Disease Control’s guidance changed to allowing those who were fully vaccinated to go with- out masks in most indoor and outdoor settings. As welcome as this ending of mask mandates was, many remained concerned that those who had not in fact been fully vaccinated, including those who objected to vaccination due to per- sonal freedom and other issues, would stop wearing masks as well. Because no accepted means of vaccination verifi- cation other than a picture of one’s vacci- nation record (an eas- ily faked document) existed, we simply had to trust that those who weren’t wearing masks had in fact been vaccinated—an assumption many


were unwilling to make. For those with this concern, many continue to wear masks indoors and in other situations even though they were fully vaccinated. The summer’s surge of the pandemic of the unvaccinated justified the skepticism that the unvaccinated would wear masks when the requirement was dropped for the vaccinated.


This situation highlights the normal assumption that people are honestly telling us about their education, expe- rience, competencies, and all manner of other things. Only in certain cir- cumstances is verification of some sort required. For example, those applying for AIPG Certification must request that their colleges and universities send AIPG certified copies of transcripts. This requirement stems from the fact during the 1990s that too many job


applicants’ resumes were not being truthful about their educational back- ground.1 Statements from sponsors and employment verifiers are also required. Reviewing this information requires the time of Screening Committee members. The effort helps ensure the veracity and acceptability of AIPG Certification. However, in most circumstances such verification is not required; we assume we are being told the truth. Most of the time this is okay. However, we hopefully are open to indications that we are being


the public’s health, safety, and welfare. Mask wearing in professional settings like professional meetings involves both these Canons.


deceived and that when this is suspected, we start appropriate verification steps. But do we?


The day I started this topic was also the day that AIPG sent out a sur- vey regarding planned attendance at the Annual Meeting in Sacramento. As stated in the introduction to this survey, “AIPG will host its National Conference as an in-person-event experience where all individuals onsite, including attend- ees, guests, speakers, staff, and venue personnel, remain safe and comfortable throughout our event.” AIPG will have to trust that those attending the Annual Meeting will honestly disclose their vaccination status and wear masks, or not, as appropriate.2 Canon 1 of the AIPG Code of Ethics addresses hon- esty, personal integrity, and professional conduct. Canon 2 addresses protecting


Talking to Strangers: what we should know about the people we don’t know, Malcolm Gladwell, 2019, was Matt Rhoades’ (CPG-7837) selection for the AIPG Book Club this past summer. Gladwell explores a number of fascinat- ing cases demonstrating the problem we have in understanding or making sense of people we do not know. The cases include Chamberlain’s interactions with Hitler over Czechoslovakia— Chamberlain thought Hitler was honest and trustworthy; the story of Ana Montes, a senior DIA analyst for Cuba for many years who was actually a Cuban agent the whole time; Bernie Madoff, the well-known


Wall Street insider who “couldn’t be” but really was running a massive Ponzi scheme; the fact that Amanda Knox’s murder trial in Italy stemmed from the observation that she didn’t act in the manner expected of a normal, innocent person; and the problems arising in sex- ual assault cases, especially those where alcohol is involved, where the issue of what constitutes consent is at issue.


In our interactions with strangers, most of us default to assuming that we are being told the truth, that is, we assume that strangers are honest unless there are dramatic red flags, and not always then. We have illusions that others are being as transparent as we believe ourselves to be. And we do not understand the importance of the context in which the stranger is operat- ing and so fail to understand what the


1. John T. Howard, 1996, Resume honesty: been there, done that!: The Professional Geologist, November 1996, p. 26-27.


2. What the actual suggestions or requirements for mask wearing at the Annual Meeting will be are unknown as this column is being written.


www.aipg.org Oct.Nov.Dec 2021 • TPG 29


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56