I was just reading them--this is the first time I knew they were available. What strikes me is how hard they were working to try and be fair to this guy. The person who offered to sponsor him basically said, "He's got a 3-year contract; his sponsor died; he needs a sponsor; I'll do it if no one else will." They also several times discuss the fact that they need to keep the question of his scientific work separate from his actions with the article (which apparently did not follow procedure) and not restrict the former in retaliation for the latter.
As for the artifacts, one e-mail says, "I know that he kept hundreds of specimens from the USNM collection in his office for a couple of years despite repeated requests from the curator-in-charge and the Collection Manager to return the specimens to the collection....After six months of his absence from the museum, I returned all specimens back to the main collection and noted that 10-12% of them needed alcohol, so they were being not properly curated."
And yet they offered him another position. So unfair.
Yes but you fail to mention that he notes.
Not quite. It was not all generosity.
From: [____] To: [____] Date: 9/1/2004 Subject: Re: Life on the West Wing 1st Floor [____] I believe [____] could have answered most of his questions by asking around IZ—there was no need to bother you as you no doubt appreciate. As you see, he is presuming most of this rather than asking … there is no space shortage, except insofar as [____] wants to deny him space. Anyway, the core point, I obviously am not going to be able to find a sponsor for Sternberg, yet his official status is as a research associate for the next three years. If you don’t want to make a martyr of him, I'll sponsor him. As he hasn’t (yet) been discovered to have done anything wrong, particularly compared to his peers, the sole reason to terminate his appt. seems to be that the host unit has suddenly changed its mind. If that’s OK w NMNH, let me know and I'll send him a letters stating so. However, as you decided originally, the political downside of that is costly. Outside of pique, [____]’s main legitimate concern seems to be a fear of guilt by association. In any case [____] isn’t going to be shut up about this until he wins (i.e. banishes Sternberg) or gets told to. I'm not going to get bit to death by daily emails. The access and key issues are trivial and can be fixed, if out of line. The only grounds I see is [____]’s lack of support. If that isn’t sufficient, then I basically have to tell [____] (again) to shut up (which I am willing to do). Which do you prefer?
In any case the OSC report and the Congressional report outline the shoddy treatment Sternberg received.
My only other concern is that your old IZ work area seems to contain specimens from other institutions (Univ. Miami?), but we have no records of an incoming loan in your name. For obvious reasons, we like to be aware of non-SI material in the building, so please clarify the status of these specimens with Marilyn and/or Vic. If they do belong to another institution, the transaction should be recorded in our transaction management system.Mismanaging specimens in a museum is how things get lost. Gross mismanagement such as this should have been grounds for immediate termination. The ID movement is not very good at picking its poster boys. You need someone with an exemplary record, no other reason for negative actions, to prove persecution.