David Ritchie wrote: "The drafting difficulty: as I read their sentence, conflicts of interest, which usually exist in one of two contradictory modes of being--real or merely perceived--but which can also be simultaneously real and perceived, here exist as things that are perceived but only sometimes real." Again, I don't see the problem. If the conflicts are real but not perceived, there isn't anything one can do. It seems to me the concern for administration lies primarily in perceptions of conflicts of interest, and secondarily in the question of whether there is any validity. I don't want to appear to be giving David a hard time. It seems to me that the statement addresses the problem, the perceptions of conflicts of interest, with all the appropriate nods that living in a pc culture requires. That is, I don't think the muck up lies in the statement but in a culture that requires such a statement. Since it is aimed at addressing sensitivities rather than practical problems, I don't see why the statement should be particularly practical in application. Surely it is effective if it appears to acknowledge problems of conflicts of interest? As to David's Clinton anecdote from another post in this thread, I thought it quite humorous. Sincerely, Phil Enns Toronto, ON ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html