Date: 25 Mar 2005 19:27:43 -0000 Message-ID: <20050325192743.28259.qmail@cr.yp.to> Automatic-Legal-Notices: See http://cr.yp.to/mailcopyright.html. From: "D. J. Bernstein" To: "Paine, Renee" Cc: "Cooper, Penny" Subject: Re: Filing requirements -- Economic Interest Statements References: Thanks for your prompt response. You say that the University Ethics Officer determines ``by looking at the Illinois compiled statutes'' who is required to file the form. But the unfortunate fact is that the University Ethics Officer did _not_ follow the law in this case. In fact, she has already admitted by email that what she followed was a ``note'' from the ``prior Ethics Officer.'' Perhaps this mistake will be corrected by the University Ethics Officer quickly enough to eliminate the problem; discussions are underway. However, those of us victimized by this error have to consider the possibility that it _won't_ be corrected, or at least won't be corrected before the May deadline. That's why I've contacted you. If someone is not, in fact, required by law to file this form, but the University Ethics Officer submits the name anyway and does _not_ promptly correct the mistake, what happens? Suppose that the Office of the Secretary of State does not receive the form, but instead is informed by the victim that the name was provided in error by the University Ethics Officer; what happens? If the Office of the Secretary of State blindly trusts the University Ethics Officer then it's effectively giving the University Ethics Officer the power to (accidentally or maliciously) rewrite the law. Surely there's some sort of friendly dispute-resolution mechanism, as opposed to filing a lawsuit. ---D. J. Bernstein, Associate Professor, Department of Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science, University of Illinois at Chicago