Thank you for publishing my article on the status of Environmental Studies in the most recent edition of TSL. The article was published largely verbatim as I submitted it, but there is one deviation that I find troubling. That deviation is the addition of a first name for Professor Hazlett of the Pomona Geology Dept. that could be considered pejorative. That name did not appear in the text that was submitted (it contained no first name for Prof. Hazlett at all), and must have been added during the editing process. The addition of any material to an opinion piece without the explicit permission of the author is an egregious breach of journalistic ethics. I was not asked for, nor would I have given permission for such a change. I believe that a clarification is due as to why or how the text was changed (and an apology to Prof. Hazlett might also be in order).

Sincerely,

Gene S. Fowler

Biology Department