A friend of mine did something to disappoint me today. Well, actually, he didn't do anything directly. It was more like I came across it accidentally. You see, in school, we can apply for funding if we attend conferences and other professional meetings. We're not actually guaranteed to get funding, but it is need based and it also depends on the number of applicants wanting reimbursement.
Anyway, I'm part of a group that helps with this and it just disappointed me that one of my friends put in a "padded" application--meaning claiming more expenses than the actual incurred. And that really bothered me because this is a person I respected. This is a person wanting to be a professor one day...a mentor to others. And I don't claim to be completely pure and void of flaws...but this behavior wasn't exactly the most ethical coming from a professor-to-be.
So I sent him an email and told him. I didn't lash out or whatever. I think I said it in a very calm and diplomatic manner. I haven't heard back yet. I'm sort of concerned that it will make things awkward between us--which was not my intention. But I also think that he had to know. That he should be made aware that this wasn't a good thing to do. I mean, true, we have no way of tracking how many people actually pad their expenses, but that does not make it all right to do it. And I know he has been getting funding in the past. It made me wonder how many times he has done it without people knowing.
Anyway, I just needed to get that off my chest. It's been bothering me the whole day.
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