And what is so rare as a day in June?
Then, if ever, come perfect days.

—from June by James Russell Lowell (1819 – 1891)

Happy June to all!

My latest “Behavior & Belief” column for Skeptical Inquirer, “Scientists on Trial: Follow the Money” is about the shocking development of Harvard professor Francesca Gino suing three other professors for $25 million. The trio operate a blog called Data Colada where they exposed what they viewed as evidence of fabricated data in four of Gino’s published studies. The free exchange of ideas—including the ability to criticize each other’s work—is an essential feature of the scientific enterprise, and the introduction of expensive lawsuits into the field will undoubtedly have a chilling effect. In the column, I speculate about how things have come to this.

I spent the Memorial Day weekend in Philadelphia at the annual convention of the Association for Behavior Analysis International. Some time ago, I retired from attending professional conferences, but in this case, I was there to receive an award for the “Effective Presentation of Behavior Analysis in the Mass Media.” This recognition was given for my writing about behavior analysis in books, such as Going Broke: Why Americans (Still) Can’t Hold on to Their Money, in my monthly column for Skeptical Inquirer, and in various other places. I am enormously grateful to have received this award, and it was nice to see many old—and some new—friends while in the city of brotherly love.

I am enclosing both a shot of me receiving the award from Ruth Anne Rehfeldt, president of the Society for the Advancement of Behavior Analysis, on stage at the conference and a closer view of the very large (it weighs 10 lbs!) glass sculpture award. It was quite a project getting it safely home on the train.

That’s about all I have for you. Last week I went to New York City to see Manhattanhenge, but cloud cover prevented us from witnessing this pagan festival. By way of compensation, I’m including my latest sunset photo of Stonington Harbor taken from the end of the Town Docks. All for now.

SV