WHAT HEELS: Porn-Surfing Workers Paralyzes Science Watchdog
Documents obtained by The Washington Times through the Freedom of Information Act show that the National Science Foundation (NSF) Inspector General is so busy investigating “pervasive” workplace porn-surfing by its 1,200 career employees that the agency is unable to pursue its primary mission to look into grant fraud and recover squandered taxpayer- funded research grants. The Times reports:
"To manage this dramatic increase without an increase in staff required us to significantly reduce our efforts to investigate grant fraud," the inspector general recently told Congress in a budget request. "We anticipate a significant decline in investigative recoveries and prosecutions in coming years as a direct result." …
The independent foundation, funded by taxpayers to the tune of $6 billion in 2008, is tasked with handing out scientific grants to colleges, universities and research institutions nationwide. …
Recent budget documents for the inspector general cite a "6-fold increase in employee misconduct cases and associated proactive management implication report activities." The document doesn't say how many cases were involved in the increase, and officials could not immediately provide a figure.
Documents obtained by The Times through an open records request show the foundation's inspector general closed 10 employee misconduct investigations last year, up from just three in 2006. There were seven cases in 2007. Of the 10 cases closed last year, seven involved online pornography, records show. However, those figures don't include pending cases.
According to records reviewed by The Times, “one senior executive spent at least 331 days looking at pornography on his government computer and chatting online with nude or partially clad women” and promptly retired when he was finally caught. His predilection for porn cost taxpayers between as much as $58,000.
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