A Question of Ethics Analysis of Exam Returns Triggers Controversy Fairfax, VA The results for the 1999 L.A.R.E. show some dramatic changes compared to the number of pass/fails from the previous year. Between 1998 and 1999 the greatest increase in the rate of failure concerned a portion of the exam dedicated to questions of ethicality. The new questions added to Section A of the 1999 exam, which specifically addressed issues relevant to ethical practice with regards to the law, resulted in a 24 percent increase in the failure rate for that section of the test. Does this mean that the landscape architecture profession is suffering from endemic lawlessness? Clarence Chaffee of the Council of Landscape Architectural Registration Board, assures us that this is not the case. The new ethics questions added to the legal and administrative portion of the exam were intended to test Landscape Architect's know-ledge of codes of conduct given a specific set of laws. The failure of the LA's ability to properly interpret and apply these laws may have only represented unfamiliarity with the letter of the law. In addition, because the information was new to the exam, registrants would not have had the same opportunity to review previous examples of the test questions prior to taking the exam. However, the questions that were most frequently missed involved instances where LAs were asked whether or not they should reveal a potential conflict of interest. For example, should Landscape Architects inform their clients that products they are specifying are manufactured by a company in which they have part ownership? Believe it or not, many of the LAs didn't think this was a problem. This might represent a very real confusion among professionals who find themselves consulting clients while selling products at the same time. Could Landscape Architects be abusing their trust by offering misleading information about products? M. Elise Huggins, who was one of two Landscape Architects sitting for Alaska's first exam in June didn't think of the questions as being particularly difficult. "It's just good common sense," said Huggins. "The Landscape Architecture Code of Conduct says you have to reveal conflicts of interest." Huggins, who is accustomed to working with public projects, makes sure that she reveals every possible connection to manufacturers, distributors, or retailers, "even the silly little things," just so everybody knows that she is operating completely above board. It is unimaginable to her that anyone would choose to do things otherwise. By openly confronting these issues from the very beginning, Huggins essentially heads off any controversy that might arise during the course of the project.