Letter from Russia: Alcoholism and Dissent-Report of a Whistleblower

Abstract

Since 1998 I have regularly participated in criticism of scientific misconduct in the former Soviet Union (Jargin, 2008–2010a). This text was written to explain some motives and mechanisms. All facts are true. In summer 1970, we travelled in Altai Mountains. The area was scarcely populated, and we met only a few local inhabitants and trekker groups. One lecturer was with us, a chronic alcoholic, who was known to drink with students and to accept alcohol as payment for passing the tests. Such behaviour was rather unusual; business was concentrated around entrance examinations, and mainly in the form of tutoring, though bribery was known to occur as well, especially in some regions. In the late 1980s, paid lessons became widespread also during the study at universities. Students had sometimes no other choice than to take paid lessons because answers to some questions could not be found in books or lectures. In summer 1971 we travelled in the North Urals, where some rivers are good for canoe-type boats. A drawback of paddling is that one sees only the riverbanks. We compensated for this in summer 1972 during our journey to East Siberia, to the east of the Lake Baikal. First, we travelled by steamer along the whole length of the lake. The steamer circulated once a fortnight, and there were many passengers, mainly tourists. The steamer stopped near villages on the coast. It should be commented that in the shops of Siberian villages, only two beverages were usually available at that time: vodka and 95% alcohol, both of poor quality. The steamer brought Portwein, a fortified (18–19% of alcohol by volume) red Port imitation in 800 ml bottles. Wines and spirits of many foreign denominations have been produced in the former Soviet Union (Jargin, 2010b). The steamer dropped anchor near the coast, and …