A
When a lawmaker spoke out against a research grant awarded to a professor in a university' s psychology department as a foolish expenditure of public money, other professors in that department drafted a letter protesting the lawmaker' s interference in a field in which he was not trained. The chair of the psychology department, while privately endorsing the project, refused to sign the protest letter on the ground that she had previously written a letter applauding the same legislator when he publicized a senseless expenditure by the country' s military. Which one of the following principles, if established, provides the strongest justification for the department chair's refusal, on the ground she gives, to sign the protest letter?
A: A person who has praised a lawmaker for playing a watchdog role in one case should not criticize the lawmaker for attempting to play a watchdog role in another case that involves the person's professional interests.
B: Academic institutions have the same responsibility as military institutions have to spend public money wisely.
C: A person should not publicly criticize the actions of a lawmaker in different cases without giving careful consideration to the circumstances of each particular case.
D: The chair of an academic department has an obligation to ensure that public funds allocated to support projects within that department are spent wisely.