At the Center

Bioethics Posters

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 01:47:51 PST

Genetic enhancement, pre-implantation genetic testing, stem cells, genetically modified organisms--all of these controversial topics and more were addressed at a poster session today presented by students in the SCU class on Biotech Ethics, taught by Center Director of Bioethics Margaret R. McLean and Associate Professor of Biology Leilani Miller.

The posters displayed the students' mastery of both the science involved in such issues as pharmacogenetics and the ethical issues raised by the application of the science in everyday life. For example, one group looked at the potential suggested in mouse studies thatgenetic alterations could increase muscle mass by as much as 15 percent. They then showed the effect such a modification might have on sports and argued against allowing enhancements that would alter the level playing field.

The poster session was sponsored by the Ethics Center and the SCU Cent er for Science, Technology and Society.

Integrating Ethical Issues into the Classroom

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 08:08:07 PST

Ethics Curricular Consultant Lawrence Nelson will lead a conversation for SCU faculty about integrating ethical issues in courses from all disciplines at an Ethics at Noon presentation this Friday in the Benson Center. A senior lecturer in philosophy and an attorney, Nelson has taught a range of classes including Ethics in Society, Ethics in Business, and Ethics in Medicine. His work as a consultant can include developing case studies for classroom use, assisting in the creation of a module on ethics as part of an overall class, advising on the syllabus, recommending appropriate readings, creating a background memo with an ethical analysis of the targeted subject, modeling effective ethics pedagogy by leading a class discussion in the ethics unit, and recommending an assessment strategy for the ethics portion of the course. The program is co-sponsored by the SCU Office of Faculty Development.

Rhodes Scholar

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 10:44:05 PST

SCU Senior Noelle Lopez, a Hackworth Fellow at the Center this year, has been awarded a prestigious Rhodes Scholarship. Shown here with David DeCosse, director of campus ethics at the Center, Lopez has been a standout leader on campus in the areea of ethics, a field she plans to continue studying at Oxford. Through the Hackworth fellowship, she has been focusing with her peers on the question, "What do we mean when we use the term 'social justice'? She has also been a peer educator for the class "Ethical Issues in Society."

Climate Change, Prosperity, and Big Ideas

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 08:30:38 PST

As one part of his economic stimulus package, President-elect Barack Obama Is talking about measures to create "the clean energy infrastructure of the twenty-first century." Michael Shellenberger, president of the Breakthrough Institute has been a longtime national advocate "for the U.S. to make a 10-year, $500 billion public-private investment into cutting-edge clean energy technologies to achieve energy independence, restore America's economic competitiveness, and slow global warming."

Shellenberger described some of his ideas for addressing climate change and sustainability at a recent talk for the Ethics Center. (podcast)

He and Ted Nordhaus were recently named Time magazine "Heroes of the Environment 2008". He is co-author of Break Through and "The Death of Environmentalism."

podcast

Ethical Issues for the New Administration

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 11:06:20 PST

Beginning today, the Center offers a new blog, Ethical Issues for the New Administration. The Center's Emerging Issues Group, which includes staff and faculty from many fields, will offer weekly commentary through the blog and podcasts on an agenda of important ethical challenges:

Who will the Obama administration bring into federal service? What virtues will they be looking for and what ethical considerations will guide their selection?

What tools will the new administration use to prosecute the war on terror, and what balance will they strike between security and human/civil rights?

What principles should guide the financial bailout? On what basis will the new administration decide if a particular firm or industry should receive help from taxpayers?

What is the responsibility of the United States to other countries? Should we focus on spreading democracy or combating human misery?

What does Obama see as the proper scope of presidential power?

Ethics and the Assessor

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 09:05:42 PST

Center Executive Director Kirk Hanson spoke today at the 106th annual California Assessors’ Association Conference on "Doing the Public's Business With Transparency and Integrity." Hanson's presentation pointed out some of the ethical pitfalls assessors face, including this brief case about one assessor's reelection campaign:

Bill Lippert, County Assessor, was looking forward to his reelection campaign. As he sought endorsements from various local officials, he wondered if he needed to be concerned about how the properties of those endorsees were being appraised? As the start of the campaign approached, he wondered where to draw lines for political activity by his campaign manager, who still held a salaried position in the Assessor’s office. Bill wondered whether he could make political use of some of the excellent public data bases his office maintained. The databases were public information, though he knew them better than any challenger and could make better use of them.

Can Citizenship Be Earned

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 03:52:19 PST

"Amnesty: Just include this lightning rod of a word and any proposal for legalizing undocumented immigrants or for achieving comprhensve immigration reform quickly plummets to defeat. Yet that need not be the case." So begins an article in this issue of America magazine by Campus Ethics Director David DeCosse, collaborating with immigration experts at several Jesuit universities, Catholic Relief Services, and the legal community of San Jose, Calif. The piece offers three ethical considerations for every policy maker that emerged during a daylong series of events about immigratiion that took place on campus last spring.

1) The use of the word amnesty is almost always an exaggeration, if not outright dishonest.

2) An ethically acceptable approach to the immigration debate must recognize the good faith and common humanity of persons without documents.

3) It is ethically legitimate, even desirable, to uphold the rule of law; the proposals for earned citizenship do this.

When Do I Friend?

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 01:06:58 PST

As part of a new initiative to get students talking about the ethical issues they confront in their everyday lives, the Ethics Center's student workers and fellows have created a Facebook page for students. Here's a sample, written by Hackworth Fellow Nicole Lopez, that looks a a dilemma that faces the millions of college students who use Facebook:

It’s late one lazy summer afternoon and Jane, a bit bored at this point in the day, does what any other person her age would do for entertainment: she goes on Facebook. Expecting no new changes since she was last on an hour ago, she’s pleasantly surprised to find a notification for a friend request along with a message. It’s John Brown, a guy she met at Orientation who will be living in the dorm neighboring hers this coming year. His message is brief: “Hey Jane! Good meeting you at Orientation. Looking forward to a fun year! See you soon, John.”

Jane didn’t really talk to John much at Orientation, but he seemed nice enough when they did interact. She isn’t sure if when school starts up she’ll ever actually run into him and get to know him better than she came to know him from their short-lived Orientation encounters. She feels kind of odd confirming the friend request, but does so anyway, without responding to the message.

What should Jane do and why?

JuicyCampus

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 01:47:45 PST

For the first event in a series of new initiatives aimed at undergraduates, the Ethics Center's student workers and fellows chose to present a panel on JuicyCampus, an online gossip site that bills itself as"the place to spill the juice about all the crazy stuff going on at your campus," emphasizing, "It's totally anonymous." As might be expected, the invitation to dish anonymously has resulted in a series of variously scurrilous and silly messages, which have offended many people on campus. The students put together a dialogue including the president of associated students, a representative from the multicultural center,and a student arguing for protecting free speech rights, even when the results are offensive. Students are invited to continue the dialogue on the Center's new Facebook Group, which offers threads on various ethical dilemmas students must confront.

Palliative Care

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 09:21:54 PST

When Stephanie Paulus, an '08 graduate of Santa Clara University, was a senior, she participated in the Center's Health Care Ethics Internship at O'Connor Hospital, a program that allowed to her see first-hand some of the ethical issues that arise in a hospital setting. Through that experience, she developed an interest in palliative care. "The basic philosophy of palliative care, "she writes, "is to achieve the best quality of life for patients even when their illness cannot be cured. In contrast to hospice care, palliative care is offered at any stage of illness: in conjunction with life-prolonging therapy or as comfort care at the end of life."

In her thesis, "Palliative Care: An Ethical Obligation," Paulus draws on what she learned as a health care ethics intern to argue, "The principles of beneficence and nonmaleficence require that hospitals, in addition to clinicians, seek to improve the quality of life and relieve the pain and suffering of all patients to the best of their ability," which she believes can best be achieved through on-site palliiative care programs.

IT Policy and the Next American President

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 02:36:04 PST

A front page article in today's Mercury News looks at where the two presidential candidates stand on various IT issues. The article concludes that both Obama and McCain are paying more attention to technology than their predecessor, "but their approaches are guided by distinctly different philosophies: From spurring new research to sorting out 'net neutrality,' McCain tends to favor private-sector solutions, while Obama believes government can be an active partner in setting the nation's tech agenda."

Mercury News columnist and CBS News technology analyst Larry Magid will delve further into these issues next Tuesday at a presentation, "IT Policy and the Next American President," co-sponsored by the Ethics Center, the Center for Science, Technology, and Society, and the High Tech Law Insitute.

Local Campaign Ethics

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 03:26:04 PST

With many Americans' attention fixed on the presidential race, it's easy to forget that local elections also raise many ethical issues. In materials prepared for candidates and their supporters, Judy Nadler, the Center's senior fellow in government ethics, points out many pitfalls for local campaigns. For example, in a small town, soliciting money for a campaign from friends, family, and neighbors may create even more conflicts of interest than it might at the federal level. Nadler cautions all candidates that they must set the tone regarding what practices will be tolerated and how the campaign will operate.

Vegetarianism

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 03:46:51 PST

Next week is the inauguration of our 2008-09 peer-led student programs, developed by SCU seniors who have been awarded Hackworth Fellowships to create events of interest to undergraduates. The first, “Should All SCU Students Be Vegetarian?” sparked an interesting discussion with two of our student workers who are, themselves, vegetarian. Although both women chose vegetarianism for ethical reasons, neither wanted to prescribe that choice as an ethical imperative for everyone else. They predict a lively discussion, kicking off a year of exploration about the ethical choices students make when they sit down to eat. Those programs are spearheaded by senior Beth Tellman.

Financial Meltdown: Enough Blame to Go Around

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 02:54:32 PST

In a talk today on “Fairness, Financial Markets, and the Fallout From the Subprime Crisis,” New York Times Assistant Business and Financial Editor Gretchen Morgenson put “ethical lapses” at the center of her explanation of what caused the recent meltdown in the markets. She traced the breakdown at each step to the behavior of “ethically challenged executives”: lenders who pushed homebuyers into high risk loans; packagers who made fortunes on securitizing mortgages in ways that were so complex it was hard for investors to determine what they were buying; overly optimistic rating agencies; and, of course, investment firms. She also described perverse incentives in the system of packaging mortgages, where the originator was distanced from the toxic loans, which became the problem of shareholders and taxpayers. Morgenson expressed particular ire that “this cynical behavior was wrapped in the American flag of homeownership for all.”

Campaign Buttons

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 03:23:44 PST

An entry by NY Times blogger Stanley Fish on how much professors should be allowed to express their own political opinions on campus was the topic of debate at today's meeting of the Center's Emerging Issues Group. The teachers present--Scott LaBarge (philosophy), Peter Minowitz (political science) and David DeCosse (religious studies) were in basic agreement that the recent In effort by the Illinois State University Ethics Office to bar faculty from placing political bumper stickers on their cars and attending political rallies on campus was an abridgement of professors' free speech. On the other hand, they all said they would refrain from wearing campaign buttons in the classroom, which they saw as more prescriptive--encouraging students to adopt the teacher's candidate, which they felt would have a chilling effect on open discussion.

Business and Spirituality

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 08:54:58 PST

The Center welcomes Max Oliva, S.J., as a visiting scholar, who will make SCU his homebase for continued work on spirituality in the workplace. Oliva publishes a monthly newsletter on spirituality and ethics. The most recent issue posed the question:

Since we are in an election year in the United States and in Canada an October election appears likely, it seems worthwhile to reflect on some of the leadership qualities we admire in the person of Jesus. Might our candidates for national office learn from his management style?

Pork Barrel Spending

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 10:03:00 PST

The tax exemptions for wooden arrows, Puerto Rican rum, and racetracks included in the final bailout bill passed by Congress inspired the Center’s Emerging Issues Group to examine whether such amendments are “sweeteners” or “bribes.” Center staff were joined by professors of political science, philosophy, and mass communications in this debate over the ethics of pork barrel spending. (podcast)

Teaching Ethics and Science

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 12:40:45 PST

The Center's Character-Based Literacy program, now in use in the majority of California counties, began as curriculum for language arts classes, but it has expanded to offer lesson plans for biology and earth science classrooms, as well. Material for the first quarter of 2008-09 is available on line, with specific activities, labs, and other resources that promote the understanding of both basic science concepts and related ethical issues, such as care for the environment.

Financial Crisis

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 02:17:17 PST

The Dow's 777 point drop today makes all the more timely the Oct. 14 Ethics at Noon presentation by New York Times Reporter Gretchen Morgenson, "Fairness, Financial Markets, and the Fallout From the Subprime Crisis." One of the nation's top financial journalists, Morgenson has written recently on the failue of AIG, and has provided much-needed background on the economic bailout plans.

Do We Have an Obligation to Vote?

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 11:43:16 PST

Voter turnout, especially among young people, may be a major factor in the upcoming presidential election. If the primaries are any indication, youth voting is on the rise. Peter Dreier writes in the Huffington Post:

The spike in youth voting this year has been extraordinary. In Democratic primaries and caucuses, the number of young voters increased from 1.1 million to 4.9 million. (In contrast, Republican primaries attracted only 1.8 million youth voters.) A Harvard study found that compared to the 2004 primaries, the youth vote quadrupled in the Tennessee primary and almost tripled in Iowa, Georgia, Missouri, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Texas. Within the Democratic primaries, youth voters increased from 9.4 percent of all voters in 2004 to 14.3 percent this year.

Scott LaBarge, an assistant professor of philosophy at SCU, has been talking with his students about whether an individual’s vote really counts. He brings that discussion to a public audience Oct. 2, with an Ethics at Noon presentation, “ Do We Have an Obligation to Vote?” Invitees include students, elected officials, candidates and members of the public.

Live Webinar at Noon: The Global Anti-Corruption Regulatory Climate

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 09:34:50 PST

Tune in live at noon today to a Webinar on "The Global Anti-corruption Regulatory Climate," cosponsored by tne Center and Morrison Foerster. Center Executive Director Kirk O. Hanson is just one of the speakers in a line-up that includes a partner at MoFo, the associate regional director of the SEC, company directors and counsel. This is the second a continuing series of luncheon seminars co-sponsored with MoFo, designed to cover a current hot topic in some depth.

Student Leaders

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 03:13:02 PST

The varied interests of undergraduates at SCU are reflected in the projects planned by this year’s student fellows at the Ethics Center. While Elizabeth Tellman ’09 explores ethical issues related to food, her fellow Hackworth Fellows, Nicholas Obradovich and Nikole Lopez, will focus on sustainability and social justice respectively. New in 2008-09 is our Health Care Ethics Fellowship, held for its inaugural year by Anna Kozas, who will mentor students in our Health Care Ethics Internship Program. Deepti Shenoy rounds out our student workers as Ethics Peer Educator in the class, “Ethics and Globalization.”

The Palin Nomination

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 04:35:31 PST

Fewer issues have been hotter in this election than the place of the candidate's private life in the campaign, especially in reference to John McCain's choice for VP, Sarah Palin. Pundits have debated whether a candidate who runs as a hockey mom should be immune from criticism about the parenting of her pregnant teenager and whether the mother of five children is a role model for women in the workforce or an example of parental dereliction. The Ethics Center's Emerging Issues Group today addressed the relationship of a candidate's private life to his or her public life, touching on issues such as character and equal rights. (podcast)

Toward a Water Ethic

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 11:39:59 PST

Proceedings from the conference, “Common Grounds, Common Waters,” co-sponsored by the Ethics Center and the Santa Clara Journal of International Law, are now available in the most recent edition of the journal. Center Director of Campus Ethics David DeCosse moderated a session on “Ethics-Based Decision Making in Societal Water Management,” which was one of three panels at the conference. The publication also includes articles on the human right to water and on the role of ethics in water resource planning. Podcasts of the conference are also available.

Ethics at Noon

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 09:27:56 PST

The Center's oldest program, "Ethics at Noon," gears up for another year of top speakers addressing pressing problems. The series kicks off with a look at whether we have a responsibility to vote. Later Gretchen Morgenson of the New York Times speaks on ethics and the subprime crisis, and Michael Shellenberger, author of Break Through talks about sustainability. All Ethics at Noon presentations are free and open to the public.

Sustainability at SCU

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 11:36:38 PST

In his speech to the Democratic National Convention last night, Al Gore warned that climate change is “a planetary emergency which, if not solved, would exceed anything we've ever experienced in the history of humankind."

The Center’s 2007-08 Environmental Ethics Fellow spent last year studying how SCU students look at the environment and their responsibility to steward it. She writes, “Though Santa Clara University has made a strong commitment to sustainability—one that impacts University spending, building, and planning—little information exists on to what extent and in what forms sustainability has become part of the student culture.”

Through her anthropological study on the culture of sustainability on campus, Mooney concluded, “Though students almost universally subscribe to a utilitarian ethic that privileges people over the environment, their ethical codes do not show a lack of concern for the environment, merely that they assign sustainability a practical position somewhere amongst their other ethical commitments.” She also noted divisiveness on the issue “resulting from the mistaken conclusion that people who do not take action simply do not care,” and called for more complex discussions about sustainability.

Her entire report is available as a pdf.

Meeting the Public's Information Needs

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 04:21:07 PST

Center Senior Fellow in Government Ethics Judy Nadler has been invited to serve as a panelist for the Knight Commission's event, "Meeting the Public's Information Needs in Silicon Valley," to be held Sept. 8 at Google Headquarters. The day-long event is an outreach and fact-finding session to "identify the information needs of communities in a democracy, assess how and whether those needs are being met today in the United States, and recommend steps to improve the fulfillment of those needs." Nadler will speak at the first of three sessions on a panel involving people from outside the media in a discussion of whether Silicon Valley residents are getting the facts they need on the issues of greatest concern to them.

Organ Donation After Cardiac Death

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 12:00:35 PST

Recent news stories on three heart transplants from babies who did not meet the traditional criteria for brain death have highlighted an ethical dilemmas hospitals and transplant teams have been facing for some time. As an AP story explains, "The heart is rarely removed after cardiac death because of worries it could be damaged from lack of oxygen. In brain-death donations, the donor is kept on a ventilator to keep oxygen-rich blood flowing to the organs until they are removed." But as the number of patients waiting for hearts increases, donation after cardiac death "is being encouraged by the federal government, organ banks and others as a way to make more organs available and give more families the option to donate." The Ethics Center has been working with its partner O'Connor Hospital in San Jose to write guidelines for the hospital on this ethically problematic procedure.

The Global Anti-Corruption Regulatory Climate

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 03:19:54 PST

Businesspeople can learn how to protect themselves and their companies from charges of corrupt practices at a program Sept. 17, co-sponsored by the Ethics Center and Morrison &Foerster.

Topics include:

The long arm of anti-corruption enforcement

SEC and DOJ priorities in 2008 and 2009

Lessons from Samsung, Siemens, Titan, Vetco, and Baker Hughes enforcement actions

Effective compliance programs

“Doing the right thing” and other ethical dilemmas

“When to voluntarily disclose (or not)?” …that is the question

Effective fraud and corruption prevention

The experienced panel features Center Executive Director Kirk O. Hanson, along with senior DOJ and SEC enforcement attorneys, lead director and audit committee chair, and FCPA-experienced general and counsel.

The program runs from 11:30-2 in Palo Alto, Calif.

Markkula Prize

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 02:37:38 PST

Every year, Santa Clara University recognizes a student who has made the greatest contribution in ethics by awarding him or her the Markkula Prize. This year, the prize went to Alejandro Jara, who started with the Center as a freshman, staffing the front desk. Jara developed an interest in teaching through providing administrative support to the Center's Character Education Program. He eventually became the Webmaster of the program's Web site and began to develop resources and materials for the Character-Based Literacy Curriculum. Next year, he will be a 6th grade teacher at Sacred Heart Nativity in San Jose.

Where Immigration and Health Care Problems Collide

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 10:18:31 PST

The New York Times focuses this week on a wrenching new twist to the problem of illegal immigration in the United States, the fate of immigrants who have suffered serious injury or illness in the United States and need long-term care. As the Times reports,

Many American hospitals are taking it upon themselves to repatriate seriously injured or ill immigrants because they cannot find nursing homes willing to accept them without insurance. Medicaid does not cover long-term care for illegal immigrants, or for newly arrived legal immigrants, creating a quandary for hospitals, which are obligated by federal regulation to arrange post-hospital care for patients who need it.

In a talk at SCU last spring, Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano called our immigration policy “broken.” The Ethics Center has been exploring the ethical issues it raises over the past two years. A collection of materials from that project includes a briefing and articles featuring Napolitano, Richard Rodriguez, and other important scholars and policy makers.

Life Entrepreneurship

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 01:25:44 PST

Today's meeting of the Business and Organizational Ethics Partnership included a talk by Christopher Gergen, founding partner of New Mountain Ventures, an entrepreneurial leadership development company, and co-author of Life Entrepreneurs: Ordinary People Creating Extraordinary Lives.

Gergen found a strong values orientation and among the 55 "high impact entrepreneurs" he interviewed for his book. Other important themes that came out in his interviews were:

courage to try (willingness to fail)
authentic integrity
a culture of diversity, trust, and reciprocity
pervasive service

Character Education for At-Risk Youth

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 02:23:41 PST

The Center's Character-Based Literacy curriculum has been a favorite with teachers who work with at-risk youth, with the majority of California's 58 county offices of education using the program in court-community, juvenile hall, youth ranches, and other facilities for juvenile offenders. The next Ethics Camp for educators will focus on using CBL in alternative school settings. Scheduled for August 12-15 in Orange County, the camp is a reprise for Southern California of a successful session held in July on the Santa Clara University campus.

Jesuit Business Ethics Education

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 02:14:58 PST

Kirk Hanson, Center executive director, returns this week from "Business and Education in an Era of Globalization: The Jesuit Position," a world forum sponsored by the International Association of Jesuit Business Schools and Colleagues in Jesuit Business Education. He delivered a paper, "Business Ethics in Action," that outlines strategies for engaging business executives in education. The IAJS and the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics are co-hosting a blog for deans and faculty at Jesuit business schools to continue the discusson. Topics include what business ethics means in developed and developing societies and how Jesuit and Catholic business schools are educating men and women for responsible careers in business.

A Difficult Birth

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 10:04:25 PST

The Center has just posted the latest installment in its series of case studies on the problems people from other countries and cultures may have when they interact with the American health care system. A Difficult Birth chronicles the labor and delivery of a young Mixteco woman named Ana, and a set of reflections on the case by doctors and those who work with immigrants explores what might have been done to improve this experience. For background on the migration of Mixteco women, the Smithsonian offers Borders and Identities, a Web site featuring interviews and commentary.

No Bid Contracts for Iraqi Oil

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 07:33:49 PST

This week, the Center's Emerging Issues Group looked at no-bid contracts awarded to major Western oil companies for exploration of some of Iraq's largest oilfields. The group debated the appearance of unfairness and the lack of transparency in how the contracts were awarded, versus the necessity of moving quickly and efficiently in a trouble zone like Iraq.

The Role of the Board in Ethics and Compliance

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 01:53:19 PST

Three Silicon Valley businesspeople, who between them have sat on more than seven boards of directors talked with former Deputy General Counsel, U.S. Sentencing Commission Win Swenson about "Board Oversight of Compliance and Business Conduct Programs" at a recent program co-sponsored by the Ethics Center, the Bay Area Ethics and Compliance Association (BECA), and the Ethics and Compliance Officer Association (ECOA). Their discussion, now available on line, offers three very different perspectives on the role of audit committees and tone at the top.

Dealing Ethically With the Press

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 02:18:36 PST

Whatever side one takes in the controversy over embattled Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his affair with his chief of staff, Kilpatrick’s failure to tell the truth about his actions, especially under oath, has made his problems all the more serious. Kilpatrick was one of the “case studies” that participants in the Center’s third annual Ethics and Leadership Camp for Public Officials discussed, especially in reference to the best way for government to work with the meda. The group surfaced four basic guidelines for officials in dealing ethically with the press.
1)    Create a culture of accountability
2)    Tell the truth and tell it right away
3)    Recognize that a public official’s private life is not always private
4)    Don’t be stupid. Don’t make your city look stupid.

The Future of Compassion

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 02:49:03 PST

Sr. Joan Steadman, center associate director of health care ethics, returned today from the Catholic Health Assembly in San Diego, which focused on "The Future of Compassion." Keynote speakers included:
Ray Kurzweil - inventor and futurist
John Allen, Jr. - senior correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter and a Vatican analyst for CNN and National Public Radio
Cokie Roberts - political commentator for ABC News and senior news analyst for National Public Radio,
Rachel Naomi Remen, MD, pioneer in the mind/body holistic health movement and the first to recognize the role of the spirit in health and recovery from illness

Sessions dealt with a variety of topics from managing uncompensated care to addressing childhood obesity. Sr. Joan was particularly impressed with the vision statement from the Catholic Health Association of the United States, which lays out the core values that should undergird health care reform: human dignity, common good, concern for the poor and vulnerable, stewardship, justice, and pluralism.

A visit from Vienna

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 01:55:10 PST

Today, the Ethics Center welcomed a visit from Fred Bonkovsky of the University of Vienna Medical Faculty in Austria. Bonkosvsky, who did a 6-year stint as the head of the bioethics program at the NIH, talked with members of the Emerging Issues Group about what role centers and programs can play in creating and maintaining the ethical culture of an organization. We discussed whether ethical considerations impede the research process, and if so, whether that’s a bad thing.

Character Education Program for Teachers

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 01:05:49 PST

Teachers in this week's Ethics Camp focused on ways to bring ethics into the classroom. Steve Johnson, Center director of character education and the architect of Ethics Camp, introduced participants to the basics, making presentations on moral development and on the heroic journey, with specific tools for teachers and parents. Center Director of Biotechnology and Health Care Ethics Margaret McLean did a presentation on science ethics, and Tom Kostic, Character-Based Literacy (CBL) Master Teacher, Orange County Department of Education, explained the Center's CBL curriculum.

Sex and the Soul

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 02:04:46 PST

Donna Freitas, a Boston University professor of religion and author of "Sex and the Soul," discussed her research with the California Catholic Daily this week, and the headline gives a good summary of her findings about students at 7 American universities: "No connection between their religious beliefs and their sexual behavior."

SCU student and Hackworth Fellow Jessica Coblentz found a more nuanced situation at Santa Clara when she conducted research this year, with some students reporting no connection, but others hewing to the traditions of their faiths to varying degrees. Coblentz's study was accompanied by a series of panel discussions where students of different religions talked candidly about how faith plays into their sexual decision making.

Teachers Go to Camp

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 12:38:37 PST

This summer marks the 10th year the Ethics Center will offer its summer workshops for educators, the popular Ethics Camps. Beginning June 17, teachers, counselors, and administrators will attend the first session, which focuses on the Character-Based Literacy Curriculum (CBL).

This curriculum is in widespread use—the majority of California county offices of education have adopted it—because it uses the books teachers are already assigning as opportunities to engage students about values. For example, Children of the River, a novel about a young Cambodian refugee, is used to teach high schoolers about courage.

Hundreds of teachers have gone through this introduction to CBL. Registration is still open.

Trouble at Deutsche Telekom

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 01:35:49 PST

When news emerged this week that the largest European telecommunications company, Deutsche Telekom, had been spying on journalists and board members in an effort to plug boardroom leaks, many were reminded of the pretexting scandal at Hewlett Packard last year. Kirk Hanson, the Center's executive director, was interviewed by BBC's newshour and asked if the two scandals suggest a larger problem. He said:

I think that’s the conclusion that many will draw, that this is not just something which is done by a few companies, but it’s more common. Interestingly, both of these cases arose from distrust among board members. In the HP case, it was the belief that a couple of the board members were talking with journalists on the outside and sharing secret information from board meetings. It appears to be the same kind of anxiety within DT. Is that the only thing which provokes these types of investigations, that will be the provocative question. The other commonality which is very important here is that both organizations assigned the dirty work, if you want to call it that, the investigative procedures, to outside organizations. The connection with Stasi is obviously very inflammatory. In the US HP hired an investigator who was known to engage in borderline practices. And clearly in his investigation of the leak in HP he went beyond the bounds in the way he tried to get the information.

The Center's Emerging Issues Group continued to explore the issue this week, broadening the topic to look at various kinds of employee monitoring.

Student Fellows

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Fri, 30 May 2008 02:15:25 PST

One of the most pleasant tasks we perform each spring at the Ethics Center is interviewing Santa Clara University students applying for a Hackworth Fellowship. The fellowship program supports the work of seniors who develop programs to engage their fellow students in ethical reflection and action. Our applicants give us a great sense of hope about this new generation and their enthusiasm to solve problems and to live “the good life.”

The 2007-08 fellows are just completing their projects and deserve recognition for the terrific work they’ve done. Jessica Coblentz brought students together to discuss how faith informs (or doesn’t inform) SCU students’ sexual ethics. Her panels on topics such as premarital sex and homosexuality attracted large crowds and fostered honest, respectful discussion. She also interviewed students individually for a qualitative study of the issue.

Next week, Christopher Foster formally launches his project, a Web site called Cydent, which deals with the way students interact with the online world. His thoughtful commentaries on learning, entertainment, being, consumption, and relationships are coupled with video and news stories that raise the crucial ethical issues.

Finally, Roujin Mozaffarimehr lent her perspectives as a teaching assistant in the course, “The Ethics Of Globalization.” In addtion, she helped to organize two panel discussions on “Headscarves and Human Rights.”

Compliance Is Not Enough

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Wed, 28 May 2008 01:57:56 PST

It's no longer enough for a company to have an ethics and compliance program to satisfy U.S. Sentencing Commission guidelines, according to Michael E. Horowitz, currently a commissioner and a partner at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft. The company has to have an effective program. It can’t be generic, but must be tailored to the particular ethical risk factors the company faces.

The value of such a program can be significant when a company gets in trouble, according to Horowitz. With mitigating factors such as a strong ethics program and plans to remedy problems, a company can receive a reduction in fines of up to 95 percent.

Horowitz introduced today’s program on “Cutting-Edge Issues in Compliance and Business Conduct,” co-sponsored by the Center, the Bay Area Ethics and Compliance Association, and the Ethics and Compliance officer Association

Cyber-Students and the Virtual Good Life

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Fri, 23 May 2008 01:36:13 PST

In an article called “Technology’s Power to Narrow Our View,” Time magazine reporter Samantha Power argues that new media such as the Web and social networking sites have “actually lowered the odds of bumping into inconvenient knowledge” by funneling visitors only to information in which they already have an interest or with which they already agree. She wonders what effect this will have on the new generation of students graduating this month from the nation’s universities.

SCU senior Chris Foster, a Hackworth Fellow at the Ethics Center this year, has also been interested in the way students interact with the online world. The fruit of his work, a Web site called Cydent: Cyber-Students and the Virtual Good Life, explores the impact of new technologies on learning, entertainment, consumption, relationships, and being.

Why Good People Do Bad Things

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Wed, 21 May 2008 01:55:13 PST

Center Executive-in-Residence Jim Balassone sat on a panel last week for the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD), held at Wilson Sonsini in Palo Alto. The event focused on why good people sometimes do bad things at work. Jim talked about some of the systemic factors that can cause otherwise ethical people to engage in unethical behavior. For example, he cited pressure to “make your quota or be fired” as one factor that might cloud an employee’s ethical judgment. Instead, he recommended a values-based approach, which rewards employees for behaving ethically in addition to other performance measures. You can hear a summary of the discussion at the Web site of the Silicon Valley NACD.

Commencement Speakers

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Mon, 19 May 2008 02:18:12 PST

It being graduation season, this week has produced the usual complement of protests about commencement speakers. At University of Georgia, which was the site of several sexual harassment complaints, some students have objected to the University’s invitation to Justice Clarence Thomas. At George Washington University, some student protesters plan to turn their chairs away from the podium when Julian Bond delivers the commencement address. And the invitation to Jerry Springer from Northwestern Law School has drawn its share of ridicule.

The Center’s Emerging Issues Group discusses who should be invited to speak at commencement and whether this is a free speech issue in today’s podcast.

Wikipedia

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Fri, 16 May 2008 03:12:36 PST

The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that Wikipedia is considering offering a feature that would allow certain of its entries to be “frozen” in a form that has been vetted by experts. The Chronicle sites Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales saying,

“It could have a flag that says ‘This version is one that a committee has actually vetted,’” he said. “We’d still allow further editing, but if you really wanted a version that as of three months ago we had three Ph.D.‘s look at it, and they checked it off as being good, we may move in that direction.”

Such an alternative may respond to some of the concerns raised about the current Wikipedia editing model at last night’s panel discussion, “The World That Wikipedia Made,” cosponsored by the Ethics Center; the Center for Science, Technology, and Society (STS); and the High Tech Law Institute.

Presenter Pedro Hernandez-Ramos, associate director STS, talked about “information literacy” and expressed concern about whether students had sufficient sophistication to evaluate the quality of information on sites like Wikipedia. Carl Hewitt, emeritus in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT, described “collisions” between the current Wikipedia editing model and the traditional processes of the scientific community when they try to establish what is known about a field that requires expertise.

Napolitano on Immigration

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:25:00 PST

Janet Napolitano is governor of a state that "has remained at the center of the nation's battle over illegal immigration this year, and especially during the past few weeks," according to an article in today's "Arizona Republic."

Napolitano talked about some of the ethical issues she faces in developing immigration policy for her state in a talk for the Ethics Center, "Where Do We Go From Here?" delivered as part of "Immigration Day" last month.

Nutrition and Hydration for Patients in a Permanent Vegetative State

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 01:18:47 PST

Gerald Coleman, SS., vice president for corporate ethics at the Daughers of Charity Health System, and Margaret R. McLean, the Center's director of biotechnology and health care ethics gave a presentation this week on a 2004 allocution by Pope John Paul II about the rights of patients in a permanent vegetative state, and how that talk is affecting practice by individual Catholics and Catholic hospitals. In that talk, the Pope argued that nutrition and hydration "should be considered in principle ordinary and proportionate, and as such morally obligatory."

Responding to the question, "Has the Vatican changed the rules?" they focused on the difference between an understanding of nutrition and hydration as medical care or, as the Pope expressed it, "a natural means of preserving life, not a medical act."

Autonomy in the Physician-Patient Relationship

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 01:20:11 PST

Neil Noesen, a Wisconsin pharmacist who was disciplined for refusing to dispense birth control pills, is taking his case to the Wisconsin Supreme Court “on the ground that the discipline violates his constitutionally protected right to express his religious beliefs,” according to an article in today’s Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Noesen, and other health care providers who object to performing procedures simply on the grounds that they are legal, were the subject of a recent talk for the Ethics Center by Chair of the President’s Council on Bioethics Edmund Pellegrino. Pellegrino discussed conflicts between patients’ autonomy and doctors’ autonomy and the general trend he sees in medicine away “from covenant to contract.”

Immigration and Amnesty

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 12:52:02 PST

Immigration was in the news again today as members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus criticized the leadership for failing to take on comprehensive reform. The Ethics Center got a chance to look at the issue from a variety of perspectives during a full day of immigration events, April 24.

The featured speaker was Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano, who gave background on the employer sanctions legislation in her state and some of the other circumstances that have made her state the epicenter for the immigration debate.

One focus the day was the issue of amnesty, which many believe has been the sticking point in instituting a reasonable, comprehensive policy. An Ethics at Noon panel focused on that issue from a Catholic perspective provided by Kevin Appleby, director of the Office of Migration and Refugee Policy of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops and Erica Dahl-Bredine, Catholic Relief Services-Mexico country representative.

Appleby and Dahl-Bredine then joined a group of distinguished scholars and policy makers for a discussion of amnesty. Included in the group were representatives from Zoe Lofgren’s and Mike Honda’s offices, community organizations, and scholars from SCU, University of San Francisco, the Jesuit School of Theology. The group is crafting a statement on the amnesty issue.

Evil Traps for Good People

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 02:57:12 PST

Philip Zimbardo, author of “The Lucifer Effect” met with the Center’s Business and Organizational Ethics Partnership today to talk about how some of his seminal work on evil, and the conditions that favor it, can be applied in a business context. A Stanford University professor of psychology, Zimbardo first attracted notice in 1971 with the “Prison Experiment,” in which average students descended into abuse when they were randomly assigned to be “guards” over other student “prisoners.” This work, as well as other studies of systems like Abu Ghraib prison, has led Zimbardo to identify systemic factors that make good people do bad things. Among these, he lists “starting the path toward the ultimate evil act with a small, insignificant first step” and “offering an ideology so big that a big lie provides justification for any means to be used to achieve the seemingly desirable, essential goal.”

The Pope's Talk at the UN

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 12:47:31 PST

Eric Hanson, creator of the Religion, Ethics, and Politics in World Affairs section of the Center’s Web site, commented for Religion and Ethics Newsweekly on the Pope’s speech at the United Nations last week. Hanson focused on the Pope’s views on human rights and globalization, and discussed the role believers might play on the international scene:

“While secularism might have been the better political course for the West following the Thirty Years War, today's incredibly complicated global society can only escape its increasing economic stratification, multiplying civil conflicts, and environmental degradation with increased motivation and participation of all believers.”

Sexual Ethics

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 04:12:51 PST

The Ethics Center has been privileged this year to work with Santa Clara University senior Jessica Coblentz mentoring her in a project on the way religion influences the sexual ethics of SCU students. Jessica, winner of one of the Center’s Hackworth Fellowships, has been interviewing students individually, as well as holding panel discussions on such issues as abortion, interfaith dating, and premarital sex—always coming at these hot button topics from the point of view of ethics and religion. She has drawn crowds of 80 students at a time and managed to involve them in serious discussion. Recently, she wrote about the project for “The Santa Clara,” the University’s student newspaper in an article exploring the diversity of views within the population of Catholic students. She also wrote an op-ed that concluded:

In response to the genuine ethical concerns I have heard in interviews and the student panel discussions I have facilitated with the Faith, Sex and Ethics Project this year, I would like to suggest that students start talking about sex seriously.

This is not to say that sex talk shouldn't be fun, but it should not compromise the hopes and expectations we have for one another. Our conversations contribute to the environment in which we must attempt to make ethical sexual choices.

Raising an Ethical Child

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 02:34:31 PST

The Ethics Center Advisory Board got a taste of the Center’s parent education programs when Character Education Director Steve Johnson gave them a mini-presentation of his popular “Raising an Ethical Child” series at their quarterly meeting Tuesday. Pairing up for exercises in how to communicate with a teenager, Board members saw first hand how some parental tactics like eyeballing a child or giving too much advice may not be a good strategy for helping instill ethics. Johnson also gave practical tools young people can use when friends try to involve them in doing something wrong. Slides from this and other presentations in the series are available online.

Papal Visit

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 02:32:17 PST

The pope’s visit to the United States was the focus of today’s Emerging Issues Group. Former group member Thomas Reese, S.J., spoke to Voice of America about the papal trip, commenting,

"His message is going to be that international relations should not just be governed by power and money - military power and money - but should be guided by ethical principles, by moral values. He is going to talk about the importance of working for justice and peace. I think he will repeat what [Pope] John Paul [the Second] said that there is no peace without justice and no justice without reconciliation. This is what he world needs on the international level - peace, justice and reconciliation - and that is going to be a strong message from him."

The Emerging Issues Group talked about what other ethical issues the pope might address, what role charisma should play in religious leadership, and Benedict's longterm interest in the pluralistic culture of the United States.

Health Care Ethics Internship

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 12:43:33 PST

The Ethics Center is recruiting a new crop of undergraduate health care ethics interns for its eighth year of providing this unique program introducing students to the everyday ethical dilemmas facing medical professionals. Students shadow doctors, nurses, social workers, and chaplains at O’Connor Hospital in San Jose, as they confront issues from withdrawal of treatment to cross-cultural medicine and palliative care. The internships often help students clarify whether they want to pursue a career in the medical field.

The Private Lives of Public Officials

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 11:19:50 PST

“It’s none of your business … that is something that is personal to my family. I’m sure there are things that are personal to your family that you don’t think are anyone else’s business either.”

That was Chelsea Clinton’s response to a question about her father’s relationship with Monica Lewinsky. Clinton’s comment, the second recent refusal to address this topic with questioners, is only one example of the age-old question: How much of the private lives of government officials should the public have the right to know about? The sexual exploits of former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer and Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick have been other recent instances. The Ethics Center’s Emerging Issues Group addressed those issues in a discussion led by the Center’s Senior Fellow in Government Ethics Judy Nadler.

Build. Plant. Grow.

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 10:58:03 PST

The Sundays of Easter will find users of the Center’s “Build.Plant.Grow.” faith formation program pairing the lectionary readings for each week with the children’s books No Bad News, Josiah, Hold the Book, Zen Shorts, and Grandma Lena’s Big Ol’ Turnip. “Build. Plant. Grow.,” part of the Center’s Character Education Program, follows threads that pass through the Sunday readings, suggesting how we might live our daily lives as Christians at our best.

The program takes its name from a passage in Jeremiah:

Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce...multiply there and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into
exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare, you will find your welfare.

The April overview is currently on-line, and weekly lesson plans will follow.

Charracter Education in Alternative Schools

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 02:05:27 PST

According to a recent report from the California Drop-out Prevention Center, “Fewer than three quarters of California's students are graduating from high school, and in some areas, such as Los Angeles, the graduation rate is below 50 percent.” (reported in the Modest Bee) The highest percentage of drop-outs across the state is in the alternative schools.

The Ethics Center offers two different sessions of its popular summer program, Ethics Camp, for teachers, counselors, and administrators in alternative school settings. The 4-day workshop teaches educators how to integrate character education and literacy instruction.

Therapeutic Cloning

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 01:14:33 PST

Reports today that therapeutic cloning successfully treated Parkinson's disease in mice make dialogue about the ethics of this practice ever more timely. The Center has participated with the Santa Clara University College of Arts and Sciences and the Center for Performing Arts in sponsoring a series of programs on stem cells and cloning. Coming up next in the series, April 3, is a production of Caryl Churchill’s play about cloning, “A Number.” That will be followed by a talk, April 7, “The Catholic Conscience, Bioethics, and the Public Square,” by the chair of the President’s Council on Bioethics, Dr. Edmund Pellegrino.

Creating a Culture of Ethics in Public Institutions

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 09:04:13 PST

Judy Nadler, Center senior fellow in government ethics, has been traveling around the country encouraging public institutions in their efforts to create a culture of ethics and values. She addresses the Dallas, Texas, City Council April 2 on “Building Public Confidence.” Nadler was invited by the council and mayor to introduce “critical issues and national trends in government ethics” and to set the stage for the city to develop a sustainable, ongoing ethics program.

She visited Minneapolis in January to offer workshops for the League of Minnesota Cities and will speak about ethics with the Inspector General’s Office of the U.S. Department of the Interior in May.

University President an Advocate for Ethics

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 12:56:33 PST

The announcement that Paul Locatelli, S.J., will step down next year as president of Santa Clara University to take on extended responsibility for Jesuit higher education worldwide was met with both pride and sadness at the Ethics Center.

Center Executive Director Kirk Hanson acknowledged the enormous role Locatelli has played in the Center’s development:

"In his 20 years as president and his many earlier years of service as a professor and VP Academic Affairs, Paul has been an unceasing advocate for applied and practical ethics. When he became president in 1988, he took the fledgling Center for Applied Ethics and built his vision of "Centers of Excellence" around it, raising the Center's importance on campus and in the community. He shepherded the Center as one of "his" projects, contributing significant seed funding from the university and his personal time and support.

"Under Paul's leadership, Santa Clara has become the very best place to do applied ethics. We are grateful for his leadership and for crafting the opportunity we all have to work with and through the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics. He has already suggested a number of ways we can reach out and serve a global need for applied ethics in cooperation with his new role. We trust our relationship with Paul will not end, but simply enter a new creative phase as he takes on his expanded global role."

Pharmaceutical Marketing

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 02:20:41 PST

Pharmaceutical marketing has been in the news recently, as the Massachusetts legislature considers a bill to ban gifts from pharmaceutical companies to physicians. The influence of marketing, more than patient needs, on what doctors prescribe has been the subject of numerous recent studies--there is one reported today in Australia about antidepressants. Ethics Center Executive Director Kirk Hanson, who recently spoke with CEOs of hospitals, vendors, and service organizations at the Midwest Health Care Executive Summit, led a discussion on conflicts of interest in pharmaceutical and medical device prescription practices, at today's meeting of the Center's Emerging Issues Group. (Podcast)

Conflicts of Interest in the Medical Care Supply Chain

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 02:26:23 PST

Center Executive Director Kirk Hanson just returned from Chicago where he addressed 20 CEOs of health care corporations gathered at the Midwest Health Care Executive Summit, sponsored by the Center for Corporate Innovation. Hanson talked with the CEOs, representing vendors, hospitals, service organizations, and insurers, about conflicts of interest in the medical care supply chain.

Hanson raised three main areas of ethical concern:

1) Companies designing devices or developing pharmaceuticals may take advantage of physician expertise and must compensate physicians for their services, but they must do so in a way that does not compromise physicians' ability to make clinical choices in the best interest of their patients.

2) Companies must distinguish between educating physicians about new products and marketing, which would inducements (from free pens to free trips) for physicians to use their products.

3) Throughout the sales process, companies must insure extensive transparency about all dollar flows so that providers (hospitals and clinics) can provide Medicare and other insurers with a clear accounting of all their costs.

Pandemic Influenza Ethics Tool

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 03:00:54 PST

The primary ethical responsibility for communities confronting the possibility of a pandemic is to plan. Santa Clara County's Public Health Department is fulfilling that responsibility by creating Public Health Emergency Preparedness Toolkits, among which is an ethics tool created by Margaret R. McLean, the Ethics Center's bioethics director. The tool looks at issues like the fair distribution of scarce resources, restraints on freedom of movement, and transparency in planning.

Stem Cells

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 12:46:47 PST

Is the ethical controversy over the development of medical therapies from stem cells justified by promising science? That was the question tackled by Jan Nolta, director of the UC Davis Stem Cell Program, at an Ethics at Noon presentation (podcast) yesterday for the Center. Nolta noted that the ethical issues cluster in three areas:

Basic questions about the morality of using embryonic stem cells

Over-hyping, with researchers and others sometimes raising unrealistic expectations about what stem cell medicine can accomplish and how soon it will be available

Outright quackery, including offshore, non-FDA approved treatments that exploit the desperation of patients and their families.

Nolta’s presentation, a clear description of the potential of stem cell therapies, is part of a series, Science and Health Horizons, which, this year, is looking at stem cells and human cloning from a variety of different perspectives.

Can Politicians and Lobbyists Be Friends?

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 02:34:44 PST

Weighing in on the recent public debate over the role of lobbyists in political campaigns, the Center’s Emerging Issues Group talked today about conflicts of interest and the appearance of such conflicts when politicians have close personal ties with those who appear before them to advocate for particular interest groups. Center Senior Fellow in Government Ethics Judy Nadler began by framing why lobbying raises ethical issues, and the group, representing disciplines from business to law to political science to philosophy, looked at fairness, transparency, and how the common good might best be served. Listen to the podcast of that discussion.

A Failure to Communicate

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 09:44:34 PST

Two weeks ago, USA Today published an article, “Medicine Meets a Culture Gap,” that described some of the miscommunication that can arise when physicians do not understand the culture and traditions of their patients. Sixty-nine comments later, it’s clear that this issue sits near the frontline of America’s continuing conflicts over race, culture, immigration, and assimilation.

The article opens with an anecdote about a 90-year-old African American woman who objected to her physician’s calling her by her first name. While some commentators saw the incident as trivial, and others believed it had nothing to do with race, the article went on to describe how the accretion of such misunderstandings can result in poor care.

The Ethics Center has been involved in a major project on culturally competent health care. A new case—Cancer: A Failure to Communicate—shows how an Iranian man’s care is compromised by his health care providers’ failure to understand his religious traditions.

Who is Responsible for Doping?

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 11:23:40 PST

With Roger Clemens potentially facing a criminal investigation for lying to Congress about his alleged steroid use, the issue of doping in sports continues to grab headlines. The Center’s Emerging Issues Group discussed whether the ethical focus should be on wrongdoing by individuals like Clemens—whose status as role models may influence young players to use drugs—or on institutions that are not sufficiently proactive in fighting abuse because they have a vested interest in the teams’ success. The Mitchell report, which advocated more testing and more independence for the program administrator, is currently under discussion between the players’ union and the owners, though an Associated Press report has union general counsel Michael Weiner saying, “The current program is working fine.”

In his talk last weekend for the Ethics Center, three-time Tour de France winner Greg LeMond spoke out about the role of the teams themselves in promoting doping among cyclists, who, he said, are sometimes told they must use substances like EPO if they wish to compete.

The Role of Lobbyists

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 01:28:25 PST

Reports this week that John McCain may have had too close a friendship with lobbyist Vicki Iseman have raised the larger question of the part lobbyists should play in the campaign and in the political process as a whole. An article in today’s Washington Post points out:

A common career path for political operatives is a lucrative job at a Washington lobbying firm that allows them to continue campaign work, and McCain is hardly the first candidate to draw on that talent pool. The campaign of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) has been aided by lobbyists Harold Ickes and Mark Penn, who heads Burson Marsteller Worldwide. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) has been advised by former senator Thomas A. Daschle (D-S.D.), who is not a registered lobbyist but advises clients about Washington.

In McCain's case, the fact that lobbyists are essentially running his presidential campaign -- most of them as volunteers -- seems to some people to be at odds with his anti-lobbying rhetoric.

For a basic discussion of lobbying and why it poses ethical problems, look at the Center’s Introduction to Government Ethics. You’ll find definitions, cases, and useful links.

The Cheating Culture

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 02:59:31 PST

Author David Callahan, author of The Cheating Culture, gave SCU students, faculty, and staff, and members of the larger community some new ways of looking at academic integrity through a day-long series of talks and meetings yesterday, including a public lecture on the many forms cheating can take. Callahan is the co-founder of the think tank, Demos, a public policy center based in New York City. He is a frequent commentator on American history, business, and public policy for media outlets from CNN to the New York Times.

Doping in Cycling

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 11:36:08 PST

Greg LeMond, who will speak on ethics and cycling at Santa Clara this Sunday at 6 p.m., gave an interview to San Jose Mercury News sports columnist Ann Killion, which appeared in this morning’s paper. LeMond commented on recent doping scandals—including the announcement this week that Astana (the new team of last year's winner Alberto Contador and reigning Tour de California champion Levi Leipheimmer) will be banned from the 2008 Tour de France because of doping. He argued that ultimately the scandals will be good for the sport because they will force drastic changes. To hear more from LeMond in person, come to the Sunday event, which is free and open to the public.

Tangled Web: The Ethics of Newspapers Online

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 03:36:54 PST

The Center played host today to members of the American Society for Newspaper Editors Ethics and Values Committee conferring on the ethical challenges posed by the online portions of their businesses. A working session facilitated by the Kelly McBride, Ethics Group leader at the Poynter Institute for Media Studies.

Drawing on input from the editors, online media staff, and journalism professors in attendance, McBride identified several key areas around which the group was tasked with developing principles, questions, and protocols. In the area of “User Generated Content,” for example, she asked the group to reflect on a column by San Francisco Chronicle writer CW Nevius.

After arguing that the city needed to do something about homeless people’s “inappropriate street behavior,” Nevius appended this request for user-generated content: Chronicle readers often write us about scenes on the street or vagrants camping out in front of their homes. If you see something you think would make a good photo, shoot it and send it to cwnevius@sfchronicle.com with your name and a line describing the location attached. We'll post many of your photos on sfgate.com."

While the Chronicle ended up not running any of the pictures it received in response, the story prompted discussion at the ASNE conference about the ethics of such a request: Does it encourage public dialog on the problem? Does it violate the privacy of the homeless? How would the newspaper determine the “truthfulness” of submitted photos?

The meeting, organized by the Center’s Media Ethics Fellow Jerry Ceppos, now dean of the journalism school at University of Nevada, Reno, was co-sponsored by Poynter, the Annenberg School for Communications at the University of Southern California, and the Knight Foundation. A report on the conference is planned for the ASNE journal, “The American Editor,” to provide some guidance for editors facing these issues.

Culturally Competent Health Care

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 03:25:10 PST

Discovering that your unborn child has a fetal abnormality is hard enough. But it’s doubly hard when you don’t speak the same language or come from the same culture as your physician. That’s exactly the predicament described in a new case about a Muslim family in an American hospital developed by Center Health Care Ethics Program Specialist Karen Peterson-Iyer. The case, and comments by Muslim scholars, are part of a broader project on culturally competent health care that the Center is developing.

Apologies and Regrets

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 01:43:33 PST

“It’s time to acknowledge the past” was the headline of an op-ed in this morning’s Sydney Herald by Peter Garrett, Australian federal minister for the environment, heritage and the arts. He was referring to the the motion Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is expected to deliver in Australia’s parliament tomorrow, apologizing to the nation’s Aborigines for past policies of removing Aboriginal children from their families.

The Ethics Center’s Emerging Issues Group discussed the issue today with Frank Brennan, S.J., professor of law in the Institute of Legal Studies at the Australian Catholic University and professor of human rights and social justice at the University of Notre Dame. Brennan is an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for services to Aboriginal Australians, particularly as an advocate in the areas of law, social justice, and reconciliation.

Brennan, who served as rapporteur at the 1997 Reconciliation Convention, has worked extensively on this issue. In a recent article for The Age, he advocated a parliamentary resolution that

1. Acknowledges that past mistreatment of indigenous Australians is the most blemished chapter in our national history.

2. Says sorry to indigenous Australians for past injustices, especially the forcible and unwarranted removal of children from their families, homes and country, and for the hurt and trauma still suffered as a consequence of those injustices.

3. Reaffirms reconciliation as a national priority, an essential step in restoring the dignity of all Australians.

4. Notes the apologies made to indigenous Australians by state and territory parliaments.

5. Asks all governments to negotiate with indigenous Australians to right the wrongs of the past so that Australians can move forward, owning our past and shaping a reconciled future.

Brennan asked the Emerging Issues Group their views on the difference between an apology and an expression of regret, which has been a sticking point in Australia. The discussion explored what it means to be accountable for past injuries as a nation as opposed to taking individual responsibility.

Academic Freedom

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 02:11:57 PST

The controversy at St. Louis University over pro-choice comments by basketball coach Rick Majerus was a jumping off point for a recent talk by Robert M. O'Neil, professor of law emeritus at University of Virginia School of Law and director of the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression. O’Neil explored both academic freedom at religiously affiliated universities and religious freedom at public universities. A former chair of the American Association of University Professors’ Committee A on Academic Freedom and Tenure, O’Neil described issues that have arisen at institutions from Brigham Young to UC-Bekeley.

Stock Options Backdating

mschulman@scu.edu (Miriam Schulman) — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 10:56:58 PST

Prison sentences and fines totaling millions of dollars were handed down in January to executives found guilty of backdating stock options. Some have found it difficult to understand what all the fuss is about, arguing that backdating is a victimless crime. An editorial today in Investment News explains why that is not the case. Tomorrow, the Center is sponsoring a discussion of the ethical and accounting challenges posed by backdating. Center Executive Director Kirk Hanson and Ernst & Young partner Rick Fezell will speak.