A selection of articles, op-eds, TV segments, and other media featuring Ethics Center staff and programs.
The Markkula Center for Applied Ethics does not advocate for any product, company, or organization. Our engagements are intended to provide training, customized materials, and other resources. The Markkula Center does not offer certifications or seals of approval.
Dauphin County taxpayers pay their solicitors nearly eight times what comparable size counties spend on row office solicitors. The county has six solicitor positions for five of its elected row offices, and is unusual in that each of the solicitors to get full benefits and a pension.
Davina Hurt, director, government ethics, said while the decision to give solicitors pension is a policy decision, the fact the solicitors are still practicing does give pause.
“I would be curious to learn how they’re separating their personal law firm with that of their county law business because they have to be extremely careful and thoughtful that they are purely serving the public’s interest and not their own,” Hurt said.
Davina Hurt, director, government ethics, quoted by Penn Live.
Senate Bill 1141 has been introduced to curb university executives from also profiting from financial ties they or their families have with businesses who work directly with the university system.
If the bill passes, California would be the first state to prevent such alliances.
"Even the appearance of a conflict of interest undermines the public trust," says Ann Skeet, senior director of leadership ethics. "The UC system is a public organization, and people need to have confidence that it is serving the interests of the people and the students who go there."
Ann Skeet, senior director, leadership ethics, quoted by the San Francisco Chronicle.
What do Apple Computer and the Ethics Center have in common?
Both organizations benefitted from early investment support and expertise from Mike Markkula.
Observer reports on the CEO history of one of the world’s most valuable and influential tech companies as it celebrates it's 50th Anniversary this week.
"Markkula became one of Apple’s earliest believers and its first major investor after a visit to Steve Jobs’ garage," writes Alexandra Tremayne-Pengelly from Observer. He invested $250,000, served as its inaugural chairman in 1977, and later served as CEO from 1981 to 1983. Markkula was a member of Apple's board until 1997.
Together with his wife Linda, the Markkula's envisioned programs to expand the application of ethics and the teaching of ethical decision making into Santa Clara University's already ethics-guided teaching and curriculum, and provided the initial funding to create the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics as a Center of Distinction at Santa Clara University.
Mike Markkula featured in an article by Observer.
The Observer reports, "A.I. developers have long been accused of playing God. Anthropic, it seems, is taking that role seriously."
Brian Patrick Green, director of technology ethics also reviewed the Claude Constitution.
Green and other Catholic scholars recently filed a federal court brief supporting Anthropic in its lawsuit against the U.S. government, which challenges the company’s effective blacklisting by the Pentagon after it refused to allow its A.I. systems to be used for autonomous warfare or domestic surveillance. The brief praised those ethical limits as “minimal standards of ethical conduct for technical progress.”
Brian Green, director, technology ethics, mentioned in Observer.
What are some of the ethical best practices for keeping up with AI in business?
Ann Skeet, senior director of leadership ethics, said the red line in employee monitoring is bright and comes early, and can erode trust once these tools cross that line.
Skeet says, "Companies have to ask themselves if the long-term tradeoffs of introducing employee surveillance applications are worth it."
Ann Skeet, senior director, leadership ethics, quoted by TechTarget.
The International Olympic Committee’s executive board decided Thursday that transgender women are now excluded from Olympic competition in line with President Trump's Executive Order.
"You're trying to balance the commitment to human rights and the dignity of each person with fairness and justice for example and so that's a difficult thing to do and to navigate," says Skeet.
Ann Skeet, senior director, leadership ethics, quoted by NBC Bay Area.
Subramaniam Vincent, director of journalism and media ethics, quoted by The Dispatch.
Prediction markets are following the sports betting playbook—and the news media are signing up, reports The Dispatch.
Subramaniam Vincent, director of journalism and media ethics, told The Dispatch that the range of ethical questions posed by media adoption of prediction markets, such as disclosure of financial relationships and restrictions over employee participation in betting are difficult to nail down.
“If a newsroom is going to have a partnership with a prediction market, they’ve got to disclose that on a partnerships page,” Vincent said.
“There has to be some norm construction in newsrooms that basically says that no employee of the newsroom—whether that’s an editor, reporter, producer, designer, or anybody who’s talking to reporters—is allowed to bet on an outcome that is the topic of the newsroom’s reporting,” Vincent said.
Subramaniam Vincent, director of journalism and media ethics, quoted by The Dispatch.
In a trial over social media companies having accountability for a rising mental health crisis among children, a Los Angeles jury found YouTube and Meta liable in a landmark verdict.
"I think these products are addictive," says Ann Skeet, senior director, leadership ethics.
"I think the companies have experienced a reputational hit that will be hard to recover from even though the fines themselves are not onerous for a company the size of Meta and Google, said Skeet.
Ann Skeet, senior director, leadership ethics, quoted by NBC Bay Area.
