Media Mentions
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.
The Herald Sun reports, the director of the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) attended a political fundraiser at a Southport, North Carolina restaurant for a state lawmaker. The next day, an SBI social media post praised state lawmakers for their support."
Davina Hurt, Ethics Center director of government ethics said she didn’t know enough to speak on the SBI investigation, but Hawley’s appearance and the social media post were troubling.
“It is my opinion that the most significant ethical concern is not attendance alone, but the combination of attending a political fundraiser and using the agency’s official communications platform, publicly thanking a legislator who funds the agency and doing so during an election cycle,” Hurt said in an email response. “Individually, each fact might be explainable, but together they present ethical red flags.”
Davina Hurt, director, government ethics, quoted by The Herald Sun.
Scotts Miracle-Gro announced contributed $1 million to the National Park Service to help restore the White House South Lawn following the America 250 UFC fight held on Trump's 80th birthday. The company donated 500,000 to a pro Trump PAC in 2024
Trump promoted the company and its products and said the company would soon be replacing the grass in 700 acres of parks around Washington, DC.
"Favors don't stay favors. Sooner or later, they turn into invoices," said Davina Hurt, Ethics Center director of government ethics. "The only question is whether the public gets to see them."
Hurt says Trump's actions give the appearance that a contractor wasn't chosen on merit.
Davina Hurt, director, government ethics, quoted by Business Insider.
Riverside County Independent-study charter school, SCALE Leadership Academy – East, was shut down by the county in June for fiscal concerns that stemmed from business relationships the school entered with religious programs and corporations managed by the school’s founder.
The closure has left parents scrambling to find new academic placements for their children and teachers and staff unemployed and searching for new jobs at a time when most positions have been filled for the upcoming school year.
Davina Hurt, Ethics Center's director of government ethics, says, "Public school leaders must practice good governance to protect the trust of student families, the state and the public."
Davina Hurt, director, government ethics, quoted by the San Diego Union-Tribune, distributed via MSN.
Podcast Host Courtney Theriault talks with Irina Raicu, director of the internet ethics program at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics about smart glasses and the ethical concerns around their use.
Theriault categorizes wearable recording devices as a "trojan horse of unbridled digital harm" because there are no regulations in place surrounding the use of this technology.
"Think about the concerns about people being recorded going to particular health care clinics, or places or worship, or shelters for domestic violence victims...It's a very different kind of recording with these kind of tools where we can't tell that they are being used...All of the existing concerns just get heightened with these new devices, says Raicu."
Irina Raicu, director, internet ethics, interview by the Courtney Theriault Show / Midday on 880 CHED with Courtney Theriault.
Ethics Center Director of Religious and Catholic Ethics, David DeCosse, travelled to Hawaii to recognize his long time friend, Bishop Michael Castori S.J., as Castori embraced the Holy Father’s call to lead the faithful in Hawaii.
“Michael has worked in pastoral settings for years in Guam, Fiji, Micronesia, Tonga, Australia and elsewhere in the Pacific. He knows very well the culture and history and faith of the Pacific region,” said David DeCosse, who has known Bishop Castori since their freshman year at Harvard University in 1978.
“I think Michael as bishop will be able to call on his years of experience to be a leader ready to foster the spiritual richness of the people of God in Hawaii; to walk with them amid their culture and history; and to serve them with the joy and hope and endurance of the love of Christ,” DeCosse said.
David DeCosse and Bishop Michael T.T. Castori, S.J..
According to data from the city’s open data portal, "Impact Sac — a nonprofit that received more than $1.2 million in contracts from the Sacramento Police Department over the last five years — collected 783 tickets valued at more than $83,000 since 2019, nearly 300 more tickets than any other organization among all 383 non-profits that have received tickets," The Sacramento Bee reports.
Ethics experts said that they were troubled by the non-profit’s use of luxury box Dye provided dozens of tickets to the city official and her family who approved Impact Sac’s contracts and expense reports, which lacked receipts and other documentation.
Joan Harrington, a nonprofit law professor at Santa Clara University and fellow at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, said when a gift goes to a nonprofit and then comes back to the police official overseeing millions of dollars — especially repeatedly — it looks like there was some sort of agreement.
Joan Harrington, Ethics Center Fellow, quoted by The Sacramento Bee.
Brian Green, director, technology ethics, spoke with OSV News about a recent OpenAI security incident that saw a test model go rogue when it hacked into AI company Hugging Face as the most efficient path to accomplishing its task/goal.
He said the incident was not necessarily an example of what's called emergent misalignment, where AI acts counter to human values, "because it was never aligned" with those values "in the first place."
"Cases like these are going to keep popping up, and each one of those should motivate us to do more," said Green.
Brian Green, director, technology ethics, quoted by OSV News.
Devices that can watch you – and others – put privacy at risk.
"Unlike phones, they’re harder to spot," said Irina Raicu, Ethics Center director of internet ethics. “So the whole notion of consent is kind of disintegrating,” Raicu said.
Irina Raicu, director, internet ethics, quoted by CNN.
