Blog 5: Ethical Issues in the News

http://news.stanford.edu/news/2015/june/hacking-baseball-pitts-061815.html

St. Louis Cardinals hacking allegations raise ethical, encryption concerns, Stanford law expert says

Stanford law lecturer Joe "Chip" Pitts says allegation of hacking by the St. Louis Cardinals is yet another morality tale of the rewards – and risks – of data analytics in the new context of professional sports.
This week it was disclosed that the Cardinals, one of the most successful teams in Major League Baseball, are the subject of a federal investigation for allegedly stealing information from the Houston Astros.

By Clifton B. Parker

This article is from June 18th, 2015.  

I think that this topic is pretty sensitive, especially for a Major League Baseball team.  This type of action can reduce the amount of respect that people had for the team.  This has to be extremely embarrassing for the Cardinals.  Could they really use whatever information was stolen from the Astros with confidence?  I'm sure they wouldn't feel good about it, so why did they complete such an action in the first place?  Things like this are for personal gain and are very selfish actions.  Integrity is sometimes forgotten and can lead to a disastrous ending.  Being a well-known baseball team, this must have taken its toll on the team and I believe it would be difficult to recover from such a dishonest type of mistake.  People, no matter their position, should take honesty and integrity seriously for themselves and others.  

Nicole G. 

Blog 4: Ethical Issues in the News

http://www.thepeoplesvoice.org/TPV3/Voices.php/2015/06/22/the-polio-vaccine-a-global-scourge-still

The Polio Vaccine: A Global Scourge Still Threatening Humanity

This article is from June 22nd.

This article makes me think that the pharmaceutical companies are not always right.  It is very hard for them to know if there will be any negative side effects years after a vaccine has been administered to someone.  Not all people handle medicines and vaccines the same exact way so how can these companies advertise and encourage people to get any vaccine without any harmful effects?  Do they really believe that it will work and it will not be risky to anyone?   The quote below is from the article link that I posted above. 

"It is a very dangerous assumption to believe that any new vaccine or drug to fight an infectious disease or life-threatening disease will be safe once released upon an uninformed public. The history of pharmaceutical science is largely a story of failures as well as successes. Numerous drugs over the decades have been approved and found more dangerous than the condition being targeted, but only after hundreds of thousands of people were turned into guinea pigs by the medical establishment."

I think that the pharmaceutical companies really need to focus on ensuring that there is enough information available to the people who are receiving the vaccines and make sure that it is not only one sided.

Nicole G.

Blog 3: Ethical Issue in the News

http://koin.com/2015/06/05/face-of-shoplifting-hits-portland-boutique/

Shoplifting suspect apologizes to Portland boutique

Barbara Axer arrested and charged with 3rd-degree theft

In this article from June 5th, Barbara Axer steals a pair of pants from a privately owned boutique and is only caught when she is encouraged by her friends to return them the next day.  She was arrested at the time that she was returning the stolen merchandise.  I think that Axer tried to do the right thing after the fact.  When she was getting arrested she claimed that she has a problem with shoplifting.  This could either be true or could be something that she is saying to try and not look so bad.  I think it would be hard to confirm whether or not she really does have a problem. 
This article, and my thoughts on it remind me of some of the postings from the class in regards to: The Shoplifter Discussion in this module.  Dishonesty is a problem with situations like this.  Does the person really need the food or just trying to use the child in tow to gain something out of personal greed?  Does Axer really have a compulsion to shoplift or is she just trying to make herself appear to be someone who needs help?  

Blog 2: Ethical Issues in the News

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jun/08/boarding-school-syndrome-joy-schaverien-review

Boarding School Syndrome review – education and the pain of separation

A gripping study of the mental wounds inflicted by classic British institutions

This article reminds me of ethical issues in schools today.  I am not, however, referring to issues as serious as the ones talked about in this article.  What comes to mind in regards to an ethical issue in the public schools, is just last week, my niece had an issue within school.  The kids in public schools have to do these huge state tests, I do not know much about them, except that they are very stressful for the kids as well as the teachers.  My niece struggles in math and her math teacher is not very patient with her, and is sometimes mean.  My niece scored lower than average on the test, along with about 5 other students, those students were not allowed to participate in an ice cream party due to their lower scores.  My niece was heart broken and I'm sure this knocked her self confidence down a lot more.  I feel as though the teacher, who is an adult and should know better, singled these kids out and made them feel badly about their test scores.  Situations like these make me questions whether or not I want to keep my kids in the public school system.  The way kids are treated sticks with them their entire life and can have a negative effect.  We trust these teachers and schools with our kids all day, every day, my question is: should we?

Nicole G.

Blog 1: Ethical Issues in the News

http://amarillo.com/news/local-news/2015-06-01/medical-board-could-revoke-doctors-license

 

Texas Medical Board could revoke doctor's license after alleged ethical lapses

        I think that the title of this article says it all.  I feel that a doctor has a high ethical standard to uphold, and when there is lapse in judgment more than once, people will no longer have trust in what the professional does, no matter what the subject.  For a medical professional to disregard any issues that might have gone wrong during a surgery or any procedure, shows a clear picture of not only their professional standings but their character as well.  Also, this article claims that the doctor, Shelton, had unprofessional relationships with his patients.  With a doctor lacking in his standard of care and engaging in unprofessional relationships, I know that I wouldn't want to see this doctor, ever.  It is a shame that there are people in such great professions that are supposed to be helping people that actually do the opposite.  There are certain professions that I think should be made up of trustworthy and "good" people, and the medical field would be one of them.  

Nicole Grochowski