2.95J, TPP09J Homework

Section 3: Professional Responsibility II: Responsibility in Research:

For Mar. 10:

Be prepared for a 12-minute quiz on the concepts in parts 3 & 4 of the Introduction
All: read Ch. 5. Workplace Rights and Responsibilities.
Give or send a proposal for your final project to the instructor.

For Mar. 12:

Engineering Students: Read Ch. 7 of Controlling Technology: Ethics and the Responsible Engineer by Unger, Stephen H. 2nd edition, 1994. (New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.) on reserve in Barker library.
Pre-meds: Skim introduction and read Ch. 1 & 2 in Forgive and Remember by Charles Bosk.

For Mar. 17:

Responsibility in Research 1: Overview of Research Ethics
Review "Experimental Techniques and the Treatment of Data" and this time also read the discussion of this case in the appendix of On Being a Scientist.
Read Ch. 6 Responsibility for the Integrity of Research and be prepared to discuss the first half, up to the discussion of Millikan's data selection in his oil drop experiments.
Discuss the topics and the scenarios presented with your partner(s). Help each other think through responses to the scenarios.

For Mar. 19:

Read second half of Ch. 6 "Research Ethics", which includes Millikan's data selection in his oil drop experiments.
Also read the scenarios in the WWW Ethics Center on Responsibility for Bugs and Mistakes: Scenarios: the Missing Step, Surprise Authorship, and Building on a Premature Claim

For Mar. 31:

Read Ch. 7. Responsibility for Research Subjects, and
Engineers read "Radiation: Balancing the Record" by Charles C. Mann, Science, 263 (1994), 470-474. Pre-meds read 1971 U.S. Guidelines on Human Experimentation

A second topic to be introduced at this class will be the new role of genetic and chromosomal information in our society.

For Apr. 2:

Read and be prepared to discuss "The Human Genome Project and Genetic Testing: Ethical Implication" by Thomas H. Murray (from The Human Genome Project and Genetic Testing: Ethical Implications. AAAS.)
Engineering Students: Read Schinzinger & Martin on technological innovation as a socal experiment.

For Apr. 7:

Everyone: send e-mail comments to your sub-group partners and the instructor on the issues raised by "the Burden of Knowledge." You may discuss the issues either in a general way for society as a whole, or how you as an individual in your life situation expect to deal with the availability of new genetic and chromosomal information. Read Ch. 8. on responsibility for the environment be prepared to discuss the scenarios there Be prepared to report on your progress on the final project.

For Apr. 9:

Write a response to one of the scenarios in Chapter 8 and send it to your partners and the instructor by Tuesday at 8 p.m.

For Apr. 14:

Read before class:Ch.9 and respond to one of the scenarios in that chapter

For Apr. 16:

Read A Conflict of Interest and Industrial Sponsorship of Academic Research, Credit Where Credit is Due, and Publication Practices in On Being a Scientist.

For Apr. 23:

Read Chapter 10 and Texas Instruments advice on Intellectual property -- Copyrights and Patents and on Proprietary and Other Sensitive Information.

For Apr. 28:

Come prepared to discuss policies to cope with the social effects of technological innovation, especially those other than safety. Policies for controlling technology influence whether the technologies and devices enginers work on are adequately controlled or whether engineers working in a given area will become party to something they will regret.

We have discussed one technology in detail that will deeply affect at least your social world and perhaps your personal life, genetic information and prenatal testing. If, educated as you are, you were not well prepared to use or refuse that technology before our discussion, where does that leave everyone else?
Stephen Unger in your readings discussed the role of regulation in preventing some side-effects, specially those that result from a "race to the bottom" in a competitive environment, and also discusses the necessary conditions for regulation to work.
International nuclear test bans are a form of social control for weapons testing.
The Amish are very careful about how they let new technologies into their lives, so the technologies (such as the telephone) do not change their family or community life. This exemplifies control by a cohesive religious community.
The genetic screening program for Tay Sachs represents social control by a more diverse cultural community with a shared religious tradition.
We have considered how the Patient Self-Determination Act is intended to prevent some inappropriate uses of intensive care technology, but is not by itself having a dramatic effect.
The Unabomber exemplifies a terrorist approach to the control of technology.

You should be prepared to discuss some methods of social control for some technologies, hopefully those that bear on some of your projected responsibilities. Anyone who does misses class or does not join the discussion, should send your instructor by Monday at noon a 500-word statement on the subject.

Engineering Students: Read Ch. 6, Ethical Engineers and the Law, in Controlling Technology: Ethics and the Responsible Engineer by Unger, Stephen H. 2nd edition, 1994. (New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.) on reserve in Barker library.
Pre-meds: read Ch. 7, on No-CPR Orders, in Legal & Ethical Aspects of Patient Care.

For Apr. 30:

Read the case distributed by email consider it in light of the sections linked below of MIT's sexual harassment policy and the advice from TI in preparing your case discussion.

Handling an Emergency involving sexual harassment, assault

Guide for Complainant

Responsibilities of Supervisors and Other Complaint Handlers

Information for the Respondant

Policies and Standards

Information Others - Colleagues, Advisors, Bystanders
Skim

Multiple Options
Compare a typical (informed) industry viewpoint Texas Instruments on Sexual Harassment

For May 5:

Read Rowe, Mary P. "Barriers to Equality: The Power of Subtle Discrimination to Maintain Unequal Opportunity." Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, vol3, no.2, 1990, 153-163.
Spector, Barbara. (1992). "Gay and Lesbian Scientists Seek Workplace Equality." The Scientist March 2, 1992 1,8-10, 23.
Holden, Constance (1992) "Minority Survivors Tell Their Tales," Science vol 258, 13 November 1204 - 1206.

AAAS Presidential Lecture: "Voices from the Pipeline"

The Problems of Minority Group Students in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering

The Technicolor Workplace

Read handout of three brief articles on Asian Americans, and

Asian Attrition Rates Among Science & Engineering Undergraduates

Cases Illustrating Typical Barriers faced by Asian Americans

Recent report on discrimination against Asian Americans in Colleges and Universities.

whitbeck@mit.edu