[Podcast] Seth Mnookin on The Panic Virus; NPR's On the Media, 1/7/11

[Podcast] NPR's On the Media; Seth Mnookin on The Panic Virus:

"This week the British Medical Journal concluded an extensive investigation into a study that claimed a link between childhood vaccination and autism. Their conclusion? The study WAS A FRAUD. And yet, after a decade of no convincing evidence of a link, the panic remains and vaccination rates are down. Seth Mnookin, author of The Panic Virus, explains why it’s so hard to dislodge misinformation and fear."

WikiLeaks Relocations Possible For Exposed Sources, Warns U.S.; HuffingtonPost.com/AP, 1/7/11

HuffingtonPost.com/AP; WikiLeaks Relocations Possible For Exposed Sources, Warns U.S.:
"The State Department on Friday warned foreign governments not to retaliate against human rights activists or others whose dealings with American officials were disclosed in secret diplomatic cables published by WikiLeaks."

CLE Commission Sanctions 407 Attorneys; Supreme Court of Ohio and Ohio Judicial System, 12/21/10

Supreme Court of Ohio and Ohio Judicial System; CLE Commission Sanctions 407 Attorneys:

"The Supreme Court of Ohio Commission on Continuing Legal Education today issued sanctions for 407 attorneys who failed to comply with their CLE requirements.

Attorneys are required to complete a minimum of 24 hours of continuing legal education every two years. Judges are required to complete a minimum of 40 hours of continuing legal education every two years."

[Podcast] Looking Back At The 'Tremendous Hate' Of Bullies; NPR's StoryCorps, 1/7/11

[Podcast] NPR's StoryCorps; Looking Back At The 'Tremendous Hate' Of Bullies:

"Recent stories about bullying — and the people who have spoken out publicly against it — inspired Rob Littlefield to tell his own story of abuse, and how it affected his family."

Blow the Whistle!; NPR's On the Media, 1/11

NPR's On the Media; Blow the Whistle!:
"On December 22nd, in the face of seemingly unanimous bipartisan support, the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act was killed at the last minute when a mystery Senator placed what’s called an anonymous hold on the bill...

We’re asking our listeners to call, write, email their Senators and ask them “did you kill this bill?” However they answer, email us at blowthewhistle@wnyc.org and we will post information as we receive it on the website. Hopefully we can blow the whistle on the Senator that would refuse protections to government whistleblowers."

New Jersey Governor Signs Anti-Bullying Bill Into Law; Chronicle of Higher Education, 1/6/11

Chronicle of Higher Education; New Jersey Governor Signs Anti-Bullying Bill Into Law:

"Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey has signed into law an anti-bullying bill that’s among the strongest in the country, The Star-Ledger, a local newspaper, reported this morning."

Judge Orders College to Reinstate Student Who Posted a Placenta Photo Online; Chronicle of Higher Education, 1/6/11

Chronicle of Higher Education; Judge Orders College to Reinstate Student Who Posted a Placenta Photo Online:

"A federal judge in Kansas on Wednesday ordered Johnson County Community College to reinstate a nursing student who sued after being dismissed for posting a picture of a human placenta on Facebook, The Kansas City Star reported."

Jailed Sisters Released for Organ Transplant; New York Times, 1/7/11

Timothy Williams, New York Times; Jailed Sisters Released for Organ Transplant:

"The kidney donation was the sisters’ idea, and is supported by the N.A.A.C.P. and other civil rights organizations. But the unusual nature of the arrangement has been criticized by some medical ethicists.

Legal experts said that suspending a prison sentence contingent on an organ donation is highly unusual and may be unprecedented...

Many questions remain unanswered, including who will pay for the kidney transplant operation. The sisters’ advocates say the family cannot afford the procedure on their own and that it is unclear whether they will qualify for Medicaid."

Journal’s Paper on ESP Expected to Prompt Outrage; New York Times, 1/6/11

Benedict Carey, New York Times; Journal’s Paper on ESP Expected to Prompt Outrage:

"One of psychology’s most respected journals has agreed to publish a paper presenting what its author describes as strong evidence for extrasensory perception, the ability to sense future events.

The decision may delight believers in so-called paranormal events, but it is already mortifying scientists. Advance copies of the paper, to be published this year in The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, have circulated widely among psychological researchers in recent weeks and have generated a mixture of amusement and scorn."

Blog Gives Superheroes and Supervillains Their Day in Court; New York Times, 12/21/10

John Schwartz, New York Times; Blog Gives Superheroes and Supervillains Their Day in Court:

"...[A] new blog and the interest it is generating shows that there are people who look at an epic battle between superheroes and supervillains and really, really want to know who should be found liable for the broken buildings and shattered streets.

Those people now have a blog called Law and the Multiverse: Superheroes, supervillains, and the law. Kicked off on Nov. 30, it addresses questions like: “What if someone is convicted for murder, and then the victim comes back to life?” And whether mutants are a legally recognizable class entitled to constitutional protection from discrimination."

Effort to sanitize Twain is pure insanity; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 1/7/11

Tony Norman, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Effort to sanitize Twain is pure insanity:

"Twain once described "Huckleberry Finn" as "a book of mine where a sound heart and a deformed conscience come into collision and conscience suffers defeat."

It holds a mirror to our times just as it did Twain's. Like the novel's original audience, we're a society that has subconsciously internalized racist assumptions and values, whether we acknowledge it or not.

"Huckleberry Finn" is a book about a racist who tried to grow up in the American wilderness. The best many of us can ever hope to be is as good as Huck. What's the point of trying to blunt such a two-edged sword?"

Light Out, Huck, They Still Want to Sivilize You; New York Times, 1/7/11

Michiko Kakutani, New York Times; Light Out, Huck, They Still Want to Sivilize You:

"To censor or redact books on school reading lists is a form of denial: shutting the door on harsh historical realities — whitewashing them or pretending they do not exist.

Mr. Gribben’s effort to update “Huckleberry Finn” (published in an edition with “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” by NewSouth Books), like Mr. Foley’s assertion that it’s an old book and “we’re ready for new,” ratifies the narcissistic contemporary belief that art should be inoffensive and accessible; that books, plays and poetry from other times and places should somehow be made to conform to today’s democratic ideals. It’s like the politically correct efforts in the ’80s to exile great authors like Conrad and Melville from the canon because their work does not feature enough women or projects colonialist attitudes.

Authors’ original texts should be sacrosanct intellectual property, whether a book is a classic or not."

Review Of Juan Williams' Firing Done; NPR News Exec Resigns; NPR, 1/6/11

Mark Memmott, NPR; Review Of Juan Williams' Firing Done; NPR News Exec Resigns:

"As NPR's David Folkenflik reports for our newscast, after Williams' dismissal "conservatives blasted NPR, and Fox News' most prominent opinion hosts made a cause of it. Republican lawmakers threatened to cut federal funding for public broadcasters."

As for the review done by Weil, Gotshal & Manges, David summarizes the findings this way: "It found that the termination of Williams' contract was entirely legal. But the board said the report called for a full review of the company's policies on ethics and outside appearances and for them to be applied consistently to all personnel.""

[Editorial] Survival of Ethics Oversight; New York Times, 12/23/10

[Editorial] New York Times; Survival of Ethics Oversight:

"The House’s incoming Republican majority has wisely concluded the quasi-independent Office of Congressional Ethics better not be dismantled."

Where to Draw a Line on Ethics; New York Times, 1/4/11

Edward L. Glaeser, New York Times; Where to Draw a Line on Ethics:

"In one area, however, the A.E.A. can act productively: It can create clear conflict-of-interest disclosure rules for its prestigious journals.

The film “Inside Job” raised disturbing questions about whether economists who regularly wrote or opined on various policy debates failed to report relevant background information, such as board memberships or consulting arrangements. The accusations are serious, and it seems clear that the profession has been carelessly cavalier about conflicts of interest.

As individuals, most of us could do with higher moral standards, but what are the appropriate institutional remedies?

It would be nice to think that the American Economic Association could lay down a code of ethics that would solve everything, but that would be a vast institutional overreach. The biggest problem with that approach is that the A.E.A. is not a licensing or accrediting association, like the American Bar Association."

Shadow Elite: Do Economists Need a Code of Ethics?; HuffingtonPost.com, 1/6/11

Janine R. Wedel and Linda Keenan, HuffingtonPost.com; Shadow Elite: Do Economists Need a Code of Ethics?:

"An ethical code for economists? That's a bit like adopting a chastity vow at the [Playboy] Bunny Ranch."

-reader comment to the New York Times,
January 4, 2011

This comment is striking, and not just because it manages to put "economists" and "Bunny Ranch" in the same unlikely sentence. It shows the stark disillusionment many feel towards some in the profession who have presented themselves as impartial when dispensing economic advice, even when they may well have a personal interest at stake."

Huck Finn Expurgated And Other Censored Books (PHOTOS); HuffingtonPost.com, 1/6/11

HuffingtonPost.com; Huck Finn Expurgated And Other Censored Books (PHOTOS):

"In 1818 American Thomas Bowdler published a series of Shakespeare translations, which he edited heavily for content that he considered offensive. The resulting texts were tamed versions of the originals. Since then, the act of edited or removing offensive content has been deemed "bowdlerizing" and it has taken place many times.

From Darwin to Dolittle, books have been bowdlerized for over two centuries at least. Here are just 7 instances to share. What are some other notable instances? Do you think books should be edited for objectionable content? Or should we let the originals be?"

Censoring Twain; Chronicle of Higher Education, 1/5/11

John L. Jackson, Jr., Chronicle of Higher Education; Censoring Twain:

"Should teenage students read novels filled with n-word references? Is that even appropriate for public school curricula? At least one publisher doesn’t think so."

Hip-Hop and Copyright Law in the [sic] Classroomleg; Chronicle of Higher Education, 1/5/11

Ben Wieder, Chronicle of Higher Education; Hip-Hop and Copyright Law in the [sic] Classroomleg:

"Kembrew McLeod’s youthful interest in 1980s hip-hop became a life-long scholarly pursuit when some of the groups he’d listened to as a teenager were sued in the early 1990s for using samples of previously recorded music.

“The issue—how the law affects sampling—is the entire reason I’m a professor,” says Mr. McLeod, an associate professor of communication studies at the University of Iowa.

It’s the subject of his second documentary film, Copyright Criminals, co-directed by Ben Franzen, which ran last year as part of PBS’s Independent Lens series and will be released on DVD in March. It is also available at Hulu.com."

Iranian-American Group Calls on Stanford to Censure Professor; Chronicle of Higher Education, 1/5/11

Josh Keller, Chronicle of Higher Education; Iranian-American Group Calls on Stanford to Censure Professor:

"An Iranian-American group has asked Stanford University to censure a professor for what it calls "racially discriminatory and inflammatory" comments to an Iranian student who was asking him about admission to Stanford."

Scientists behaving badly; Economist, 10/7/10

Economist; Scientists behaving badly:

"Fang Shimin claims that Xin Yu Si (New Threads), the website he runs, posts about 100 allegations of scientific fraud a year, and he has become a folk hero as a result. China has no proper procedures for dealing with such fraud and Dr Fang believes that, in the absence of such official channels, a platform of the sort his website provides is indispensable to the fight against misconduct in science."

[Podcast] Baltimoreans To Businesswoman: Not So Fast, Hon; NPR, 1/3/11

[Podcast] Jamie Tarabay, NPR; Baltimoreans To Businesswoman: Not So Fast, Hon:

"The word "hon" has been part of Baltimore, Md.'s lexicon for decades, and it's an inherent part of the city's working-class roots.

But now locals have learned their favorite term of endearment has been trademarked for commercial use by a local businesswoman, and some are protesting the co-opting of what they say is a "Baltimore thing.""

When Employees Blast Your Company Online; Forbes, 10/25/10

Alexander F. Brigham and Stefan Linssen, Forbes; When Employees Blast Your Company Online:

"If a company's executives feel an employee has unfairly criticized the organization online, should they take legal action? Is that always even ethical?

The executives might argue that the suits are simply meant to intimidate. There's even a word for that: "Slapp," for "strategic lawsuit against public participation." Many states, including California, have enacted anti-Slapp laws, outlawing such suits as detrimental to freedom of speech and criticism."

A Clear Danger to Free Speech; New York Times, 1/4/11

Geoffrey R. Stone, New York Times; A Clear Danger to Free Speech:

"If we grant the government too much power to punish those who disseminate information, then we risk too great a sacrifice of public deliberation; if we grant the government too little power to control confidentiality at the source, then we risk too great a sacrifice of secrecy. The answer is thus to reconcile the irreconcilable values of secrecy and accountability by guaranteeing both a strong authority of the government to prohibit leaks and an expansive right of others to disseminate information to the public."

Computers That See You and Keep Watch Over You; New York Times, 1/2/11

Steve, Lohr, New York Times; Computers That See You and Keep Watch Over You:

"“Machines will definitely be able to observe us and understand us better,” said Hartmut Neven, a computer scientist and vision expert at Google. “Where that leads is uncertain.”...

At work or school, the technology opens the door to a computerized supervisor that is always watching. Are you paying attention, goofing off or daydreaming? In stores and shopping malls, smart surveillance could bring behavioral tracking into the physical world...

“With every technology, there is a dark side,” said Hany Farid, a computer scientist at Dartmouth. “Sometimes you can predict it, but often you can’t.”"

Academic Economists to Consider Ethics Code; New York Times, 12/31/10

Sewell Chan, New York Times; Academic Economists to Consider Ethics Code:

"Academic economists, particularly those active in policy debates in Washington and Wall Street, are facing greater scrutiny of their outside activities these days. Faced with a run of criticism, including a popular movie, leaders of the American Economic Association, the world’s largest professional society for economists, founded in 1885, are considering a step that most other professions took a long time ago — adopting a code of ethical standards."

'Conditioned on' kidney donation, sisters' prison release prompts ethics debate; Washington Post, 12/30/10

Krissah Thompson, Washington Post; 'Conditioned on' kidney donation, sisters' prison release prompts ethics debate:

"Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour's decision to commute the prison sentences of two sisters drew wide attention in part because their cause has been embraced by civil rights activists. But an unusual aspect of the arrangement is also drawing scrutiny: Barbour said his action was "conditioned on" one sister donating a kidney to the other."

Incivility Can Have Costs Beyond Hurt Feelings; New York Times, 11/20/10

Alina Tugend, New York Times; Incivility Can Have Costs Beyond Hurt Feelings:

"“To fail to be civil to someone — to treat them harshly, rudely or condescendingly — is not only to be guilty of bad manners,” he wrote in a 2006 article, “The Value of Civility?” for the journal Urban Studies. “It also, and more ominously, signals a disdain or contempt for them as moral beings. Treating someone rudely, brusquely or condescendingly says loudly and clearly that you do not regard her as your equal.”

Or to use an example Professor Forni offered: when a mother corrects her son for chewing with his mouth open, and tells him people don’t like looking at half-chewed food, “she has given him a rule of table manners, but also a fundamental notion of all ethical principles — actions have consequences for others. Good manners are the training wheels of altruism.”"

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/20/your-money/20shortcuts.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&ref=business&src=me

The Shadow Scholar; Chronicle of Higher Education, 11/12/10

Ed Dante, Chronicle of Higher Education; The Shadow Scholar:

"Editor's note: Ed Dante is a pseudonym for a writer who lives on the East Coast. Through a literary agent, he approached The Chronicle wanting to tell the story of how he makes a living writing papers for a custom-essay company and to describe the extent of student cheating he has observed. In the course of editing his article, The Chronicle reviewed correspondence Dante had with clients and some of the papers he had been paid to write. In the article published here, some details of the assignment he describes have been altered to protect the identity of the student."

http://chronicle.com/article/The-Shadow-Scholar/125329/

[Podcast] How to Anger the Internet; NPR's On the Media, 11/12/10

[Podcast] NPR's On the Media; How to Anger the Internet:

"Two weeks ago, the internet erupted in anger over unapologetic plagiarism by a small Massachusetts magazine Cooks Source. Bob and Brooke ponder what happens the internet becomes an angry mob."

http://www.onthemedia.org/transcripts/2010/11/12/04

Report: Obama administration to appoint Web privacy czar; ArsTechnica.com, 11/12/10

Jacqui Cheng, ArsTechnica.com; Report: Obama administration to appoint Web privacy czar:

"The US government is preparing to appoint a privacy czar and introduce legislation to address growing concerns over Internet privacy."

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/11/report-obama-administration-to-appoint-web-privacy-czar.ars

When Are Facebook Updates a Firing Offense?; Harvard Business Review, 11/10/10

Brian Elzweig and Donna K. Peeples; Harvard Business Review; When Are Facebook Updates a Firing Offense?:

"Privacy in social media is another tricky issue in the law that has not been thoroughly addressed."

http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2010/11/when_are_facebook_updates_a_fi.html

Are Facebook ads outing gay users?; CNN.com, 10/21/10

Doug Gross, CNN.com; Are Facebook ads outing gay users?:

"Facebook ads are guessing whether users are gay and targeting a broad range of products to them based on the answer, according to a research study making the rounds on the internet Thursday."

http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/social.media/10/21/facebook.gay.ads/index.html?hpt=T2

New Web Code Draws Concern Over Privacy Risks; New York Times, 10/11/10

Tanzina Vega, New York Times; New Web Code Draws Concern Over Privacy Risks:

"In the next few years, a powerful new suite of capabilities will become available to Web developers that could give marketers and advertisers access to many more details about computer users’ online activities. Nearly everyone who uses the Internet will face the privacy risks that come with those capabilities, which are an integral part of the Web language that will soon power the Internet: HTML 5."

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/11/business/media/11privacy.html?src=me&ref=homepage

[Podcast] Schools Urged To Teach Youth Digital Citizenship; NPR's All Things Considered, 10/6/10

[Podcast] Nancy Solomon, NPR's All Things Considered; Schools Urged To Teach Youth Digital Citizenship:

"Commonsense Media, a nonprofit that provides information about movies, video games and technology for children, has written a curriculum to help schools teach digital citizenship. It focuses on how to teach youth to think critically about the Internet and make ethical decisions about its use. Steyer says he was flooded with requests for the curriculum as soon as it was released."There is so much education that needs to be done," he says. "For the most part, kids who are in college today never received any form of digital citizenship or media training when they were in high school or middle school.""

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130380236

[Podcast] Poisoning the Press; NPR's On the Media, 10/1/10

[Podcast] NPR's On the Media; Poisoning the Press:

"Jack Anderson was an investigative reporter whose syndicated newspaper column – "Washington Merry-Go-Round" – outed countless political scandals beginning in the 1950s. Only Anderson did what he had to to get the story, ethical or not, legal or not. George Washington University professor Mark Feldstein, talks about his new book, Poisoning the Press."

http://onthemedia.org/transcripts/2010/10/01/07

Bullying, Suicide, Punishment; New York Times, 10/3/10

John Schwartz, New York Times; Bullying, Suicide, Punishment:

"What should the punishment be for acts like cyberbullying and online humiliation?

That question is as difficult to answer as how to integrate our values with all the things in our lives made of bits, balancing a right to privacy with the urge to text, tweet, stream and post...

There is also the question of society’s role. Students are encouraged by Facebook and Twitter to put their every thought and moment online, and as they sacrifice their own privacy to the altar of connectedness, they worry less about the privacy of others."

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/03/weekinreview/03schwartz.html

Before a Suicide, Hints in Online Musings; New York Times, 10/1/10

Lisa W. Foderaro and Winnie Hu, New York Times; Before a Suicide, Hints in Online Musings:

"Under a leaden sky, students debated whether the surreptitious broadcast was a thoughtless prank or a crime. Gay and lesbian students demanded that the university re-examine its policies on bias and bullying, and called for safe housing and other programs.

On Wednesday night, after the start of the university’s two-year campaign to foster courtesy and respect, demonstrators for gay rights got into a screaming match with residents of Mr. Ravi’s dormitory, Davidson Hall, who objected to some of their language. Several students had to be physically separated."

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/01/nyregion/01suicide.html?scp=4&sq=tyler%20clementi&st=cse

Private Moment Made Public, Then a Fatal Jump; New York Times, 9/30/10

Lisa W. Foderaro, New York Times; Private Moment Made Public, Then a Fatal Jump:

"The Sept. 22 death, details of which the authorities disclosed on Wednesday, was the latest by a young American that followed the online posting of hurtful material. The news came on the same day that Rutgers kicked off a two-year, campuswide project to teach the importance of civility, with special attention to the use and abuse of new technology."

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/30/nyregion/30suicide.html?scp=2&sq=tyler%20clementi&st=cse

U.S. Apologizes for Syphilis Tests in Guatemala; New York Times, 10/2/10

Donald G. McNeil, Jr., New York Times; U.S. Apologizes for Syphilis Tests in Guatemala:

"From 1946 to 1948, American public health doctors deliberately infected nearly 700 Guatemalans — prison inmates, mental patients and soldiers — with venereal diseases in what was meant as an effort to test the effectiveness of penicillin...

In a twist to the revelation, the public health doctor who led the experiment, John C. Cutler, would later have an important role in the Tuskegee study in which black American men with syphilis were deliberately left untreated for decades. Late in his own life, Dr. Cutler continued to defend the Tuskegee work.

His unpublished Guatemala work was unearthed recently in the archives of the University of Pittsburgh by Professor Reverby, a medical historian who has written two books about Tuskegee."

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/02/health/research/02infect.html?_r=1&scp=5&sq=facebook%20ethics&st=cse

When Lawyers Can Peek at Facebook; New York Times, 10/1/10

John Eligon, New York Times; When Lawyers Can Peek at Facebook:

"Could the legal world be moving toward a new set of Miranda warnings: “Anything you say, do — or post on Facebook — can be used against you in a court of law”?"

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/01/when-lawyers-can-peek-at-facebook/?scp=2&sq=facebook%20ethics&st=cse