Promoting Academic Integrity (Co-sponsored by the Council for the Promotion of Academic Integrity)
Wednesday, September 21st, 7:30 PM, PAC 144 (Harlan Adams Theatre)
Don McCabe, Rutgers University Business School
Ethical Quandaries in International Business: Reflections from a Former Enron Executive (Co-Sponsored by the College of Business and the American Institute of Ethics)Over the last fifteen years, before coming to Rutgers, Don McCabe spent extensive time in corporate America and has since written on the culture of integrity in both academia and the corporate world. McCabe has published several articles on the prevalence of cheating and plagiarism among students and has conducted groundbreaking surveys studying student and faculty attitudes about academic dishonesty. To date, over 100,000 students and 10,000 faculty on more than 150 college and university campuses in the U.S. and Canada have participated in this project, including Chico State. In his talk, McCabe will provide a brief overview of this project, with a particular emphasis on data gathered in the 2004/2005 academic year, and summarize what he believes to be the lessons learned from his research. He will address issues of plagiarism, from both written and Internet sources, and offer some reflections on effective strategies to reduce student cheating. McCabe concludes by forwarding a bold prescription for our "integrity-challenged" society.
Working internationally for a large corporation provides a rich milieu of challenging experiences in a wide variety of cultures. Correspondingly, international business entails its own host of ethical quandaries, distinctive from those usually experienced in domestic commerce. In his talk, Mr. Fudemberg will share some of his experiences and the issues he confronted while working at Enron International, setting the stage for a thought provoking discussion about the role of ethics in international business. His talk will provide background into some of the challenges confronting a large, international corporation in which executives are required to operate across highly competitive economic environments, and with differing value systems and legal frameworks, all against a backdrop of ever-changing corporate priorities and politics. Where are the boundaries between right and wrong in the increasingly expanding and competitive environment of global commerce? Are these boundaries really so clear?
Jay Fudemberg, currently the CEO of IQtopia, is an executive with a broad background in management and technology. Mr. Fudemberg's experiences include: founder/CEO of Pure Markets, an internet-based financial service firm; Group V.P. for Europe/Africa/lMiddle East of Enron International, where he managed the energy & infrastructure development business in that region; Management Consultant for Bain & Co., a global business consultancy; and Software Engineer for Systems Applications Engineering. Jay Fudemberg has an M.B.A. from Stanford University, a B.S.M.E. from the University of Texas and holds multiple academic honors. He is a frequent speaker on the evolution of electronic commerce and its role in transforming today's economic institutions.
A Clash of Civilizations? Islam, Democracy, and “The War on Terror”
Wednesday, October 19th, 7:30 PM, PAC 134
Does the Media Reflect or Establish Ethical Values for American Business? (Co-Sponsored by the College of Business and the American Institute of Ethics)Freedom of expression (in speech and print), equality of opportunity for women, respect for and protection of ethnic minorities and religious groups, and the holding of free and open elections are considered some of the key elements in democratic societies. How compatible are these values with Islam and/or Arab culture? In which Muslim countries are these practices being most widely embraced and strongly advocated? What is the basis for the often vehement fundamentalist opposition to these practices? What are the prospects for reform within the Arab world to counter the fundamentalist opposition to modernity? Have the U.S.-led interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq advanced reform, or have they strengthened the fundamentalist reaction?
Andrew Flescher, Department of Religious Studies (moderating)
Jim Claflin, Department of Geography and Planning
Ayad Al-Qazzaz, Department of Sociology, California State University, Sacramento
Charles Geshekter, Department of History
What are the ethical issues corporations must consider in the era of information and technology? How does the reporting on these issues, serve, in turn, to further shape how they are viewed and prioritized? In a thought-provoking talk based on his extensive experience, John Markoff, a 17 year veteran of the New York Times and successful author, probes the dynamic relationship between the computers and technology industry in Silicon Valley and the media, focusing his reflections in particular on the value of integrity in technology and business.
John Markoff joined The New York Times in March of 1988 as a reporter for the paper's business section. He now writes for the Times from San Francisco where he covers Silicon Valley, computers and technology issues. At the Times he broke the story identifying Robert Tappan Morris as the author of the 1988 Internet worm that crashed thousands of computers. Mr. Markoff is the co-author with Lennie Siegel of The High Cost of High Tech, published in 1985 by Harper & Row. More recently he coauthored Cyberpunk: Outlaws and Hackers on the Computer Frontier (Simon & Schuster, 1991) with Katie Hafner. He writes frequently on technology policy issues and he also broke the story of the Clinton Administration's plan to introduce "Clipper" chip surveillance system. He came to the Times from the San Francisco Examiner where he worked for three and a half years. He has written about the field of technology since 1977. From 1984 to 1985 he was West Coast editor for Byte Magazine and from 1981 to 1983 he was a reporter and an editor at Infoworld. From 1983 to 1985 he wrote a column on personal computers for the San Jose Mercury News. In 1988 he received the Software Publishers Association's award for best news reporting. He is also part of the faculty of Stanford University's Department of Communication.
To What Extent Should Religion Influence Political and Public Life?
Wednesday, November 30th, 7:30 PM, PAC 134
What is the role of religion in American public discourse? What should its role be? Is there any place for fanaticism in a pluralistic, liberal state? Can or should religious faith shape secular values? Is there something offensive about having the Ten Commandments in the foyer of a courthouse? Is it ok to consider erecting an Easter Cross in Bidwell Park? Are pharmaceutical companies justified in refusing to dispense pills to which they have moral objections? Are conscientious objectors who abstain from war on religious grounds morally justified in doing so? Is there a threshold beyond which the influence of religion in public discourse becomes inappropriate? If so, where, and on what grounds?
Andrew Flescher, Department of Religious Studies (moderating)
Anthony Graybosch, Department of Philosophy
Becky, White, Department of Philosophy
Bruce Grelle, Department of Religious Studies
Ari Cohn, reporter, Chico Enterprise Record