CS W4995 004 Ethics in Engineering and Computer Science
Midterm Exam (10/20/99) Answers

1. She went over the head of her manager by sending a report to the
   Circle Committee, the next highest level of management
2. (1) Corporations have much more clout than does the general public
       or public interest groups when it comes to influencing the
       drafting of regulations or the enforcement of these
       regulations.
   (2) Regulatory agency employees working on site tend to become
       friendly with and identify with their counterparts in the
       company and so may become unconsciously biased in favor of the
       company.
   (3) Regulatory agencies are almost always understaffed.
   (4) Some regulatory agencies have dual roles: they are charged with
       both promoting and regulating the industries in their domain.
3. (1) credit them for their contributions
   (2) Share information and knowledge with them
   (3) Do not discriminate against them on irrelevant grounds
   (4) Support them when they try to abide by the ethics code
   (5) Supply honest criticism of their work
4. (1) Failing to credit another person for work done.
   (2) Signing off on a piece of software that is significantly
       defective.
5. Such provisions can be, and have been, used to attack engineers who
   properly point out errors or wrong-doing.
6. The ethics rules about keeping confidential the business affairs
   and technical processes of employers and clients are subordinate to
   rules about protecting the public health, safety and welfare.
   So such a rule should not deter Al from reporting the violations. 
7. This is a good example of a conflict of interest situation where
   openness is the solution.  Bill should accompany his report with a
   clear statement indicating his involvement with the Moon
   Corporation, so that the recipients can take this into account when
   evaluating his conclusions.  For example, they might ask for a more
   detailed justification of his conclusions than they otherwise
   would.
8. Again, openness is the key.  Jane should explain to her client
   about the state of her knowledge regarding Small Talk and how that
   will affect her performance.  The client can then make an informed
   decision as to whether or not to employ her on this project.
9. It is not a good idea to employ a human in a situation requiring a
   continual state of alertness for a very unlikely event to occur,
   where, if it does occur, an instant response is required.  People
   don't do this sort of thing well.
10. In the TMI cleanup case, Larry King, the site manager, fully
    supported Parks and Gischel in trying to get the job done right.

ESSAY QUESTION:  This is NOT an essay, but rather a list of SOME of
the points that might have been covered.

Amiya (note that, in India, this is a male name, for example EE
Dept. Professor Amiya Sen) should act as follows.  Tactfully try to
persuade the manager to allow adequate debugging.  If this fails, try
to get support from other engineers to assist in this effort.  If
still unsuccessful, informally seek advice and/or help from some
friend higher up in management.  Start accumulating supporting
documents, listings, etc.  Keep a log of events.  Carefully evaluate
the arguments made by the manager and consider if the system does
actually need more testing.  Drop the matter if he concludes that the
manager is right.  If matter still not resolved use open door,
ombudsman, or other internal mechanisms. Consider getting help and/or
advice from his professional society.  If all else fails and it
appears that a defective system will be released, and all avenues
within the company have been explored without success, notify the
hospital, and consider reporting to an appropriate outside agency.
Consider resigning before being fired and continuing fight from
outside.  Consider an anonymous report, but realize that this is
unlikely to have much affect.

Exam Grades were: 59, 66, 74, 75, 78, 78, 83, 89, 96, 100.