SOSC Science Technology and Society Today Some Sample Questions for Review Friday, November 20, 1998 Dr. Vincent Duffy - IEEM 1

Administrative v Old exam 2 on webpage –Friday, 13th, review for exam v Monday 16th - exam 2, 6:30-8:10 LT-B –no class meeting on 16th v Wednesday –chance to discuss homework 2 in groups u oral presentation, in class Wednesday, 18th u written due Wednesday 18th, until 12 mid. –Return QOTD since exam 1

What can be tested (exam Monday) v Monday 6:30-8:10, LT-B v Information from lecture/slides –everything up through Monday, 9th v Assigned readings related to lecture –important material from the readings as outlined in class v Study aids - Expanded version of the lecture/slides available as tutorials –tutorials after exam 1 –they are review

v Innovations v Politics of Technology u have a general kn owledge of those that were not in cluded in lecture v Ethics u Role of ICAC in Hong Kong u What is a ‘whistleblower’?, what are stakeholders? –Differences: ETHICS-PLUS & Rational Technique u Concept of the Total Benefit Test u Differences between Ethics and the Law v Law u Limitations in the Law of Contract & Law of Tort u Differences: Law as protector & Law as a weapon 2

v v The role of the ICAC in Hong Kong is to v v A. Take stock of stakeholders v v B. Identify viable alternatives v v C. Make laws v v D. Enforce laws v v E. All of the above

v v (4pts) G. Recall the video segment in which Shum, a marketing representative for a fire fighting equipment company, was working hard to get a multi-million dollar contract with the company of Mr. Cheung. Mr. Cheung was working as VP of a group based in the U.S. Shum met Cheung’s wife and discovered that the charity chaired by her was looking for a donation of $500,000 HKD. Shum was advised by his peer to recommend that the company make the donation to the charity of Cheung’s wife in order to improve the chance of winning the contract. Use only the ETHICS part of the ETHICS-PLUS model to show how Shum should decide what to do. If you were Shum tell what you would do. That part of the model consists of : E - Establish the facts and identify ethical issues, T-Take Stock of Stakeholders, I-Identify alternatives. C-Consider key factors. S-Select an appropriate course of action.

v v What is the significance of the ‘sunshine test’? Why do we need it if company matters are private anyway? – –Consider how would people respond if they did find out your (your company) behavior. – –This may help to guide the behavior to avoid a potentially embarrassing situation

Multiple choice v Role of ICAC in Hong Kong v Q. The role of ICAC in Hong Kong is to –A. Make laws –B. Take stock of stakeholders –C. Enforce laws –D. Identify viable alternatives –E. None of the above

Multiple choice v What is a whistleblower? stakeholders? (see T31) v Q. In the video ‘Think before you leap’ Sandra sees her coworkers trade securities from client money. She is deciding whether to: –A. Use the total benefit test –B. Take stock of stakeholders –C. Enforce laws –D. Blow the whistle –E. Avoid the use of some technology because it might shift the power structure in her office

Multiple choice v Total Benefit test v Q. What is to be included in the measure of total benefit test? –A. proprietary information –B. different alternatives –C. The law of tort –D. Higher standards –E. All of the above

Short answer - Law as protector v Q. Why is minimum compliance not enough? Give an example from class and tell why it was not enough. v examples such as: –Titanic, not enough lifeboats –Bridge in Tampa Bay- didn’t include impact forces in the calculate horizontal forces –Hickle’s law - there was room for interpretation in the law, and Hickle got mad at polluters (off shore oil drilling) and acted harshly toward them

Short answer - Law as a weapon v Q. What is an example from class of use of Law as a weapon? v The case where the ASME representatives (volunteers for professional society of mechanical engineers) enforced codes against a manufacturer. –In this case it turned out that they worked for the rival manufacturer.

Short answer- Difference between ethics and the law v Q. What is one difference between ethics and the law? Why do we care about Hickles law? –Law is the minimum standard, ethics is a higher standard –Hickle’s law demonstrates that sometimes the law as minimum standard is not enough

Alzheimer’s article v Recall ‘Programs that attempt to pick winners and losers are corporate welfare’ –what does this comment represent –means that there may be selective picking of companies to benefit from government support of research –it is a reason for having a ‘hands off’ policy

v According to Langdon Winner, in the reading ‘Do Artifacts Have Politics?’, nuclear power plants are which of the following? –politically centralized or decentralized technology? Why? –The results of using the technology….were they intended or unintended?

Explanation given in section 2&3 v When presenting review material to sections 2 & 3 today, I have modified v the type of question you may see regarding 'politics of technology' v material that was covered in reading, but not covered in lectures. v You may think of it like this. v Since there was no lecture on concepts like flexible/inflexible, v egalitarian, authoritarian, inherently political those concepts will not v be tested on the exam. v However, examples in the supplementary reading related to v intended/unintended results or 'politically' centralized/decentralized v (related to decision making and access) would be considered o.k. for the v exam. (again, for a small percentage weighting on the exam). You should v be generally familiar with those examples. v For a sample of the type of short answer question you could see, please v look at the slides for today (to be posted later this evening) for the v version shown in sections 2 & 3. v More likely you would see a short answer rather than multiple choice v question on this material.