Whistle-blowing

Nader, R. et al., Eds., Whistle Blowing The Report of the Conference on Professional Responsibility, Bantam, New York, 1971. 

The next step deals with whether the problem can be resolved within the organization without whistle blowing or could it be resolved within one s scientific professional organization. If either will work, then that is the proper place. Again discernment is necessary. The whistle blower might get fired or get his or her funding removed. The risk is great. 

Here s the reality. Job strain raises blood pressure during your working hours. At first, the body—notably, your arteries—is quite resilient. When the whistle blows and it s time to quit for the day, blood pressure returns to normal. But when rises in blood pressure... 

Ethical Issues This case raises at least three noteworthy engineering-related ethical issues. The first has to do with the design of the vehicle, the second with its product development period, and the third with public whistle blowing. 

Public whistle blowing. While writing the abovementioned memo to management about the 6.65 part was in line with FERE2, it does not appear that any then-currently employed Ford engineer familiar with the Pinto decided to go public and blow the whistle on the unnecessary risk the tank s location created.Should a Ford Pinto engineer have done so ... 

I have problems with these allegedly jointly sufiBcient conditions. First, I take exception to C I s implicit view that it is only when the serious and considerable harm in question will happen or has happened to the public that whistle blowing can become an issue. The Challenger case was an episode in which the engineers involved arguably had an ethical responsibility to blow the whistle after the fact when the most important harm in question was done to the six astronauts and the first teacher in space, not to the public. If NASA had been a private company. 

Ethical Issues Among the important ethical issues involving Schwartz that arose in this case are two that were previously encountered (in Case 02) whistle blowing and conflict of interest. However, since these issues played out quite differently in this case than in Case 2, they merit detailed exploration. 

CONDITIONS FOR WHISTLE-BLOWING TO BE AN ENGINEER S ETHICAL RESPONSIBILITY... 

For a chronological list of whistle-blowing cases, some of which involved qui tam actions under the False Claims Act, see http //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List of whistleblowers See Case 13, p. 267. 

Moreover, the government entities most heavily involved in investigating and adjudicating federal employee whistle-blowing claims - the Office of Special Counsel, the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), and the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals (FCCA) - have rarely decided in favor of whistle-blowers. 

I am ambivalent about Bucciarelli s concerns. Myth-making about whistleblowing is regrettable, but it is not inevitable. Several accounts of Boisjoly s conduct in the teleconference and caucus, and in the post-disaster enquiry that culminated in his revelations to the Presidential Commission, avoid mythmaking about whistle-blowing. ... 

In 2002,1 agreed to serve as foimding chair of the Ethics Committee of BMES. We formulated a Code of Ethics [6] that was ratified by the membership in 2004. The Code as it was formulated has at least two questionable issues (1) The Code is aspirational, not punitive the Society decided on this course in order to limit financial liability, (2) The Code appears to favor compliance to employers and agencies, even in the face of questionable practices. Whistle blowing or nonviolent disobedience, for example, are not options that appear in the wording of the Code. We have recruited committee members from a variety of professions to bring perspective to the activities of the committee. 

What is the role of PEA Walsh ) gives a vivid description of the action of PEA When we meet someone who attracts us the whistle blows at the PEA factory. Namely the brain starts to generate PEA like crazy Note that unlike other mammals, where falling in love is triggered by scent, I am confident that none of you has ever seen a guy who rushed to smell the gal he was suddenly attracted to, or vice versa. In humans, the attraction is triggered by sight and mediated by PEA. A mere glimpse is required to activate the sensation of romantic love. 

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