Thinking Like An Engineer: Studies in the Ethics of a Profession
Michael Davis, Senior Fellow at the Center for the Study of Ethic in the Professions, Illinois Institute of Technology.

Davis examines how social or- ganization and technical require- ments define how engineers should (and presumably do) think. Later chapters test his analysis of engineering judgement and autonomy empirically, engaging a range of social science research including a study of how engineers and managers work together in ten different companies.

Available from Oxford University Press, Orders Dept., Evans Road, Cary, NC 27513. Tel. 1-800-451- 7556

Publication Announcement:
Illinois Institute of Technology's (IIT) Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions (CSEP), together with the National League of Cities, Washington, D.C., recently published a guidebook, titled Municipal Service Delivery: Thinking Through the Privatization Option. The guide assists officials in making ethical decisions about the best delivery of programs and service, whether in-house or on contract.

Beginning with the fundamental question of whether local government should be responsible for a given function and ending with practical details about auditing contracts, the guide takes officials step-by-step through the decision making process. This approach ensures that key issues - such as accountability for taxpayers' money, access to services for vulnerable populations, impact on employees and conflict of interest - are not missed.

The guidebook resulted from a research project on privatization involving Vivian Weil, CSEP's director; Inge Fryklund, a privatization consultant and former City of Chicago parking administrator; Harriet McCoIlough, an ethics consultant and former director of the Chicago Board of Ethics, and Mary Stone, program development manager at National League of Cities (NLC). The project was funded by the Joyce foundation.

Publication Announcement:
Professional Ethics and Engineering: A Resource Guide, 2nd Edition, May, 1997.

Cost: $10.00 plus $3.00 S/H ($13.00)

Available from CSEP, Illinois Institute of Technology, 10 West 31 st Street, Rm. 102, Stuart Building, Chicago, Illinois 60616. Tel. (312) 567-3017, Fax (312) 567-3016 E-mail: csep@charlie.cns.iit.edu

Call for Papers:
Business and Society Review addresses ethical issues affecting relationships between business, society, and the public good. The Review invites for publication manuscripts from academics, business people, members of the legal profession, government administrators, and others interested in the contemporary debate about the proper role of business in society. Potential authors should submit three copies for review to: Robert Frederick, Ph.D., Center for Business Ethics, Bentley College, 175 Forest Street, Waltham, MA 02154.

Conferences:
3rd International Congress on Dental Law and Ethics will be held at the Royal Society of Medicine, London, October 1-3, 1998. Each of the following topics will be dealt with in a half day session: trust-the competent adult patient; protection-the vulnerable and non-compliant patient; consumerism--patients' clinical needs and expectations; whistleblowing--the ethical problems of informing on colleagues; regulation and criticism--self-regulation or external control? Contact: Katherine Fort, Conference Manager, British Dental Association, 64 Wimpole Street, London WIM 8AL, United Kingdom. Tel: 44-171-935-0875 x233. Fax: 44-171-486-0855.

An international conference on The Ethics of the Image will be held at the Haute Ecole d'arts applique, Vevey, Switzerland, October 8-10, 1998. The conference will review the history and current state of the ethical dimension of the creation of images, examine critically the existing relationship between ethics and images in the broadest sense (from paparazzi to image manipulation), and provide an international forum for exchange of ideas on these subjects. The conference (in English and French) is intended for professors, researchers, and students, as well as for artists, art directors, journalists, and other professionals with an interest in the ethics of visual communication. Contact: Radu Stem, Deputy Director, Haute Ecole d'arts applique, Av. Nestl 1, 1800 Vevey, Switzerland. Email:radu.stem@cepv.vd.ch.

The fifth annual International Conference Promoting Business Ethics: From the Universities to the Marketplace: The Business Ethics Voyage, will be held at DePaul University, Chicago, October 29-31, 1998. Among questions to be considered are how well are organizations' actual ethical practices aligned with their stated ethical practices? What are the new ethical problems introduced by advances in technology? How can a business create a more ethical environment between individuals within its workplace? What are the implications of ethics in the international arena? What are the lessons we can learn from ethical failures? What is the place of spirituality, religion, or individual values in business? Contact: Laura Pincus Hartman, Institute for Business and Professional Ethics, One East Jackson, Chicago, IL 60604. Tel: 312-362-6569. Fax: 312-362-6973. E-mail: Lpincus@wppost.depaul.edu.

Publications:
A forty-minute video, A Stampede of Zebras, is now available at cost to all departments and research institutes interested in conducting seminars or workshops in research ethics. The video presents a play written by a senior scientist at the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Robert G. Martin that has been widely used to introduce students and researchers to ethics training. The video was produced with funds from the Ethics Institute of Dartmouth College, the Program in Science, Technology, and Human Values at Duke University, and the National Science Foundation. The video can be purchased at $95 a copy (including shipping) from the Program in Science, Technology, and Human Values, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708-0287.

Courses:
The fifth annual program of Ethical Issues in Medicine, sponsored by Montfiore Medical Center at Castello di Santa Maria Novella, Tuscany, Italy, July 25-August 1, 1998, will focus on physician assisted suicide and the doctor-patient alliance in an era of managed care. Contact: Ms. Vera Ricciardi, Office Manager, or Dr. Richard Stem, Course Administrator, 3555 Bainbridge Avenue, Bronx, NY 10467. Tel: 718-655-2400. Fax: 212-567-9593.

Health Care Issues in Pluralistic Societies, a European Bioethics Seminar, will be offered in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, August 3-7, 1998. Subjects include the Foundations and History of Bioethics; The Person: Procreation and Reproduction; The Person: Suffering and Death; Person and Community; and The Human Body. The seminar is designed to provide participants with both a theoretical and practical understanding of pressing is issues in bioethics and to educate the participants on a range of topics and problems which are the focus of current debates, both within health care institutions in Europe and in society at large. Contact: Bert Gordijin, Ph.D., Dept. of Ethics, Philosophy, and History of Medicine, Catholic University of Nijmegen, P.O. Box 9101, 6500 HB Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Tel: 0031-24-361-53-20. Fax: 0031-24-354-02-54. E-mail: b.gordijn@efg.kun.nl. Internet site: http://www.azn.nl/fmw/bioeth1.htm.

Managing Ethics in Organization, sponsored by the Ethics Officer Association and the Center for Business Ethics will be offered at Bentley College in Waltham, Massachusetts November 8-13, 1998. This weeklong program is an executive development course providing advice and theoretical tools for creating an effective ethics program. Learn from practicing ethics and compliance officers from profit and non-profit organizations how to set up and administer ethics, compliance and business conduct programs. Contact: Kelly Leblanc, Tel.: (617) 891-2981, Ethics Officer Association 30 Church Street Belmont, MA 02178 or the Center for Business Ethics, Bentley College, 175 Forest Street, Waltham, MA 02154-4705. Tel.: (781) 891-2981. Fax: (781) 891-2988.

Miscellaneous:
The Ethics Center at the University of Southern Florida invites applications for the position of Affiliated Scholar. If you do research in ethics, the Ethics Center may be the perfect place for you to spend your semester or academic year sabbatical. The Center, located at the St. Petersburg campus of the University of South Florida, will provide: office space, use of a computer, easy access to fax, copier, and other essential office equipment, use of the USF library and other USF facilities, peer feedback for your work-in-progress, and academic and community programming in ethics. The Center cannot provide a stipend. To apply, send a cover letter that includes a brief description of your research project and a CV to: Professor Peter French, Director and Cole Chair in Ethics, The Ethics Center, 100 Fifth Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701. Tel: 813-553-3172. E-mail: french@bayflash.stpt.usf.edu. Deadline: April 1, 1999.

The Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions (CSEP) was established in 1976 for the purpose of promoting education and scholarship relating to ethical and policy issues of the professions. Perspectives on the Professions is one of the means the Center has of achieving that purpose.

EDITOR: Michael Davis
MANAGING EDITORS: Ethel Lewis, Andrew Olson
EDITORIAL BOARD: David Beam, Robert F. Ladenson, Jing Li, Martin Malin, Ullica Segerstrale, Warren Schmaus
CSEP DIRECTOR: Vivian Weil

Opinions expressed in Perspectives on the Professions are those of the authors, and not necessarily those of the Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions or the Illinois Institute of Technology.