ACS COMMENT
Ethics and Professionalism
T
world." Goodstein proposes that the unihe latest Committee on Science versity scientist/educator has concentratsymposium on chemistry and the ed on identifying students who are national agenda, "Ethics and Pro"rough diamonds" and has polished fessionalism/' at the American Chemical them well, neglecting those students Society national meeting in New Orleans whose luster may be hidden, awaiting could have been ho-hum, repeating the discovery. standard but important commandments we all should know. Instead, it addressed Many would agree that chemistry and the issues that many in the profession chemists have in the past been somewhat now face. elitist, but I've seen vast changes in recent years. Attention to the underrepresentaWhat had been gnawing at me were tion of women and minorities, programs the rapid changes going on in society in related to science education and public general and chemistry in particular. All of perception, and understanding by profesus, especially people in science, tend to sional societies certainly have increased. think of things as black or white, while Eli M. Pearce What I have not seen is a groundswell reality dictates that most things end up as chairman, various shades of gray. My reactions beCommittee on Science from members of the profession who are gan to form and arrive at a thermodyin a position to influence local school namic equilibrium in regard to several of boards in regard to science curriculum rethese ethical and professional issues. form, emphasis, and teacher training. Perhaps professional societies such as the American Chemical Society Nobel Laureate Roald Hoffmann began appropriare missing something by not strongly organizing to ately on that Sunday morning program with an alaffect this groundswell. Shouldn't we be participating most sermonlike, stimulating, and challenging premore in community education issues related to science? sentation that raised many good questions. And he We need a national campaign for local involvement gave his personal answers. Most provocative was the with support from the ACS national office and from question, "Are there any bad molecules?" In HoffACS local sections. mann's most recent book, "The Same and Not The Same," he argued that there are no bad molecules, but Responsible scientific collaboration between unithat molecules may be used inappropriately. Thus, versities and industry were discussed by Marye Anne appropriate safeguards are required. In his original Fox of the University of Texas, Austin. She related her "no bad molecules, only bad people" argument, the university's approach to industry interactions. It was teratogenic drug thalidomide was used as an example. refreshing to hear about this approach that embraces Using the same example, Hoffmann has now reversed core academic values. Her presentation restored my his argument and proposed that molecules such as thaoptimism about the future of universities. This attilidomide are "bad" by virtue of their potential for mistude is in real contrast to many universities that seem use and their terrible consequences in regard to pregto have captured the corporate agenda and corporate nancy. He says such molecules should be banned, even buzzwords, such as "right sizing," "reengineering," though thalidomide may be useful for treating diseases "total quality management," and "profit centers." such as leprosy. I also still worry—even in the best of situations, Encouraging research to develop effective, related such as that described by Fox—how universities can molecules without the negative consequences was his avoid problems associated with the free flow of inforanswer to the riddle of thalidomide and similar mation. A guarantee of confidentiality to industry drugs. The underlying truth here must be in the gray may mean that certain discourse is off limits with area. For the sake of the victims of other diseases, we one's professional colleagues. Some faculty have also should find that gray area. We must allow manufacbeen infected with the get-rich virus and may not disture and use of thalidomide, but at the same time we close parts of their research because they have an inmust continue strong efforts to develop related meterest in patenting their work. dicinals that do not have such severe consequences. Technology ownership in this rapidly changing enDavid Goodstein of California Institute of Technolovironment was discussed by Wayne Johnson of Rohm gy raised the issue of scientific elites and scientific illitand Haas in relation to individual skills security as a erates, the paradox whereby this nation has "the best replacement for job security. Inherent in this situascientists but the most poorly educated students in the Continued on page 58 Views expressed on this page are those of the author and not necessarily those of the committee JUNE 3,1996 C&EN
53
ACS COMMENT Continued from page 53 the society tackles more controversial tion is an obligation on the part of em- and difficult-to-define issues such as ployers to help employees expand their information ownership. knowledge and skills. My concern is that Because we live in rapidly changing less of this sort of training and prepara- times, the issues raised in this space tion has been occurring. Hiring frequent- and at the national meeting sympoly occurs only when an individual fits a sium allow a spectrum of responses. job description with a shoe horn. In ad- Do we dare shine a light on these isdition, scientific meeting and course at- sues through open and frank discustendance, as well as educational support, sions? I hope this is a beginning. • appear to have become more restricted for industrial employees. And still vexing is the issue of infor- LETTERS mation—defining who owns what when employees move on to another employer and defining the difference with Continued from page 4 learned general information. These in a number of other European countries. times of job and employment flexibility The tonnage of asbestos materials in make this issue more complex, emo- place does present a serious public health tional, and immediate. Maybe an om- threat, however. The large-scale use of asbestos continbudsman for complex situations is one ues, usually uncontrolled, throughout answer. At the least, counseling about Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Central an employee's alternatives—including and Eastern Europe. The main reason is potential pitfalls—should be a re- that asbestos is not "widely feared" in sponse. ACS attempts to provide expe- these countries by workers and the public. rienced counselors and advisers for Barry Castleman those looking for jobs, but I'm not sure Baltimore
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Comprehending science Bruce Ganem's editorial "The Geek Factor" and the letters to the editor in response (C&EN, Feb. 12, page 5; April 8, pages 4 and 5) got our attention. Raymond Luckenbaugh noted the difficulty that judges and jurors have in comprehending scientific evidence. A 1993 Supreme Court decision in Daubert v. Merrell-Dow places the responsibility for determining the admissibility of technical evidence squarely on the shoulders of judges. Most judges lack science backgrounds and are uncomfortable with this responsibility. The Department of Energy's (DOE) Human Genome Program addresses this problem through its Ethical, Legal & Societal Implications (ELSI) program. The ELSI program supports a lawyer/ scientist to organize workshops that bring scientists and judges together to discuss the implications of recent genome research for the courts. Some of the issues included in these workshops are privacy of genetic information, protection of intellectual property, and the difficulties that can arise when courts try to use information about polygenic conditions with environmental interactions. DOE's Human Genome and ELSI programs support several other projects focused on educating the public as well as members of various professions. We have prepared a compilation of abstracts for 21 of these projects. For copies of the abstracts, e-mail
[email protected]; or phone (301) 903-4742. Additional information is also available on the World Wide Web at the following two sites: http://www.er.doe.gov/production/oher/ hug_top.html; or http://www.ornl.gov/ TechResources/Human_Genome/ home.html. Roland F. Hirsch, Daniel W. Drell Department of Energy Germantawn, Md.
Lab course relevance Ronald Breslow's comment on the importance of hands-on undergraduate lab work brings up the subject of the relevancy of any particular college course to the wider world (C&EN, Jan. 1, page 2). Having taught both general chemistry and organic chemistry in a four-year college and health science chemistry (prenursing chemistry) in several community colleges, I have a few comments about the latter. My most recent teaching experience was with an independent, prenursing lab course at a community college. The course had a disturbing 19th-century flavor. Al-
