The recent controversy over scenes of torture in Zero Dark Thirty, a film dramatizing the hunt for terrorist Osama bin Laden, caused me to revisit a student paper from Steve Ambra’sContemporary Ethical Issues class. The student, a former U.S. soldier deployed to Iraq, reminded me of just some of the many ethical issues faced by our military in combat situations. “I joined the military at...

The intersection of two stories this week caused me to examine the media’s appetite to pander under the guise of “coming clean.” After weeks of rumor and speculation, former seven-time Tour de France winning cyclist Lance Armstrong admitted to Oprah Winfrey that he used performance-enhancing drugs to achieve his victories. In listening to Armstrong’s confessional, I wasn’t so much interested in...

Students displayed a wide range of topics during final presentations in this year’s Contemporary Ethical Issues class at the New Hampshire Technical Institute. Among the issues selected: capital punishment, patient confidentiality, stealing, bullying, and assisted suicide. Sports ethics offered two students as media commentators interviewing three individuals caught in cheating scandals. Three students created a debate on gun control between a representative...

Earl J. Hickey is a shiftless, ne’er-do-well, who, after a near-fatal accident, sees the burning bush of Karma and wants to lead a better life, or as one NHTI student so eloquently summarizes: “If you give crap, you will get crap in return.” In the part comedy-part philosophy series, My Name is Earl, Hickey sets out to reform his ways by...

After reviewing the PBS Frontline documentary, A Class Divided, Professor Stephen Ambra led a class discussion on bigotry and intolerance. However, it was a conversation I had at the break with one of the students that led to a special written assignment. Sitting in the back of the room, clearly uncomfortable with the discussion, this student confided that the subject of...

One of the aspects that comes from walking into a class of total strangers for the first time is expectations. I expect that because most of them are young, that they have relatively normal lives absent any grave or impactful issues. I could not be more wrong. The level of candor reflected in most papers was not only unexpected but demonstrated a...

The New Hampshire Technical Institute is a small community college tucked into the historic town of Concord. NHTI is also the home of the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center – a remarkable resource for both students and visitors. This is the third year I have had the opportunity to co-teachContemporary Ethical Issues with Professor Stephen Ambra. The intensive class runs seven hours a day for five...

Apology and Forgiveness, Rights vs. Responsibilities, Television and Responsibility, Confirmation Bias, Justice vs. Compassion, Freedom vs. Responsibility, Ethics vs. Morality, Us vs. Them — those were just some of the issues discussed on this site over the last year. Some of the questions raised: The Best Man?, Do Facts Matter?, Is Honesty the Best Policy?, Good for the Soul?, Is...

There will always be senseless acts of violence in a free society, but… …when will we develop the social consciousness that says, we will not allow tragedies like Newtown, Connecticut to happen again and again? When will we act like the adults and parents we want our kids to be? When will we demonstrate the fundamental respect for each individual,...

I realized that in today’s fast-paced, scandal-driven, ADD-addicted, multi-platform media age, everybody offers awards but me! No longer. Owing to the ‘true’ American spirit of our fast-paced, yada, yada, yada age, I hereby offer The (First Annual?) Ethics Stupid Turkey Awards. Honorable mention: * Rudy the Parrot. C’mon folks, are we really that desperate to “Find out what’s happening,  » Read more about: The Turkeys are Here!...