Is it really okay to treat a woman the way we treat a hen, pumping her up with hormones so we can farm more eggs for sale? Is a human egg a widget and the donor nothing more than a cog? These questions were raised recently in a Fast Company magazine article showing how demand for human eggs that has "grown uncontrollably, proliferating in lockstep with a fertility industry that has become a billion-dollar global behemoth." Glenn McGee, editor of American Journal of Bioethics, was interviewed for the article and discusses it in an audio interview on the Bioethics Channel, saying he is "terrified" by the absence of regulatory oversight of the industry. "We are not sufficiently reverent with regard to what it means to 'make' people, and that has gotten worse and worse and worse." Related resources: Bioethics Channel audio interview, "Selling Human Eggs"; Fast Company article, "Unpacking the Global Human Egg Trade."
Corporate boards of directors "must build long-term, sustainable growth in value for shareholders and, by extension, other stakeholders," says a new report of the New York Stock Exchange's Commission on Corporate Governance appointed last year in response to the financial crisis. The report reiterates a series of principles for responsible governance, management and investing, many of which are overlooked in practice. Acknowledging that shareholders often fail to share the long-term interests of managers, employees, customers, suppliers and communities, the commission points out the difficulty of exercising long-term judgment "in the face of shareholders who may have competing interests and investment time horizons, an especially formidable question given the changing definition of 'shareholder,' and the likely continued evolution of share-ownership as technology continues to transform trading patterns." Related resource: Report of the NYSE Commission on Corporate Governance, Sept. 23, 2010.
Cheating on exams is not just a problem at academic institutions. An investigation by the U.S. Justice Department finds that a "significant" number of FBI agents and analysts cheated on an exam about guidelines for domestic surveillance. "Some consulted with others while taking the exam when that was specifically forbidden by the test-taking protocols," the report says. "Others used or distributed answers sheets or study guides that essentially provided the answers to the test. A few exploited a programming flaw to reveal the answers to the exam." Among the violators were several supervisors and a legal advisor, and nearly all who cheated falsely answered the final question, which asked if they had cheated. Related resource: U.S. Department of Justice "Investigation of Allegations of Cheating on the FBI’s Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide (DIOG) Exam."
Americans' trust and confidence in the legislative branch of government has dropped to a record-low level, a September survey by Gallup finds. Just 36 percent have at least a "fair amount" of trust in legislators, down from 45 percent a year earlier. "Trust in the judicial branch and trust in the executive branch also suffered sharp declines this year but remain higher than trust in the legislative branch," the researchers report. Trust in Congress peaked in 1972 at 71 percent, then began a precipitous drop in the mid-2000s. Related resource: Gallup online report, "Trust in Legislative Branch Falls to Record-Low 36%"
William R. (Bill) Johnston, former president of the New York Stock Exchange, will join three Samford University professors on a panel to discuss the status of Wall Street reform two years after the collapse of Lehman Brothers investment banking firm and the creation of the federal Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). "Financial Reform After the Wall Street Meltdown," a public program on Tuesday, Oct. 19, will be held at 4 p.m. in the Brock Forum of Samford's Dwight Beeson Hall. A reception will follow.
