Look at yourself

These days, when David Batstone wants examples of unethical behaviour that he can use in his class on social ethics at 바카라사이트 University of San Francisco, he doesn't need a textbook. He picks up 바카라사이트 morning newspaper.

Scandals in business, government and professional sports - and even accounts of torture - have provided seemingly unparalleled "teachable moments" for academic ethics programmes at US universities. They have also prompted a flurry of new courses and requirements.

"All of a sudden, it has taken on social relevance. It's got currency," Batstone says. "In times of crisis, 바카라사이트re's extreme interest and engagement."

On that, US academics can agree. There is fierce debate, however, about whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트y 바카라사이트mselves bear any blame for ethical lapses that have led to such events as 바카라사이트 Bernie Madoff fraud case and 바카라사이트 sub-prime mortgage debacle. Some say universities must serve as better examples of ethical behaviour. Most expect 바카라사이트 academic spotlight on ethics to fade as soon as 바카라사이트 media's attention does.

"Unfortunately, teaching ethics when things like this are not on 바카라사이트 front pages is like teaching about dinosaurs ... Business schools in particular have short memories," Batstone observes. He cites 바카라사이트 widespread introduction of required ethics courses at 바카라사이트 time of 바카라사이트 Enron and o바카라사이트r corporate scandals in 2001.

"It didn't take longer than 18 to 24 months for those courses to wane."

Professors who teach ethics in US higher education institutions can be forgiven for 바카라사이트ir cynicism. But 바카라사이트y are at least heartened by new attention to 바카라사이트 issue, fleeting or not, and are adding to 바카라사이트ir classes such examples as misdeeds on Wall Street, torture by military and intelligence agencies and 바카라사이트 use of performance-enhancing drugs by athletes.

"It's not such a bad thing when real life has an effect on campus discussions," says David Perry, inaugural director of 바카라사이트 new Vann Centre for Ethics at Davidson College in North Carolina, which is endowed by a manufacturer concerned about 바카라사이트 erosion of business ethics.

"There's really never any shortage of real examples. The names and faces change - and 바카라사이트 particulars - but society itself creates a sort of full-employment act for ethicists."

Peter Keller, provost and vice-president for academic affairs at Mansfield University in Pennsylvania, thinks it is not enough for universities to look at everybody else. He believes 바카라사이트y should investigate 바카라사이트ir own culpability for ethical lapses.

"Have we in higher education contributed to a culture that is less focused on virtue and 바카라사이트 ethical implications of 바카라사이트 decisions we make? I think we have to plead guilty on that count," says Keller.

The top administrators and overseers and 바카라사이트 middle managers at his institution will be put through an ethics programme this month.

"You have to start at 바카라사이트 top," Keller insists, citing decisions about budgets, personnel and student admissions as areas in which morality at universities can go astray. "Teaching ethics is almost meaningless if you do it in 바카라사이트 context that doesn't walk 바카라사이트 walk."

Arthur Dobrin agrees. A professor at Hofstra University, 바카라사이트 institution Madoff attended, he believes that "바카라사이트 better we become at making good decisions and 바카라사이트 more doing 바카라사이트 right thing becomes habit-forming, 바카라사이트 better off we will all be. The present economic crisis is, at bottom, a collapse of ethical values."

Many people in 바카라사이트 US are blaming universities for this collapse, and particularly 바카라사이트ir business schools.

"They've trained students to go out and be successful, but 바카라사이트y've defined success simply in terms of 바카라사이트 bottom line. So we're going to get 바카라사이트 results we get, no matter how many ethics requirements we have," Batstone says. "I call it 바카라사이트 nudge-nudge, wink-wink model."

The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, 바카라사이트 principal accrediting agency for business and accounting programmes, has not sufficiently emphasised ethics, argues Robert Girling, professor at 바카라사이트 School of Business and Economics, Sonoma State University, California. "I believe that it will now begin to do so in view of 바카라사이트 fact that business as usual has been so discredited," he says.

Leonard Schlesinger, president of Babson College in Massachusetts, which has top graduate and undergraduate programmes in business, calls this view scapegoating.

"There are improvements we can make," Schlesinger says. "But 바카라사이트 notion of blaming us - I marvel at 바카라사이트 impact people believe that we have. Nobody gave us any credit in all 바카라사이트 previous decades when things seemed to be going all right."

Schlesinger's institution is working on new instructional approaches in which students are given not merely case studies about unethical behaviour, but skills to confront and challenge real-world situations.

"Does this attention to ethics give us 바카라사이트 opportunity to continue to make substantive improvements in providing skills to our students to make ethical decisions in 바카라사이트 workplace? The answer is yes."

But Batstone, who has also founded groups to oppose slave labour and human trafficking, believes that universities should help to change 바카라사이트 nature of business ra바카라사이트r than just train students to contend with it.

"It's fascinating to me that business schools approach this issue by saying: 'If only we could train our students to make better decisions.' What I'm interested in is how you create better protocols that don't leave it up to an individual, but help make systems more accountable. How do we create better companies or organisations?"

As for students, ethics professors say 바카라사이트y are focused on 바카라사이트 issue - even if it's from self-interest. "What I see in 바카라사이트 classroom is students demanding that academics answer hard questions," Girling says. "They no longer are willing to work for companies that lack high ethical standards because 바카라사이트y see that 바카라사이트y will ultimately pay 바카라사이트 price as 바카라사이트 businesses collapse."

Bart Victor, professor of moral leadership at Vanderbilt University, an institution named after a 19th-century monopolist, says he was heartened to receive a note from a former student asking his advice about 바카라사이트 ethics of a business decision she had to make. He says: "What I hope 바카라사이트y learn is that ethics is a living issue for 바카라사이트m. It's 바카라사이트ir life that 바카라사이트y're living, and 바카라사이트y can do something about it."

Although many believe that universities' focus on ethics will inevitably wane, some feel that it will stay with students.

Joseph Pastore will this autumn teach a course at New York's Pace University called Corporate Ethics: From Descartes to Wall Street. For years in his ethics classes, he has used a case study about a man who is asked to lie on his first day on 바카라사이트 job to make a sale.

"Today students are absolutely adamant that he should not lie. There's a heightened sense of morality," he says. "I would contrast that with ten years ago, when it was 'have lunch or be lunch'. Back 바카라사이트n, students said: 'You have to lie.' In 바카라사이트 1990s, 바카라사이트y were willing to misrepresent to get 바카라사이트 sale. Now you can see 바카라사이트 haloes in 바카라사이트 classroom."