1. Statline:

Public Downbeat on Moral State

Full story: http://www.globalethics.org/redir/nl.html?d=5/24/2004&;id=05240416433034

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2. Commentary by Rushworth M. Kidder:

Protect the Source or Solve the Crime?

When a federal grand jury last week subpoenaed two journalists to get them to reveal their sources, it raised one of democracy's most fundamental right-versus-right dilemmas. The jury wanted to know who leaked the name of covert CIA agent Valerie Plame, the wife of former ambassador Joseph Wilson IV. The subpoenas raise two questions: How important is a free press in the political arena? And how important is the deterrence of high-level government leaks? The ethical dilemma facing a democracy lies in the fact that both of these questions are important....

Full story: http://www.globalethics.org/redir/nl.html?d=5/24/2004&;id=05240416441429

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3. What They're Saying:

Time to Become a Leader

"We got a little bit of a wake-up call. Our company is growing up, and it was time to become a leader in these issues."

-- Bryant Hilton, spokesman for computer maker Dell. While Dell got drubbed last year for its poor environmental record, changes at the company helped Dell and Hewlett-Packard earn top spots this year in a "report card" from the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition. Still, with the highest recycling rates peaking at a mere 2 percent, "nobody is getting what any school child would recognize as a C grade," coalition director Ted Smith told the Associated Press....

Full story: http://www.globalethics.org/redir/nl.html?d=5/24/2004&;id=05240416444746

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4. Iraqi Prison Abuse Scandal Continues to Amplify

BAGHDAD

U.S. Army Spc. Jeremy Sivits pleaded guilty last week to complicity in the abuse of Iraqi prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison, apologizing for taking some of the photos that led to the broadening scandal. Among the other developments last week....

Full story: http://www.globalethics.org/redir/nl.html?d=5/24/2004&;id=0524041645217

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5. Medicare 'News' Segments by U.S. Government Deemed Illegal

WASHINGTON

The Bush administration broke federal law by using public funds to pay for propaganda in the form of video "news releases" touting the new Medicare law, the General Accounting Office ruled last week....

Full story: http://www.globalethics.org/redir/nl.html?d=5/24/2004&;id=05240416455585

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6. Catholic Members of Congress Protest Church's Threats

WASHINGTON

Forty-eight Roman Catholic members of Congress last week urged church leaders to stop threatening to deny communion rights to pro-choice politicians, saying the separation of church and state must stay clear-cut....

Full story: http://www.globalethics.org/redir/nl.html?d=5/24/2004&;id=05240416463033

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7. Lucent Fined $25 Million for Failure to Cooperate with Probe

NEWARK, New Jersey

Nine current and former executives from Lucent Technologies were charged last week with civil fraud for allegedly rigging the company's books to falsely report nearly $1.2 billion in revenue....

Full story: http://www.globalethics.org/redir/nl.html?d=5/24/2004&;id=05240416470339

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8. Richard Strong and His Firm Agree to $140 Million Settlement

WASHINGTON

Richard Strong, founder of the Wisconsin-based mutual fund firm Strong Capital Management, last week settled federal fraud charges by agreeing to $60 million in penalties and a lifetime ban from the financial services industry....

Full story: http://www.globalethics.org/redir/nl.html?d=5/24/2004&;id=0524041647367

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9. U.S. Sprint Champion Banned from Olympics for Steroid Use

NEW YORK

U.S. sprinting champion Kelli White last week admitted using illicit steroids and a blood-booster to improve her performance, accepting a two-year ban from competition as punishment....

Full story: http://www.globalethics.org/redir/nl.html?d=5/24/2004&;id=05240416480963

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10. Panel Finds 'Systemic Failings' in Boulder's Football Program

BOULDER

An independent panel looking into the football program at the University of Colorado released a scathing report last week, citing "systemic failings" that have lead to sexual and substance abuse by players and recruits....

Full story: http://www.globalethics.org/redir/nl.html?d=5/24/2004&;id=05240416483970

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11. Detroit Zoo, Citing Ethics, will Release Elephants to Sanctuary

DETROIT

In a landmark move, the Detroit Zoo last week announced that it would stop exhibiting elephants, saying that even its respected facilities were insufficient to meet the animals' real needs....

Full story: http://www.globalethics.org/redir/nl.html?d=5/24/2004&;id=05240416492321

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12. Research Report:

'Democrats and Republicans Agree that U.S. Morals are Subpar'

From the Gallup News Service:

"In a year filled with partisan bickering, it may come as some solace that Republicans and Democrats agree on at least one thing: the state of moral values in the country. Unfortunately, the consensus is not good. Roughly four in five Republicans and Democrats alike rate moral values in the United States as 'only fair' or 'poor.' Just one in five in either group thinks morals are 'excellent' or 'good.'..."

Full story: http://www.globalethics.org/redir/nl.html?d=5/24/2004&;id=0524041649554

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13. Quote from the Ethics File:

Take Part

"The punishment suffered by the wise who refuse to take part in the government, is to live under the government of bad men."

-- Plato (Greek philosopher, ca 428-348(or 347) B.C.)

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