More than a soundbite To the Editor:
Generally, the article about a corporate ethics panel sponsored by the University Honor Council ("Corporate panel addresses ethical issues," The Daily Pennsylvanian, 10/3/02) did a fine job representing the diversity of perspectives and reactions among those present. The recent attention given to corporate ethics suggests how critical the issue may be to our economy and to our general social well-being.
However, as a member of the panel, a lecturer at this university on corporate responsibility and ethics and a businessperson, I wish to clarify one remark that was attributed to me out of context.
In saying, "Good ethics is good business," I was not making a statement that I believe to be generally true as the article implied I was. Rather, I quoted the statement to suggest that those who make it lack evidence to back it up and that it is vague and questionably meaningful.
In fact, I am concerned that those outside of business who make that statement as a form of advocacy for corporate social responsibility will be rightfully dismissed by the business community as naive.
There are many complex and exciting issues in business that need attention to create and restore market trust. I do not wish to oversimplify the debate by suggesting that there is a proven, direct relationship between so-called "ethical" conduct and profitability. As we have seen through Enron, Worldcom and other cases, business misconduct can certainly contribute to business failure. But for "good ethics" to be "good business" will require the actions and sentiments of many -- businesspeople, students, consumers, legislators, scholars and others -- even to begin to make a few words meaningful.
Christopher Michaelson Lecturer, Legal Studies Department
Poverty the real issue
To the Editor:
To be sure, the "Badlands" in the 25th Police District of North Philadelphia are "known for narcotics dealings and violent crimes" ("On the beat in the Badlands," DP, 10/15/02). But to understand why, and what this really indicates, one needs more than a recap of a police officer's day in the district.
We need an examination of the issue of poverty that has caused community deterioration and created the crime, violence and drug economy in the inner city. Investigation of the facts shows that when police are stationed on drug corners, the dealers have merely moved on to the next block.
The problem is not going away. The only real solution is to address the poverty itself.
To know the truth behind what is happening with community development, police activity and the drug economy, have someone who is a part of the community tell you what is really going on there. Take a "reality tour" or a "drug war reality tour" with Empty the Shelters, a group of Penn students who work closely with a poor people's organization in the "Badlands."
As Penn students, we are a part of Philadelphia and we cannot simply skim over a policeman's account and romanticize the "tough world" of the inner city. We need to acknowledge the poverty in this city and understand its context and causes, and what is really happening.
We need to accept the responsibility we hold as students at the most powerful institution in Philadelphia, an institution of such great resources coexisting in a city with some of the country's worst poverty.
Martha Cooney College '05
The writer is co-coordinator of Empty the Shelters.
