Malloy opens Ethics Week at Mendoza
By JOHN FANNING
News Writer
University President Father Edward Malloy outlined the qualities that lead to professional success at a keynote address Tuesday that kicked off Ethics Week in the Mendoza College of Business.
Ethics Week, in its fifth consecutive year, is a week-long series of talks sponsored by the college to encourage morality and ethical practice both in job settings and other areas of life.
"The practitioners of various professions should be held to the highest standard," said Malloy. However, Malloy warned that one's code of ethics must not only be applied to oneself, but also to the actions of others.
"Judgements about hard cases involving people you know are very difficult to make," said Malloy.
Malloy said the safety and care of others must come before hiding the wrongdoings of a colleague. If a doctor or businessman has a drug or alcohol problem, which is affecting his interactions with his patients, then one must intervene for the benefit of everyone involved.
Malloy talked about the various elements that typically characterize a professionally successful person.
First, Malloy noted, one must have credentials — specialized training in the area or field in which he or she want to work. Second, they must have certification, such as a master's degree or a Ph.D., which gives validity and title to all of the preparation that they have done in order to prepare for the career.
Finally, Malloy stressed the fact that an individual can only be truly successful in the most complete sense if he or she also lives by a certain code of ethics that governs their actions in both their personal and professional lives.
In illustrating this point Malloy offered the example of someone entering the medical field. As part of the territory in health care, physicians typically deal with patients when they are at their most vulnerable, Malloy said. As a result of this imbalance of power, doctors and nurses must be certain not to violate their patient's rights in their weakened state, by sticking to an ethical code to guide their actions. This principle also holds true in the vocation of the priesthood said Malloy. When members of the church come to seek council and forgiveness through the sacrament of penance and reconciliation, it is the duty of the priest never to reveal these confessions to anyone, even in a court of law.
"All of the established professions have at times taken major hits," said Malloy in reference to the recent unethical practices of ENRON. However, in the spirit of the upcoming Ethics week, Malloy encourages graduate and undergraduate students to attain and live by a code of ethics in order to ensure their complete success as they venture out into the real world.
All News Stories for Wednesday, February 13, 2002
