Ethics must be part of business By CAROL CHASE Collegian Staff Writer He refused corruption, and he made it to the top. Fletcher Byrom, retired chief exec utive officer of Koppers Company, Inc., spoke about the role of education in determining business ethics last night at the G. Albert Shoemaker Program in Business Ethics in Kern. Byrom, who is almost 70 years old, said many people ask how he can claim to have strong moral beliefs and be a CEO. Everyone assumes executive offi cers are corrupt, he said. Byrom said this is incorrect, citing himself as an example. "If I cannot operate without not acting as a part of the corruption then I don't want to be in such a business," he said. Ethics cannot be taught, Byrom said. But it is possible to provide guidelines of how to make proper ethical decisions. Moral philosophy must be insti tuted at every leVel of education and should be deeply ingrained in stu dents while in business school. Byrom said. "And I'm not insisting that a course in ethics is going to do the job," he said. "I do not believe you can motivate people to be exceedingly good by telling them what they cannot do." All people inherently have their own moral code, he said. Byrom said business schools should have interdisciplinary seminars dis cussing moral implications of case studies. The course should not count for credit, he said, because people Halloween Square Dance When: October 30. 1987 Time: 8-11 1).11i. Cost 52.0( Place: 126 White Caller: Don Shreckengosi RIM I Sponsored by Collegidte 4-11 (111( 1=1:, \ Everyone Welcome! RO3B UNII=MARTS o and / 14 0 0 41 1— e;dercee . s tow Renaissance Interest House SPONSOR Dimes and a smile help us run Sunday, November Ist, 1:00 The Dime Route runs along South Atherton Street from College Avenue to University Drive. No Prere • istration Re • uired For more details call 237-1719 Special Guest Franco Harris at Sunday's Exxon, 1200 S. Atherton St. The Second Mile is a private, nonprofit charitable organization devoted to fostering the welfare of children and adolescents. The organization operates a number of programs including foster care, summer camp, assistance funds, counseling, and a friend program. should want to gain a clear picture of morality. Philip Cochran, University asso ciate professor of business adminis tration, said the University offers two ethics courses for business students. One course is required for all second year business students. Business Ad ministration 355 may be used as a requirement by business students. Cochran said debate has begun in the United States over the feasibility of teaching ethics. Ethics are inherent in people, so there is no need to teach them, he said. That presumes everyone will act according to their own set of morals regardless of what they are taught. But if instructors presume people are good, then teaching ethics "can sensitize students to the complexities of decision that can have ethical consequences," he said. Byrom said, "Nothing else you will learn (at the University) will be as important in your lifetime as an un derstanding of how you will deal with the ambiguities of decisions you will have to make." Byrom said he always acts accord ing to his moral beliefs. He said in the past he has lost over $BO million in business deals by refus ing to take actions that would com promise his moral beliefs. He could do this because he was a CEO, he said. But it might be more difficult for up-and-coming business people to adhere to a strict moral code because it may mean losing their job. Another problem people lace is not knowing what is right or wrong in complicated circumstances, he said. "These ( business) matters are not NH N Collegian Photo I Theresa Dylewski Fletcher L. Byron as clean cut as moral philosophers might have you believe," Byrom told the audience. The two-day program, held by the Penn State College of Business Ad ministration, includes a panel dis cussion at 9:30 this morning in the Frizzell Room. Eisenhower Chapel. The discussion will feature business leaders from various sectors of American industry. The program was established in 1986 by Albert Shoemaker and his wife, Mercedes. Shoemaker is the retired president of Consolidation Coal Company in Pittsburgh, and president emeritus of the University Board of Trustees. * - 1 0 1 - 4-4-**4-4-1 1 -4-4-4-4-4-1 0 0-4-**4( * 4( 4( Panhel Presents: 4( 4( 4( 4( 4( * 4( For both mcn women! Movics. prordtils. speokers tun! Women's Awareness Week 'B7 Nov. 1-Nov. 8 (,Om(' join us in our cciehrdlion! kyriliwinnumiu i au. ********************* Collegian and USEC discuss their roles By PAMELA WEIERS Collegian Staff Writer Members of the Undergraduate Student Executive Council and The Daily Collegian's Board of Editors discovered a gap last night in their perceptions of the Collegian's role at the University. Members of USEC said the Collegian should cooperate with student leaders by collaborating in support or opposition of issues important to University students. But, Collegian Editor Chris Ray mond said the newspaper tries not to side specifically with either students or the University admin istration in its news coverage or editorial opinions. "We view ourselves as an inde pendent newspaper and we try to go by the same standards as a professional newspaper," Ray mond said. "We don't bend to public pressure or public senti ment. We are very protective of that independent status." The Collegian is financially in dependent and does not receive University funding or a student organization budget. The Univer sity buys 14.000 newspapers per day to distribute on campus as part of a contract that allows the Collegian to use office space in Carnegie Building. Raymond said. John Zahor, president of the Organization for Town Indepen dent Students, said he was "a little C:- (--- vEePq, Tr . i'l-c , .0-• n 0404.0 Icoi_Lecit - Alsriur_ I:1 uut+tAr-r .. BeMer.- Aut}4uv- .m. taken aback" by the Collegian editors' contention that their role is separate from student opinion. Both groups admitted their rela tions could be improved. Student leaders asked members of the Collegian's Board of Opinion if they were aware of the impact the paper's editorial opinions has on students. Raymond responded,"l think we acknowledge the impact of our editorial opinions . . . We are not going to go out there and poll students before we write an edito rial." "To get the best. most accurate information out to students, we should pool it. - said. Bobbi Mel chiorre, president of the Associa tion of Residence Hall Students. The Collegian is not just a mouth-piece for student organiza tions. Collegian Campus Editor Carolyn Sorisio said. "We all attend Penn State, - replied Graduate Student Associa tion President Alison Jones. Sorisio said she thinks student organizations and the Collegian work better when they work sepa rately. Gary Price, Council of Common wealth Student Government's coordinator, said the discussion established "if not a better relationship, a better understand ing. We at least know now where we stand." Where We Stand: Commonalities & Conflicts In Black Experiences Presented by I D R ld D- N 1 ), 1 IN N Sponsors: Caribbean Students Association Black Studies P.ogram Paul Robeson Cultural Center ____ .. . ..t.; - e -'2 %=", . e:;;A - •' -- ,• -, :, . . 0:7 - ee .. .' 'I, '".. . ti .."?, ,• • * -- Z. •"--. . , - ' --. 0--e• . " -- c - ''''-,,, +7. •,--.,.. .. 0 !,.;>'--_-. , , r. ona_ ,athorne Where: Paul Robeson Cultural Center When: Monday, Nov. 2 7PM 140._ 111=1 Pa. rewrites ethics law for officials By ROD SNYDER Associated Press Writer HARRISBURG Legislation re writing the state Ethics Law emerged from the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday with toughened provi sions on ethical conduct for public officials. Key portions of the bill include the state's first statutory definition of conflict of interest. a prohibition on many severance agreements and an expanded definition of immediate family members prohibited from benefiting from a public official's position. "It makes it a stronger law... said Rep. H. William DeWeese. a Greene County Democrat who chairs the Judiciary Committee. The bill became bogged down in committee when rank-and-file law makers and legislative leaders wanted to review and revise it before sending it to the full House for a vote. The bill still faces amendments on the House floor and then must go to the Senate. The legislation defines a conflict of interest as "use by a public official or public employee of the authority of his office or any confidential informa tion received through his holding public office or employment for the private pecuniary benefit or detri ment of himself, a member of his immediate family, or a business with which he or a member of his immedi ate family is associated." Participate by Laying Your Dimes Aong the Two Mile Route in Support of The Second Mile. !-** sk4 ) ? S S Ns,
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers