News: Markkula Center for Applied Ethics Hits the Information Superhighway

In its constant quest to open up a dialogue on values - witness the ethics "graffiti" board outside the Ethics House - the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics has gone online at http://www.scu.edu/Ethics/.

Center Director Thomas Shanks, S.J., one of the architects of the Center's Web page, explains the impetus behind the project: "Ethics is not a discipline where academics have all the answers. We wanted to initiate interaction between the scholars associated with the Center and people in the community who are dealing with ethical questions every day in the workplace or in their homes or at the voting booth. The Internet allows us to do this."

At the heart of the Ethics Center's Web page is the Ethics Connection, which Dylan Pass, the Santa Clara University freshman who did the graphics for the site, describes as "a way for people around the community to come and open up discussion [on ethical issues]." Pass built the site along with freshman Ben Trott.

Linked to the Ethics Connection is an open forum, where users can respond to various topics, such as case studies that raise ethical questions. Also online will be Center and University publications, archives, and transcripts of Center programs, history and background on the Center, and a calendar of upcoming events. In addition, those who log on can use the Markkula Center's Web page to link with other sites that have a similar focus.