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In the News
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Week of 26 March 1999 |
Vol. II, No. 28 |
In the News
Ads appearing in student newspapers at some major universities lately seeking just the right human egg donor -- tall, brainy, athletic -- have been a source of controversy. "This really forces the question of whether you want a market in human eggs," says George Annas, BU School of Public Health professor, in the March 6 Boston Globe. "With $50,000 there's no illusion that you're doing anything but buying eggs that have the possibility of producing a child with certain characteristics." Annas specializes in ethics in the field of medicine.
"If there's Fleet and BankBoston to go to if you're a small business and you're trying to seek a loan, then you have one company you can play against the other in terms of getting the best terms for a loan," says Laurence Kotlikoff, CAS professor of economics, in an interview on WBZ-TV's March 14 newscast. "If you have only one big player to go to, that's less competition." Kotlikoff was commenting on the narrowed financial playing field resulting from the merger of BankBoston and Fleet Bank.
The increasing dominance of managed care is prompting new departures in medical school curricula. "It's an interesting phenomenon because medical schools in the past have not generally been about economics and business," says John McCahan, associate dean of academic affairs at BU's School of Medicine, in the Boston Globe March 7. "All of a sudden we have to deal with the notion that students cannot walk out of our doors totally naive about the world in which they will be working."
CAS Professor of Psychology Frances Grossman, commenting in a March 12 Boston Herald story, says about a recent child molestation case, "The competing rights and issues are very complex and troublesome in this type of situation." The alleged fondling took place in public, making some ask if the victims misinterpreted what happened. "When kids say that people have dealt with their bodies in an inappropriate way, it's really very important that we as a culture listen up and take it seriously," says Grossman, who specializes in child abuse cases. "On the other side, anybody can be accused, and we need protection" from wrongful accusations.
Freedom of speech may not be a founding principle of the government of China, but that doesn't mean that there isn't a vital exchange of ideas going on behind the scenes. In the March 5 Chronicle of Higher Education, CAS History Professor Merle Goldman says, "There is a crackdown on public discussions of political matters in the media and at meetings, but private discussions and debate continue." Goldman specializes in Chinese politics.
"In the News" is compiled by Alexander Crouch in the Office of Public Relations.