Engineering Ethics Exam Review 2

More than 20,000 academic writers in Kenya perform work for students in the United States and Britain.

True

One theory about the root cause of the VW emissions cheating scandal is the VW engineering organization evolved its technologies in a way that subtly and stealthily, even organically, subverted the rules.

True

There has been not a single case that the FBI can demonstrate that if the FBI had a back door to a smartphone they could have stopped any terrorist attack anywhere.

True

Without strong encryption individuals, companies, institutions and government agencies are subject to massive data breaches and cybertheft.

True

A federal magistrate supports the position that the 1789 All Writs Act can be used to force Apple to carry out search warrants.

False

While there's no denying that research fraud is alive and well in today's universities, a recent survey from the British Medical Journal indicates that only one in twenty UK scientists surveyed indicated they had witnessed research fraud.

False

FBI Director James Comey stated that the tension between privacy and should not be resolved by corporations that sell stuff for a living.

True

A thorough review of Volkswagen's internal documents support the position that Martin Winterkorn, Volkswagen's chief executive was not aware of any possible emissions cheating by the company.

False

At present there are only two cheating websites that specialize in taking entire on line courses for students.

False

It is likely that students who cheat in academics are more likely to cheat in the business world. Since academic research indicates that academic dishonesty is on the rise this would seem to create an increasingly corrupt society.

True

It is now possible for students to buy their entire on-line degree by hiring cheating companies to take their courses even students attending highly reputable universities.

True

Some US lawmakers are working on legislation that would allow federal judges to order tech companies to help law enforcement access encrypted data.

True

With Apple's consent it would be ethical for Apple engineers to reveal software security source code to third parties even if this endangered the health, welfare and safety of the public.

False

Volkswagen of America C.E.O. Michael Horn told a House subcommittee investigating his company's ongoing emissions scandal that it wasn't a corporate decision to cheat on emissions tests by installing "defeat" software in eleven million diesel cars. Instead, Horn said, it was "a couple of software engineers.

True

William Josephson, a former assistant attorney general in New York who has investigated fraud, says companies that assume false identities violate federal laws governing interstate commerce.

True

Based on Dr. Fontenot's presentation, select only the statements below which are correct. Correct answers receive 100% positive partial credit. Incorrect answers receive 50% negative partial credit. The score is the sum of partial credits but not less than zero. a. Communication requires that your audience must agree with you. b. Written engineering communication is frequently task oriented. c. Forming mental models about your audience increases the noise in communication. d. PowerPoint presentations are rarely over used or misused. e. The Rule of 7 in PowerPoint presentations refers to the maximum recommended number of images on a slide

B, C

The U.S. National Science Foundation defines three types of research misconduct: Check the correct answers. Partial credit will be given for correct answers. Negative partial credit will be given for incorrect answers. The total score will not be less than zero. A. Publishing research in open scientific journals. B. Appropriation of another person's ideas, processes, results, or words without giving appropriate credit. C. Exaggerating professional accomplishments on one's vitae and resume D. Making up results and recording or reporting them E. Manipulating research materials, equipment, or processes or changing or omitting data or results such that the research is not accurately represented in the research record.

B, D, E

With reference to the NSPE Code of Ethics, which one of the following statements is true regarding the ethical obligations of the engineers involved in the VW Emissions Cheating Scandal. a. The VW engineers involved conducted themselves honorably, responsibly, ethically, and lawfully so as to enhance the honor, reputation, and usefulness of the profession. b. As faithful agents and trustees of Volkswagen the engineers involved could not ethically report the emissions cheating violations to public authorities. c. The VW engineers involved were ethically obligated to hold paramount the health, welfare and safety of the public even if their supervisors directed them to implement software and hardware that enabled cheating on the emissions testing software. d. The VW engineers involved were not ethically obligated to report to their supervisors and to upper management the emissions cheating violations being implemented in the control system hardware and software.

C

Companies who write papers for students are not concerned about removing meta data to cover their tracks.

False

Diederik Stapel, a Dutch social psychologist, was cleared of allegations of academic fraud that asserted he had made up his research studies.

False

In research studies, very few college students say they have cheated on an assignment. Fewer than 10% of students say they are willing to purchase cheating services.

False

It would be ethical for Apple engineers to build an operating system with a secret backdoor that would allow government agencies and others to bypass privacy and security features of smartphones, tablets and computers.

False

The VW engineers having knowledge of the software installed to cheat on emissions tests were not ethically obligated to bring this to the attention of their supervisors nor to inform outside authorities if the issue was not corrected.

False

This question requires critical thinking. Read each question carefully. Based on Dr. Fontenot's and Dr. Marcy's presentation on copyright and plagiarism, match the statements below with the correct answers. Answers may be used more than once. Correct answers receive 100% positive partial credit. Incorrect answers receive 50% negative partial credit. Unanswered questions result in negative partial credit. The score is the sum of partial credits but not less than zero. Plagiarism is submitting someone else's work as your own work. This statement is true. Taking passages from your own published work without providing proper reference citations for that work is considered plagiarism. This statement is true. Using quotations, but not citing the source is considered plagiarism. This statement is true. Providing proper citations, but failing to change the structure and wording of the borrowed ideas is considered plagiarism. This statement is true. Failing to bring original thought into the text of an article is considered plagiarism. This statement is true. Under the copyright law of the United States, exclusive copyrights expire upon the author's death. This statement is false. The copyright law of the United States protects not only the "expression" of an idea but also the "idea" itself. This statement is false. If a work is made "for hire" within the meaning of the copyright act of the United States, then the employer or commissioning party, is deemed to be the author and will own the copyright as though it was the true author. This statement is true. The copyright law of the United States protects the names of businesses, organizations and groups This statement is false. Works placed in the public domain are free for anyone to copy and use. The term "public domain" means that the work is not covered by any intellectual property rights at all (copyright, trademark, patent, or otherwise). This statement is true. The Fair Use exception under copyright law of the United States removes the requirement to provide proper citation of the source. This statement is false. Common Knowledge does not always need to be cited, but the assertion that something is Common Kowledge is an insufficient reason not to cite another's work if you are using their work. This statement is true.

Refer to question.

This question requires you to think critically about the implications of the NSPE Code of Ethics. Using the NSPE Code of Ethics and Rules of Practice as the basis, match each statement below with the correct answer, true or false. Answers may be used more than once. Correct answers result in positive partial credit. Incorrect answers result in 50% negative partial credit. Unanswered questions result in negative partial credit. The score is the sum of positive and negative partial credits but not less than zero. Since engineers are ethically obligated to act for each employer or client as faithful agents or trustees they are expected to conceal unethical or illegal acts of their clients or employers from the public and outside authorities. This statement is false. It is unethical for engineers to solicit or accept financial or other valuable consideration, directly or indirectly, from outside agents in connection with the work for which they are responsible. This statement is true. It is ethical for engineers to exaggerate their qualifications and their associates' qualifications if the purpose is to gain a competitive advantage in winning contract awards. This statement is false. It is unethical for engineers and/or their employers to make donations to political candidates to influence future consideration for contract awards by public authorities even if the donations are legal under election laws. This statement is true. It is ethical for engineers to make statements containing a material misrepresentation of facts or omitting material facts to protect the financial interests of their clients or employers. This statement is false. Engineers are ethically obligated not to disclose, without consent, confidential information concerning the business affairs or technical processes of their clients or employers. The consequence is that engineers are expected to conceal unethical or illegal acts of their clients or employers from the public and regulatory agencies. This statement is false. It is unethical for engineers to accept compensation, financial or otherwise, from more than one party for services on the same project, or for services pertaining to the same project, unless the circumstances are fully disclosed and agreed to by all interested parties. This statement is true. It is ethical for engineers to undertake assignments in any field provided they are qualified by education or experience in the specific technical fields involved. This statement is true. It is ethical for engineers to accept assignments and assume responsibility for coordination of an entire project and sign and seal the engineering documents for the entire project, provided that each technical segment is signed and sealed by qualified engineers who prepared the segment. This statement is true. It is unethical for engineers to admit design errors if by doing so this would harm the financial interests of their clients or employers. This statement is false.

Refer to question.

A magistrate judge in Brooklyn ruled that the government couldn't force Apple to help break into an iPhone and questioned the government's legal rationale using an 1789 law called the All Writs Act.

True

Amit Yoran, president of the Massachusetts-based security firm RSA, told the panel that "creating a 'back door' into all encryption for law enforcement means creating opportunity for a much broader set of people with nefarious intentions to harm us."

True

And every month, hundreds of students put assignments up for bid on Freelancer.com and Upwork. The going rate for a major assignment is in the range of $600-$750 to get professionals to do the work.

True

At Penn State, professor Craig Grimes has been accused of defrauding the National Institutes of Health and Advanced Research Projects Agency of federal grant monies, to the tune of $3 million. Grimes requested grants to study the measurement of gases in a patient's blood, but the money was not spent for this research. Instead, clinical trials were never performed, and the grant funds were misappropriated, largely for the personal use of Grimes. Grimes has been charged with making false statements, money laundering, and fraud. He faces up to 35 years in prison and a fine of $750,000.

True

At Syracuse University the NCAA found that academic work submitted wasn't done by Syracuse players. As part of the investigation, Syracuse used metadata analysis and found that "the 'Author' and 'Last edited by author' field was attributed to someone other than the student-athlete.

True

Dr. Anil Potti resigned from his job at Duke University amid questions of research fraud. It was discovered that Potti exaggerated his credentials, claiming incorrectly that he was a Rhodes scholar. The American Cancer Society suspended hundreds of thousands of grant dollars that were to be used for Potti's work. Nine of Potti's papers on individualized treatments for cancer have been retracted.

True

For Bengü Sezen at Columbia University, over the course of a decade, conducted a massive and sustained effort to manipulate and falsify research data. She even created fictitious people and organizations to back up her data and results. Sezen was found guilty of 21 counts of research misconduct, with at least nine papers found to be falsified, fabricated, plagiarized, or unable to be replicated.

True

Given the scope of the problems and cheating exposed in the VW emissions cheating scandal, there's reason to believe the scandal will spread to gasoline engines and carbon dioxide emissions, which are considered a prime cause of climate change.

True

In 2006, Korean researcher Hwang Woo-suk was found to have fabricated a series of experiments in stem cell research. He was previously famous for his two Science journal articles in which he reported success in creating human embryonic stem cells through cloning, but is now infamous for his massive case of fraud and scientific misconduct after it was revealed that much of his stem cell research had been faked.

True

The FBI sees the issue with Apple as a privacy vs. security debate while the tech community sees it as a security vs. surveillance debate.

True

The US EPA was not the agency that detected the VW emissions cheating scandal. It was the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) executive director, Drew Kodjak lead the commission to conduct their own field tests of VW's fleet of diesel cars.

True

The VW engineers assigned to the project to design and implement the automotive systems and software involved in the VW emissions cheating scandal were ethically obligated not to participate in this project and to inform outside authorities even though they were employed by VW. True or False? Response Feedback: NSPE Professional Obligations: Engineers shall not complete, sign, or seal plans and/or specifications that are not in conformity with applicable engineering standards. If the client or employer insists on such unprofessional conduct, they shall notify the proper authorities and withdraw from further service on the project.

True

The consequences of exposing scientific misconduct can be very damaging for the individual who exposes it.

True

VW was plunged into its deepest-ever crisis ever when it came to light that the carmaker had installed emissions cheating software into 11 million diesel engines worldwide.

True

Volkswagen has admitted that the emissions cheating began almost a decade earlier after engineers and managers realized that a new generation of diesel motors could not meet United States air quality standards legally.

True