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From: taylor@hplabsc.UUCP (Dave Taylor)
Newsgroups: mod.comp-soc
Subject: Re: The Ethics of Work...
Message-ID: <537@hplabsc.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 8-Aug-86 16:50:22 EDT
Article-I.D.: hplabsc.537
Posted: Fri Aug  8 16:50:22 1986
Date-Received: Sat, 9-Aug-86 10:23:28 EDT
Reply-To: hplabs!tektronix!reed!kehoe
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Laboratories
Lines: 59
Approved: taylor@hplabs
Reference: <524@hplabsc.UUCP>

This article is from tektronix!reed!kehoe (Dave Kehoe)
 and was received on Fri Aug  8 02:08:37 1986
 

[Editorial note:  I trust this message isn't the harbinger of discussion to
 come on this topic - I don't think we're interested in hearing about the
 problems, per se, with DoD contractors (etc), but rather with the personal
 moral and ethical reasons behind either working or leaving the industry,
 or, for that matter, never even considering it.   Also, I've taken the
 liberty of slightly editing the content of this message... -- Dave]


Good question -- how about cross-posting to net.jobs.d?

[I've posted a message with a pointer to mod.comp-soc to the group indicated]

I worked for a defense contractor for 8 days last April, and quit.  It wasn't 
so much for "conscience" as I was writing a maintenance manual on a steam 
co-generator to reduce fuel consumption on Navy ships.  I quit because of
the shabby work being done.

Let me preface this by saying that I am reporting only what I heard -- I 
could be mistaken on some of these points.  The company is called Publication 
Services, of Tigard, Oregon, with contracts with Tektronix and the Navy.

 - 4 of the 10 employees were fired or quit in those 8 days.  A high turnover 
   rate seemed to be the norm.

 - The owner was billing the Navy $240,000 on a project that would cost him 
   $40,000.  He gotten the contract because he knew someone at Caterpillar, 
   the prime contractor.  The contract was never open-bid.

 - He'd heard that the project would be cancelled before he'd gotten the 
   contract, so got a 30-day cancellation clause written into the contract. 
   He hired writers, and then the project was cancelled.  He said, "Do a good 
   job, our reputation is of quality work, blah, blah, BUT you can leave holes 
   in it if you want.  Don't waste time on making sure it's accurate, because 
   no one will ever read it."

 - The company does contract technical writing, and doesn't own a single word 
   processor.  The employees had to share 3 typewriters.  When I suggested 
   spending $2000 on a word processor, I was told that that expense was out 
   of the question.

I got a better job offer and quit.  I called two congressmen, and talked with 
their aides, and was told that this company was doing nothing unlawful or 
unusual.

I'd say that there's nothing unethical about working for the DoD if you keep 
careful notes on all suspicious or questionable activities, and then give 
these to a newspaper to investigate.  Remember what Che Guevara (sp.?) said 
about working in the heart of the beast.  I think ethical people should work 
for the CIA or for defense contractors.  If ethical people refuse to work
at such places, only unethical people will work there.

Let me repeat that anything I wrote about Publications Services could be 
wrong.  I'm only repeating what I heard there.

	Dave Kehoe    (503) 230-9454    ...tektronix!reed!kehoe