Part two in a series of faculty-written pieces that underscore how Mays educators are bringing ethics education to our students.

In the honors section of Fundamentals of Information Systems, I spend a full lecture on computer crimes, information security and ethics. These are very important topics for our modern computerized education and work environments.

The class is attentively quiet when the criminal aspects of computer use are discussed. Most students are computer literate. But, especially in an information systems classroom, some are highly familiar with all aspects of Internet technology, including Web sites from which hacking tools can be downloaded. By the end of class, students are fully aware that unleashing these kinds of tools is a criminal offense.

A more relevant issue to students’ research and education needs is that of plagiarism. The Web has made it very easy to conduct research on almost any topic. Although most are aware of the ease with which material can be copied and pasted from the Web, some aren’t aware until our discussion of the severity of unethical aspects of copying from the Web without giving proper credit to the source.

Interesting debates emerge over the real-world cases on issues that are not as clear-cut as criminal offenses or plagiarism. The class warms up when we start discussing the use of computers for personal benefits. I ask: Is it ethical to send or receive personal e-mail while at work? Or, to access non-work related Web sites while on the job? What is the limit of the number of personal e-mails sent or received during a day or a week at work?

The debate erupts to a heated discussion when the issues of monitoring employees’ e-mail and the ownership of e-mail are brought to the fore. Many students are surprised that the laws and the courts have recognized the ownership right of the employer over employee e-mail. They are more surprised when they realize that one third of employers in the U.S. monitor employees’ e-mail.