Studies have also been performed on laboratory animals.
Typically, these are done by placing the animals in an environment containing rf fi elds designed to mimic those of cell phones. Like the epidemiological studies, the research studies on laboratory animals have not indicated any signifi cant increase in health prob- lems for the animals. Of course, since laboratory animals are not humans, the results may not be directly applicable to humans.
There have been some studies of the effects of rf radiation on laboratory tissue and cell cultures. The results of these studies and their applicability to human health are controversial. Some theoretical studies have examined how rf energy might be deposited into a human brain during cell phone use. These studies are very diffi cult to benchmark because it is diffi cult to make measurements of energy deposition directly into a human brain.
Studies of the biological effects of cell phones continue. In February of 2011, the New York Times reported [ Parker-Pope, 2011 ] the results of a study performed by researchers at the National Institutes of Health. This study found that cell phone use leads to a 7% increase in brain activity in areas of the brain closest to the phone’s antenna. These results are signifi cant because although the levels of radiation emit- ted by cell phones is low, nevertheless this radiation causes measurable effects on the human brain. How important this increase in brain activity is and how it might affect human health remains to be determined.
What is an engineer working for a cell phone company or some other company making products that emit rf radiation to do when confronted with the ongoing concerns about the health effects of rf fi elds? Cell phones can certainly be rede- signed to reduce or eliminate this problem, but, of course, any design that will lead to reduced emission will probably cost more. We won’t know for many years what the fi nal answer is regarding cell phone health effects. For now, it seems that cell phones are probably safe to use. What is the prudent and ethical thing to do in designing such products in an atmosphere where some doubt about safety exists? This case illustrates the problems that engineers have in dealing with and managing the unknown. Many of the designs that engineers produce are experimental in nature or deal with effects that aren’t fully understood. It is incumbent on the
Chapter 4 Ethical Problem-Solving Techniques 69
designer to be informed about the potential risks to users of her designs and to seek to minimize these risks to the extent possible.
Vice President Spiro Agnew and Construction Kickbacks in Maryland
In January of 1973, architects and consulting engineers all over Baltimore, Maryland, were seeking out any available defense attorneys with experience in criminal law. This activity was brought on by subpoenas issued by the U.S. Attorney for Maryland, George Beall, who was looking into charges of bribes and kickbacks given to elected offi cials by engineers working in the construction industry. The subpoenas required these engineers to submit the records of their fi rms to the U.S. attorney. One of these engineers was Lester Matz, a partner in Matz, Childs and Associates, a Baltimore engineering fi rm. The subsequent events described by Richard Cohen and Jules Witcover in their book A Heartbeat Away eventually led to the disgrace and resigna- tion of Spiro Agnew, then the Vice President of the United States.
Matz was an engineer trained at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Although his fi rm was doing well, it always seemed to lose out to other fi rms on big public-works contracts. In Maryland, engineering and architectural services for gov- ernment projects were not put out for bid, but rather were awarded to individual fi rms using various criteria, including the fi rm’s ability to do the work, its perfor- mance on past contracts, etc. Interestingly, unlike the situation for engineering ser- vices, the contractor for government projects was chosen through a competitive bidding process. It became clear to Matz that in acquiring government contracts, his talents and those of his fi rm were unimportant. What was required to get the contracts for public works was contacts in government and the requisite bribes and kickbacks.
In 1961, Matz began courting Spiro T. Agnew, an ambitious and rising politi- cian. In 1962, Matz donated $500 to Agnew’s campaign for Baltimore county execu- tive, a post that is roughly equivalent to mayor for the areas of the county outside the city limits of Baltimore. The county executive wielded great power in determin- ing who received contracts for the engineering services required for the numerous public-works projects undertaken by the county. The campaign contribution was given by Matz and his partner in the hopes of receiving some of the county engi- neering contracts that they had been locked out of. After Agnew won the election, the contribution made by Matz’s engineering fi rm was rewarded with contracts for county engineering work. In return, the fi rm paid Agnew 5% of their fees from the county work, which apparently was the kickback paid by other engineering fi rms at the time.
With this arrangement, Matz, Childs and Associates prospered and Matz became relatively wealthy. At its peak, the fi rm employed nearly 350 people. Matz was able to rent an apartment in Aspen for his winter ski vacations and also had a beach condo at St. Croix in the Virgin Islands. Matz’s St. Croix condo was near a condo owned by his friend, Spiro Agnew. The “business” arrangement between Agnew and Matz continued when Agnew was elected governor of Maryland, only now Matz, Childs and Associates received contracts for state work. The fi nancial arrangement remained the same: Agnew received a payment for every contract awarded.
These payments continued even after Agnew was elected vice president on the Republican ticket with Richard Nixon in 1968. Matz testifi ed that he met with Agnew in his offi ce in the White House and had given him an envelope containing $10,000 in cash. Indeed, Matz also indicated that he had given $2,500 dollars to Agnew for a federal contract that a subsidiary of Matz, Childs and Associates had
70 4.6 An Application of Problem-Solving Methods: Bribery/Acceptance of Gifts
received. All told, Matz described payments that he had given Agnew over the years totaling over $100,000.