The late Dick Brinckerhoff suggested the following criteria for ways to infuse societal topics into our science courses: items should be a) challenging, b) relevant, c) brief, and d) require a value judgment. Consider the following: Infusion Tips
1. A recent showing of 60 Minutes (CBS-TV) interviewed the Nixon family, which, for religious reasons, had allowed two of its children to die rather than receive medical treatment for their ailments. The family members interviewed maintained that the Bible does not advocate medical treatment. While they showed a great deal of love for their departed family members, they also showed a strong faith in their religion. The program also interviewed, as a clerical representative of the "mainstream," Rev. Dr. Charles T. Rush of Christ Church, Summit (NJ). Of the rationale of the Nixon family that allowed two of their children to die, Rush said they were "dead wrong," arguing that the Bible does not forbid seeking medical help that was unavailable when the Bible was written. Do parents' religious convictions take precedence over the health and welfare of their children?
2. As reported by the Trenton Times on 13 April 1998, the investigative reporting of The Boston Globe revealed extensive profits resulting from what Paul deHart Hurd would call "strategic" medical research funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). In order to insure that important new drugs discovered from this research would reach people who needed them through the market, Congress in the 1980s relinquished the US government's rights to these discoveries to universities, nonprofit laboratories, and small businesses. Although the goal of marketing these new discoveries has been achieved, there is concern that some researchers and companies are reaping excessive profits without reimbursing NIH for its support and thereby depriving the NIH of additional funding for further research. How much of the profits from the products of government-funded research should be returned to the government?
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The TEACHERS CLEARINGHOUSE FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY EDUCATION