On Terrorism and Whistleblowing

At a Bio-Terrorism Conference at Case Western Reserve University School of Law on March 31, 2006, the government participants were asked what they would do if a superior instructed them not to disclose information to the public about the likely grave health affects of an ongoing bio-terrorist attack. In response, they indicated that they would be reluctant to become a whistleblower. This is not surprising since, despite the federal and state laws that purport to facilitate such whistleblowing for the public good, government whistleblowers routinely have faced loss of promotion, harassment, firing, and in some instances criminal prosecution when they have gone public with their important information. Yet, without government whistleblowers who had the courage to go to the press, the public would never have learned about Watergate, the Iran-Contra scandal, the inhumane practices at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, the secret prisons run by the United States in Eastern Europe, or the NSA policy of wiretapping Americans without warrants. These disclosures initiated vital public debate and prompted corrective actions and reforms. The authors argue that the government whistleblower who in good faith discloses information to the press should no longer be treated as an enemy of the state, and provide a legislative proposal to give them a greater degree of protection from retaliation than exists under current legislation

Investigating Female Students’ Stem-Related Attitudes, Engagement and Work-Intentions When Involved in a University Workshop Initiative

Encouraging females to engage in and pursue Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education and vocations are key priorities for stakeholders and primary aims of the Australian Government-funded STEM in Situ (WISE 2016-18) project. Using a researcher-designed student survey by two of the authors, this article reports on the STEM-related attitudes, engagement and vocational intentions of female students involved in the project. The research survey developed for the project collected data in 2017-8 from 221 female students in Years 5-9 (11 to 16 years of age) from various public schools in Australia. Factor analytic and repeated measures t-tests data analysis techniques were used to explore the factor structure of the survey items and to examine students’ STEM-related attitudes, engagement and future work intentions both before and after their participation in the STEM in Situ project. The findings highlight the outcomes of the STEM in Situ workshops upon female students attitudes and engagements with STEM careers. The findings have the potential to inform future policies related to STEM interventions for young women

On Terrorism and Whistleblowing

At a Bio-Terrorism Conference at Case Western Reserve University School of Law on March 31, 2006, the government participants were asked what they would do if a superior instructed them not to disclose information to the public about the likely grave health affects of an ongoing bio-terrorist attack. In response, they indicated that they would be reluctant to become a whistleblower. This is not surprising since, despite the federal and state laws that purport to facilitate such whistleblowing for the public good, government whistleblowers routinely have faced loss of promotion, harassment, firing, and in some instances criminal prosecution when they have gone public with their important information. Yet, without government whistleblowers who had the courage to go to the press, the public would never have learned about Watergate, the Iran-Contra scandal, the inhumane practices at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, the secret prisons run by the United States in Eastern Europe, or the NSA policy of wiretapping Americans without warrants. These disclosures initiated vital public debate and prompted corrective actions and reforms. The authors argue that the government whistleblower who in good faith discloses information to the press should no longer be treated as an enemy of the state, and provide a legislative proposal to give them a greater degree of protection from retaliation than exists under current legislation