the ethicist

Author: Amanda Greene

My friend was eating lunch in Atwater, when Public Safety came to boot and remove a vehicle that was parked in a faculty/staff space. The owner of the vehicle was, conveniently, eating lunch in Atwater as well, and ran out of the dining hall to rescue his car. It was clear than he had been out, and had parked in the faculty/staff space because all the student spaces were full, and that he was planning on moving his car after lunch.

Public Safety would not let the student move his car. Instead, they put a boot on it, and left it in the faculty/staff spot, preventing any college employee from parking in the designated space. If Public Safety's objective was to clear out the spot, why did they object to letting the student move his car? What was achieved by forbidding the conscientious student to move his car, and by fining the student 90 dollars to tow it to the golf course, and ten dollars for a parking ticket? Yes, the student shouldn't have parked there, but he was apologetic and willing to move his car promptly. A warning would have been enough to stop the student from committing the same offense in the future.

It seems that, in this situation, the desired outcome (removing the car) was ignored in order to unnecessarily discipline the student and complicate the circumstances. I understand that had the car been parked in a metered spot, that a ticket would have been given regardless of the owner's presence. But we aren't in such an environment, and there is no rule that demands that Public Safety punish the driver. In this instance, the ticketing and towing was a matter of judgment, and was an instance where Public Safety was unnecessarily inflexible and harsh.

And now for this week's question:

Q: I'm a student grader for an economics class. At the beginning of the semester my professor told me that it should take around four hours each week to correct homework, and that it was up to me to enter my work hours on BannerWeb. I am a particularly fast worker, and always grade the homework in two hours or under. I always report that it takes me four hours to do the work, because that's how long the professor expected it to take. Is it ethical for me to "inflate" the hours I spend on my job? It doesn't seem fair that I should get paid less just because I am a fast worker.
- Perplexed-about-Pay

A: Your job is one in which you are paid by the hour. It is clear from how time is entered on BannerWeb, that you are paid based on how much time your work takes. If you were salaried, then it would be of benefit to you to do your work as quickly as possible, but in this situation you don't get any more from being speedy. You should not say you worked for more hours than you did. If you are concerned you should talk to the economics professor, and perhaps he will give you additional work to do, or, if he thinks you should receive more compensation will tell you to "inflate" your hours to that you are paid (as a ratio) more per hour. If your professor says it is okay to enter more hours than you have worked, then you are free to do so, because he is a representative of the institution you are working for.

Want to consult the ethicist? Send submissions to amgreene@middlebury.edu.