CGS 3065 MIDTERM FALL 2009

DR. G.HASKINS

OPEN BOOK, OPEN NOTES, TAKE HOME

DUE BEGINNING OF CLASS THURSDAY OCT 29th

Please answer both questions, basing your answers on material covered in class, or from readings on the Net.  There will not, strictly speaking, be a “right” answer, therefore, you must support your positions with well-reasoned argument based on FACTS, analogies, classroom discussions, or web research, rather than merely your personal opinion.  Reference to legal cases or statutes discussed in class would be useful.  Keep your answers as brief as possible (2-3 double-spaced pages total would be nice.)  Proper syntax and spelling are always favored.  Do not include a bibliography, or footnotes.  Have fun with this.

Question #1. (20 points)  Part-time pole dancer, 1st Amendment activist, and former mafia hitwoman, Cortana Q. Terrabyte, is dedicated to testing the limits of freedom of speech, and makes the following assertions in her popular blog “StrikeFirst”:  

·        that hip-hop is the voice of the Devil, and all those musicians should be hunted down and expatriated;

·        that UF students should bring un-primed nuclear detonators to their classes in support of  the group, “Students for a Nuclear Campus”

·        that Senator Phil Haliburton, is a “damned fascist”, and suggests that in a perfect world, “...someone should kill that guy.”

·        that Governor Greg Apparatchik has recently contracted an STD   (At the time Cortana made this assertion, she thought it was untrue, but it later turned out to be factual.)

·        In addition, in a vain effort to promote her flagging show business career, she posts a series of prurient photographs which she took of herself when she was a 16 year old. 

·        Finally, she posts a series of photographs of her ex-boyfriend, without his permission, which she took in public places, in her apartment, and in his house.  While there was nothing particularly objectionable in the photographs, they did reveal some intimate details of his life, such as his tendency to wear Mickey Mouse ears while brushing his teeth.

·        All of this she sets to a backdrop recording of Metallica’s “Master of Puppets.”

Her blog is read and viewed by millions of people worldwide, including the Governor, the Senator, the Secret Service, hip-hop musicians, and finally, by the 14 year old daughter of the Federal prosecutor in Two Egg, Florida, who believes the photographs are obscene (among other possibilities) by his local community standards.

While Cortana understands she has probably violated her terms of service agreement with her ISP, she nevertheless believes that everything she has done is protected by the 1st Amendment, however as lawyers, criminal prosecutors, the RIAA, and secret service agents begin descending on her apartment, she calls you for advice, since she remembers you telling her about what you learned in a great course you had as an undergrad at UF.  Please go point by point through her problems, and discuss what, if anything, might be her defenses.

 

2. (10 Points)  In the late 1960s, Ford designed a subcompact, the Pinto, that weighed less than 200 pounds and sold for less than $2,000.  Anxious to compete with foreign-made subcompacts, Ford brought the car into production in slightly more than 2 years (compared with the usual 3 ½ years).  Given this shorter time frame, styling preceded much of the engineering, thus restricting engineering design more than usual.  As a result, it was decided that the best place for the gas tank was between the rear axle and the bumper.  The differential housing had exposed bolt heads that could puncture the gas tank if the tank were driven forward against them upon rear impact.

In court, the crash tests were described as follows:

These prototypes as well as two production Pintos were crash tested by Ford to determine, among other things, the integrity of the fuel system in rear-end accidents…Prototypes struck from the rear with a moving barrier at 21 mph caused the fuel tank to be driven forward and punctured, causing fuel leakage…A production Pinto crash tested at 21 mph into a fixed barrier caused the fuel tank to be torn from the frame, and the tank to be punctured by a bolt head on the differential housing.  In at least one test, spilled fuel entered the driver’s compartment.

Ford also tested rear impact when rubber bladders were installed in the tank, as well as when the tank was located above, rather than behind the rear axle.  Both passed the 20 mph rear impact tests.

Although the Federal Government was pressing to stiffen regulation on gas tank designs, Ford contended that the Pinto met all applicable federal safety standards at the time.  J.C. Echold, director of automotive safety for Ford, issued a study titled “Fatalities Associated with Crash Induced Fuel Leakage and Fires.”  This study claimed that the cost of improving the design ($11 per vehicle) outweighed its social benefits.  A memorandum attached to the report described the costs and benefits as follows:

BENEFITS

Savings               180 burn deaths, 180 serious burn injuries, 2,100 burned vehicles

Unit cost              $200,000 per death, $67,000 per injury, $700 per vehicle

Total benefits     180 x $200,000 plus

                             180 x $67,000 plus

                             2100 x $700 = $49.15 million

COSTS

Sales                             11 million cars, 1.5 million light trucks

Unit cost              $11 per car, $11 per truck

Total costs          12.5M x $11 =$137M

The estimate of the number of deaths, injuries and damage to vehicles was based on statistical studies.  The $200,000 for the loss of human life was based on an NHTSA study which estimated social costs of death as follows:

COMPONENT                                                             1971 COSTS

Future productivity losses

Direct                                                                            $132,000

Indirect                                                                             41,000

Medical costs

Hospital                                                                                  700

Other                                                                                      425

Property damage                                                               1,500

Insurance administration                                                  4,700

Legal and court                                                                  3,000

Employer losses                                                                         1,000

Victim’s pain and suffering                                             10,000

Funeral                                                                                   900

Assets (lost consumption)                                                5,000

Misc accident cost                                                                200

Total per fatality                                                           $200,725

Ford seems to have viewed this from a strictly utilitarian point of view.  Discuss the appropriateness of using such an ethical approach, and of using data such as these in Ford’s decision regarding whether or not to make a safety improvement in its engineering design.  If you believe this is not appropriate, what would you suggest as an alternative?  Thinking back on our discussion of “Gilbane Gold”, what responsibilities do you think the Ford engineers had in a situation like this?

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