Even the entertainer Jay Leno could not find young people who know the Ten Commandments when he conducted a round of street interviews. New knowledge, largely created by our leading research universities, including Saint Louis University, increasingly comes packaged with difficult choices. Clearly, a moral foundation for those decisions is broadly needed. There is a disquieting focus today on applying knowledge because it is possible to do so, not because it is desirable or even ethical to do so. The challenge arises not in commercial partnerships or technology transfer functions in and of themselves.
Much good can arise from making the benefits of new discoveries available more quickly.
The challenge arises in the need to include values in the equation so that decisions about new technology are better informed and morally guided. There is another very current challenge. Using the potential inherent in the Internet, we are beginning to experience the great benefits that instantaneous communication and the seemingly endless capacity for storing and communicating information can bring. Distance learning can create access to our faculty's expertise for students unable to be a part of our campus community because of where they live or because of other commitments. However, we must remind ourselves that these students may not also benefit completely from the personal formation experience that comes from being present in a community based on strong values that are acted upon every day.