The University’s first Ethics team tied for sixth place at their first Ethics Bowl this semester in the Upper Midwest Regional tournament.
The tournament, held in Chicago, was one of 16 held around the nation. Twelve teams from schools in the area participated, including Adrian College, Western Michigan University and Northeastern Illinois University.
Team members included students Daniel Lubin, Brittni Darke, Latifah Street and Nolan Cavano, all new to the team and competition. Nick Sars, a philosophy graduate student, and Ian Young, a professor in the philosophy department, coached the team.
‘The competition consisted of real life cases, in the news,’ Young said. ‘There are 15 [questions] altogether and they’re announced around Labor Day.’
The original Ethics Bowl started as an idea from Robert Ladenson in the Center for the Study of Ethics in Professions (CSEP). Ladenson worked with a group of engineers and wanted to make sure the workers not only knew what they were doing, but knew whether or not it was an ethical thing, Young said.
Three University team members prepared responses for four questions of the 15 and the fourth member prepared three. On the day of the competition, the team was asked a total of three questions.
Topics for the questions can range from the debate as for whether or not somebody who has been accused of ‘sexting’ should be considered a sex offender, to issues of ‘Christian bashing’ in which the University won their case over North Eastern Illinois University, who won the Regional bowl last year.
Other cases focus on other issues in college and include issues such as whether or not it is ethical for students to take attention drugs, such as Adderall, during exam periods and the production of synthetic meat, according to their Web site.
‘The atmosphere is really great for learning,’ Young said. ‘It’s not like a debate, which I can see can get very heated. It’s more, ‘Yes, I see your point, but did you also think about this?’ Very calm and collected.’
Cavano, a freshman English education major, first learned of the team as part of the Chapman Learning Community, where Young is also involved. Cavano was finally recruited to Ethics Bowl through his involvement in the University’s philosophy club.
‘The questions they have definitely test virtue,’ he said.
Young is hopeful the team will compete again next semester in a mini bowl with teams around the area and will hopefully have Adrian College participate, Young said.
Cavano, along with Lubin, was one of the non-philosophy majors on the team, and was unfamiliar with some of the proper terms with which to debate. However, he felt he was still able to contribute to the team.
‘I wasn’t able to answer the questions at the tournament, but I was able to participate in a rebuttal,’ he said.
As part of the work for the competition in preparing the scenarios, each team member had to contribute a response enough for the answer to be seven minutes, Cavano said.
‘It was definitely a lot of work but I learned a lot,’ he said. ‘As a writer it really helped me; it’s opened me up to see the other side of the story.”
