Ethics Bowl

• Ethics Bowl
• Equal Opportunity Institute
• Ethics Education

Synopsis

The Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl will be held on February 27th, 2004 in Cincinnati, Ohio and is sponsored in conjunction with the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics (APPE). Students were selected to represent NC State as we competed with other institutions in a test of ethical reasoning. Students were selected to represent NC State as we competed with other institutions in a test of ethical reasoning.

The 2004 Ethics Bowl Team has five members: two returning members and three new members. Applications were screened, and three finalists were interviewed and invited to join the team. The members of the 2004 team are:

• Sara Welter, co-captain
• Sean Casey, co-captain
• Patrick Liu
• Anna Edens
• Krishnan Siva

Amanda England, a two time past ethics bowl participant, is serving as the team coach this year.

The Ethics Bowl combines the excitement and fun of a competitive game with a valuable educational experience for undergraduate students. The Ethics Bowl has expanded steadily over the past nine years. Starting in 1993 as a small intramural event at the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT), organized by IIT’s Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions (CSEP), the Ethics Bowl has grown to an intercollegiate event that involved thirty-four participating teams in 2002.

The Ethics Bowl provides students the opportunity to represent NCSU in a national level of competition. This experience allows the selected students to compete in debate style format on issues ranging anywhere from biomedical ethics to business ethics to general ethical principles. This is truly a worthwhile chance for students to grow in personal knowledge as well as exhibit what they have learned here at State in the field of ethics. Students will be given training from top professors in many fields of ethics at NC State and the Center of Student Leadership, Ethics & Public Service will cover the trip expenses. Please take your time on your application, as we may not be able to give all applicants an interview.

Reflections

From the 2003 Ethics Bowl Team:

Amanda England

“Being a part of the NC State 2002 Ethics Bowl team was a great experience. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the other team members. It was a learning experience when all four of us had to agree on these ethical problems. There was a lot of debating and compromise, but most importantly, we came together and worked as a team. The competition in Cincinnati was a great opportunity to practice public speaking and debating skills. It was interesting to see how different schools from around the nation looked at the different issues and cases. One of the highlights of the trip was getting to meet students from around the nation. We had a good time talking and getting to know one another. Overall, the Ethics Bowl was one of the most interesting things I have done at NC State.

Liz Gutierrez

“If nothing else this event will teach you to think in depth and logically. It is a true test of oneself to be able and set aside one’s value judgments and to look at every possible angle of an issue. I believe that this event creates for a healthy forum for students to debate. Although, I felt that most schools present took themselves too seriously.

“I felt that this trip was extremely helpful to me. I learned to evaluate dilemmas morally by following simple steps of evaluation. I am very happy that I was able to participate and would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a good challenge.

“I think that now that NC State has a group who has experienced the competition it will be a lot easier to know how to prepare for next year. I wish we had that opportunity this year, it would have made it a lot simpler. I did not agree with the ambiguousness of the judging. Many judges seemed to not even know the rules let alone how to enforce them. I think that it was too easy for a judge to rank a team higher simply because he or she agreed with the teams argument. In addition, I don’t think the site of the conference was conducive for college students they did not provide any activities for those who did not make it to the latter rounds.”

Tony Caravano

“This years Ethics Bowl competition was a great opportunity for myself and the other NCSU delegates to combine organized thinking, debate style communication, and team thinking/presentation. The trip provided a perspective of other students across the nation, excelling in their own universities. The competition was rather intense and those in attendance were well prepared. Our delegation was pushed to its limit, while offering a great challenge to the three teams against whom we competed. (The other delegates and I believe we also added some personality to the event with team T-shirts and opening lines of competition in the midst of cutthroat competition.) This was an excellent insight into the world of ethics, as the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics conducted their annual meeting in Cincinnati, Ohio at the same time. I truly appreciate the chance that I was given by the CSLEPS office, Craig Keith and the other delegates with whom I formed friendships.”

Nathan George

“Anytime a student represents his or her school on the national level in competition, whether through athletics or academics, it is an honor worth remembering. As I reflect on my experience with this year’s Ethics Bowl Team, I realize that it didn’t start with the trip to the airport. I developed a bond with the others, getting to know their point of view and expanding my perspective on modern ethical issues beforehand and it continued to grow on the trip. Although none of us had extensive coursework in Ethical theory, we all brought a different perspective to the issues at hand. Our diverse backgrounds and involvement in a number of various activities on and off campus helped us see most all sides of the issue, thus allowing us to present stronger rebuttals in the competition. The support from Dr. Bitting gave us the tools to pinpoint the ethical principles on which to base our argument for each case, while the team’s competitive nature even drove us to spending Friday night together reviewing the cases.

“In hindsight, I would have preferred more preparation as our competition consisted mostly of philosophy, political science, theology and religion majors, many of whom had been practicing all year long. Nonetheless, we proved ourselves very capable, and at times it seemed very evident that we better understood the basic ethical principles involved. It was more our lack of experience at the competition by not knowing what to expect or how exactly to present our argument that caused us the most trouble. All in all, I very much enjoyed the experience and would encourage any others interested to talk with one of us and begin preparation early. However, I do feel that you need to have a personal initiative to participate, and not just a simple curiosity. I participated out of a sincere desire to improve my abilities to interact with others through a wider understanding of ethical issues, thus helping me to relate and to empathize with those in certain situations. I appreciate everything this experience has taught me and in the future I hope to base my decisions on these firm principles by which we should all live.”

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Phone: (919) 515-9248
Fax: (919) 515-7473