The College's Ethics Bowl team
finished sixth out of 40 teams at the National Ethics Bowl Competition, held in
Cincinnati last weekend.
The Union team defeated Milliken
University, Western
Michigan University
and U.S. Air Force Academy before bowing to the University
of Montana in the quarterfinals. Indiana
University was the overall winner.
This was the second time Union
has participated in the national competition. Last year's team also made it to
the quarterfinals.
Representing Union were Nell Alk
'06, English major; Nat Brown '06, history and philosophy; Justin Geist '04,
psychology and political science; Jason
Tucciarone '05, biology and philosophy; and Jaime Werner '04, political science
and philosophy. Other members of the team, who competed in the Northeast
regional competition at Williams
College, were Noah Eber-Schmid,
'06, political science and philosophy; Jeff Marshall '05, philosophy; and Heidy
Sanchez '07, political science.
The team was sponsored by the
College's Philosophy Department and coached by Michael Mathias,
visiting assistant professor of philosophy. Support came from a grant from the
Intellectual Enrichment Fund.
Union is to host the regional
competition next year.
Ethics Bowl combines the
excitement of a competitive quiz with an innovative approach to education in
practical and professional ethics, Mathias said. A moderator poses questions to
teams of three to five students based on cases supplied in advance. One asked
them to consider the ethical obligation of a photojournalist who takes a
picture of a starving child. One case considered a worldwide ban on DDT, a
highly effective insecticide that has also been shown to threaten some species
of birds. Another dealt with the role an employer should take in providing
health insurance to employees.
The Ethics Bowl was held in
conjunction with the annual meeting of the Association for Practical and
Professional Ethics. After competing, students met practitioners, professionals
and scholars for discussion of issues in practical and professional ethics.
“It was great to see the
enthusiasm of our students in talking with others from around the country about
ethical issues,” Mathias said. “For all the good we did in the
competition, the value of the preparation they put into it was just great.”