During the fall semester, the Stevens Gear and Triangle Honor Society hosts its annual Ethics Bowl. This past Wednesday, teams of up to four members were pitted against one another for debates on topics that ranged from the media coverage of mass shootings to parental responsibility towards disabled adults.
Each debate lasted about fifteen minutes, with one of either team receiving several minutes to formulate their arguments and then quickly present their stance on the topic and explain why. The opposite team would then have a short time to respond to the team’s argument by either disagreeing and exposing the flaws in the first team’s argument or agreeing and clarifying parts of the first team’s argument.
The concerns raised by each team in terms of each topic included such ideas as moral ambiguity, gender equality, the relationship between the people and their government, and even the responsibilities of the public education system.
After a topic had been discussed by both teams, a Stevens Professor serving as the moderator, would ask the team who had presented their stance and argument questions based on what they initially said and how they responded to the opposite team’s criticism.
In between debates, winners were selected from a raffle. Audience members as well as Ethics Bowl competitors received prizes such as Stevens packages as well as headphones.
Seven teams participated in this year’s competition, a significant increase in participation compared to last year’s turnout of only two teams. The audience was also much larger than previous years as well. Participation within Gear and Triangle also increased according to Aleesha Chrisholm, Honor Committee Chair of Gear and Triangle.
“The Ethics Bowl promotes ethical excellence with the students on campus.” Chrisholm said, “Watching the teams debate on each topic, you can tell they’re passionate about the debates and about presenting the best argument possible.”
Her words rang true when some teams who were not participating decided to leave the room and properly formulate their own arguments for each and any of the topics that they may have to discuss in the next round instead of viewing the current debate.
While some view the Ethics Bowl as not exciting as other annual events, the Ethics Bowl this year received a great deal of support from both Gear and Triangle and the student body. Next year, perhaps, participation will increase beyond expectations once again and even more students will have their voices heard.
