UAA wins inaugural University of Alaska Ethics Bowl

UAA is the winner of the inaugural University of Alaska Ethics Bowl, hosted last weekend by the UAF Socratic Society. Students grappled with ethical issues ranging from whether the children of illegal immigrants should be granted U.S. citizenship to whether the production and consumption of computer-generated, simulated child pornography constitutes an ethically-acceptable practice.

In the end, two UAA teams squared off in the final round over cases considering whether to ban bullfighting in Spain and whether the U.S. would benefit from making voting compulsory. By a mere two-point margin (out of a possible 180 points), the team of Amie Stanley, Elisha Waugh, Allison Murrell and Chris Caswell emerged as the championship team over the UAA team of Matt Stinson, Jon Stinson, Christy Haughey and Wiley Cason. UAA's final team -- Matt Fox, Megan Rodgers and Libby Smelker -- were knocked out in semifinals by the UAA team that eventually won top honors.

The victory at UA's internal competition qualifies a UAA team for participation in the regional Ethics Bowl where, if they're successful, they may be one of the 32 teams selected to compete in the national Ethics Bowl sponsored by the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics.

UAA's team was coached by Tom Buller and Stephanie Bauer of the Philosophy Department and Steve Johnson of the Seawolf Debate program.