Ethics Bowl 2011

On November 13, 2010, two teams from UTPA, Team Calvin and Team Hobbes, competed

at the Texas Regional Ethics Bowl alongside several universities from Texas and Oklahoma,

including the University of Oklahoma and Southern Methodist University. The competition

consisted of teams giving presentations on ethical dilemmas; in 2010 this included cases such

as the development of coal power, Facebook’s privacy policy, and bullfighting. Team Hobbes

finished in fourth place, qualifying them for the National Ethics Bowl Competition in Cincinnati,

Ohio. This is the second year in a row that a team from UTPA has qualified for the national

competition, and the third time overall a UTPA team has qualified for the national competition.

 

The students on UTPA Team Hobbes were Daniel Clark, Hugo Hernandez, Ricardo Salinas,

Mikson Ehimika, and Dave Salinas, and they were coached by Dr. Cynthia Jones. The students

on UTPA Team Calvin were Eric Stinson, Samantha Beltran, Brenda Mata, Eddie Flores, and

Raul Rodriguez, and they were coached by Dr. Stephen Leach. In addition to the coaches, other

faculty and students greatly helped in preparing the two ethics bowl teams, including especially

Dr. Zen Faulkes, Dr. Gregory Gilson, Dr. Thomas Pearson, Dr. Paul Saka, and Joshua Murray.

 

At the National Ethics Bowl team Hobbes presented on cases involving ethical issues such

as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the anti-immigration AZ 1070, and responses to academic

dishonesty. UTPA participated in a total of three debates with the students from schools all

across the country. They were successful in winning the first round against the team from the

United States Naval Academy.

 

In preparation for the Ethics Bowl, a collaborative effort was put forth by both students and

faculty working together to strengthen and hone arguments in the weeks and months leading

up to the competition. If you are interested in participating in Ethics Bowl, contact Dr. Cynthia

Jones at jonesc@utpa.edu or Dr. Stephen Leach at sleach@utpa.edu for more information. We

welcome all interested students, regardless of their major.

 

The students and coaches want to acknowledge the invaluable financial support we received

this year from Charles Clark Chevrolet Co. and Kirk & Jeri Clark. Without the unfailing moral

support of our “mascot” Mr. Clark, our successes this year would not have been possible!