For the second year in a row, Whitworth University took second place at the Northwest Regional Ethics Bowl. The event was hosted by Seattle University on Nov. 5.

Whitworth’s team is made up of seniors Bridger Landle, Jaja Quarless and Jesse Javana, and juniors Krister Johnson and Max Nelsen. Whitworth professors Mike Ingram and Keith Wyma coach the team.

Whitworth competed against teams from the Pacific Northwest and Canada.

Students get 10 cases they are allowed to study. Those cases are released about two months ahead of time.

Some examples of cases are the burning of the Quran, the rights of the dead and grading policies. Some cases are hypothetical while others are real.

“Students know what the cases are; however, we do not know which ones we will be given at the competition,” Quarless said.

During the first round, Whitworth competed against Seattle University. The second round was against Cascadia Community College and the third round was against Washington State University.

Whitworth advanced to the semi-finals and defeated rival Montana State University.

“At the final stage we lost in a close match to the University of British Columbia who we beat the year before,” Quarless said.

Each round of the competition has three judges. Students are scored based on the clarity and the ethical theories they use.

“The judges are usually philosophy professors and some are business ethics managers at various companies,” Quarless said.

Students are scored out of 60 points.

For every two rounds there are two cases.

Teams flip a coin to see who goes first. The first team gives a 10-minute presentation on the case. The second team then gives a five-minute rebuttal.

Team one goes once again and also gives a five-minute rebuttal.

There is then 10 minutes given for judge’s questions.

The judges use four criteria. It is 40 points for the 10-minute presentation, 10 points on the rebuttal and 10 points awarded to the questions at the end.

When asked why he got involved with the program he stated, “I had taken a class with Dr. Wyma and was just interested in learning more about philosophy and ethics.”

Quarless got involved in the team during his junior year.

Whitworth qualified to go to nationals where they will be competing March first.

However, Quarless will not be joining Whitworth at this meet as he will be studying abroad for his last semester.

At nationals, there are 15 cases instead of 10.

Last year Whitworth went to nationals and took third place.

For information about getting involved, contact Wyma or Ingram.