By Kristi Schweitzer, Contributor Nov. 9, 2012 The Taylor Ethics Bowl team won the Central States Regional championship Nov. 3 against 14 other schools. This is their second championship win in the last three years. They debated 15 ethical issues including: drug legalization, gay conversion therapy, the ethics of "street art," racial bias in death penalty rulings, the justice of a student loan forgiveness act and the ethics of medical experimentation on animals. "It was definitely a cool experience," said senior Tom Weingartner, Ethics Bowl veteran and captain of the winning team. "Just being able to see the differences of this team and how with different people and different personalities, everyone was able to come together and do really well." The team will move on to nationals on Feb. 28 in San Antonio, Texas, and will receive the ethical issues they are to debate on Jan. 8. Before that, they must form a smaller team of five to compete. "We're in the process of that," said Ethics Bowl coach Jim Spiegel. Spiegel asked his team members to submit nominations in the form of "top 3 picks" for him and assistant coach Cathy Kerton-Johnson to consider. Spiegel has been preparing the team for months, teaching an Ethics Bowl class along with Kerton-Johnson in the fall. Students first learn the ethical principles. Then they debate issues. They research and study the principles in each case brief, and then form their official teams. During the research process, the teams meet in class to discuss what they've learned and scrimmage against each other in mock competitions. "(Scrimmaging) is helpful because it lets us hear people's arguments and lets us find holes in our own arguments," said senior Sarah Sawicki, one of the team captains. The actual bowl consists of three matches: two in the morning, and one in the afternoon. Six of the 15 cases are chosen at random to debate. There is a coin toss, and the winner decides which team will present their argument first. The starting team has one minute to confer and presents their position for seven minutes. The opposing team discusses for a minute and then presents their objections for six minutes. The first team deliberates again for a minute and defends their position for 5 minutes, which concludes the match. The Ethics Bowl team is done with their work for the semester and will start back up during January Term.
