City College’s ethics debate team is diligently preparing for a competition in April, where they will combine both ethics and business smarts to discuss a timely topic in front of several judges.
Alongside philosophy Department Chair Marc Bobro, five students meet every Wednesday to prepare for their upcoming competition, the International Business Ethics and Sustainability and Sustainability Case Competition. The team analyzes a chosen topic through legal, financial, and ethical lenses and presents their analysis to judges.
Bobro handpicks a selection of outstanding and passionate ethic students to form the team.
“We have a really good team, a really diverse team,” Bobro said. “The students bring different strengths.”
Students come from all corners of the world, including Singapore, China, South Korea, and the United States.
Despite having various backgrounds, member Jorge Caballero Naranjo described their team as a “unit.”
He noted that members have different strengths which complement each other, enhancing the end product.
Outside of their weekly meetings, team members spend their own time preparing. Anna Sophia Love is preparing by doing extensive research so there’s “no gaps in my knowledge.”
Teams choose their debate topic from the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. This year, students have chosen the topic “Google in China.”
Zongchan Chen, a Chinese student and member of the team, feels very passionate about this topic. She said that there is a benefit in explaining the damage that has been done.
Myrth Xian Tan, another member, believes that “ethics hasn’t caught up with our technologies and our companies.” The issue at hand has made her eager to present her thoughts at the event.
At the competition, students will present a 25-minute powerpoint about their stance. Judges will then ask questions and deliver feedback. If they advance in the competition, they will give a 10-minute and 90-second presentation.
City College’s team won the competition when speaking about “Google Glass” in 2013, defeating prominent universities Oxford and Dartmouth. Previous competitions have taken place in New Orleans, Boston, and San Diego.
“I feel really good about this competition,” Bobro said. He praises the diverse and hard-working team for their efforts to be proactive and on top of everything, he expects to do well in this year’s competition.
The competition will take place April 10-12 at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.
