Southwest Baptist University News Release
Contact: Sharina Smith, Office of Marketing & Communications
BOLIVAR, Mo. – The Southwest Baptist University Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) team expanded one of its most successful outreach projects this year. Through the “Dollars and Sense” project, SBU SIFE had the opportunity to visit local high schools for a three-part activity designed to increase students' awareness of ethical issues and decision making.
The opening exercise of “Dollars and Sense” focused on short-term versus long-term consequences of ethical decisions. Presented with various scenarios, students had to decide what to do. Students who gave the unethical answer were given a piece of candy. However, in the end, all of the candy was taken away from the students who made the unethical choice and given to the students who gave the ethical answers the entire way through. Devastated from their loss, the students soon realized that making unethical choices might pay off at first, but in the long-run it is best to make ethical decisions.
For the second portion of the experience, students were divided into companies. Presented with ethical dilemmas, the companies had to decide what to do. Based on their proposed solutions, companies either gained or lost money.
The project was reinforced by the final component: the Ethics Essay Competition. Each participant in “Dollars and Sense” was asked to write an essay applying ethics to their lives. The top essays in this competition earned cash prizes of $75, $50, and $25 for first, second, and third place, respectively. This year's Ethics Essay Competition winners are: First Place - Caleb Cunningham (Bolivar High School), Second Place - Rachel Busiek (Central High School – Springfield), Third Place - Brooke Deckard (Hermitage High School)
SBU SIFE was able to reach six area high schools and over 275 high school students through the “Dollars and Sense” project. For more information or to support this or other SIFE projects, please contact SBU SIFE via email at sbu.sife@gmail.com or by phone at 417-328-2032.
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Southwest Baptist University is a leader among private universities in truly integrating Christ-centered academic pursuits with comprehensive professional programs at an affordable price. Since 1878, the faculty and staff have created a caring, academic community to prepare students to be servant leaders in a global society. The University has been named one of America’s Best Christian Colleges® for 13 consecutive years, one of America’s 100 Best College Buys® for 14 consecutive years, and it has been named among institutions with America’s Best College Scholarships ® for the past three years by Institutional Research and Evaluation, Inc. For more information, visit www.SBUniv.edu.
SBU’s Office of Marketing & Communications is available to news media 24/7 at 417-399-7918.
