April 11, 2025
NATCHITOCHES – Four students from Northwestern State University participated in the Michael Smith Business Ethics Case Competition hosted by Providence College on April 5.
To compete, teams comprised of undergraduate students examined a business ethics case over a two-week period and then present their analysis and solution to a panel of judges consisting of corporate and ethics professionals.
Paulina Trejo of Morgan City, Mariyah Bayonne of Natchitoches, Owen Stutzman of Gonzales and John Spikes of Winnfield made up the team with faculty advisor Douglas Moran. Dr. Begona Perez-Mira provided technical assistance the day of the virtual event.
While the team did not place, all said it was a great learning experience.
“To prepare, we reviewed previous ethic cases and came up with our own solutions for them,” Trejo said. The team research statistics to support their solutions and created a PowerPoint to present findings.
“The ethics case was about social media’s effects on mental health and addiction to social media,” Trejo said. “Through our research I learned that I am extremely addicted to social media and have brain rot, literally. However, we learned that being aware of your addiction is one of the most important steps to stop being addicted.
“Even though we did not win, we learned how the competition works and what the judges are looking for to be able to do better next time,” Trejo said. “Overall, working on this ethics team was a wonderful experience and we really bonded as a group.”
Pictured are Trejo and Bayonne on the front row with Owen Stutzman and John Spikes in back.
