Midn. 2⁄C Rachel Nelson won the award for her essay entitled ‘‘Azizabad Violations of Force.” Other finalists included Midn. 2⁄C Nicholas Birger, Nicholas Blevins, Justin Motenko and John Patterson.

The ethics essay competition, sponsored each semester by the Stockdale Center and the Naval Academy Class of 1981, recognizes the the best essay written by a Midshipman in the Naval ethics course NE203, entitled ‘‘Ethics and Moral Reasoning for Naval Leaders.” The course is one of the Academy’s core required ethics courses.

Instructors nominated the best papers from the spring semester, and a distinguished panel of outside readers ranked the papers and chose finalists. The winner was selected based on the panelists’ scoring.

The featured speaker for the award dinner was Chief of Naval Personnel Vice Adm. Mark Ferguson. Ferguson described the effects of both monetary and social contracts on ethical reasoning. After summarizing several research experiments, he said that some honest people will cheat when given the opportunity in seemingly insignificant situations because ‘‘their ethical monitors only tend to be on during big decisions.”

Ferguson said that people are also affected by their proximity to the situation. The more removed they are from the reality and any emotional connection, the easier it is for them to take a shortcut, he said. However, when people in one experiment received a small reminder about the ethical code, such as an honor statement before a test, their actions changed.

Ferguson then connected these findings to Midshipmen’s service as officers. As a graduate of the Class of 1978, Ferguson noted that he had not been fortunate enough to attend an ethics class like NE203 when he was at the Naval Academy.

Nonetheless, officers are reminded of the code of ethics every time they don their uniform or swear an oath when they advance in rank, and Ferguson said that this vital reaffirmation reminds officers at all levels about the consequences their actions have for others in the service. He emphasized to Midshipmen that lives depend on their ability to make decisions and give orders according to a morally sound ethical code. This responsibility, said Ferguson, is the ‘‘connection that binds us all.”