February 28, 2008
The Eastern US rankings for universities participating in
British Parliamentary debate were determined last weekend at the
close of the East Coast Championship tournament in Binghamton, NY,
at which a field of 26--including Cornell University, The
University of Vermont, Binghamton University, Hobart & William
Smith Colleges, West Virginia University, and Bard
College—competed.
Debate Society members Shreshth Jain, Tom Morgan, Korey Pace,
Jordan March, Angela Vidalis, Stan Aminov, and Jamar Daniels
participated in six intense rounds of British Parliamentary style
debate. Motions debated were:
- Rd 1: This House believes that the World Trade Organization
should be disbanded.
- Rd 2: This House believes that nations should not recognize
Kosovo independence.
- Rd 3: This House believes that the military should replace all
human soldiers with robots.
- Rd 4: This House believes that Western nations should end their
favoritism toward Israel.
- Rd 5: This House would reveal the existence of extraterrestrial
beings.
- Rd 6: This House believes that non-human animals should have
the same rights as animals.
- SEMI: This House believes it is time to lift the economic
embargo on Cuba.
- FINAL: This House believes it is time to retire the
Nation-State system.
Although St. John’s debaters didn’t make it to the final rounds,
they still debated well enough to clench this year’s third place
ranking in the Northeast, behind Hobart & William Smith and
Vermont. Cornell University and University of Rochester placed
fourth and fifth, respectively. The final ranking is a measure of
the skill of a debate program as a whole, each round debated during
the year counting for points toward a grand total which is then
ranked.
Additionally, Professor Stephen Llano was named Debate Director
of the Year, an honor given annually at this tournament,
recognizing excellence in administration, coaching and education in
a college-level debate program. The award is given by the
Society Advocating More and Better Argumentation (SAMBA), which
consists of debate coaches, scholars and directors throughout the
Northeastern United States. SAMBA also sanctions tournaments
throughout the United States and establishes the rules under which
competitive British Parliamentary debates are held.
St. John’s College of Arts and Sciences Dean Jeffrey Fagen, who
brought Professor Llano on board this past fall, has expressed his
pleasure at all the debate coach has accomplished: “I am amazed at
how much Stephen has accomplished in his short time here. He has
assembled and trained a quality team which can hold its own against
any other university’s team.”
The Debate Society travels next to the west coast to take on
teams from the Pacific Northwest and California at California State
University, San Bernardino on Friday.
Faculty and students are encouraged to ask any questions by
calling or emailing Prof. Llano at (718) 990-5606 or llanos@stjohns.edu.