Bates Debate tag:batesdebate.org,2010-01-06://9 2010-02-02T04:02:48Z Movable Type Pro 5.01 Djang Elected as New Equity Officer - News tag:www.batesdebate.org,2010:/news//1.145 2010-02-02T03:56:45Z 2010-02-02T04:02:48Z After three rounds of balloting, the team elected first-year Catherine Djang '13 as its Equity Officer for the remainder of the 2009-2010 school year. Djang was one of five candidates nominated to take on the position vacated by junior Alison Vingiano '11 who is spending the semester abroad. The team's Equity Officer is charged with addressing any equity violations on the team, and helps to oversee the team's community outreach. The position on the officer board is a fairly recent addition, now in its third year. Joseph Kibe http://www.kibeland.com After three rounds of balloting, the team elected first-year Catherine Djang '13 as its Equity Officer for the remainder of the 2009-2010 school year. Djang was one of five candidates nominated to take on the position vacated by junior Alison Vingiano '11 who is spending the semester abroad. The team's Equity Officer is charged with addressing any equity violations on the team, and helps to oversee the team's community outreach. The position on the officer board is a fairly recent addition, now in its third year.

]]> Djang and Devaux Tops in 2010 Novice Tournament - News tag:www.batesdebate.org,2010:/news//1.144 2010-01-30T22:00:07Z 2010-01-31T02:52:32Z Novice Brooks Quimby Debaters faced off against one another today in the team's annual intramural Novice Tournament. Six novice teams competed in three preliminary rounds, and the top two teams advanced to a final round. This year's final round between first-years Spencer Collet '13 and Ben Smith '13, and Catherine Djang '13 and Eric Devaux '13 centered on a proposal by Collet and Smith to televise the executions of prisoners given the death sentence. A seven-member judging panel awarded the final round to Djang and Devaux. Djang was also the tournament's top speaker. Joseph Kibe http://www.kibeland.com Novice Brooks Quimby Debaters faced off against one another today in the team's annual intramural Novice Tournament. Six novice teams competed in three preliminary rounds, and the top two teams advanced to a final round. This year's final round between first-years Spencer Collet '13 and Ben Smith '13, and Catherine Djang '13 and Eric Devaux '13 centered on a proposal by Collet and Smith to televise the executions of prisoners given the death sentence. A seven-member judging panel awarded the final round to Djang and Devaux. Djang was also the tournament's top speaker.

]]> Yale Team Takes Top Honors at Brooks Quimby Tournament - News tag:www.batesdebate.org,2010:/news//1.143 2010-01-27T02:09:31Z 2010-01-27T02:30:14Z The Brooks Quimby Debate Council held its annual APDA debate tournament last weekend. All told, 36 teams traveled to Lewiston, Maine for the team's tournament from schools across the country. In addition, former Brooks Quimby Debate debaters Geoff Shaughnessy '09, Daniel Berman '08 and Brendan Jarboe '08 returned to help judge the teams in competition. The team was also grateful to former coach Andrea Curtis, who offered her experience to the judging panel as well. Joseph Kibe http://www.kibeland.com The Brooks Quimby Debate Council held its annual APDA debate tournament last weekend. All told, 36 teams traveled to Lewiston, Maine for the team's tournament from schools across the country. In addition, former Brooks Quimby debaters Geoff Shaughnessy '09, Daniel Berman '08 and Brendan Jarboe '08 returned to help judge the teams in competition. The team was also grateful to former coach Andrea Curtis, who also offered her experience to the judging pool.

In the novice bracket, Yale HT's Aaron Hakim and David Trinh overtook Stanford HP's Nicholas Hernandez and Emma Pierson on a 4-1 in the novice final round on a 4-1 decision, debating the resolution, "This house would remove veto power from permanent members of the UN Security Council." The top novice speaker was Yale's Robert Colonel.

In the varsity bracket, eight teams broke to quarterfinals. The final round pitted MIT's Adam Goldstein and Peter McKee against Yale's Alyssa Bilinski and Kate Falkenstein. They debated whether a large donor to a hypothetical liberal arts college ought to have the power to censor objectionable religious art. On a 4-3 decision, the judging panel gave the round to Yale's Alyssa Blinski and Kate Falkenstein. The top varsity speaker was Yale's Grant May.

]]> 2010 MLK Debate: Is Religion Necessary? - News tag:www.batesdebate.org,2010://1.139 2010-01-24T20:32:44Z 2010-01-24T20:46:52Z Continuing a long standing tradition, the Brooks Quimby Debate Council welcomed a team from Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia for a public debate as a part of Bates College's celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Drawing on the role of religion in the 20th century Civil Rights movement, the debate was centered on the resolution, "This house believes that religion is a necessary element of a just social change." Joseph Kibe http://www.kibeland.com Continuing a long standing tradition, the Brooks Quimby Debate Council welcomed a team from Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia for a public debate as a part of Bates College's celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Drawing on the role of religion in the 20th century Civil Rights movement, the debate was centered on the resolution, "This house believes that religion is a necessary element of a just social change." Two Morehouse debaters, Matt Johnson and A.J. Smith opposed Brooks Quimby debaters Colin Etnire '12 and Ariela Silberstein, who argued in favor of the resolution.

Turnout at the 2010 MLK Day debate was high, and many members of the audience supplemented the insights of the four debaters through a variety of floor speeches.

The annual MLK Day debate has its roots in the relationship between Martin Luther King, Jr. and his mentor, Benjamin Mays, a Bates graduate, Brooks Quimby alumnus and former president of Morehouse College.

]]> Strong Showing at 2010 Worlds - News tag:www.batesdebate.org,2010://1.138 2010-01-24T19:47:02Z 2010-01-24T20:31:40Z To cap off a successful start of the debating season, the Brooks Quimby Debate Council sent three teams and two judges to the 2010 Worlds Debating Championship in Turkey from December 27, 2009 to January 4, 2010. Colin Etnire '12 and Ian Mahmud '12 fared best among the three Brooks Quimby teams at the competition, finishing with 15 of a potential 27 points after eight rounds of preliminary competition Joseph Kibe http://www.kibeland.com To cap off a successful start of the debating season, the Brooks Quimby Debate Council sent three teams and two judges to the 2010 Worlds Debating Championship in Turkey from December 27, 2009 to January 4, 2010. Colin Etnire '12 and Ian Mahmud '12 fared best among the three Brooks Quimby teams at the competition, finishing with 15 of a potential 27 points after eight rounds of preliminary competition. The team of Matt Marienthal '10 and Rachel Kurzius '10 finished with 12 points, while Ariela Silberstein '10 and Nathan Sweet '11 finished with 13 points. They were accompanied by Coach Jan Hovden and Walter Garcia, who served as judges.

The team's strong performance at Worlds leaves the Brooks Quimby Debate Council as the 25th best team in the world, and the 7th best US team in the world. Motions at the competition included, "This house would partition Sudan," and "This house would ban all pornography." Other American teams fared quite well at the tournament, with a team from Harvard and a team from MIT finishing in the top 10.

Next year's Worlds Debating Championships will take the team further from home. For only the third time in the history of the Worlds Debating Championships, the 2011 competition will take place on the African continent, at the University of Botswana.

]]> Bates and Yale Face Off in Annual Debate - News tag:www.batesdebate.org,2010://1.137 2010-01-22T21:36:31Z 2010-01-22T22:22:13Z Bates College and the Brooks Quimby Debate Council welcomed Yale University debaters Grant May, Steven Kryger and Josh Kalla for the Brooks Quimby Debate Council's annual Bates-Yale debate. Many members of the Bates community filled the College Chapel to watch Brooks Quimby debaters Ariela Silberstein, Rachel Kurzius and Matthew Marienthal face the team from Yale. They debated the resolution, "This house would create Spanish-language schools in California." Joseph Kibe http://www.kibeland.com Bates College and the Brooks Quimby Debate Council welcomed Yale University debaters Grant May, Steven Kryger and Josh Kalla for the Brooks Quimby Debate Council's annual Bates-Yale debate. Many members of the Bates community filled the College Chapel to watch Brooks Quimby debaters Ariela Silberstein, Rachel Kurzius and Matthew Marienthal face the team from Yale. They debated the resolution, "This house would create Spanish-language schools in California."

Members of the audience also delivered floor speeches to supplement the debaters' remarks. The guest speakers included two current Bates students who shared their experience learning English as a second language.

The Bates-Yale debate continues a longstanding tradition between the two schools. As in previous years, the debate served as a prelude the Brooks Quimby Debate Council's debate tournament, which takes place this weekend.

]]> BQDC Debuts in the 2009 International Circuit - News tag:www.batesdebate.org,2009://1.136 2009-12-15T02:01:26Z 2010-01-24T21:49:30Z Bates debaters attended the Oxford and Cambridge Intervarsity Championships to kick off the International debating season. The partnership of Colin Etnire '12 and Ian Mahmud '12 led Brooks Quimby debaters by finishing just one point short of the championship break at Oxford. Colin Etnire Bates debaters attended the Oxford and Cambridge Intervarsity Championships to kick off the International debating season. The partnership of Colin Etnire '12 and Ian Mahmud '12 led Brooks Quimby debaters by finishing just one point short of the championship break at Oxford.

The Oxford Intervarsity Championship was sponsored by PriceWaterhouseCoopers and was held on the 13th and 14th of November. BQDC debaters making the trip included Mircea Lupu '11, Andrew Wong '12, Andy Kageleiry '12, Mikey Pasek '12, Etnire, and Mahmud. Out of the 140 team field, compiled from universities in 20 different countries, Etnire and Mahmud finished 25th overall, and 5th amongst American teams (finishing behind only the "A" teams of Yale, MIT, Princeton, and Stanford). Batesies also had the privilege of competing against former Brooks Quimby debater Daniel Berman '08, who is currently a graduate student at St. Andrews University in Scotland.

The Cambridge Intervarsity Championship was held on the 20th and 21st of November, and consisted of another geographically diverse set of 108 teams. The BQDC was represented by Joseph Kibe '11, Ali Vingiano '11, Nate Sweet '11, Ariela Silberstein '10, Rachel Kurzius '10, and Matt Marienthal '10. The partnership of Sweet and Silberstein finished highest amongst the Cambridge contingent with a 43rd overall finish, with Kurzius and Marienthal not far behind at 58th.

Both tournaments were held in British parliamentary style (standard for international competitions), which has four teams, closed motions, and a more rhetorical style than American parliamentary. Additionally, graduate students and law students are allowed to compete in such international competitions, causing several 19 year old Brooks Quimby members to be squared off against opponents up to 6 years their senior. English tournaments are especially memorable because of their traditions (such as Irish debaters going up into the balcony of the parliamentary chambers in protest when the "breaks" are read) and historic nature of their campuses and debate societies.

Motions included:
-"This house would allow deaf parents to use medical technology to ensure that their children are deaf."
-"This house believes in a European super-state"
-"This house believes that minors should be allowed to choose gender reassignment surgery"

The BQDC will resume action in a few short weeks with the World Universities Debating Championships hosted by Koc University in Antalya, Turkey, over the New Year. Bates will be represented in the debates by Marienthal, Kurzius, Etnire, Mahmud, Sweet, and Silberstein. They will also add to the adjudication pool with Walter Garcia '11 and coach Jan Hovden.

]]> 2010 APDA Tournament - Tournaments tag:www.batesdebate.org,2009:/tournaments//3.134 2009-10-26T17:20:09Z 2010-01-26T18:30:16Z Friday, January 22, 2010 - Saturday, January 23, 2010Official invitation on APDAweb: http://bit.ly/bqdcinvite10Congratulations to Yale BF, our tournament champions on a 4-3 decision over MIT GM.Official results on APDAweb: http://bit.ly/aFnByVThank you to all teams for attending. An additional thanks to... Andy Kageleiry
Official invitation on APDAweb: http://bit.ly/bqdcinvite10

Congratulations to Yale BF, our tournament champions on a 4-3 decision over MIT GM.
Official results on APDAweb: http://bit.ly/aFnByV

Thank you to all teams for attending. An additional thanks to our Dino judges:
Geoff Shaugnessy
Dan Berman
Brendan Jarboe
Andrea Curtis
]]> Mahmud and Etnire Win Vermont - News tag:www.batesdebate.org,2009://1.133 2009-10-04T21:08:20Z 2009-10-04T23:30:52Z Bates sophomores Ian Mahmud and Colin Etnire won the Robert Huber Memorial Debates at the University of Vermont last weekend, finishing first out of a field of 76 teams. Andrew Wong '12 and Micrea Lupu '11 broke to the quarterfinal round, and Ariela Silberstein '10 and Nate Sweet '11 narrowly missed the break, finishing just one place behind the final team chosen. Etnire was also named 3rd place Varsity speaker. Colin Etnire University of Vermont last weekend, finishing first out of a field of 76 teams. Andrew Wong '12 and Micrea Lupu '11 broke to the quarterfinal round, and Ariela Silberstein '10 and Nate Sweet '11 narrowly missed the break, finishing just one place behind the final team chosen. Etnire was also named 3rd place Varsity speaker.

The championship is the largest tournament (by field size) that Bates has won, possibly since the University of Pennsylvania in 1994, certainly since early 1995, and only the second tournament of any size since 2005. The winning pair was seeded 4th overall heading into the break, and won the final round as the second government team supporting the motion, "This House would allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons." 

The championship victory also marked the first time that Etnire and Mahmud had broken at a varsity level in any tournament, after accumulating only novice breaks last year as freshmen.

Vermont was the first British Parliamentary (BP) style tournament that any of the four breaking debaters had taken place in, and their first practice rounds in the style occurred less than a week prior to the tournament. British style is different from American style in that the motions are "closed" (determined by those who run the tournament, rather than the debaters themselves) and that four teams are in each round instead of two. BP is the style used in all major international competitions.

All three pairs were sent to UVM in preparations for international debating. UVM was the first stop in the prep cycle, with Yale's IV tournament in late October, the Oxford and Cambridge championships in the middle of November, and finally the World Championships hosted by Koc University in southern Turkey at the end of the year.
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]]> Strong Start for the 2009-2010 APDA Season - News tag:www.batesdebate.org,2009://1.132 2009-10-04T19:32:45Z 2009-10-04T22:51:04Z Just one month into the academic year, Bates has already given strong performances at two APDA tournaments, at Smith College and Boston University's Novice tournament. Colin Etnire Bates has already given strong performances at two APDA tournaments, at Smith College and Boston University's Novice tournament.

At Smith, on September 18th and 19th, sophomores Ian Mahmud and Colin Etnire finished 3-2, narrowly dropping their final round to miss their chance at their first varsity-level "break" in their first tournament without novice status.

The following weekend, 4 novice teams went to BU's novice-only tournament with a massive field of 108 teams. Sophomores Corey Creedon and Umar Khan had a particularly strong outing, finishing with a 3-1 record, and the rest of the Bates debaters finished at a solid 2-2. Confidence is high that this strong early showing will lead to a stellar year on the circuit.

The hotly-anticipated Harvard University tournament comes up next weekend, October 9th and 10th, and Bates will be sending a large contingent in an effort to continue the momentum of the first few weeks of the season.




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]]> Back for the 2009-2010 School Year - News tag:www.batesdebate.org,2009://1.131 2009-10-04T00:17:30Z 2009-10-04T22:49:33Z The Brooks Quimby Debate Council is off to a strong start for the 2009-2010 academic year. Already, we've sent teams to Smith College, Boston University and the University of Vermont, where two of our teams made it to the final round, and one took first place at the tournament. Joseph Kibe http://www.kibeland.com The Brooks Quimby Debate Council is off to a strong start for the 2009-2010 academic year. Already, we've sent teams to Smith College, Boston University and the University of Vermont, where two of our teams made it to the final round, and one took first place at the tournament. The team also hosted its first public debate of the year, discussing the issue of state sponsored magnet schools.

Next weekend the team is off to Harvard University, and teams are already preparing for British Parliamentary-style tournaments at Yale, Oxford, Cambridge and the World's Debating Championships in Istanbul, Turkey.

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]]> Elections for 2009-2010 Officers - News tag:www.batesdebate.org,2009://1.111 2009-03-31T01:24:22Z 2009-10-04T23:41:26Z The Brooks Quimby Debate Council held elections on Monday to choose its officers for the 2009-2010 school year. Matthew Marienthal '10 was elected the Council's President. He has previously served as the team's Director of Novice Affairs and as the team's Convener of Public Debates. Joseph Kibe http://www.kibeland.com The Brooks Quimby Debate Council held elections on Monday to choose its officers for the 2009-2010 school year. Matthew Marienthal '10 was elected the Council's President. He has previously served as the team's Director of Novice Affairs and as the team's Convener of Public Debates.

Walter Garcia '11, who served as the Tournament Director for the 2008-2009 academic year, was elected the Team's new Vice-President. Rachel Kurzius '10, who has served as Equity Officer for the last two years, was elected the Team's new Director of Novice Affairs.

Ariela Silberstein '10 was elected as the Council's Director of Alumni and Public Relations for a third year. The Team's Convener of Public Debates will be Mir Lupu '11 for the 2009-2010 academic year.

The Team's tournament will be coordinated by Andrew Wong '12 and Andy Kageleiry '12. Ali Vingiano '11, who has served as Director of Alumni and Public Relations for the past semester, was elected the Team's new Equity Officer.

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]]> 2009 Awards and Banquet - News tag:www.batesdebate.org,2009://1.110 2009-03-31T01:09:08Z 2009-03-31T01:21:18Z Celebrating the end of a successful year on the debate circuit, the Brooks Quimby Debate Council paused on Sunday evening to celebrate success and toast the future. Director of Novice Affairs, Jared Levy '09 gave his farewell address, as did the Council's President Geoffery Shaughnessy '09, in an impromptu speech. Joseph Kibe http://www.kibeland.com Celebrating the end of a successful year on the debate circuit, the Brooks Quimby Debate Council paused on Sunday evening to celebrate success and toast the future. Director of Novice Affairs, Jared Levy '09 gave his farewell address, as did the Council's President Geoffery Shaughnessy '09, in an impromptu speech.

The Council also awarded a number of team members for their service above and beyond the norm. Colin Etnire '12 was awarded the Oren Nelson Hilton Award, given to an exceptional extemporaneous speaker. Walter Garcia '11 and Joseph Kibe '11 were awarded the Chalres Sumner Libby Prize, which is awarded for outstanding service to the Council.

Andrew Wong '12 won the Council's Almon Cyrus Libby Prize, given to the best debater in his or her first year of competition. Another novice, Ian Mahmud '12 took the team's Irving Cushing Philips Award for posting the most improvement over the course of the year. Danny Bousquet '09, Jared Levy '09 and Ariela Silberstein '10 were jointly awarded the Team's Clair E. Turner Award for showing the strongest forensic ability and integrity in public debate.

The Christopher M. Laconi '05 Debate Award went to Geoffery Shaughnessy '09, which is awarded to a graduating senior who has demonstrated outstanding eloquence in public debate.

]]> 2009 Constitutional Amendments - News tag:www.batesdebate.org,2009://1.57 2009-03-17T03:16:15Z 2009-03-17T03:19:19Z As a part of the team's annual constitutional review process, the team ultimately made only small revisions, clarifying several grammatical and semantic problems with the document. Several more substantive amendments failed. Joseph Kibe http://www.kibeland.com As a part of the team's annual constitutional review process, the team ultimately made only small revisions, clarifying several grammatical and semantic problems with the document. Several more substantive amendments failed.

]]> Two in a Row: Brooks Quimby Novices Top at MIT - News tag:www.batesdebate.org,2009://1.56 2009-03-16T17:07:52Z 2009-10-04T23:42:48Z Just a week after becoming the first place novice team at Stanford University's debate tournament, the team of Ian Mahmud and Colin Etnire took first again at MIT. The pair beat a hybrid novice team from Harvard University and Brown University in a unanimous 5-0 decision to become the top novices at the MIT tournament. Joseph Kibe http://www.kibeland.com Just a week after becoming the first place novice team at Stanford University's debate tournament, the team of Ian Mahmud and Colin Etnire took first again at MIT. The pair beat a hybrid novice team from Harvard University and Brown University in a unanimous 5-0 decision to become the top novices at the MIT tournament. Mahmud and Etnire debated the resolution, "You're Ted Turner in the early 90s, you just made the show Captain Planet to promote environmental issues, this house believes you should remove captain planet from the show," in the final round.

The pair also walked away from the MIT tournament with individual awards. Once again, Etnire was the first place novice speaker. Mahmud was ranked the eight place novice speaker.

Mahmud and Etnire beat a Harvard novice team in the novice semi-finals on a unanimous 3-0 decision, debating, "The Chinese government should revoke the teaching license of a teacher who ran out of his classroom during the szechuan earthquake without helping his students."

The tournament was, "Easily twice the size of Stanford," commented Etnire. Yet the novice pair even managed to best some of the best varsity debate teams in the country, beating a top-ranked team from Amherst College during the preliminary rounds, where novices and varsity members compete in the same pool.

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