Debate at State –Nick Gurgone
Last
week I went to a communication debate in Schroeder 130. It started at 7:00 and lasted almost an
hour. The room was not by any means
packed, but more people were there than you would expect for a debate by
communications grad students over tenures for teachers. It started out with a
few jokes (relatively lame ones, but what would you expect?) and then the
moderator for the night introduced herself and the four debaters. Two were in favor of tenures, and two were
against.
The first student took the podium at
the front of the lecture hall, ready to essentially bash the career of
teaching. She began by pointing out all
the time teachers get off, and how they could use that free time over the
summer to work a secondary job. She made
a few smaller points afterwards, but basically all of them revolved around the
first main point.
Without much hesitation, a male
student stepped up to the microphone and offered his rebuttal of everything
said. He was a much better speaker, and
that alone, personal opinions aside, drove his points home much better than the
first speaker. He didn’t really offer
any points in favor of tenor, however, mainly just points refuting points
against it.
A second girl now stepped up to the
front, and basically just restated everything the first girl said. She was a very good speaker though, and was
much more convincing because of this.
Her speech was short, and right after it the last man stood up. He was by far the best speaker, and
simultaneously refuted the opposition and convinced the majority of the room
that not only should teachers be tenured, but they should actually be paid
more.
In all honesty, I was glad it was
over, as the moderator closed the debate.
It was held as a project for grad students, and a friend was offered
extra credit for her COM 110 class if she went, so I came with. It was not the most fun I have had in an
hour, and I wouldn’t go to another debate unless the topic of debate overtly
interested me.
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