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by Yasmin Kassam (year 32)
The Pearson College Debate Team has faired well again at their second appearance at the annual University of British Columbia Debating Tournament, held on November 4th and 5th in Vancouver. This year marked a new record for the tournament, with a phenomenal 170 teams attending, and over 340 debaters in attendance. The tournament consisted of 2 prepared rounds of debate on Friday and 3 rounds of impromptu debate on Saturday. The debate concluded with a semi-final and final round on Saturday afternoon.
After a rousing opening ceremony, lovely fast food to keep our appetites appeased, and waiting for a couple of hours for our pairings, we finally got to debate the resolution in two rounds, “This House Would Give Turkish Membership in the European Union.”
The next morning commenced the impromptu part of the tournament. The first topic was “This House Supports Mandatory Military Service,” followed by, “This House Would Use Force to Establish Democracy in 3rd World Countries,” and finally, “This House Supports the integration of Aboriginal Peoples.” All three difficult in their own ways gave all debaters increased experience in the art of debating and truly was a great experience.
Soon after, we found out that Irfan Kherani and Michael Beeler had made it into the semi-finals against a team from West Point Grey Academy with whom they had debated in first round the previous night. They debated the opposition to the topic, “This House would sacrifice Civil Liberties for National Security.” After 45 minutes of intense debating, and about 20 minutes of judges deliberation (which felt a lot longer at the time) we found out that the pair had won and moved into the finals. The topic was “This House would use torture as a method of interrogation of terrorists”. With about 350 pairs of eyes watching, a few judges, and a supportive team, Irfan and Michael fought eloquently in favor of the bill. Since they only had about 10 minutes to prepare, the arguments tended to come together while they were talking and it was an amazing spectacle to see the debate progress.
To the team's great dismay, our home team did not win the tournament, but went on to take 2nd place overall. In retrospect the tournament was a phenomenal experience, and taught the 10 of us how to win arguments, stay rational and exchange ideas while trying to find your way around a campus that's about 100 times the size of Pearson (or at least feels that way).
Congratulations go out to Yasmin, Shanoor, Adam, Marcial, Karyn, Conner, Tessa, Geraldo, Irfan and Michael for taking part in this amazing tournament. A HUGE THANKS goes out to Margie Demellow and Parviz Kassam who billeted our team and provided them with food and nourishment. Last, but definitely not least, THANKS to Michael Beeler who helped us formulate ideas and put caselines together.
NEXT: ADVISOR SYSTEM
Second year student Yap Xiang Ling of Malaysia has just received an invitation from H.E. The Rt. Hon. Michaëlle Jean, the Governor General of Canada. Xiang Ling has won third place in the 2005 Commonwealth Essay Competition and, with the other two winners, is invited to the presentation of the Governor General's Literary Awards in Ottawa. The President of the Royal Commonwealth Society in Ottawa, Mr Brian Marley-Clarke, will also be attending the gala event.
The Commonwealth Essay Competition is the longest-running youth writing contest in the world, established in 1883 and open to all schools in the Commonwealth. It encourages students to undertake research on the topics they wish to write about and it fosters critical enquiry and creative daring. Most importantly, the Competition puts local issues under international scrutiny, creates a space for debate, and allows young people to think for themselves, which is the best thing an education can give them. Over 120 schools in Canada took part in the Commonwealth Essay Competition in 2005.