Towson wins national debate

they aren't even , uh, good at uh, talking fast uh

Imagine if you were in college and were about to debate another team.... and that other team started rapping like those dudes at the end of the video.

I would have been laughing too hard to even reply back.
 
so harvard people were speaking in this fashion as well?
 
so harvard people were speaking in this fashion as well?

I didn't see the Harvard team.
But this CEDA debate thingy.... most teams were doing this speed reading.
If they judge it off of speed it does seem like these two girls did the worst in that respect. Fumbling words, lots of gasps.... not nearly as fast as other teams.

But I doubt that's what it's judged off of.

Georgetown's team were just buzzing through reading it a mile a minute.
 
I've read up a bit more on this whole thing with teams like Towson.
I guess there's a big debate in the debate community about whether or not it's fair what teams like Towson are doing.

The teams come to debate on a topic like "Presidential War Powers" (or whatever policy issue).... but then one of the teams decides to not really debate on that topic but on a more general topic of white privileged and how that privileged leads towards a bias against minorities and how that bias against minorities impacts their view on a president who's a minority and if the president would have been white there wouldn't even be a debate about "Presidential War Powers".

And also that they don't debate so much with evidence that they gathered but from their own personal experience with racism.
 
Like with the Towson v U of Oklahoma debate. They were supposed to be debating "Prez War Power" but both teams were debating how white culture views minorities.... and how a minority is to remain an "authenticated ni###" in that culture.
 
Like with the Towson v U of Oklahoma debate. They were supposed to be debating "Prez War Power" but both teams were debating how white culture views minorities.... and how a minority is to remain an "authenticated ni###" in that culture.

I took quite a few debate classes and even participated on the debate team a few times in undergrad, and the whole speed-speaking shit wasn't really that prevalent at the competitions we went to...however, skewing the argument by throwing in a red herring at the very beginning, making the debate about something other than the topic, was a strategy used by everyone. Definitely stupid.
 
i did debate once in grade 9

this is DEFINITELY NOT how it went
 
I took quite a few debate classes and even participated on the debate team a few times in undergrad, and the whole speed-speaking shit wasn't really that prevalent at the competitions we went to...however, skewing the argument by throwing in a red herring at the very beginning, making the debate about something other than the topic, was a strategy used by everyone. Definitely stupid.

I had a few debates as an undergrad.

"debate about something other than the topic"....
This kind of happened but not to the degree as in the Towson debate. Sure, you might nuance something the other team said.... or shift the point alittle. But not abandoning the ship entirely for another ship.
 
wtf is this shit... the team quoting 2pac should have won
 
I watched this video about Towson University. The discussion is about the fact that there are dozens of ethnic student organizations which promote ethnic interests, and white students want to set up their own student union because they feel the aggressive promotion of (black/hispanic/asian) ethnic interests harms them if they do not organize themselves .


When listening to the arguments from those in the audience, I'm not surprised about the "talents" who somehow won the national debate:

[YT]?v=jGyfmhFobdM[/YT]
 
What is this shit? Am I still dreaming? I can't possible be awake... what is wrong with this planet, damn it....
 
What is this shit? Am I still dreaming? I can't possible be awake... what is wrong with this planet, damn it....

When demographics change, cultures change. This has an influence on all aspects of society. Many examples could be posted about changes within colleges and universities due to demographic changes, many of them both humorous and sad at the same time. I believe your country is part of the European Union, which demands open borders, hence, you will see many changes within your culture as well within the coming 20 years.
 
Hate to say this, but Americans are known for emphasizing performance in presentation rather than providing good content: data, evidence or facts in a concise and logical fashion. I'm including Canadians in that category as well to a degree. My theory is melodrama in Hollywood that is inculcated in us (westerners) from a very early age serves as basis for moral reasoning and critical thinking. I could explain further but it would take up too much time and space.

I couldn't understand what was being said because she would cut mid-sentence and start over "...the impact that is that th uh impact turn to uh that is afraid that the turn is the uh turned to the affirmative because we are sending..."

There are cases on the world stage when American flair had influence on public opinion and provided punch to the point. One famous is from American UN ambassador Adlai Stevenson debated with his Soviet counterpart during the emergency meeting with the security council:

Stevenson's most famous moment as UN Ambassador came during the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962, when he gave a presentation (covered on national television) at an emergency session of the Security Council.[69] He forcefully asked Soviet UN representative Valerian Zorin if his country was installing nuclear missiles in Cuba, and when Zorin appeared reluctant to reply, Stevenson punctuated with the famous demand "Don't wait for the translation, answer 'yes' or 'no'!"[70] When Zorin replied that "I am not in an American court of law, and therefore do not answer a question put to me in the manner of a prosecuting counsel...you will have your answer in due course", Stevenson retorted, "I am prepared to wait for my answer until Hell freezes over."[70] In one of the most memorable moments in United Nations history, Stevenson then showed photographs (taken by a U-2 spy plane), that proved the existence of nuclear missiles in Cuba, just after Zorin had implied they did not exist.[71]
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adlai_Stevenson_II

That's how you flex during a debate. But you have to come prepared, and you have to mount your case. The video in the OP gave me a "I don't want to live on this planet anymore" feel because that came from American academia. I won't generalize because the US is STILL the world leader in quality in higher learning, but something needs to be done about college debate teams.
 
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