St. John’s Debaters Reach Quarterfinals in Ithaca

February 02, 2010

St John's University Debate Society had 6 students reach the quarterfinal round at the inaugural Ithaca College Debate tournament over the last weekend in January.

The teams of Alia Bellwood and Korey Pace, Zia Durrani and George Fitzpatrick, as well as Shreshth Jain and Alisha Siqueira, all qualified to participate in the quarterfinal debate. The motion was: This house believes that destination countries should be forced to pay reparations to human trafficking victims within their borders.

Nipun Mahajan and Sadhana Suresh also competed at the tournament. The Debate Society's next competitive event will be the University of Massachusetts, Amherst tournament in February.

Motions Debated:

  • Round 1: This House would ban labor unions.
  • Round 2:  This House would legalize human cloning.
  • Round 3: This house would partition Sudan.
  • Round 4: This house believes that corporations should not be allowed to make financial contributions to political campaigns.
  • Round 5: This house believes that the more corrupt a government is the less development assistance that country should receive.
  • Round 6:  This house would allow the use of entrapment by police

Quarters: This house believes that destination countries should be forced to pay reparations to human trafficking victims within their borders.

Semis: This house believes that military coups are preferable to corrupt, democratically elected governments.

Finals: This House believes terrorists should be tried as criminals in civilian courts.

Students who want more information on the Debate Society are encouraged to contact Professor Stephen Llano at llanos@stjohns.edu or attend a regular meeting of the Society, every Monday or Thursday evening at 7 p.m. in St John Hall, room 304A. No audition, experience, or fees are required.