Debate 7: University of Pittsburgh, PA

Having arrived early in the morning (after a 3am start!) we were greeted by the very enthusiastic Gordon Mitchell who is the head of the William Pitt Debating Union and also a Professor of X. Gordon checked us into our hotel which was in the middle of the University of Pittsburgh campus located in Oakland - about two miles from downtown. We spent the morning touring the campus and seeing the highlight of U. Pitt – the Cathedral of Learning. This is the tallest educational building in the world and looks like it should be in a Batman movie. The ground floor really does look like the inside of a cathedral. Moreover it boasts over 20 ‘International Rooms’, which are all made to represent different countries. We would later teach in the Hungary and Scotland rooms, the later of which was equipped with a portrait of Robert Burns and some delightful tartan curtains. The main public debate took place in the English room, a debate chamber modelled on the House of Commons (albeit slightly smaller) but with panelling and a fireplace from the original Commons destroyed in 1941. It even had a brick from Downing Street – so we both felt that a good parliamentary performance was in order! Gordon also showed us his office on the 12th floor of the Cathedral with its impressive views overlooking the city. We also had a chance to visit his second office in a leading International Relations think tank, where we met a fellow Arsenal fan. It would transpire that Gordon was a bit of a celebrity appearing on a local TV panel show on Iran and giving and interview for radio on his latest book all during our visit. We were also fortunate enough to visit the University of Pittsburgh Fall Graduate Recruiting Fair, which took place in the magnificent Student Union building – housed in a former luxury hotel. We had an extremely enlightening conversation with two gentlemen from Halliburton who informed us that their company was involved in oil extraction around the globe, although they were somewhat vague when we questioned their involvement in Iraq. Next, we headed to the National Security Agency (NSA) stand, where a rather serious man told us that unfortunately our British Passports precluded us from a career in the American intelligence community. Alex did ask if it was possible to change our nationalities electronically, but this request was met with a wry smile and we were sent on our way with an assortment of NSA pens and some patriotic stress cushions.

Thursday was spent doing classroom visits to various communication classes that U. Pitt run. The first was a speech and debate class in which we were paired up with a U. Pitt debater to speak on the motion ‘THW lower the drinking age to 18’. This was the first time on the tour that we had been made to debate against each other – something that we had been told not to take too seriously as it had previously led to a break down in team relations! The second class we attended was an African American rhetoric class where Alistair and a U. Pitt debater argued for immediate military intervention in Darfur and Alex and a U. Pitt partner argued for increased sanctions. This class was particularly interesting as it was 90% African American in a predominantly white school and was taught by the charismatic U. Pitt Debate Coach who is black and female something very rare on the policy debate circuit. After a break for a brief lunch we were whisked away to a discussion class were we lead a discussion about discussion (how appropriate). It was quite cool to be given free reign over a class for an hour. The last class of the day was political communications were we debated 1 on 1 ‘This House would withdraw troops fro Iraq within 60 days’. We were then expecting to hand back to the Communications Professor but ended up doing a debate Q&A and running a short debate workshop, which was good fun. After all this we retired to our hotel for some rest and watched our now customary afternoon baseball game. That evening Gordon and his wife took us out to dinner at a stunning restaurant on a hill above Pittsburgh with beautiful view back over the city. It was a really excellent dinner and we enjoyed the opportunity to have grown-up wine with our seafood.

The next day we took part in a first for the 85-year-old US Debate Tour – a puppet debate! This had been being planned ever since we touched down in Pittsburgh – when Gordon asked us if we would participate we really had no option but to take up the offer! It was a result of one line in Ali’s bio that stated he was a puppeteer and the fact that Alex let slip that Ali’s Mum had worked for the Muppets and was a puppet maker. Gordon clearly excited by these two facts launched into the idea of a puppet debate. We were to do it against a Professor from the Communications Department who is also a part time ventriloquist. Clearly every communications department has one of those! Gordon had spent Thursday searching the city of Pittsburgh for a puppet for us to use – as we don’t carry our own. After having no luck with the theatre departments of various local Universities, he finally came up trumps with Mot and Cookie two very simple yet effective hand puppets that lived in a local theatre. The debate was on! So after around 45 seconds of advanced training from Ali we soon discovered Alex was a natural puppeteer. We took on Professor Hackenbush – the name of the dummy not his owner - on the topic ‘THB the USA needs a President with no strings attached’ (Yes we wrote that motion ourselves!). The debate was a roaring success; although professional puppeteers might want to look away. The promo video for the debate is available on YouTube at: LINK.

Our major appearance in Pittsburgh was a more serious public debate took place on Friday evening. It was on the motion ‘THW give Ahmadinejad a forum. It was well attended with people standing and sitting on the floor to give an audience of about 150. We took on two Pitt post-grad students who also teach speech and debate and despite their qualifications (and the fact we were against free speech) we charmed and argued the audience round and came away with another win. This debate like the one in Boston was professionally filmed and is available to watch at;

http://mediasite.cidde.pitt.edu/mediasite/Viewer/?peid=d4fca56a-2b33-445e-bfef-e14581d0624d&playerType=WM7&mode=Default&shouldResize=true

That was Pittsburgh - a jam-packed stop that we really enjoyed. We also left as proud owners of authentic baseball mitts (Thanks Gordon!) and our love affair with the ‘America Past Time’ looks set to continue in St. Louis and the Mid West…