Debate 16: Texas State University, San Marcos, TX.

We arrived into Austin via Dallas around 3pm, for this stop, which the British tour has been making for the last 7 or 8 years. Past reports had said that Wayne Kramer who is there debate coach has the best moustache in the world – they were correct. In fact Alex had judged with Wayne before when he had come across to the Oxford IV, something Texas State do every year. Texas State is one of the largest universities we had been to so far – it is also the university that LBJ attended and debated for when it was call South West Texas State (CHECK). The debate society is also names after Lyndon Banes (who also taught debate at both high school and university before entering public office). Wayne took us on a walking tour of the State Capitol, which (according to Texans) is taller than the Capitol Building in Washington DC. It wasn’t until we had taken in the majesty of the building and the uniquely Texan touches (the light fittings in both the Senate and House Chambers spelt our T-E-X-A-S in the state’s star) that we fully appreciated why many Americans consider Texas a distinct country within the USA. We had a light lunch by the river and witnessed a Zombie Protest. In essence, 200 people dressed up as the living dead marauding across the main bridge into town demanding ‘Free Brains for All!’ We had been told that in this part of Texas the people were proud of the slogan ‘Keep Austin Weird’ and the scene before us as we ate lunch went some way to convincing us the T-Shirt wearers had nothing to worry about. Austin certainly is a liberal anomaly in a predominantly Republican Texas.

It has become a tradition that the British Debate Team shoots things whilst in Texas - and this year was to be no exception. We got up rather early and after a delicious Taco Breakfast we were driven (blindfolded) to a nearby S.W.A.T shooting range. For obvious reasons we are unable to describe in detail what we experienced, but we both enjoyed the experience. It was the first time that either of us had fired Handguns and Automatic Rifles (M4s - the same model used by US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan) and the instructor was particularly impressed with Alistair’s marksmanship. We were both conscious of how much respect the instructor clearly had for the weapons and it was comforting to know that even the law enforcement authorities are aware of the awesome power that they yield.

We returned to the Texas State campus where we made the first our two classrooms visits. Dr Gomez introduced us to his Inter-Cultural Communications class who proceeded to ask us questions about the UK. After it became clear that they were slightly ‘behind the curve’ (US sports have really infected our vocabulary) on British history, we put our academic knowledge to good use and taught a ‘UK101’ crash course. Thanks to Alex’s interactive map of the UK (which probably made Scotland look rather large and Cornwall rather phallic) and Alistair’s solid grasp of immigration patterns since the 11th Century, the discussion moved on to a comparative analysis of the attitude that British and American people have towards immigration. We had watched enough Lou Dobbs (think Richard Little John with a nicer suit and tie) to get a sense of how controversial this subject was and the fact that Dr Gomez was Mexican added a fascinating edge to the discussion. He admitted to us later that he thought his students were far more frank when discussing the issue with us than when he was leading the class. As classes finished up for the day, we were invited to a meeting of the Associated Student Government where we were both made ‘Honorary Bobcats’ by a unanimous vote of the student body and presented with very posh certificates to prove our status. It was a wonderful gesture and we look forward to wearing our Texas State hoodies with pride back in the UK!

That evening Amber and Megan (two Graduate Communications students) drove us downtown to Austin where we had an unforgettable evening. It started with a game of Shuffleboard (curling on a wooden table without the brooms) in which the Brits once again proved their love of bar sports with a tense 2-0 victory! We then had some very cheap tequila before heading to 6th Street – famous for making Austin ‘The Live Music Capital of the World’. It is 1.5 miles long and features numerous bars, tattoo parlours, pizzerias and small music venues. Although it was a Monday night we found a lively bar with a superb three-piece band that took requests for a dollar. The trumpeter was spectacular and we spend a good hour listening to covers ranging from ‘Oklahoma Boys’ to ‘Brown Eyed Girl’…

The next morning we were back in the classroom teaching another Inter-Cultural Communications class. This time the discussion focused more on the perception of Americans abroad and the reasons why so many people in the USA have a genuine fear of ‘Big Government’. The class were extremely knowledgeable about international affairs and we had some fascinating exchanges about the differences between the British reaction to 7/7 and the American response to 9/11. Lunch consisted of the largest of the largest onion rings either of us had ever seen and pink lemonade (this restaurant had no fruit juice!)

Our first debate of the day was at the new local High School that had recently opened to cater for two thousand students in the San Marcos area. We spoke in front of over 300 somewhat restless students on the motion, “This House Believes that Celebrities deserve private lives”. It was a lively debate although the vast lunch-hall that served as an auditorium didn’t have the best acoustics so the kids were probably more excited by our accents and matching ties than the depth of our analysis. Alistair perfected his royal wave as we left the building for our next public debate…

The motion we were asked to oppose was “This house believes that Scottish Succession is more important than Texas Succession”. It was by far the most amusing debate of the tour to date and featured sweeping generalisations about Texans and Guns, Scots and Kilts and a stirring rendition of ‘God Bless Texas’ by Alex. We narrowly won the debate and were taken out to a delicious fish restaurant for dinner – which was a nice break from all the amazing meat we had been consuming! The evening ended with another solid team performance at the pool table. A 5-1 victory over the Texas State team took our tour record to 17-6 or a 0.735 winning percentage – would it be enough to take us into the playoffs at NCA?

Debate 15: West Texas A&M, Canyon, TX.

‘Show me the way to Amarillo’

They say everything is bigger in Texas…we were not to be disappointed. Arriving in Amarillo via Dallas-Forth Worth (a huge airy airport) we found ourselves in picture book Texas. Stunning blue skies, flat land, steak houses and pickup trucks aplenty. West Texas A&M is actually in Canyon a small university town about 20 minutes drive south of Amarillo. We were taken for a taco dinner on our first night at the house of one of the WT Professors where we got a chance to meet some of the faculty and the speech and debate team. Alex also enjoyed bouncing around on the family trampoline, but he was rather shown-up by an energetic routine performed by the Professor’s 5 year old son…

On Friday we took part in a lunchtime debate in front of a sizable audience. We were each paired with one Texan to debate the motion ‘THW scrap the Olympics’ – the debate was good-natured and a lot of fun. The audience, which included a sizable number of high school kids, voted to keep the Olympics and agree with Alex. After the debater we were taken by Jessica (who teaches at West Texas) to the Paulo Duro (sp.) Canyon about ten miles from the town of canyon – it is the second largest canyon in the USA after the Grand Canyon. We drove down into it and strolled around, took pictures and looked at the cacti, with their beautiful flowers. It was fun to be out in the out doors rather than in a hotel room or debate round and the panoramic views were truly stunning.

That evening we went to see the school performance of Cabaret in the school theatre. The theatre itself is about a year old and is a testament to the fund raising power of even a relatively small/medium size university in the US. The show was an interesting choice for a fairly conservative town and the showgirls/cross-dressing/Nazi/abortion themes may not have suited every west Texan. Indeed several older couples left during act one… We enjoyed the show – although technical theatre Ali might have had some issues with the lighting. Afterwards we drove back to Amarillo to sample the nightlife and played some very competitive frames of pool and air-hockey. The car ride back to Canyon was memorable for our hosts as we sang our way through The Beatle’s back catalogue. We felt that on balance John was rather glad to drop us off at our hotel…

Saturday was a day off and John and Erin (who had taken us to Cabaret on Friday) took us for lunch at a local Buffalo Wings restaurant where we watched 12 different college football games simultaneously on around 35 different screens. Alex then got really excited when he worked out that some screens were running an interactive quiz. We were brought bright blue keypads and could compete in the quiz against the rest of the restaurant. Alex managed to win two straight games in a row before doing a jig of glory. After that excitement we went to an art installation called Cadillac Ranch – built in the 1970s (check). It had been described to us as something of a modern day Stonehenge and consists of ten Cadillac cars buried in a line in the middle of a field, which is about 20 minutes out of town. Being a public art installation the public are encouraged to spray paint the cars and we all took up the challenge arriving armed with several cans of spray paint recently purchased at Wal Mart. Although the pictures might not show this, spray painting in a 30mph wind is really hard and we may not have been artistic as possible but we did manage to leave our mark. That evening the debate team took us out bowling and to play pool. It was an all-American Saturday night and can be summed up by the following song…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weFbpmupZeI

Photo Essay - UCM

We have been covered by several university newspapers and press departments - this however is one of the most unique, a photo essay covering our win over Central Missouri from the Warrensburg news website.

http://www.digitalburg.com/artman/publish/article_3413.shtml

One Month

We had our one month anniversary last night - we were taken to a Mexican restaurant by Wayne Kramer and all the Texas State debaters.

More blog to come when we get a chance to write it up

A&A

Debate 14: Washburn University, Topeka, KS.

The door outside the theater we had just spoken in...

Steve Doubledee who is one of the coaches at Washburn came and watched the debate in Salina and after a farewell dinner with Gary and his wife he drove us the two hours to Topeka, Kansas. Topeka is the State Capital of Kansas and is home to a museum commemorating the famous Brown vs. Topeka Board of Education Supreme Court case, which played a key role in the Civil Rights struggle. Alistair had in fact debated against Steve when he was a grad student many years ago in a round at the St. Andrews IV, so it was interesting to make the connection again. Having seen some of Topeka and the Washburn campus during the day we were all set for the debate. The team we were debating are currently ranked number two in the country for Parliamentary NPDA and one of their speakers was the top ranked speaker in the nation at Lincoln-Douglas debate. We were to take them on debating the motion ‘This House Believes Strict Gun Control Laws are the mark of a civilised society’. We proposed the motion and were slightly hesitant over how well this would go down in an area of the Mid-West that is famous for its love of all things gun related. However, the debate was well received, with both the President of the University and the Mayor of Topeka making speeches to welcome us. We added to our haul of branded gifts and were delighted to receive a City of Topeka umbrella (it had been raining all day, so this was an extremely thoughtful presentation!) by the Mayor and bow ties by the University President – who was sporting a rather snazzy number himself.


The debate itself was good fun – although we both realised the gulf in culture that exists between the US and UK over this controversial issue. The American psyche still seems to see guns as being at the core of US society and possession of a weapon as an essential right - lest a robber (or worse still the federal government!) might try to intervene in your private affairs. We put up a good case for gun control ‘yes really most British police officer don’t carry guns’ – ‘if you have a gun will the robber a. run away or b. buy a bigger gun’. (Plus some very nuanced stuff about fear and communities). There was no public vote but Steve told us the next day that one of his speech majors said to him afterward that if the Washburn team had won the debate she was quitting his class – all we would say is that she is still in attendance. News of our debate got a 30 second spot on the local TV news a 10pm but we were unable to watch as that night the whole debate team took us out to Topeka’s premier (and only) gay bar. Where we discussed topics ranging from the length of waiting lists in the NHS to what we should expect at our next stop in Texas. The evening was lots of fun and despite the lack of a DJ (no Karaoke for Alex this time) we were able to enjoy good cold pumpkin beer for 50p a pint until the wee small hours…

Debate 13: Kansas Wesleyan University, Salina, KA.

“20 hours in the middle of America”. This was to be the furthest west our Mid-West section of the trip would take us the local Steak House described Salina as a bull’s-eye at the heart of the country. Having arrived Monday night the next morning we were taken by the very hospitable Gary Harman to lunch to met the debate team. KWU do parliamentary debate in the NPDA format as well as some Lincoln Douglas and Individual Events (IEs). For a small liberal arts college of around 800 people, KWU has an incredibly well resourced debate team as well as excellent all round facilities. Gary has been coaching high school and college debate for over 30 years and was a font of debate related knowledge and anecdotes. He was also a rodeo rider in his youth and we were kept entertained with his stories.

After lunch we engaged the debate team and some of their friends in some Five-a-Side football (soccer to those of a certain disposition). Playing Brits and Girls vs. The Rest the Brits came out on top in a 4-1 rout. Having successfully showed off our sporting prowess, we returned to the hotel to change for the evening’s debate. We debated the topic ‘This House Believes that celebrities deserve a private life’. We flipped a coin for sides about 20 minutes before the debate started and found ourselves on in Opposition. The debate turned out to be very good-natured and very funny as both teams had parliamentary experience. We were rewarded for our jokes with KWU debate polo shirts and baseball caps as well as pins, which the University President pined, onto our lapels.

Debate 12: Emporia State University, Emporia, KS

Kelly drove us most of the way to Emporia before we were transferred to Kurt from Emporia. That evening we went drinking with Sam who is the Emporia debate coach and the team. We sampled almost all the bars worth visiting in Emporia (that would be three) and managed to extend our pool record to 9-3. Emporia is a strictly policy directed team and were the National Debate Champions in 1993 – as the road sign on the highway before campus informed us!

On Monday night we debated the motion, ‘TH believes invading Iran would cause more problems than it solves’ – this was the fourth time we would discuss Iran but he first time we would try to convince the audience not to authorise an invasion. The poster for the debate advertised us with pictures of Hugh Grant and Austin Powers – despite this billing the audience was fairly modest with around 30 students attending. However, the ensuing debate was good fun and we both enjoyed the opportunity to Cross-Examine our opponents. We once again won the day – helped partly by the opp line that ran ‘It is inevitable that Israel will attack Iran, that is bad so America must attack now to stop that”. This argument although probably valid in the vacuum of policy debate was quite easy to dismantle in front of an audience. Gary Harman and two of his debates from Kansas Wesleyan University had come to watch the debate and after we had said our goodbyes they drove us 2 hours across the state to Salina.

Debate 11: Missouri Southern State University, Joplin, MO.

We drove south through Missouri to Joplin where we were handed over to our next host Kelly Larson who would look after us for the weekend. Our first stop was the University TV station – which is syndicated across the campus and the local area. The studio was very professional but they would not let us use the kitchen which is used for the cookery shows. The interview was conducted by a member of the faculty but some of the students help run the station. We both enjoyed the experience and hoped that it would stand us in good stead for our appearance on Oprah later in the year.

That evening we debated against the MSSU debaters; they had not done a huge amount of parliamentary debating and had a Lincoln-Douglas debate background. We debated scraping the Olympics, which got narrowed to whether or not America should boycott the Beijing Games until China stops Burma being bad. However we were able to prevail by poking fun at sub point 5b and charming the audience. Kelly and his charming wife certainly seemed to enjoy the debate and the audience were treated to large quantities of cookies after the round.

The next day Whitney and Cody who we had debated against the previous evening took us to Missouri Southern’s Homecoming football game. We were able to see the crowning of the Homecoming King and Queen, the 100 person marching band, the cheerleaders and the dance team. Fortunately this was a distraction from the football game, which went 3 quarters without a score, before Southern final scored in the 4th to win the game 6-0. Another American experience was chalked off the list. That evening Kelly took us for dinner at his house which is about 30mins drive form Joplin out in the countryside- we got to meet his family and the horses and throw the football around with his 10 year old, who has been playing tackle football since he was seven. His team had just made it to their local Super Bowl – this is a team of 10 year olds who have a playbook with 70 plays! Welcome to American sport…

On Sunday morning Kelly and his wife invited us to go to church with them, an experience neither of us wanted to miss. The church itself was beautiful (and came complete with a fantastic indoor basketball court) and had been built by the local community, everyone pitching in with their DIY skills. The Sunday morning service was certainly different from the Church of Scotland services that Alex was used to during his school days in Edinburgh. A 5-piece Rock band, Giant TV screens and a congregation 500 strong made this a truly unique experience. After all the rushing around and arguing, it was really nice to be able to have a few hours of reflection, clapping and listening to other people speak! The sermon was nothing if not thought provoking, as the pastor went through the songs of John Lennon, U2 and various Country and Western stars, critiquing their approach to life. He was undoubtedly a charismatic preacher, but lost us both when he asserted that evolution was a falsehood, because as a child he had thrown firecrackers into molehills and complete frogs had not emerged from the explosion… We had a parting pizza buffet lunch with the Larsons and drove westwards with Kelly towards Oz, Dorothy and the state of Kansas.

Debate 10: University of Central Missouri, Warrensburg, MO

We were driven halfway across the state by Wash U before being handed over to Ryan – the Graduate Debate Assistant from UCM. This was a town were Gavin and Fraser had made a serious impact last year so we had something of reputation to live up to! Alex had met Ryan and some of the UCM debaters when they travelled to Oxford last year – the UCM debate team go to the UK each year as part of the Montgomery Cup. Once we arrived we were introduced to Jack Rogers who is the head of the Debate Team – Jack is also a Lieutenant General in the US Army reserve as well as having a PhD in Communications. He also proved to be one of the nicest and most entertaining people we have met so far. On our first evening we were taken for dinner at the home of a university benefactor – the business school is named after his family. It was to be our second formal dinner in as many days. Also present were the University Provost and several Deans who were in charge of various departments at UCM. The meal was excellent and it was nice to be in a family home setting rather than a restaurant. Afterwards Jack took us to a party hosted by one of his graduate assistants.

The next morning we rose early and went to visit Whiteman Air Force base – 10 miles from downtown Warrensburg. This is home of the B-2 stealth bomber fleet and we were able to see a couple of them on the ground – each aircraft is valued at $2 Billion. We were also able to watch some A-10s and T-34s flying around the base. We left feeling we had checked another American thing off the list – seeing a strategic nuclear deterrent up close! After the base visit we went to the local AM radio station KOKO to do an interview with ‘Woody’ - the closest Warrensburg has to a local celebrity. We continued on to the golf course where we played 18 holes with Jack and his Communications Department colleague Art. Alex is quite a good golfer – Ali had never hit a golf ball in anger. The Golf carts were particularly good fun as neither of us have driving licences! Ali learned how to hit the ball towards the flag– Alex hit some very good shots on the 16th – Jack smoked cigars – fun was had by all…

The debate that evening had just over 100 people in attendance. We were defending the other side of the Iraq resolution and were trying to get the troops out in 90 days. The debate was conducted in a good sprit and although the audience were initially hesitant they really warmed to us and we were able to win the vote to take us to 8-0.

Debate 9: Washington University, St Louis, MO

Wash U. is across town from Webster and we were met bright and early by Ian McMullan - a Political Science Tutor at the University and an alumnus of the US Debate Tour. Ian gained his undergraduate degree at Oxford and it was nice to hear an English voice! Alex had met Ian in Singapore during his World Schools’ days and Ian’s Father had just retired from Durham’s Politics Department - although Alistair had declined to take any of his classes during his three years. Ian gave us the full Campus Tour of the extremely picturesque main site - which included many new multi-million dollar buildings made to look like the original 19th Century buildings. The running track is also notable as it is the same one that was used during the 1904 Olympics. Wash U. is a well-endowed institution is consistently ranked as one of the top Universities in the Mid West and the country.

That morning Ian had to teach so we met up with two of his students who took us to the St. Louis Zoo, where we experienced Lions, Tigers, Penguins and a few exotic creepy crawlies! That afternoon we drove across town to the Anheuser Busch Brewery - aka the Budweiser brewery. Bud was invented in St. Louis it still hosts its largest brewery in the USA. The tour was fun if not a massive propaganda effort to prove to us that ‘smooth, crisp, refreshing Bud’ was the answer to most of our problems. This may have been utter nonsense but we but we all enjoyed our free samples at the end of the tour!

We went from the brewery to the debate, which was held in a very impressive hall and hosted by the Centre for Ethics and Human Values. The Wash U. Debate Team is quite small and student run, whereas the centre was very well resourced. We were up against a debater who was in his Senior Year and a Law Student who had participated in mock trial events across the country. We were opposing pulling US troops out of Iraq – the debate its self was excellent and well attended by nearly 150 students and faculty. After we spoke, three expert panellists offered their views on the topic. It was really refreshing to hear the Wash U. Professors (in Moral Ethics, International Law and Islamic Studies) give their opinions based on years of academic research – rather than our usual 15 minutes of scrambled wikipedia preparation…

After the debate we were taken for dinner with 20 Wash U. Faculty to the St. Louis Club – a private dining club on the 20th floor of a Downtown office block. The whole evening was reminiscent of our previous Union careers and along with the fabulous food we were entertained by a lovely waiter who looked resplendent in his Black Tie. We retired to bed full, happy and the proud owners of shiny new Washington University mugs…

Puppet Debate - Update 2

Thanks to Gordon and his production team here is the full Puppet Debate in all its glory!

Moderator's introduction (7:44)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dSaEbf4BxE

Proposition speech - Mot & Cookie (4:58)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oKh-DGmsfc

Opposition speech - Prof. Hugo Hackenbush (7:59)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Yckm7q0KMI

Audience Q&A (4:48)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4heQzdpo2II

Summations and salutations (4:35)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cJexLV-i1U

Debate 8: Webster University, St Louis MO.

Hello St. Louis the gateway to the Midwest, we have crossed the Mississippi

We arrived in St. Louis Saturday afternoon and were met by the President of the debate team and 100% All American Girl: Alaina Gonzalez-White who was to be our brilliant host for the weekend. Unlike last weekend when we debated in Vermont – we were to have the weekend off for debate at least. This however didn’t mean we were able to rest; we had to experience St. Louis. We first met Scott Jenson who is the head coach at Webster along with his wife Jeana and has been hosting the British team for years, plus they and organized last years tour. He brought along his kids who are 9, 5 and 3 who provided constant entertainment thought the meal. That evening after convincing Alaina that we wanted to cook for ourselves (and her housemates) rather than be taken out for dinner for the 14th night in a row we drove to Whole Foods (a very American phenomena) to buy stir fry stuff, having suitably charmed our way through Alex’s prawn and lemongrass starter we were then taken country dancing! We are not sure it gets any more American than this – we drove across the Mississippi to Illinois to a place called ‘Wild Country’ it looks like wall-mart on the outside – barn in the inside with patrons of all ages most wearing Stetsons. Before the main live band came on about 9.30 we all stood up right and removed hats for the national anthem, where the lights dimmed and the flag was illuminated before being blown by a little fan as the anthem reached its climax. So moved by the display we made sure we had several more weak and fairly awful bears before taking to the dance floor – not being line dancing experts it was a learning curve but one we were just about able to master.

After a brief recovery period - the next day Alaina took us to Forest Park - the site of the 1904 World’s Fair were we went to the St. Louis History museum where we learnt both about the World’s Fair and Charles Lindbergh one of St Louis most famous sons. After that Al and Al were taken to Al’s grill St. Louis best barbeque place before we went to the city museum.

http://citymuseum.org/phototour.html - Best sums it up as the museum is pretty indescribable but basically is a huge playground for both kids and grownups. We both had a great time and totally forgot about debating whilst acting like 10 year olds.

That evening we played Softball with Alaina’s housemates, once again we felt very American, plus we put our new mitts to good use. We feel that our all round game is developing well! - the exercise was also much appreciated. That evening we were taken for Vietnamese food before crashing out back in our hotel room.

Monday morning started with some excellent 'Einstein's' Bagels and quite a lot of coffee, as we attempted to stretch off the impact of the previous evening's softball game. It was another unseasonably warm day and although our Kilt/Black Tie outfits were well received on the Webster Campus, they were a tad impractical! We debated in a magnificent church, that is now used as the campus cinema (our performance was to be followed that evening by a Buster Keaton marathon) and although the debate took place at lunchtime, we were delighted that over 40 students and faculty turned out to hear a passionate discussion on the merits of immediate military intervention in Darfur. A unique feature of this particular debate was the fact that the audience was encouraged to move and sit on whichever side of the motion they supported - Ayes to the Rights and Nos to the Left . As they debate progressed we were pleased to see members of the audience drifting over to our side and by the end of the round we were winners by the narrowest of margins. With our undefeated public debate record in tact (7-0) we enjoyed our lunch with the Webster Debate team and then retired to our hotel for a much needed afternoon nap.

Alaina picked us up a few hours later and we headed downtown to visit St Louis's most famous landmark, the Jefferson Expansion Memorial – commonly referred to as 'The Arch'. Conceived in the 1960's to be 'The Gateway to the Midwest' this stunning stinless steel Arch allows breathtaking views across St Louis and the Mississippi river if you are brave enough to take a tiny metal capsule on the 4 minute ride to the top!

http://www.gatewayarch.com/Arch/index.aspx#

After returning to earth, we headed off to a charming little Italian restaurant , where we met the Jensen Family for a farewell meal. Alex and Noah (3 years old) had a fascinating discussion regarding the meaning of the word 'Chip' in the UK and America. It was the sort of cross-cultural exchange that exemplifies that spirit of the tour and was a lovely end to a terrific stop…

Puppet Debate - Update

The Cathedral of Learning
(as mentioned in Pittsburgh post)

Puppet Debate update - A trailer for our Puppet debate can be found on youtube - the full and brilliant full debate should be available soon. All requests for professional puppeteering roles should be made directly to our agent.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hGIPNF9yJ8

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…

Debate 6: Boston College, MA

We had two full days in Boston before the debate on Tuesday night. On Monday we slept in before going on a Boston Duck Tour (an amphibious WWII vehicle driven by a charismatic lady in pyjamas called ‘PJ’) that gave us an excellent overview of the city from the Charles River. Afterwards John showed us around the Boston College campus, a spectacular collection of gothic buildings and tree lined avenues. Unlike our native Doxford the BC also had a 44,500 capacity football stadium bang in the middle of campus. We would like to take this opportunity officially wish the football team (many of whom came to watch our debate) the best of British for their match-up against their arch-rivals Notre Dame on October 13^th. On Tuesday we went out to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, which looks out over the water onto a beautiful vista of Boston Bay. Being political junkies we were very excited at the array of JFK memorabilia and exhibits. Overall the museum is very well put together and we both enjoyed it immensely. It was a particularly emotional return for Alex, who had plotted the early days of his Union Presidential Election Campaign, gaining wisdom from the exhibits on JFK’s victory over Richard Nixon in 1960.

However, the real highlight of Boston was the Food. We had been told by the US Debate Community in Vermont that John would feed us well and we were not disappointed! On Monday we were taken to a steak house called Capital Grille – a step up in class from the (delicious) Truck Stop where we had eaten the previous evening. Valet parking, a private dinning room and a delightful waiter named Jo, all made for a spectacular meal. Alex opted for the 24oz (682g!) Porterhouse Steak (pictured above), with Ali deciding to tackle the slightly more manageable 14oz Fillet. Both cuts were beautiful cooked and accompanied by a selection of delicious sides including the regional delicacy – Macaroni and Cheese with Lobster. Not only was the food great but we also had a chance to meet Ryan and Matt who we would be debating the next night.

The debate itself was held in a large hall in one of the oldest buildings on campus with lots of wood panelling and portraits – so Alex felt right at home. The hall was filled for the debate with about 250 people our largest audience so far - although about 100 may well have been there to get the extra credit one Professor was offering for attendance…We once again opposed the motion ‘THB the invading Iran would do more harm than good’ but his time we did it in a policy format which allows for a 3 minute cross examination (‘cross ex’) at the end of the 1^st four constructive speeches. This was the first time either of us had dome cross ex and it proved great fun especially with and audience. We both enjoyed the debate and ran away easy winners, as most of the BC crowd bought our ‘Iran is a crazy imminent treat we must bomb them now’ line. After the debate we were invited along with several members of the communications facility to dinner at Legal Seafood for our second stunning meal in as many days. The New England Clam Chowder we had for starter has been served at the last seven presidential inaugural dinners…

The debate was also filmed and should be available online via Boston College, we will post at link when we have it.

So that brings you generally up to date we are currently about 28,000 ft between Boston and Pittsburgh on the 6am (4am wake up call L) flight. We are in Pittsburgh for 3 days before we hit the Mid West. Will post all of this once we return to terra ferma.

A and A xxx

Pictures

Cornell View

Cornell Milkshake Van

Ithaca College - Post Debate

Rochester - Post Debate
(note new t-shirts over suits)

Alex with Boston College's trophy cabinet

Facebook

We are now on facebook as well in an attempt to make this the most multi/cross/hip media USA tour to date - the group is open to all so you post photos and comments.

http://dur.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5430439429

A&A xx

Debate 4: University of Vermont, VT - Part 2

Sorry for the lack of updates we have been rather busy for the last couple of days. We continued to compete in the Vermont parliamentary tournament debating the motions, ‘THW nationalise energy resources’, ‘THW scrap the Olympics’, TH prefers soft power to hard power’ and ‘THW negotiate with terrorists’. We were pleased with the way we spoke especially when we got to nationalise all of the US energy industry. Overall we won three and came second twice (although ali was not convinced with one call – but hey this is debating) – Ultimately though we were not allowed to break and went on to judge the semi finals before watching the final on withdrawing US troops for Iraq.

Overall the standard of the BP tournament was good considering that very few teams had any really BP experience although the APDA debaters were able to make the transition quite easily. We also go our chance to see some policy debate a first for both of us – it did live up to the hype with 350 words a minute speeches which prove totally unintelligible to the untrained ear! But it is a skill in and of its self and the depth and rigor that the debates have is certainly superior to BP but the accessibility to and audience or to new speakers is very low. Moreover due to the masses of research involved in policy there is very little time for socialising at tournaments with everyone going to prep as soon as they have finished their last debate. Consequently we didn’t get much of a chance to speak to many policy debaters, although we did get to talk to several of the West Point guys who were debating in uniform. (The West Point team is very competitive to get on to as it is one of the few teams that allows you to get off base each weekend to compete as a result it produces several good teams each year).

The other thing to note about US tournaments is the amount of trophies there are to be won. Dog tags for the top ten speakers in each division and trophies for the top ten teams and best 2 speakers in each division. A contrast to the UK where you might get a bottle of beer for winning the final and a trophy you have to give back next year if your lucky. We were very pleased when the two Rochester speakers who had been looking after us ranked 1st and 3rd in the Parliamentary speakers tab.

So after the excitement of Vermont and sleeping in Mandy’s attic it was off to Boston College courtesy of their coach John Katsulas during the drive we got to check off two more states, New Hampshire (or Bartlett Country as we called it) and Massachusetts.