Video from THE CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION
Dear USA Policy Debate Community:
I write today because I fear for the future of policy debate in America. It is already too close to being below critical mass in terms of schools and students. The following story is illustrative of our problems.
http://www.thefacultylounge.org/2008/10/college-debate.html
The video of a debater standing on the table where the opposing team is sitting and uttering a stream of profanities is not a good film clip for the CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION to feature.
The story has some points to make that are hard for us to answer:
1. Incomprehensible speech
2. Rejection of the topic
3. Too present profanity
4. "project" hi jinks
5. Lack of perceived civility
and, of course,
6. THE incident.
I am sure that we can explain to ourselves and rationalize all of these, but to THE PUBLIC and to our ADMINISTRATIONS it is getting more difficult to explain in a way that they can accept. The Las Vegas article Jake reported on is good, but an exception to the rule in terms of the kinds of publicity we are getting. See http://globaldebateblog.blogspot.com/2008/10/las-vegas-policy-debaters-live-and.html
Rather than a top down imposition of codes and rules I think each squad needs to confront these issues as a team, publicize your efforts to your students so if called on you have an answer as to what you are doing. Then, carry them out. This way changes can happen that you agree with on your squad and the overall effect on many of the above points will be substantial. But, if we just ignore it and go on preparing for the next tournament we are at peril.
I am not trying to engage in a long drawn-out argument about these issues, what I really want is to alert you to the kind of press we are getting and express my concern.
Letters to the editor of THE CHRONICLE might be a place to start.
Alfred Snider
From http://www.thefacultylounge.org/2008/10/college-debate.html
October 01, 2008
College Debate Under Fire: Postmodernism And The Moon
People unfamiliar with high school and college debate tend to express surprise and disgust about the nature of this fun activity. This response isn't new. This was true back in my high school days when spread debate was only beginning to rev up to its current speed. (Little known fact: a certain law professor at Loyola LA was my debate coach during my sophomore year at Niles West High School.) People would complain that this fast talk wasn't genuine debate (y'know, like the Presidential debates) since there wasn't time for true persuasion. Mostly, though, they were just mad that you needed a trained ear to understand the words. In those days, though, at least everyone was talking policy.
Now many debaters eschew policy, focusing on theory. One year, while at Alabama, I populated my final exam with Judith Butler, Donna Harraway, Michel Foucault, and others. (I was spending a lot of time with my friends across campus!) Only one student appeared to notice the joke: a former debating star from UT Austin. When he explained the source of his knowledge, I was duly impressed. Who knew that you could leverage a surface understanding of Gender Trouble into shiny trophies?
And now, it appears, debaters continue to push the envelope on the act of debate - still enraging people who see debate as something serious and important and true, rather than as an intellectual sport. This lead the Chronicle of Higher Ed to report about the ultimate demise of this ancient activity: the display of ass by an angry coach. Can we as a society, indeed as humanity writ large, ever come back from the brink?
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