The University of Northern Iowa’s Ulrich debate tournament’s preliminary rounds took place on Saturday and Sunday.
Junior Al Hiland is a third-year debate participant. He served as a student helper for the tournament, keeping the other workers organized and the events wheels rolling.
“It’s been running smoothly,” he said. “There’s a pretty deep competition and some talented teams. The speech students have been a huge help in making it run so efficiently.”
According to Hiland, this year’s debate topic boils down to whether the United States should change or disarm its nuclear arsenal.
UNI’s tournament is a multi-day event consisting of preliminary rounds on Saturday and Sunday and a breakout round on Monday at the Ramada Waterloo.
Debate teams consist of two-person groups arguing either for or against an issue. In the preliminaries, both sides give constructive speeches laying out their sides’ beliefs and views, with each person on the team giving a nine-minute speech.
Then, a six-minute rebuttal section occurs, allowing each team member to tear down the opponent’s plan or defend his or her own.
Finally, the judge gives his verdict based on which side’s policy was better. Each team debates both sides of the issue four times during the preliminaries for a grand total of eight rounds. At the end of preliminaries, speaker awards are handed out for the best speakers.
During the breakout round on Monday, the teams are “put into a bracket like the NCAA,” said Hiland. The bracket is single-elimination with teams taken out until the final round Monday night. A trophy is given to the team that performed the best overall.
Junior communications major Chris Outzen was a one-time debate tournament champion. As a part of his Argumentation and Debate class, he had the option to either debate in a novice class tournament or write a 15-page paper. He chose the former.
“I was completely stressed out,” Outzen said. “Out of all the activities I was a part of in high school and college, (debate) was easily the most stressful thing I’ve done.”
