The finalists and CAs – ©Private

The Alfred Tuna Snider International World Schools Tournament was won by Toronto Mix (Sarah Rana, Zain Daudi, Dori Zhoud, Sophie Wu) in Proposition on a 3:2 split decision. They debated the final on the motion “This House believes that the West should not portray ‘’The Great Explorers’’ (e.g. Christopher Columbus, Vasco da Gama) as heroes” against UTS A (Martine Duffy, Alykhan Jetha, Adithya Chakracarthy, Gautam Manohar; Canada) in Opposition.

The final was judged by Adnan Muttalib, Cornell in chair together with Duncan Crowe, UK/Vermont, Nae Sovaiala, Romania, Zheng Bo, China and Wanda Gibson, Bermuda.

Best team award – © Private

Martine Duffy, UTS A, Canada was announced best speaker with  Megan Sutfcliffe (Bermuda A) and Doris Zhou (Toronto Mix) as Runner-Ups.

The tournament is named in honour of Alfred “Tuna” Snider. Snider was a legend in debating circles, so much so that no one can agree which of the many stories of how he acquired his nickname is correct. He was Director of Debating at the University of Vermont since the late 80s and worked tirelessly to spread debating throughout America and the Worlds. He ran debate academies in Serbia, China, Morocco, Nepal, Palestine and Iraq and was passionately of the belief that debate could make the world a better and more peaceful place. Friends remember his many slogans and catchphrases including “logic and love” and “the answer is more debate”. When he passed away in December of 2015 he was actively involved in assisting to coach the US World Schools team and his widow thought an excellent way to honour his legacy would be to establish a World Schools format debating tournament in his name at Cornell University, where his friend Sam Nelson is Director of Debates in the School of Industrial and Labour Relations.

CAs of the tournament were Enting Lee, Julio Meyer and Bojana Skrt and it was organized by Maja Cimermann.

This was the first edition of the tournament and it will return in fall. If you’re interested in taking part in it, please contact Bojana Skrt (bojana [dot] skrt [at] gmail [dot] com) for informations.

The Break 

1. UTS A (Martine Duffy, Alykhan Jetha, Adithya Chakracarthy, Gautam Manohar; Canada); 5 wins
2. Toronto Mix (Sarah Rana, Zain Daudi, Dori Zhoud,SophieWu); 5 wins
3. Bermuda A (Megan Sutcliffe, Tyrese Coakley, Asha Symons) 4 wins
4. UTS B ( Kieran Kreidie-Akzaki, Jocelyn Chow, Flora Sun, Angel Gu, Angela Li; Canada); 4 wins

The Motions: 

R1: THR the depiction of protagonists in children’s books and media as aesthetically superior. (Impromptu)

R2: THBT the West should not portray ‘’The Great Explorers’’ (e.g. Christopher Columbus, Vasco da Gama) as heroes. (Prepared)

R3: THW impose a legal obligation on children upon reaching adulthood to take care of their parents. (Impromptu)

R4: THW make countries that prosecute hate speech as a crime define sexist speech as part of that crime. (Prepared)

R5: THW make military service compulsory. (Impromptu)

R6: THW cancel the debts of nations recovering from dictatorial regimes. (Prepared)

SF: THR the use of sensationalism in media. (Impromptu)

F: THBT the West should not portray ‘’The Great Explorers’’ (e.g. Christopher Columbus, Vasco da Gama) as heroes. (Prepared)

hh./jm.