Seawolves excel in Canadian competition

Sixteen Seawolf Debaters attended the University of British Columbia Intervarsity debating tournament in Vancouver, British Columbia on Nov. 5 and 6. This was the largest contingent of Seawolves to travel this season, as the team used this opportunity to travel a number of new to the Alaska squad. Making their debut in intercollegiate debating were the teams of Catherine Helle (junior, English literature with a minor in Alaska Native studies) and Brittany Bennett (junior, natural sciences and environment and society) and Megan Rodgers (junior, political science) & Libby Smelker (sophomore, business administration with a minor in philosophy).


Over the course of five preliminary rounds, 40 teams from across North America engaged in debates on a number of controversial topics. The debaters sparred over the proper role of extradition policies, whether or not we should remove barriers that limit access to transition-related surgeries for transgendered individuals, and whether or not we should allow scientific research and experimentation on children.


After five preliminary rounds, the top eight teams in the tournament qualified to advance to the semifinal round. The Seawolf debate team faired extremely well, advancing four teams. The top-seeded team was the team of Akis Gialopsos (senior, international relations) and Amie Stanley (junior, political science), Colin Haughey (senior, philosophy) and Michaela Hernandez (senior, philosophy) as the third seed, Drew Cason (senior, environment and society) and Sarah Carpenter (junior, culinary arts) as the fourth seed, and Brett Frazer (junior, biology) and Amy Parrent (sophomore, political science) were qualified for the semifinal round as the eighth seed. Although they did not advance to the semifinal round, the team of Helle and Bennett was recognized as the top novice team in the tournament.


In the semifinal, the squad had an equally strong performance, advancing two teams to the championship round: Gialopsos and Stanley and Frazer and Parrent. Despite a stellar performance by all four debaters, a hybrid team from the University of British Columbia and the University of Calgary was crowned the champion team.


In addition to these awards, several Seawolves garnered individual honors, as nine of them finished in the top 20 for speaker award placings. These included: Gialopsos (top speaker), Hernandez (4th speaker), Stanley (5th speaker), Haughey (6th speaker), Frazer (8th speaker), Parrent (15th speaker), Carpenter (18th speaker), and in a two-way tie for 20th speaker were Drew Cason and Wiley Cason (sophomore).
 
The Seawolves next tournament takes them to the Hugill Cup in Edmonton in early December. For more information, please contact Steve Johnson (907) 786-4391 or Shawn Briscoe (907) 786-4354. You may also visit the team's website at www.uaa.alaska.edu/seawolfdebate/.