2008 Woodie Awards
Yeshiva Hosts Annual Debate Tournament
Debate Team Unstoppable At Home
Josh Vogel
Issue date: 3/8/05 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
On Sunday, February 13, the Yeshiva debate team hosted its annual tournament, this year on the Wilf Campus. Rockland County, Queens, Bergen County, and Stern Colleges, respectively, showed up eager to participate in one of the most anticipated matches of the year. Defending their home turf, Yeshiva was unstoppable, with the Yeshiva/Stern College combo racking in five of the six possible awards.
The winners in the debate category were Commentator News Editor Moshe Goldfeder in first, Aviva Horowitz from Stern in second and Marc Fine in third. The speaker point winners were Horowitz in first, Yosef Ibrahimi of Queens College in second and Marc Fine in third.
Team Captain Elisha Figdor was thrilled with the outcome."It was really important that YU won those spots," he said. Each place corresponds to a number of points, which are totaled up at the end of the Debate season. The school with the most points is declared the league champion. Although they debate as separate entities, the Yeshiva College and Stern teams' points are added together.
The tournament's top finish solidified Yeshiva's strong start this year, and leaves them in an excellent position going in to the rest of the season. Matches are held about once a month, with the hosting school providing trophies and a pre-debate lunch.
Topics in debates change with each round, and range from national importance to questions of individual morality, but most tend to center on current events. Subjects at the Yeshiva tournament included religious circumcision versus health concerns, and the issue of women and their scientific abilities, which is currently a hot topic on the Harvard campus and in the Boston community. The teams have no advance notice of the topics they will discuss, so all arguments must be made on the spur of the moment.
While the schools arrive as a team to the competition, all debate takes place on the individual level. Judges include debate coaches and non-participating senior debate club members, and the criteria are quality of the argument and articulation.
When Mr. Figdor was asked how he and the other team members became involved in debate, he responded that many of them had done a similar thing in high school. Figdor and his team members have joined a long and respected chain of Yeshiva debaters, whose star- studded ranks have included the well-spoken likes of Rav Shlomo Riskin, now the Chief Rabbi of Efrat, among others.
The winners in the debate category were Commentator News Editor Moshe Goldfeder in first, Aviva Horowitz from Stern in second and Marc Fine in third. The speaker point winners were Horowitz in first, Yosef Ibrahimi of Queens College in second and Marc Fine in third.
Team Captain Elisha Figdor was thrilled with the outcome."It was really important that YU won those spots," he said. Each place corresponds to a number of points, which are totaled up at the end of the Debate season. The school with the most points is declared the league champion. Although they debate as separate entities, the Yeshiva College and Stern teams' points are added together.
The tournament's top finish solidified Yeshiva's strong start this year, and leaves them in an excellent position going in to the rest of the season. Matches are held about once a month, with the hosting school providing trophies and a pre-debate lunch.
Topics in debates change with each round, and range from national importance to questions of individual morality, but most tend to center on current events. Subjects at the Yeshiva tournament included religious circumcision versus health concerns, and the issue of women and their scientific abilities, which is currently a hot topic on the Harvard campus and in the Boston community. The teams have no advance notice of the topics they will discuss, so all arguments must be made on the spur of the moment.
While the schools arrive as a team to the competition, all debate takes place on the individual level. Judges include debate coaches and non-participating senior debate club members, and the criteria are quality of the argument and articulation.
When Mr. Figdor was asked how he and the other team members became involved in debate, he responded that many of them had done a similar thing in high school. Figdor and his team members have joined a long and respected chain of Yeshiva debaters, whose star- studded ranks have included the well-spoken likes of Rav Shlomo Riskin, now the Chief Rabbi of Efrat, among others.