Day 15 - The Pittsburgh Debates

For some reason Mary and I decided to wake up at 7am to work on our case (we were opposing Thbt amnesties are a necessary tool in addressing human rights violations). We came down to breakfast and met Gordon Mitchell, a formidable debater in his prime, who took us on a brief tour of where we would be debating. Before the main debate of the day we were asked to do a debate in front of a class with Mary and I speaking on separate sides. We ended up doing a brief debate on abolishing slander laws. This served as a good warm up for the debate ahead.

At midday we arrived at the swanky hotel which would hold the round and met up with our opponents (who were immaculately dressed) and shook hands. Despite the deep subject matter this was one of the most enjoyable debates I have been in. Our opponents were energetic, witty and persuasive and the debate was faced paced, aggressive and funny. Readers would be glad to hear that we managed to secure a victory after a hard fought contest.

After celebrating very briefly we were whisked away to the cathedral of learning which the tallest academic building is in the western hemisphere. This is a great building. It had classrooms which incorporate the culture of different nations (the British room was based on the House of Commons). After our tour we started our third debate of the day – Thw would mandate bilingual education. Mary and I were on different sides and eventually the opposition prevailed.

In the evening we were treated to a very entertaining jazz concert courtesy of Gordon and his wife then headed into town for some drinks in a snazzy downtown bar. This life is hard.