Debate duo defeats ranked team in match 2/7/07

There's a lot of pressure when you're ranked No. 1 in the nation. For one thing, there's always a chance that some underdog team will come in and steal the spotlight.

The Loyola debating duo of sophomore William Baldwin and freshman Matt Muir did just that against the No. 1 ranked parliamentary debate team at the Gorlok Gala Forensic Tournament at Webster University on Jan. 26.

"I think since [debating] is a partner activity you really develop that relationship," Baldwin, who is in his eighth year debating, said. "We've done better as the year has progressed. I think our performance at this tournament was a direct result of that."

Muir, who received Loyola's Elaine Bruggemeier Debate Scholarship, was surprised by the judges' unanimous 3-0 decision.

"They were a great team," Muir said. "I thought it was a close debate, but the judges thought that we flat out won."

The topic of the debate was "the United States federal government should mandate a term of service for its citizens." Baldwin and Muir were on the opposition of the subject.

"Being on the opposition is always tougher and this was not an easy topic," professor David Romanelli, director of the debate team, said.

In the parliamentary style of debate after the topic of the debate is announced, each pair has only a 15-minute period to prepare. During this period, the entire debate team works together to plan the competing team's argument.

"It's very important to have depth," Muir said. "If we didn't have an educated team we'd have no chance during prep time. We all work together."

The rest of the team also performed well at the tournament. All three of Loyola's teams in the varsity division were finals. Sophomore Audra Anderson and junior Allison Rane, co-captain of the team, were 5-1 in their debates.

The debate team has competed in six tournaments this year. According to Romanelli, the team has advanced at least one set of debaters to the elimination rounds in every tournament. The team did not compete in enough tournaments to qualify for a ranking this year, however, they have high hopes for the future. The team currently mostly consists of sophomores and freshmen.

"Next year we'll have a lot of experience under our belts in college debate," Baldwin said. "I think we'll do well nationally."

For their last tournament of the year, the debate team will travel to Wheaton College on Feb. 16.

"We're all excited and we hope to expand on the success at the last tournament and do better at this one," Baldwin said.