YUDS Triumphs on Verbal Battlefield

You slowly walk into the room. Two people anticipate your arrival - both wearing suits. One is your enemy; the other is your judge. A quick look at your adversary tells you that he's playing for keeps. He's not smiling, and the overly firm handshake he gives you comes close to shattering every bone in your hand. Somehow, you manage to grasp your opponent's hand with the same level of firmness, look into his face, and then smile - because you know that he is a dead man. Intimidation tactics will not work against you, for you are more than merely a speaker. You are a YU Debate Society debater who does not know the meaning of fear. The judge signals that he is ready. You stand up, glance one last time at your opponent, and begin to let loose the passionate verbal firestorm that will soon cause the melting of his heart when he realizes that he cannot respond to your arguments. The third and final preliminary round of yet another debate tournament is under way, and you are on the road to victory...

Over the course of this semester, seventeen YU students have found themselves in this exact position of triumph. Four first-place victories, seven second-place victories, and six third-place victories made spring 1999 the best semester ever experienced by the members of the YU Debate Society (YUDS).

YUDS' first major competitive event this semester was an Impromptu debate tournament held at SUNY Morrisville. On Motzei Shabbat, February 28, 1999, Zev Katz, Illana Barkey, Matithyohu Balas, and Elan Weinreb departed the Big Apple at 12:45 A.M. After traveling for close to five hours on a Greyhound bus, the weary students finally reached Utica, NY. Four hours later, the YU delegation managed to arrive at the SUNY Morrisville campus. After a brief nap in the student lounge, the four YUDS competitors engaged students from Rockland Community College and SUNY Morrisville in three rounds of Impromptu debate. Although the YU students were severely fatigued and almost "running on empty," Elan Weinreb, Executive Officer of the Yeshiva College division of YUDS, still managed to receive a third place award in debate and a first place award in speech. Zev Katz and Illana Barkey also received second and third-place awards in speech respectively.

Motivated by the Morrisville victory, YUDS students proceeded to vanquish their next wave of opponents on March 24, 1999, when Queens College hosted an Impromptu tournament. Approximately fifteen students from Rockland Community College, Queens College, and NYU competed in the tournament - and they all went home disappointed. For the first time in YUDS history, debate team members took back every single award offered - an accomplishment informally known as a "One-hundred percent take-back." Newcomer Sarah Friedman, the first-place winner of the tournament, impressed competitors, judges, and coaches with her dazzling rhetorical abilities, consistently scoring 29 points (out of a possible 30) in each of her three rounds of competition. Elan Weinreb, the second-place winner, and Aura Brandwein, third-place winner and Stern College Executive Officer, also performed impressively with speaker point totals well above 80 points, averaging at least 26 points per round.

YUDS' next big event was a combined debate Shabbaton/tournament weekend held over April 23-25, 1999. On Friday night, April 23, approximately forty YUDS members gathered down at Stern to hear Dr. Harris Schoenberg, Director of United Nations Affairs for Bnai Brith International, speak about the importance of communication in advancing Jewish interests in the United Nations. In addition to Dr. Schoenberg's presentation, Ms. Dvora Weinreb, an attorney in Cooper City, Florida, presented a comprehensive analysis of the controversial issue of gestational surrogacy. Both lectures were well attended and heartily enjoyed by all.

Sunday, April 25, 1999, capped off the weekend with YUDS hosting its second annual Public Forum Debate League spring tournament. Elan Weinreb, Aura Brandwein, and Greg Samuels, YUDS' President, organized the tournament and served as its officials. Two divisions of debate were offered: Limited Research Debate and Impromptu Debate. The topic for the Limited Research Debate division was "Resolved: That, with regards to human cloning, an individual's right to reproductive freedom should be viewed as paramount." Topics in the Impromptu division included gestational surrogacy, academic integrity, and priest/penitent privilege. Three schools - YU, Rockland Community College, and SUNY Binghamton - competed in the tournament.

Once again, YUDS' "take-back" percentage was pretty impressive: sisty-six percent. Matithyohu Balas, the society's Assistant Executive Officer, won a second-place award in Limited Research Debate, and Uriel Cohen won a second-place speaking award in the Limited Research division. In the Impromptu division, Illana Barkey, one of the society's most enthusiastic members, received a third-place award in speaking. Edmundo Rosenberg, the society's president-elect, won a third-place debate award and second-place speaking award. Yariv Frenkel also picked up a second-place debate award and first-place speaking award in the Impromptu division. Finally, newcomer Jonathan Gordon managed to defeat ten other competitors to receive a first-place award in Impromptu debate.

YUDS' last major event of the 1998-1999 season was its most glorious to date. For the first time in YUDS history, YU was invited to an Impromptu debate at Columbia University against thirteen students from Rockland Community College, NYU, Columbia University, and Queens College. After a kosher pizza dinner, courtesy of Columbia's hospitable tournament staff, YUDS members were eager to crush the competition. By the end of the night, YUDS members had once again distinguished themselves by triumphing over their opposition. Newcomer Jack Almo, Greg Samuels, and Sarah Friedman took back second, third, and fourth-place awards respectively in debate. Both NYU and Columbia ended the night finishing behind YUDS.

YU's debate society is no longer considered a fledgling organization but a powerful force to be reckoned with on the highest levels of collegiate competition. At the same time, YUDS has continued to maintain its reputation of being an open club. Most of the awards won over this semester went to newcomers, not veterans. Experience is thus not a prerequisite for attaining victory. Anyone, with enough practice and motivation, can first learn how to defeat one's opponents on the verbal battlefield. YUDS' administration is always ready to welcome new members and encourages all interested students, regardless of experience level, to sign up at their website, http://surf.to/yuds, for the upcoming 1999 - 2000 academic year.