Hundreds of Debaters Invited to Ridge

They'll debate until the last team is left standing, likely late Saturday night.

The Forensics team is hosting a tournament through Saturday that is expected to draw forensics teams an invitational to 40 schools here from six states, including New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Virginia, Florida and New Hampshire.

About 500 students and 150 adults may attend the tournament, said David Yastremski, adviser for the club.

Preliminary rounds for debate were run on Friday and Saturday morning, Yastremski said.

At about 2 p.m., the top teams will be advanced to the 'out rounds' which is where they will seeded and then debate until one is left standing, usually late Saturday night, he said.

The tournament will include three diffferent debate events: Policy Debate, the Lincoln-Douglas Debate, and Public Forum, Yastremski said.

The resolutions being debated are, policy debate: Resolved — The United States federal government should substantially increase its exploration and/or development of space beyond the Earth’s mesosphere.

Lincoln-Douglas debate: Resolved — Individuals have a moral obligation to assist people in need.

Public forum debate: Resolved — In the United States, current income disparities threaten democratic ideals.

Details about the tournament can be found online.

Yastremski said the tournament has been designated as a 'bid' tournament for the Tournament of Champions event at the University of Kentucky, which he said is one of the preeminent debate tournaments on the national level.

The school website congratulated the Ridge Forensics Team for an outstanding performances the previous weekend.

At the George Mason University Patriot Games Classic, Ridge took home first place place in team sweepstakes, the website said.

According to the website, contributing to the success were Bardia Vaseghi, who received fourth place in Student Congress; Max Rappaport, second place in storytelling; and Sam Hoffman, sixth place in storytelling.

At the Princeton Univeristy Classic, Ridge took home third in team sweepstakes. Contributing to the success were Joey Walter and Rishi Narula, finalists in Public Forum Debate, Yana Kropatova, finalist in Novice Lincoln-Douglas Debate, and Jerome Aceti, Kevin Bai, Tejus Pradeep and Jackson Taylor, quarterfinalists in Public Forum Debate, the website said.