A Higher Glyphic

Raunchy humor, jabs at marrythemayor.com, and stories about the Cambodian Midget Fighting League are hardly something you would expect to hear from a debate between the top debate team in Ireland and the nation's ninth ranked collegiate debate team.

That is exactly what the audience heard when the SIU Debate Team hosted the Irish National Debate Champs Wednesday night in the Lesser Law Building. SIU was their fourth stop along the Irish National Champs annual five-stop tour, which also includes University of Anchorage, University of the Pacific in California, Regis University in Denver, and the University of Miami Florida.

Todd Graham, director of debate at SIU, announced before the debate that the Irish team was 3-0 on their tour. The two teams debated American's position on the Kyoto Protocol, which involves reducing green house gas emissions. The Irish supported the United Stated decision not to authorize the anti-global warming plan while the Salukis provided the opposition.

Each team consisted of three members, who each spoke for six to seven minutes. While the debate was about a serious topic, both sides still poked fun of one another and made jokes about American culture.Senior Kari Gabbert, who is currently in Graham's debate class, said that this debate was "nothing like we've done or seen in Todd's class, it was so laid back. I never knew that talking about global warming could be so entertaining."

The Irish team consisted of three members, Ciaran Denny, David Quinn, and Ross Kelly. Kelly, 23, is a student at the University College in Dublin and said that the Irish Debate Team has anywhere between 15 minutes to three hours to prepare before each debate. Kelly has been debating for seven years and said his interest for debates has stemmed from "discussions" he had with his parents over the dinner table.

Sitting in a smoky room at Mugsy's rolling a half-empty Corona bottle in his hands, Kelly jokes that his favorite part of debate is "the good looking girls."When fellow teammate Ciaran Denny rolled his eyes at Kelly's response, Kelly sat up straight, "but seriously, there's nothing like pulling off a good joke or making a really strong point. I get a buzz off of the crowd."

The three members from the SIU team that participated in the debate were Senior Justin Hingtgen, Junior Kyle Dennis, and Sophomore Katie Thomas. The 2006-2007 Debate season was 19-year old Thomas's first year on the SIU team. "It's such an honor to be able to go against such a highly recognized team, these guys are great" Thomas said at while relaxing after the debate at Mugsy's.

Thomas said that the SIU team prepares for their debates by meeting once a week and researching a variety of current events for seven hours to gain a strong base of knowledge, then while at competitions, usually only have about 45 minutes to prepare, but given the relaxed nature of Wednesday's debate, they had a week to formulate their stances. The National Irish Debate Team's final stop will be at the University of Miami Florida on April 5, 2007.

After Wednesday's debate against the Saluki's, the team's record is 3-0-1.

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