Congressional debaters sweep to qualify for state
Up for debate Congressional debaters simulate contest atmosphere with placards from district competition.
Should Syrian refugees be sent more money? Will cocaine be legalized as an anesthetic? Are schools going to be allowed to track the psychological profiles of students? All these questions and more were debated at the district congressional debate tournament in Lubbock on Nov. 9 where three seniors qualified for state: Cassandra Schultz in first, Antonio Porras in second, and Ethan Ruiz in third.
“I’m excited to go,” Schultz said. “Congress is a lot of long, hard work, but the trip is always fun.”
Congressional debaters will make up a piece of their own legislation to take to state and then debate whether or not the bill is something worth passing.
“Student congress is just like the congress we have in real life except more dumbed down and easier to comprehend,” Ruiz said. “The main thing we have to do is pass [or defeat] different legislation that other schools come up with. It’s pretty much like a mock congress.”
Seminole was the lone 4A school in district competition and took the top four spots including state alternate senior Chris Arzate.
“I feel pretty good,” Ruiz said. “I did try moderately hard, so I believe that I did deserve to go to state. It was kind of like a free trip to state, though…It was mostly just Seminole against Seminole.”
Even as the only 4A district school, they still did well according to debate Coach Matt Pippin.
“I am extremely proud of our congressional debaters,” Pippin said. “We went and not only did well, but we completely blew the other people out of the water. We had an amazing performance.”
The congressional debaters were given several topics to discuss, some more controversial than others.
“We go from one extreme to the next extreme,” Porras said. “On the topic of abortion, everyone was really wanting to debate it, but when we actually got there, most of the arguments were based on morality. It was creating too much controversy.”
State Congressional debate will take place on Jan. 11-14 in Austin where contestants will have new pieces of legislation to debate.
“I’m elated,” speech coach Danny Stottlemyre said. “They worked hard, they went to the district contest, and now they’re being rewarded with a trip to state.”
