The official blog of the Hudson Valley Debate Union

It’s been a busy summer here at the Headquarters of the Hudson Valley Debate Union.

I’ve been working on setting up the Fall 2009 season, and it will be exciting. More on that later.

The big move I can announce right now is a serious upgrade in our tech capabilities. You probably didn’t know this, but up until this point, the entire computing power of the HVDU rested on one 1998 vintage HP Pavillion 4450. The darn thing was wheezing, for crying out loud. So, when I was doing my shopping in BJ’s Wholesale the other day, I happened to see this new Gateway in the aisles for $399. Which I had already seen advertised in the BJ’s coupon book earlier in the year at $475. So I checked my credit limits, took a deep breath, and took the plunge for the Gateway and a good generic brand monitor, for $559 altogether. I’ll bet it was less than what I paid for the Pavillion in 1999.

What this has done, inter alia, is allowed me to set up a YouTube channel. And I have posted some videos, though not of the HVDU (yet) — but rather the event that started my thoughts about creating the HVDU in the first place.

I’ve described briefly at this page on the main HVDU site the event that started it. You can also read a fuller account that I wrote for the group I worked for at the time.

Again, this event took place in September 2000, at the opening event of the 146th season of the Literary and Historical Society of University College Dublin. The famous priest and scholar John Henry Newman — later a Cardinal, and soon to be declared ‘Blessed’ by the Roman Catholic Church — founded both the University and the “L and Haitch” at the same time. Newman’s motto was ‘Cor ad cor loquitor’ — ‘heart speaking to hear’ — which is still the L&H’s motto.

At any rate, when the L&H decided to make the opener of the 146th season “The Pornography Debate,” the Auditor (student president) of the L&H, Paul Brady tracked down our organization, and invited us to participate. We decided to send our eminent General Counsel — also an Eminent Irishman — as our speaker, and I decided that this had to be covered for us, so I made my way to the Fair City.

Fortunately, the UCD’s Film Society took the initiative and had a videotaper in the audience. And that is why you’re now able to see these videos below. They’ve made the transition from PAL video to NTSC video to DVD to MPEG-4 and, for all that, they’ve held up quite well.

I will leave the drama of the debate itself to my earlier account. What I’m presenting here is the other story — my encounter with Points of Information and the whole Oxford/Cambridge debate tradition. Which is what I’m trying to bring across with the HVDU. Because after the encounter at the L&H, the Bush vs. Gore debates of October 2000 just did not match up. And I wanted to bring that face-to-face action here — which I’ve now started to do with the HVDU.

So I’m not presenting here the story of the Pornography Debate. (The entire video is more than two hours.) What I’m presenting is — How do you make a Point of Information? Because I realized that if these Irish kids could do this, anybody could. Including people in the Hudson Valley.

With these preliminary remarks, let’s go to the videos.

‘Points’ and shouts in Dublin’s Fair City

First, let me present the Auditor of the L&H, Paul Brady, who invited us there, and who was generally acknowledged as the Coolest Sideburn Champion of Ireland and Britain that year. The L&H is also a very active social club, and here Paul Brady describes what goodies the Society had on offer for the ‘freshers’ who decided to join that year:

Then, just before the invited guest speakers entered, Brady made a brief statement of the Standing Orders for the debate:

The first speaker in favor of the proposition, “This House believes ‘Pornography gives more pain than pleasure,’” was student Una Cassidy. Here’s an excerpt from her speech, where she turns down a number of Points (at 1:55, 2:14, and 2:36); she makes a slip at 2:46 and gets called on it; and she takes a Point at 3:39 and does quite well with it.

Making the first student speech against the motion was Owen Purcell. He punts on a point of information at 0:35, makes a refusal at 2:58, and takes a point at 3:16

For me, the highlight of the debate was student Laura McGarren’s speech supporting the proposition. You may think that she’s speaking a bit quickly, and keeping up with her brouge is a challenge, but she deftly swats away a number of Points of Information, and at 3:40 makes a superb “take” of a Point from Owen Purcell, rebutting the question instantly on her feet. Top marks for that one.

Finally, one of the guest speakers, Dr. Mary Murray, a clinical psychiatrist from St. Vincent’s Hospital in Dublin, makes the case for the victims of pornography she treats in her clinical practice, and handles some Points rather nicely as well.

This event is what started the HVDU, and I hope that these videos let you understand why.

Planning, that’s what’s been happening.

Planning for the Fall 2009 Hudson Valley Debate Union series, that is.

The plans are not quite final yet, and I don’t want to spill the bean jar quite completely, but I can say this:

• The Fall 2009 season will be Rockland-focused
• The Fall 2009 season will definitely be newsworthy (in a Rockland context)
• The Fall 2009 season will be venturing to new sites
• The Fall 2009 season will have significant new friends

When the plans get a bit more solid, you’ll see it here first. I promise!

Here are some links to photos and comments at some HVDU events:

Ed Mechman of the Archdiocese of New York blogged on his experience at the Marriage Equality Bill debate, and so did talk radio host Kevin McCullough of Musclehead Revolution.

You can see photo albums of HVDU events here:

The Marriage Equality Debate (6 May 2009)

The Indian Point Debate (30 March 2009)

The McCain Debate (20 October 2008)

The Obama Debate (29 Sept 2008)

Here’s a photo of the Marriage Equality Debate to whet your appetite (courtesy Bert Berat Images):

Scene from the HVDU Marriage Equality Debate

In the biggest turnout ever for an HVDU event, an audience of more than 70 came out to the King’s Daughters Public Library for the Marriage Equality Debate

Originally scheduled to be a No Confidence in the Stimulus Bill debate, the subject was changed on 16 April when Governor David Paterson of New York introduced the Marriage Equality Bill into the New York Senate and Assembly.

The Governor said he wanted a debate on the bill, and the Hudson Valley Debate Union was prepared to give it to him.

Since the Indian Point Debate was cast as, “This House urges the NRC to reject the re-licensing of Indian Point Generating Stations Nos. 2 and 3,” the HVDU cast the motion as, “This House urges the New York Senate and Assembly to reject the Marriage Equality Bill (Assembly Bill 7732/Senate Bill 4401).”

One of the guiding principles of the HVDU is to frame its debates around decision points, that is, real legislation or executive decisions or judicial decisions that affect concretely, rather than abstractly. With a real Bill in the Assembly, the HVDU could take on the Marriage Equality mission

It took some scrambling and a lot of phone calls at the last minute, but we got a full slate of Principal Speakers for both sides. Speaking in favor of the motion (and against the Bill in the Senate and the Assembly) were:

• Mr. Ed Mechmann, of the Family Life/Respect Life Office, Archdiocese of New York
• Mr. Kevin McCullough, radio talk show host and author of Musclehead Revolution and The Kind of Man Every Man Should Be
• Mrs. Judith Anderson, co-director of Hudson Valley Coalition for Life

Speaking against the motion (and in favor of the Marriage Equality Bill):

• Mr. Michael Sabatino, former communications director, Marriage Equality New York
• Ms. RoseAnn Hermann, marriage ambassador, Empire State Pride Agenda
• Mr. Richard Sussman, attorney/mediator and marriage ambassador, Empire State Pride Agenda

The debate was calm and restrained, and no voices were raised in anger. When the voting chips were counted, it was evident that more supporters of the Bill had come out than opponents; the motion was rejected 49 votes to 27.