2008 Woodie Awards
DePauw debates Durham, Oxford over Olympics
By: Ashton Simmons
Issue date: 11/13/07 Section: News
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The DePauw debate teams played host to self-proclaimed rock stars Alistair Cormack and Alexander Just.
Cormack and Just, part of the British National Debate Team, are on a three month tour of 33 universities.
Just - who came to the debate dressed in a kilt representing his hometown of Edinburgh, Scotland - compared the pair's U.S. tour to the original 11-stop tour of the Beatles in the '60s.
"We're doing 33 stops," he said. "So we're bigger than the Beatles."
Just and Cormack took on the DePauw debate team Monday in the Watson Forum over the resolution: "This House Would Scrap the Olympics."
The debate was a mix of public and Parliamentary formats and focused on whether the corruption and expense of the Olympic Games warranted their dissolution. The Government was represented by DePauw sophomore Keelin Kelly and junior Michael Lutz, while the Opposition was formed by Cormack of the University of Durham, and Just of the University of Oxford.
The Government supported the disbanding of the Olympic Games, citing the "corruption underneath the myth" of the games.
"The unity caused by the games is a fabrication to advance personal goals," Kelly said during the debate.
The Government touched on the tremendous cost associated with hosting the games, and the effect that cost has on the people of the host city. Kelly cited that only three Olympiads have made a profit for their host cities, exemplifying the huge cost burden placed on the taxpayers.
"The money comes from the taxpayers who can never afford to see the games themselves," Lutz said.
Lutz and Kelly also focused on human rights, citing the preparations for the 2008 games in Beijing. Kelly said that many Chinese tenants are being evicted from their homes to make room for the massive infrastructure needed for the games.
"The games legitimize cities by allowing them to use whatever means possible to hold the games," she said.
The Opposition refuted the Government's stand on corruption, noting that corruption is rampant in most institutions. Just asked which other international sporting event would follow the Olympics in being stopped: "The Super Bowl? The Soccer World Cup?"
Cormack and Just, part of the British National Debate Team, are on a three month tour of 33 universities.
Just - who came to the debate dressed in a kilt representing his hometown of Edinburgh, Scotland - compared the pair's U.S. tour to the original 11-stop tour of the Beatles in the '60s.
"We're doing 33 stops," he said. "So we're bigger than the Beatles."
Just and Cormack took on the DePauw debate team Monday in the Watson Forum over the resolution: "This House Would Scrap the Olympics."
The debate was a mix of public and Parliamentary formats and focused on whether the corruption and expense of the Olympic Games warranted their dissolution. The Government was represented by DePauw sophomore Keelin Kelly and junior Michael Lutz, while the Opposition was formed by Cormack of the University of Durham, and Just of the University of Oxford.
The Government supported the disbanding of the Olympic Games, citing the "corruption underneath the myth" of the games.
"The unity caused by the games is a fabrication to advance personal goals," Kelly said during the debate.
The Government touched on the tremendous cost associated with hosting the games, and the effect that cost has on the people of the host city. Kelly cited that only three Olympiads have made a profit for their host cities, exemplifying the huge cost burden placed on the taxpayers.
"The money comes from the taxpayers who can never afford to see the games themselves," Lutz said.
Lutz and Kelly also focused on human rights, citing the preparations for the 2008 games in Beijing. Kelly said that many Chinese tenants are being evicted from their homes to make room for the massive infrastructure needed for the games.
"The games legitimize cities by allowing them to use whatever means possible to hold the games," she said.
The Opposition refuted the Government's stand on corruption, noting that corruption is rampant in most institutions. Just asked which other international sporting event would follow the Olympics in being stopped: "The Super Bowl? The Soccer World Cup?"
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