The Fulton Debating Society advanced to the final round in the novice division at the University of Minnesota Invitational Tournament hosted online during January 28-30, 2022.
A partial list of teams competing at the tournament included George Mason, James Madison, Navy, U of Iowa, U of Kansas, U of Georgia, U of Minnesota, U of Miami, U of Michigan and U of Pittsburgh.
Debating for Boston College at the tournament were Caleb Wachsmuth,’24 and Ian McNabb’24. During the preliminary debates they defeated teams from Binghamton, Navy, and West Virginia.
In the quarter-finals, BC faced the University of Miami. Wachsmuth & McNabb were locked negative in the debate, as they lost to Miami in round 6 while on the affirmative side.
Miami advocated an affirmative plan to establish a right to repair. This required companies to provide information to third parties for how to repair broken electronic devices and farm equipment.
This affirmative claimed two advantages. First, it claimed that farmer’s inability to repair their farm machinery in a timely manner is causing a decline in U.S. crop yields. Second, it argued that repairing electronic devices would reduce the amount of electronic waste disposed of in landfills. The release of toxic waste, they argued, would contaminate the earth.
Boston College refuted Miami’s plan by pointing out that the plan could not solve for the disposal of electronic waste because having devices repaired is more expensive than buying new ones. Against the farming advantage, Boston College argued that allowing third parties to repair farm equipment would lead to the theft of intellectual property, decreasing incentives for companies to promote innovation. In a 3-0 decision, BC defeated Miami.
In the semi-finals, Boston College was scheduled to debate against the top seed from Samford. BC was locked negative. However, Samford forfeited (unclear why), which gave BC a free pass to the final round.
In the final round, Wachsmuth & McNabb were locked on the affirmative against James Madison. In a 3-0 decision, James Madison defeated BC.
Next week, four Boston College teams will compete in the online tournament hosted by the University of Texas, Austin.
For information about the debate program, contact John Katsulas at katsulas@bc.edu.