This weekend, the Cornell Forensics Society held its 2012 Cornell Debate Tournament, drawing more than 320 debaters — including students from Texas, California and Vermont —  to participate in both Policy Debate and British Parliamentary, or “Worlds” Debate.

The Cornell Forensics Society is experiencing success in national competitions and gaining international recognition.

A duo representing the Cornell Forensics Society placed first at a major debate tournament this past weekend.

The debate team ranked in the top 10 in the nation this season, taking fifth place in a national policy debate competition and finishing second in the Northeast Division for the world’s debate competition.

Cornell Democrats, Republicans and Libertarians squared off in a debate titled “Financial Crisis Debate: What Went Wrong and How Do We Fix It?” yesterday in Warren Hall.

Arguments often take two distinct forms: ones that have strong merits, reasoning and evidence, and others that are arguments for the sake of having an argument. Defending the former to the death typically works, but defending the latter to the death often digs a person into an even bigger hole.

Back in my debating days, I took on an Arab opponent in one round who would not back off his argument. He did so even as the flaws I pointed out would force him to advocate racial profiling while I, a white person, took a stand against discrimination. Needless to say, it was an easy call for any judge to make, much less the elderly black women that was judging the round.