http://esu.org/tours/reports/report_winton

British Debate Squad US Tour 2001: Tour Report - 8 Weeks, 28 Debates, 24 States Massachusetts Boston College The first stop on the tour, Boston was an excellent introduction to the USA. We were treated like royalty by the team coach who wined and dined us in some of Boston’s finest restaurants and café’s. A boat tour of the harbour and a visit to the Kennedy Library were only two stops on our extensive sight seeing tour of the city.

We debated the death penalty before a substantial audience and were surprised to learn that many of them would be receiving extra credit simply for attending!

Indiana Depauw University This was our first introduction to the liberal arts phenomenon, and also to the notorious ‘Greek’ system - the subject of many a ‘Montel’ show , ‘My son is traumatised after frat hazing…’ etc. While Michael was relegated to the squalor of what our own host described as the ‘freaks and geeks’ fraternity, I was an honorary Delta Gamma for the duration of our stay and was accordingly welcomed into the sorority’s palatial residence. The DGs proved to be excellent hosts, and were keen to get us both involved in student events including ‘Anchor Splash’ which could easily have been a scene from Grease 2 and, of course, a good old fashioned hay ride. I still have my Diamante Stetson.

Wabash College An altogether more sober campus, Wabash was an interesting experience. In comparison to most British University campuses, this was paradise. It seemed that almost every building was in the process of being rebuilt/renovated/refurbished or just improved. To top it off, the University has one of the largest financial aid programmes in the states. The snag? No girls - though I’m told that they bus them in on weekends. The perfect solution according to the students that we met!

Michigan Wayne State University I’m still convinced that this was the best stop on the tour. It was here that we were finally shown the benefits of policy debate - which actually turned out to be fascinating! The topic for 2001 related to federal control of ‘Indian Country’ - a term which is no longer considered politically incorrect it would seem. The level of research was amazing, as were the facilities at Wayne State, with two graduate assistants and an excellent coach to keep it all running. They were also charged with keeping Michael and I entertained - a task which they undertook with vigour.

Kamikaze’s, fuzzy navels, good food, endless games of ‘I have never……’, and a round of laser quest stood between us and Minnesota.

In spite of all this, we still managed to pull off a winning performance in the debate Women on the Front Lines - and were even successful in persuading Ben and Amy to get involved in the reciprocal tour.

Minnesota Bethany Lutheran College In Bethany, we debated another hot topic, National Missile Defence. It was actually a little uncomfortable in light of the fact that winning the debate seemed to depend upon which side could claim September 11th as their ground - this was certainly the view of the audience. As we chatted to them after the debate, it became clear that they were genuinely interested in hearing a British opinion on both the terrorist attacks and, of course, US involvement in Afghanistan. Naturally, as debaters, Michael and myself were only too happy to oblige.

Missouri Webster University Our stay in St Louis was very much a family occasion. While the debate itself strayed a hilariously off-topic, it was nonetheless a huge success. We were also given an excellent sight seeing tour of the area (including a pumpkin patch) which took us to the Gateway Arch, the most spectacular architectural sight of the whole trip, and the downtown Jazz region of St Louis.

Pennsylvania Clarion University Federal Ballot Initiatives was the somewhat unexpected topic of debate at Clarion which turned out to be quite a substantial campus event. We also had an opportunity to see some of the spectacular forests of Pennsylvania as the leaves turned.

Penn State University Penn State was an impressive campus with a huge number of students. Located in State College, it was an example of a land grant state University . We debated the International Criminal Court before an incredibly sceptical audience and were embroiled in a constitutional discussion with a rather heated member of the audience for a good half hour after the debate itself had ended and all other audience members had fled. Once again it appeared that our opinions were of greater interest to our hosts than we had ever expected.

University of Pittsburgh Our first chance to really debate the conflict in Afghanistan wasn’t exactly a crowd pleaser and we encountered our first example of CNN fuelled ultra patriotism. To such an extent in fact that our opposition were unwilling to debate against US intervention. The result was something of a stalemate, with audience members confused as to what they should think - an excellent floor session seemed to sort things out however and Michael’s reply swung the audience in our favour.

Iowa

University of Iowa On arrival in Iowa, I was a little disturbed by the manner in which the state had chosen to market itself to the outside world. The airport shop was bulging with corn themed gifts and the only postcards I could find displayed respectively, a large cow and a sheaf of corn wearing sun glasses. We were understandably apprehensive.

Our fears proved unfounded however, as we came up against some real competition in Iowa. Once again we debated women on the front lines as part of the university’s alumni fund-raising weekend. I’m pleased to say that the debate was a success and that the potential and actual donors who came along were happy with the way that their money was being spent. I’m not sure that they knew about the bar bill however, which Paul Bellus ran up on our behalf after the debate. Once again we were fortunate enough to have excellent hosts - though I’m reluctant to thank them for introducing me to Taco Bell at 3am the following morning.

University of Northern Iowa Whilst at Northern Iowa, we had our first taste of Cajun cooking - another memorable eating experience and once again debated women in the military. The leader of our opposition was the first military man we’d met who didn’t think that women’s personal hygiene would interfere with their ability to fight. Refreshing.

Virginia Randolph Macon College We had a busy time at Randolph Macon. Women in the military was once again on the menu. Michael and I had our first chance to debate the motion in the affirmative and somehow managed to overcome the extremely large fraternity/college football contingent to secure a healthy win. The following day’s debate was on the sensitive subject of a memorial for the New York victims of September 11th and opened an interesting, if awkward, discussion about the most appropriate way to remember the tragedy. This debate was one of the most significant challenges of the tour.

College of William and Mary Once again we debated the International Criminal Court, this time against two of it’s most enthusiastic supporters. I was pleased to see the audience vote go in their favour as an ardent supporter of the court myself.

Williamsburg was a remarkable town which appeared to be constantly populated by tourists, many of whom had worn colonial dress for their visit. We watched a local theatre group recreate an army pipe band display and visited Jamestown - the site of the first immigrant settlement.

Kentucky University Of Western Kentucky We began our visit with a trip to the Parthenon - in Nashville, ‘the Athens of the south’ and ended it with a Tornado warning and torrential rains. In between, we

debated the International Criminal Court in front of our best audience of the tour so far and against a team who would have been at home at any British IV. We were also treated to a tour of Kentucky’s underground river and night-club(!), closed down after a drunken punter had drowned themselves in the 50’s.

Kansas Southwestern College The shortest visit of the tour - less than 24 hours included a glimpse of the spectacle that is college football. We also debated an excellent motion on the potential effects of humanitarian aid as a replacement to conflict. There were some fascinating responses from the audience, many of whom stayed behind to talk to us about the topic.

Nebraska Creighton University We arrived in Nebraska the day before one of the most important college football games of the year. As we transferred flights in Dallas, we were joined on board the plane by a multitude of middle aged drunks en route to Nebraska for the game - one of whom managed to lock himself in the aircraft toilet during the flight only to be rescued by two members of female flight crew. We hadn’t managed to get tickets for the game ourselves but were kindly invited to watch it with some of Creighton’s debaters. I fear that we may have spoiled their enjoyment of it by asking innumerable questions about rules, players and cheerleaders.

We debated gun control before meeting up with Barb Pickering to update her on the events of the tour so far.

Oklahoma Oklahoma State University Fascinating. Our visit to the Oklahoma bombing memorial was something of an education. While the memorial itself was a humbling tribute to those who had died, the museum came across as an unnerving Technicolor homage to the death penalty.

Most disturbing of the exhibits, was a children’s book which attempted to explain what had happened to Timothy McVeigh. Similarly the addendum to the brochure which simply stated that Oklahoma was no longer the site of the largest act of terrorism in the USA. On a lighter note, we later had the dubious pleasure of watching two rednecks hurling pavement slabs at each other from the safety of a dingy pub near the University and a chance to sing ‘I will survive’ accompanied by line dancers.

Arkansas University of Arkansas In the home of Bill Clinton, we met one of the men who had been pardoned by the president during his last hours in office. Debating the drugs war in Colombia, we encountered our most hostile audience of the tour - it seems that Vietnam is still an issue about which one can’t afford to joke!

Ohio Kenyon College America’s most haunted campus. Unfortunately we didn’t see any ghosts. Once again we debated gun control, this time against the only student run debating society of the tour. They also treated us to a campus production of one of my favourite plays, ‘The Importance of Being Ernest’ .

Marietta College America’s most polluted campus. The home team suggested that we debate the issue of airport security which was hot topic of the day with CNN. We were surprised to learn that one of our opposition had never flown, and amazed to hear two Americans extol the virtues of nation-wide systems run by central government. The floor period became more of a lecture as Michael and I explained the workings of the UK system and the process of competitive tendering.

Oregon Lewis and Clark Michael and I had planned to spend our day off in Oregon on a day trip to Seattle.

Fortunately our host was more than willing to take us there herself. The result was a fantastic night out in downtown Seattle followed by a day spent shopping and sight seeing in the city. We returned to Portland in time to debate American exceptionalism before a reasonably large audience and to host our own Yukka party for the University’s debaters. After recovering from the excesses of the previous night we were treated to a tour of Portland’s Saturday market and as the boys headed off to a giant bookstore, I exercised my credit card in Pioneer Square Mall.

Utah University of Utah Salt Lake City was a strikingly bleak, yet beautiful venue for debate. Tabernacle Square gave us an insight into the bizarre world of Mormonism, the epitome of organised religion, from the Temple and the home of the Tabernacle Choir to the Mormon business and conference centre. We debated terrorism and the International Criminal Court and had another opportunity to listen to the views of US students on both issues.

Whilst in Salt Lake, we experienced a sobering reminder of the realities of post 9/11 America. An American Airlines 747 had crashed in to Queens, New York in the early hours of the morning. Though the cause was later established as pilot error, the initial suspicion had been of another terrorist attack. The accident was particularly difficult as many of the residents had already been bereaved in the September attacks.

California University of Southern California

After some confusion on arrival at LAX, we were whisked off to a hotel/mall complex in central LA. In the evening we ate dinner in Beverly Hills and visited Rodeo Drive.

The debate itself was on the legalisation of prostitution - a topic selected by the audience, though we narrowly missed out on debating the virtues of the Peter’s Projection world atlas! The debate lacked some of it’s usual humour but was nonetheless considered a success. Afterwards, we were taken out on the town by Josh Miller who was determined not to let us sleep before our 6am flight the following morning. We sampled Tokyo Tea (in pints) - a stronger take on the Long Island variety, walked the walk of fame and ate ‘adventurous sushi’ in the Hollywood Hills.

We were also treated to a guided tour of the Hustler store and a valuable insight in to the US sex toy industry!

Colorado Colorado State University Still in recovery after our LA adventure, we put on our best performance of the tour for this final debate. Once again proving the theory that we both debate better when hung over. It was quite an experience to attempt to persuade 300 declared pro-death penalty audience members that this punishment was out of place in a civilised society.

Somehow, we managed to get through however, and the comments made during the floor period were overwhelmingly in our favour. Immensely satisfying.

The rest of our time in Colorado was filled with sight seeing and entertainment including a visit to a pub in which the bar served as a dance-floor. As Michael left for Boston I headed to Estes, a village in the mountains, for an afternoon’s horse-riding.

The scenery was spectacular and in the course of our trek we witnessed a dramatic territorial battle between two Elk which was broken up by our native American guide who bravely dismounted and proceeded to screech at the animals until they fled.

Our thanks of course go to all of those who hosted us so ably in the course of the tour.

Special mention must go to Dr Barb Pickering for arranging the logistics including numerous flights and transfers and timetable changes. Also, the ESU, NCA and AFA for continued support of the tour and of course the tourists themselves.