On March 4th, the Seawolf Debate team hosted two semifinal round debates.  The first semifinal round dealt with whether the US federal government should apologize to its Native peoples.  Following the recent decision of the Australian parliament to issue a formal apology to its Aboriginal peoples, the issue of how the US should interact with its Native peoples is again at the forefront.  Senator Sam Brownback (R - Kansas) has sponsored such legislation for the past four years but has not been able to convince his colleagues that it should be passed.  In the Cabin Fever Debates, the motion was defended by the teams of Puppies & Kittens (Michael Duffy & Zachary Johnson) and F Street (Zachary Mannix & Vasilios Gialopsos).  On the opposition, the teams of Emma Goldman (Amie Stanley & Michelle Hart) and Elizabeth Cady Stanton (Tara Devlin & Ryan Starr) countered their arguments.  In a very tight debate, teams F Street and Emma Goldman were selected to advance to the final round.

The second semifinal round focused on whether the US should boycott the Beijing Olympics.  Given Steven Spielberg's recent decision to give up his post as an artistic advisor to the Beijing Olympics and ongoing concerns about China's human rights record, the political message inherent in this high-profile sporting event cannot be overlooked.  Arguing in favor of the boycott were the teams of that won team (Brett Frazer & Marcus Welker) and Princes, Unicorn, Rainbow (Zachary Liszka & John Roberson III).  On the opposition were Dimond (Faith Capras & Craig Valdez) and Sojourner Truth (Jonathon Sanchez & Solomeia Kojin).  In this round, the opening teams (that one team & Dimond) provided a solid foundation for the debate and were chosen to advance to the final round.