Tournament Results

2008 Northern Lights Results

Tournament Recap

This was the 1st time--as far as we know--that a tournament was held for Alaska high school students in the world universities style of debating competition.

The tournament was a resounding success. Twenty-eight debaters, representing seven high schools from south-central Alaska spent the weekend engaging one another on a variety of controversial topics:

Round 1: This house supports compulsory national service
Round 2: This house believes no nation should have exclusive rights to the Arctic
Round 3: This house would mandate a reduction in carbon emissions
Round 4: This house supports single sex education

We recognized the top five speakers in the tournament at the conclusion of preliminary rounds. Showing the diversity of talent in the state, these speakers came from four different high schools:

1st Place & winner of a $200 scholarship: Sarah Carpenter (Chugiak)
2nd Place: Katie Zager (Service)
3rd Place: Austin Heyroth (South)
4th Place: Tamiah Liebersbach (Chugiak)
5th Place: Morgan Haskins (West)

Rounding out the top 10 were:
6th Place: Bryce Jarvis (Eagle River)
7th Place: Daniel Schwicht (South)
8th Place: Becky Smith (Chugiak)
9th Place: Lindsay Cason (West)
10th Place: Wiley Cason (West)

Championship Round

The final round saw debaters from four different high schools (Eagle River, Service, South, and West) engage one another on whether the use of torture is a legitimate tool in the War on Terrorism. The opening government team, from Eagle River (Bryce Jarvis & Bonnie Etter), argued protecting American lives is of the utmost importance while the opening opposition, from Service/South (Katie Zager/Austin Heyroth), countered that torture is never justified and that other alternatives are always more effective. The closing government, from South (Blake Steenhoven & Daniel Schwicht), continued the line that the government has a responsibility to protect its citizens. In addition, they argued that by legalizing torture we gain the ability to regulate the who, how, and when of torture, thereby minimizing its abuse. The closing opposition, from West (Morgan Haskins & Lindsay Cason), argued that by sacrificing our moral high ground on human rights, we lose our ability to effectively use our soft power throughout the world. In the end, the hybrid team from Service/South convinced the 5 member adjudication panel that they deserved to be the tournament champions, and winners of the $250 cash scholarships.