Bulletin News

03/24/2010 

Aware that her time limit was quickly approaching, freshman Ashley Cattaneo tightens her fingers around her stack of notes and makes one final declaration.

“Obama’s stimulus package is a step in the right direction,” she tells the crowd of students and faculty alike gathered for this inaugural SUNY Cortland Speech and Debate Club presentation in Jacobus Lounge. “We haven’t seen the full effects yet. We must be patient.”

Speech and Debate Club president and founder Trevor Curry and freshman Ashley Cattaneo review their notes during the debate.

To her left, Mike Panetta, one of her two opponents, shakes his head in clear disagreement while demonstrating a bit of his own patience as he waits for his turn behind the microphone.

“You can’t just throw money at your problems and expect positive results,” retorts Panetta, a secondary education major from Auburn, N.Y. “There is a lack of legislation and regulation to address the real problems.”

Panetta offers a few more arguments before club vice president Aaron Thomas, acting as both scribe and timekeeper for the debate, holds up his hand to signal that Panetta’s allotted time has ended. Now, the four participants fidget nervously in their seats awaiting the verdict.

The club’s faculty advisor, Elizabeth Owens, a lecturer in the Communication Studies Department, asks the audience, who braved the late February snows to hear the debate over President Obama’s stimulus package, to serve as judge and jury. Many of the fledgling club’s 10 members fill the spectator seats.

A deadlock emerges when Cattaneo and her teammate Trevor Curry, the club’s president and founder, receive the same number of votes as Panetta and Georgiana Mihut, a Romanian studying international relations at SUNY Cortland. In reality though, all the team members come away as winners.

Aaron Thomas, vice president of the club, signals to Trevor Curry that his allotted time is ending.

“Being able to effectively communicate with others, whether you agree of disagree with them, is a precious skill I wouldn’t trade for the world,” explains Curry. “People say they are not good public speakers, but they are. They already know what they want to say. Debate teaches you how to say it. It’s the connection between the brain and the mouth.”

Curry, a senior political science major from Spring Valley, N.Y., became enthralled with the benefits of debating as a Rockland County Community College debate team member and made it his mission to form a team at SUNY Cortland after he transferred to the campus.

“We succeed because we all get along so well,” adds Curry. “It is easy for us to find relatable ground even though we have different personalities. We have come together and formed a bond.”

The debate team members meet every Wednesday from 6-7 p.m. in Corey Union Room 305. Students can receive academic credit for participation in the club and membership is open to all majors.

The team travels frequently to compete against other schools in the Public Forum Debate League, including Ithaca College, Rockland County Community College and SUNY Albany. The league aims to present “audience-centered intercollegiate debate devoted to making debate accessible to as many college students as possible,” according to its Web site.

“I’m always so proud when we win a competition,” says Curry. “On the drive home, we usually stop for food so we can show off our trophy!”

“The students have all worked very hard,” explains Owens, who volunteered for the advisor position. “It has been so interesting watching them grow and develop into skilled debaters.”

“I’m excited to implement what I have learned (from debate) in the classroom,” adds Cattaneo, a special education major from Elmont, N.Y. who also represents the Speech and Debate Club at the Student Government Association meetings. “I can bring in articles and have a discussion with students, positing questions and getting their feedback.”

Georgiana Mihut interrogates Ashley Cattaneo while Mihut’s teammate, Mike Panetta, takes notes.

Interestingly, the debate club has attracted international students. In addition to Mihut, who participated in debate in her home country, another Romanian exchange student, Raluca Balas, joined the club as a novice. Kadir Onder, an exchange student from Turkey, is also an active participant.

Recently, Balas joined Curry for a debate at Rockland Community College, where the duo placed second in the extemporaneous debate competition.

The international students, like their American counterparts, bring something special to the debate team, says Curry.

“They have different experience levels, but they all provide a new perspective and enrich the team’s culture,” he concludes.

For more information on the SUNY Cortland Speech and Debate Club, contact Elizabeth Owens at (607) 753-5726.