UA Honors College Students Compete for Scholarships in Debate

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Four pairs of University of Alabama Honors College students will compete for $12,000 in scholarships Tuesday in the final rounds of an annual debate tournament on campus.

Semi-final and final rounds of the 13^th annual James P. Hayes, Jr. Moral Forum debate tournament will begin at 7:30 p.m. in North Lawn Hall, room 1000. Moral Forum is an annual dialogue and debate program that involves extensive research as students prepare value-based case studies representing positions on each side of a controversial issue.

Nearly 60 students are participating this fall through enrollment in the course UH 101: Moral Forum. Semifinalists include:

• Audrey Allen, a sophomore nursing major, of Jackson, Missouri
• Caitlyn Jones, a freshman political science major, of Birmingham
• Anna Kutbay, a freshman majoring in political science and economics, of Morristown, Tennessee
• Allyson Lacoste, a senior civil engineering major, of Mandeville, Louisiana
• Caitlyn Lesso, a senior construction engineering major, of Biloxi, Mississippi
• Danielle Pacia, a senior biomedical ethics major, of Morristown, Tennessee
• Adam Trotter, a senior mechanical engineering major, of Aurora, Illinois
• David Warren III, a junior computer science major, of Homewood

This year, students are arguing in support of and opposition to the statement: In order to be a more moral society, the United States government should continue permitting plea bargaining in criminal cases.

In teams of two, students conducted research, attended a nine-week seminar series, and constructed position statements that address both sides of plea bargaining and criminal justice in preparation for two required preliminary debate rounds.

Each team must prepare to argue both affirmative and negative sides of the same resolution.

Guest lecturers in this fall’s course included Jaime Conger, criminal defense attorney at Smith & Staggs, LLC, and Senior U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff, for the Southern District of New York, and who is a Columbia University law professor. Dr. Mark Nelson, dean of UA’s College of Communication and Information Sciences, also met with the class to discuss public speaking.

This event is free and open to the public.