Tag: Debate

Giovanni Guerrero Aims to Promote and Protect Campus Resources

Giovanni Guerrero makes his case for the Associated Students presidency

Born and raised in southern California, Giovanni Guerrero is an openly gay, first-generation Latinx student. Coming to the end of his junior year, this is Guerrero’s first time running for a position with Associated Students, and he’s aiming straight for the top—the presidency.

While Guerrero lacks a background with AS, he might make up for with a background working with the Federal Government. Last summer, he attended an internship with the Bureau of Land Management Eastern States division in Washington D.C. The division is an office of the BLM, a branch of the Department of the Interior. He spent time working with fellow interns in a geospatial segment of the Eastern States division—work that involved collaborating on several projects simultaneously.

As an environmental science major, Guerrero brings preservation into the discussion as the foundation of his platform.

“We have resources on this campus that help those students. And I think it’s very essential that we prioritize those resources and make sure that those resources aren’t seeing drastic reductions.”
Giovanni Guerrero

“We have some terrific resources on this campus, but over the next two years we’re gonna be facing $20 million in budget reductions, and that’s a big, scary number,” Guerrero said. “Those reductions will probably come in the form of student interests. So, it’s very important that we recognize the challenges that we’re gonna face, and we’re very vocal about it so that we can protect important resources.”

Humboldt State University is home to many students in need, including those facing housing and food insecurities, as well as mental health issues.

“We have resources on this campus that help those students,” Guerrero said. “And I think it’s very essential that we prioritize those resources and make sure that those resources aren’t seeing drastic reductions.”

Guerrero advocates for more energy to be spent on the promotion of these resources. One idea is to feature a ‘program of the week’ on the HSU homepage because the current navigation system does little to support them.

“I really wanna focus on promoting what Humboldt State has to offer,” Guerrero said. “Because our resources can’t serve the students that they’re meant to serve if they don’t know they exist.”

“I think he would be a great leader because he understands the complexities in debates, that sometimes we have to find productive ways to maintain arguments we can’t end, and because he is so eager to make HSU a better place for students who feel left out.”
Aaron Donaldson, debate team coach

As the only upcoming senior running for the position, Guerrero has the most respective experience on the HSU campus and the challenges faced by its students.

“I’ve been very fortunate to experience different areas around campus,” Guerrero said. “It’s really opened up my perception to how diligently students are working.”

As well as working for Recreation Sports on campus, Guerrero also worked at the J. He’s also involved in several student clubs including the running, climbing and debate clubs.

Aaron Donaldson, coach of the debate team, praised Guerrero as a genuine, sympathetic listener.

“I would describe Gio as thoughtful, careful as an advocate and a good student,” Donaldson said. “I think he would be a great leader because he understands the complexities in debates, that sometimes we have to find productive ways to maintain arguments we can’t end, and because he is so eager to make HSU a better place for students who feel left out.”

If elected president, Guerrero intends to improve HSU’s social media. That way students interested in attending the university will know what the campus has to offer. He advocated that all students take advantage of the opportunities at hand, especially clubs.

“His ability to anticipate, plan for and respond to issues in dynamic and creative ways makes him an asset to any group or team he chooses to be a part of.”
Katherine Earle, Recreation Sports

“Clubs have really helped me to connect with other people, and I think they’re really essential to building community on campus,” Guerrero said. “That leads to retention as well. If you feel connected to your campus and where you live and where you study, then you’re more likely to stay.”

One of Guerrero’s bosses at Recreation Sports, Katherine Earle, spoke highly of his performance.

“Gio has already proven himself to be an effective leader while working for Rec Sports at HSU,” Earle said. “His ability to anticipate, plan for and respond to issues in dynamic and creative ways makes him an asset to any group or team he chooses to be a part of.”

Another priority for Guerrero, as president, would be to ensure the security of student jobs.

“A lot of students depend on those jobs and I think the more opportunities we have on campus, the more attraction we will get at HSU, and more retention,” Guerrero said.

One of the biggest short-comings of AS, according to Guerrero, is active student engagement.

“You could probably go up to any student on this campus and ask them, ‘Do you know what an Associated Student does or who they are?’ And they’ll probably tell you ‘No, I have no idea.’”

Guerrero wants to create avenues to engage with the student body and inform them on what’s going on at an administrative level and within AS.

Guerrero said this will help prioritize what students want from AS. If he wins, Guerrero is aware he has his work cut out for him, and he said he’s up for the task.

“I’ve faced a lot of different barriers and a lot of different challenges, and just in general, it’s really helped me to be a resilient person,” Guerrero said. “And I think that’s the key to success. Cause you’re gonna face a lot of obstacles throughout life, and have to learn how to handle those obstacles.”

Monday, April 27, 2020
HSU’s Debate Team Preps for Spring Season

Students from various majors hone their argumentative skills

With winter break fast approaching and students preparing for finals, Humboldt State University’s debate team is pushing through with consistent practice sessions and preparing for scheduled competitions that start as soon as the spring semester begins.

Responding to a topic may seem like an easy task, but compiling synchronized responses with a teammate can be overwhelming, especially when the goal is to not contradict each others’ claims.

“Try publicly speaking about controversial issues, not knowing whether or not you will be speaking for or against your own values until 15 minutes before you have to do so.”
Kimberley Nguyen

Kimberley Nguyen, a philosophy major, is in her third semester with the debate team. She stresses over the challenging lack of preparation time before debates.

“Public speaking on its own is a difficult task,” Nguyen said. “Try publicly speaking about controversial issues, not knowing whether or not you will be speaking for or against your own values until 15 minutes before you have to do so.”

HSU’s debate team is currently practicing the British parliamentary debate method as they prepare for spring. This consists of team members pairing up, debating sides and creating counter arguments.

During one of their practice sessions, assistant coach Olivia Gainer presented the teams with the topic. The topic surrounded the opening monologue of “All the World’s a Stage” from William Shakespeare’s play, “As You Like It.” The four teams proceeded to exit the room to prepare and come back later with their responses.

“The team dynamic is definitely important and affects the way each round goes, it helps balance arguments off each other,” Gainer said. “Right now I’m looking at how well the team dynamic is and will give my input on their performance.”

Research and compiling a strong argument is a must. With evenings being the only time frame to practice their tactics, the debate team optimizes their time wisely to alleviate obstacles in later competitions.

HSU’s debate team is open to all and brands itself as a competitive sport. Exercising one’s mind to develop well constructed argument is as crucial as athletes utilizing their plays to put points on the scoreboard.

Saturday, December 7, 2019
A team that works together stays together

Humboldt State’s debate team is much more than a team

The HSU debate team may not have returned home from nationals with a victory however they persisted and came back with an outstanding sense of determination to rise up and take on the competition that is yet to come.

Team members Sydney Verga and Arynn “Blue” Baldwin shared thoughts on nationals and the hard work that their team presents each year.

“We only really see debate on the West Coast and it’s honestly a completely different style of debate when you go to the East Coast or even the Midwest,” Verga said. “You see so many different styles of debate so it really opened up our eyes to what is out there, now we know what to prepare for.”

Vice President, Olivia Gainer expressing her thoughts on Thursday’s practice debate to the rest of the team on April 18. | Photo by Skylar Gaven

The debate team made their way to South Carolina last weekend where nationals were being held. The team went through eight solid rounds of debates throughout Saturday and Sunday.

Baldwin and Verga were both delighted and proud to see their team advance to nationals. Despite being at the bottom they still managed to hold their heads high throughout the entire competition.

Verga said that Humboldt is usually at the bottom of the bracket and that they’re newer to the circuit.

“We used to just be the bottom of the bracket at nationals,” Verga said. “Now we are at the middle of the bracket and so we are getting better as a team as a whole, all of us are moving up.”

Debate member, Fabian Cuevas giving his final take on the debate that took place at practice. | Photo by Skylar Gaven

Although the team is moving their way up at competitions they still have some struggles with recognition here on campus.

“We are the longest standing debate teams out there which is kind of crazy and people always forget that,” Verga said. “People always forget that we exist as a debate team especially here on campus.”

Debate is always looking for ways to encourage others to check it out.

“We do work hard. We do a lot of stuff but nobody sees, because no one really pays attention,” Baldwin said. “That’s why we are constantly tabling and putting on events like exhibition debates.”

It isn’t just for communication majors. Anybody that goes to HSU is more than welcome to join. The debate team here at HSU has been working constantly to better their craft. They practice all the time making sure that everybody is comfortable with debating and gaining more experience with different styles of debate.

“We work hard year round, during the summer we have debate camp before school starts,” Baldwin said. “We teach a lot of the theories in debate, a lot of the teams don’t teach ‘theory debate,’ they teach how to make argumentations but we teach how arguments work and what arguments are better than others.”

Freshman Hannah Koh delivering her side of a debate topic that the team was practice. | Photo by Skylar Gaven

The strength in this team is definitely due to the amount of effort that everyone puts in but it is also the desire of wanting each other to succeed by working together.

Baldwin said that HSU’s debate team is very unique as an organization and a team.

“We’re a very family oriented team,” Baldwin said. “A lot of other teams you’ll see they hate each other, it’s all a hierarchy system. Here we want to help each other get better so that we can get better as a team.”

HSU’s debate team has come a long way and are happy to have accomplished so much this year. They will continue to practice and are ready for whatever comes at them next year.

“We’re gonna be together at the top too,” Verga said.

Friday, May 3, 2019
Feminism thrives without capitalism

“To be truly liberated, capitalism and the patriarchy must be eradicated.”

A thunder of knocking agreement filled Founders Hall 118 on Wednesday by a crowd consisting of mostly students who were eager to hear a debate focused on the incompatibility of capitalism and feminism.

Women from HSU’s debate team presented their speeches in front of a crowded room using the British Parliamentary debate format that consists of four teams where each person is given seven minute to present.

[perfectpullquote align=”right” bordertop=”false” cite=”Leslie Rossman” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=”18″]“[We] cannot fight the system if we are always fighting just to survive.”[/perfectpullquote]

Kimberly Nguyen, the prime minister, opened the debate by defining the motion and proposing a radical change by feminists, suggesting they should avoid teaching for profit, working with conglomerate media, and selling bestselling books with publishing conglomerates.

“We will not try to solve for capitalism in this debate,” Nguyen said. “Instead, we are only having a conversation about how the two are incompatible.”

After a heated discussion professor Leslie Rossman, who identifies as a socialist feminist, recapped the event reminding the audience that capitalism is an inherently exploitative system and it will continue to sell social movements like feminism for a profit. Rossman continued to describe how capitalism will constantly reproduce scarcity and leave citizens in a state of insecurity.

“[We] cannot fight the system if we are always fighting just to survive,” Rossman said.

Debate coach and professor, Aaron Donaldson was delighted by the crowd turnout and how well the women debated the topic.

“I think they did a great job of showing why our team is so respected in the circuit,” Donaldson said.

Debate coach Dr. Aaron Donaldson and Dr. Leslie Rossman pose for a picture after the Womxn’s Debate that took place in Founder’s Hall 118 on March 6. | Photo by Christina Samoy

This debate prepared the team for Nationals that will take place at Clemson University in South Carolina in mid-April, where they will compete against teams like Harvard and Yale. Sydney Verga, an environmental studies major, highlighted the struggles of competing at tournaments due to budget cuts.

“Last year we got lucky because nationals was closeby at Stanford,” Verga said. “We normally cannot fly to these tournaments because it’s too expensive.”

Many suggest bake sales to raise money for these tournaments, but the biggest struggle they face is reaching out to debate program alumni who they’ve lost contact with over the years. Recently the clubs office recognized them as a club so they are able to fundraise, although the team is finding it hard to raise money.

The Womxn’s Debate was opened by Blue Baldwin who thanked everyone for attending on March 6. | Photo by Christina Samoy

The team spent weeks preparing their arguments, making sure they were charitable to both sides, making sure none of the arguments were off topic. A goal for this debate was to demasculinize the space and make it as diverse and inclusive as possible.

“Capitalism and feminism are really dense topics,” Nguyen said. “We don’t want to mischaracterize anything.”

Typically the debate team finds themselves presenting in small rooms with an even smaller crowd, but the turnout at the event prepared them for larger spaces and skills to become better public speakers.

A crowd of students gather in Founders Hall 118 to support the Womxn’s Debate team held on March 6. | Photo by Christina Samoy

Donaldson was thankful to have the team present in front of peers, friends, and teachers because, it meant that their hard work wasn’t limited to invisible corners of campus and people are caring about the amount of work and research that goes into preparing for events like this.

“It brings a lot of excitement [for] the chance to give a speech,” Donaldson said.

Friday, March 8, 2019