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Debra Newman, host par excellence!

April 4, 2016

Congratulations to P368K Brooklyn’s Finest Debate team teacher Debra Newman, who made it into the April 6, 2016 edition of The NYC Debate Weekly Newsletter.

Thank you also to the United States District Court at Brooklyn Borough Hall and Coach Debra Newman for hosting the Semifinal and Final Rounds of the Brooklyn Championships. This tournament is for both middle school and high school students and features public forum debate, policy debate and parliamentary debate! Congrats to our Brooklyn Debaters this year who will be representing New York City at both the Tournament of Champions and the National Association of Urban Debate Leagues Championships!

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Final Four

March 29, 2016

Congratulations to the Final Four Middle School Debate Teams! They are…

The 224Q Spartan Warriors

The 25R Panthers

The 36K Debaters of the Future

The P 9Q Dream Team

Dates for the final four match-ups and for the High School competition will be announced next week.

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373K Student Reflections

March 29, 2016

The students of 373K had these thoughts to share about being on the 2015-2016 debate team:

Joshua

My name is Joshua and I’m part of the debate team. How I feel about the debate is that it was hard and you need to compete against other schools.”

Tauheedah

Hi my name is Tauheedah and I feel proud because we tried our best and we did a lot of work. What I like being in debate because I get to argue.”

Nery

I am part of the Brooklyn transition center debate team. My name is Nery I thought being in the debate team was awesome because of it was a good experience. I liked arguing. I liked working as a team.”

William

These types of things don’t come and go in life. Being a debate member is something you have to work hard to compete and be a part of. Being a part of the Transformers requires a lot of skill and talent. This type of job takes serious work, but it doesn’t stop you to not have fun. Knowing the fact that I helped the 373k debate earning their FIRST win. It something to be very proud of. Yes, We may lose pretty much all our battles. But we still learn something. We still gained better skills. Talking in front of the camera with a live audience is not easy at all. And in my opinion, the Transformers made it look easy. Winning is not everything, and it doesn’t have to be.”

James

I was sad for the first competition because we lost and I got really angry….”

Thank you to teachers Patricia Kwiecinski and Elizabeth Skovera for leading their Transformers team.

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Breaking it Down!

March 22, 2016

The New York Times has broken down our Round 3 debate into nice chunks:

fbi2in

What does the government want? The F.B.I. has been trying to force Apple to help investigators gain access to an iPhone used by Syed Rizwan Farook in the December mass shooting in San Bernardino, Calif. Bureau officials say that encrypted data in Mr. Farook’s phone and its GPS system may hold vital clues about where he and his wife…traveled in the 18 minutes after the shootings, and about whom they might have contacted beforehand. It sounds like a simple problem but the solution would be complex. The password mechanism built into the phone will erase the phone’s data after 10 incorrect password attempts….

 

And on the other side?

 

Apple

Why is Apple resisting? The company has fought a federal court order requiring it to provide access to the F.B.I., on the grounds that it violates its right to due process. Apple has said that forcing it to write new software violates its First Amendment right…. Courts have ruled in the past that writing code is a form of free speech. Providing help to break into this one iPhone, Apple has also argued, could create a permanent way to bypass iPhone password protection for law enforcement officials or even the spy agencies of other countries….

 

And the bottom line:

applevsfbismall

Why does the dispute matter? Simply put, the government contends that cooperation in cases like this could help prevent terrorist attacks against Americans. Privacy advocates and Apple supporters say they worry that if the F.B.I. succeeds in getting access to the software overriding Apple’s encryption, it would create easy access for the government in many future investigations…. But cooperating with the government now could quickly lead to murkier situations internationally, especially in China, where officials have been pushing for greater control over the encryption and security of technology sold there. China has become Apple’s second-largest market after the United States….Saying yes to the United States government could make it hard for Apple to later say no to China, and saying no could significantly affect the company’s bottom line.

 

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More and More Sources

March 17, 2016

Apple FBIOur debate topic is really heating up in the news. Here are two more articles, one on President Obama’s stance from The New York Times, and one from NPR which contains a primary source document from the Apple case.

And if you missed it, John Oliver’s main segment last week was also about the encryption topic.

We’ve heard what many people have to say on this topic, now we are ready to hear from the teams. Round 3 begins next week…. let’s go!

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When to Cite?

March 11, 2016

Screen Shot 2016-03-11 at 2.35.05 PMEveryone who is familiar with our scoring rubric knows that in order to earn the most points from the judges in the category Use of Arguments, Facts and Evidence, teams must CITE THEIR SOURCES, and that those sources must be credible. How do you know when you need to cite? According to Princeton University, You must cite any quotation, paraphrase, summary, and most importantly, all facts, information and data. For more details, check out their link When to Cite Sources.

Flocabulary.com also has 2 awesome videos about citing sources called Source Evaluation and The Research Process. Check it out.

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More Articles About our Debate Topic

March 11, 2016

iphoneWow, there have been a lot of articles about our current debate topic flying around the internet lately.

Here is an article from USA Today titled Justice Department: Apple Obligated to Assist FBI  and another from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)  that takes a strong position on one side (guess which one). Other articles have appeared in major news outlets such as the New York Times and more.

Also, the National Speech and Debate Association’s current topic is very closely related to ours. It is, Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially curtail its domestic surveillance.

You can find resources on their website as well as on the Urbandebate.org site (Scroll down for downloads under Surveillance Topic Core Files). There are tons of resources out there to help with your research. Choose wisely, and good luck!

 

 

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Talk About Close!

March 7, 2016

This chart from a Round 2 debate shows the teams receiving equal scores in three categories: Presentation, Teamwork, and Persuasiveness. That has never before happened in a debate.

graphs

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What is the FBI?

February 29, 2016

You may be aware that the Federal Bureau of Investigation is demanding that Apple Inc. help them open a criminal’s iPhone. But just who or what is the FBI? According to Worldbook Online,

“The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the primary investigating branch of the United States Department of Justice. The FBI investigates a variety of crimes that deal with the safety and security of the United States and its citizens. The FBI headquarters are in Washington, D.C.”

Read the full article. Use your school’s account information to log in, or email Cara.

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FBI Director Blogs About it, Too

February 29, 2016

applevsfbismallThe director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) shared his thoughts on the controversy. His argument seemed to be that unlocking the iPhone is not the start of an invasion of privacy, but about protecting innocent Americans from terrorists.

FBI Blog Post

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Snow updates

January 26, 2016

Hi everyone! All Round 2 debates will be held as originally scheduled. As of now, there are no re-schedules due to the snow. It’s crunch time, debaters- let’s go!

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The Flo at 368K

January 11, 2016

368kfloMs. Debra Newman, the coach of the P368K Star Academy Debate Team, was interviewed by Flocabulary after her team won the “Week in Rap Shout-Out Contest”.  Brooklyn’s Finest Debate team is in the news again!

 

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