Debate: a contention by words or arguments…

by UB LIBRARIES

On January 8 and January 11, Liz Stellrecht and Linda Lohr were delighted to attend the annual Erie 1 BOCES Connections debates at Buffalo General Medical Center and Millard Fillmore Suburban Hospital, respectively. Christine Tillman and Shatonia Thornton, the Connections Instructors, brought their classes to the Health Sciences Library in November where they worked with librarian Liz Stellrecht who taught them how to search for scholarly information to support their debate arguments on a hot topic in health care and to help them write a paper about the topic. Following the instruction session the groups spent time visiting the History of Medicine Collection.

The topics for the debates were “Resolved: It is ethical to suspend HIPAA in an emergency” and “Resolved: Prescription Opiates Should Remain Legal”. The programs began with a background of each topic presented by students who made up the Education Team followed by the Affirmative and Negative sides stating their arguments. Each side then asked questions of the other side

after which came their closing statements. Regardless of who won, the teams did an excellent job of demonstrating the hard work and research that went into supporting their arguments. Their passion and conviction was evident which made the experience even more enjoyable. Liz and Linda look forward to working with BOCES/Connections in the future and to attending these debates!