Public Library Funding Subject of International Debate at Pitt Nov. 7

PITTSBURGH—The University of Pittsburgh’s Department of Communication in the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences will host an international public debate featuring the William Pitt Debating Union (WPDU), members of the British National Debating Team, and local guest experts from 3:30 to 5 p.m. Nov. 7 in the University Club Ballroom, 123 University Place, Oakland. 

Gordon Mitchell, associate professor of communication and acting chair of the Department of Communication, associate professor of clinical and translational science in Pitt's School of Medicine, associate director of Pitt's Humanities Center, and director of the WPDU, will moderate.

The debate is timed to precede the Nov. 8 citywide election in which a referendum on the ballot proposes a property tax increase to create a source of funding for the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh.

Six distinguished speakers will address the pros and cons of the property tax increase, including British world-champion parliamentary debaters Ben Jasper and Richard Robinson. Jasper, a graduate of Oxford University, and Robinson, a graduate of Manchester University, are currently on a two-month debating tour in the United States.

Doctoral student Taylor Hahn and undergraduate student Jason Myers will represent Pitt in the debate. Also joining the panel will be local guest experts Elizabeth Stelle, policy analyst with the Commonwealth Foundation for Public Policy Alternatives, and Janet Jai, author of Saving Our Public Libraries: Why We Should, How We Can (Vision and Values, 2011).

The WPDU is a Pitt student organization involved in a wide range of debating activities, including two-person intercollegiate policy debate, international parliamentary debate, and various forms of public debate. One of the oldest organizations of its kind in the nation, WPDU is housed within Pitt’s communication department.

The American Forensic Association and English Speaking Union are cosponsoring the British tour. The Pitt debate is free and open to the public, and audience questions are encouraged; refreshments will be provided.

The debate will be broadcast via a live feed at http://mediasite.cidde.pitt.edu/mediasite/SilverlightPlayer/Default.aspx.... For more information, contact WPDU Program administrator Lauri Freund at llk@pitt.edu or 412-624-2887.

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