Unbiased look at the Sint Maarten Elections
PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - The USM is proud to announce the accomplishments of two students who participated in the LIDC as part of team St. Maarten, Mr. Dwayne Griffith who is enrolled in the USM GED Tutorial program and Ms. Alexandria Baly Stanford who is a second year student in the General Liberal Arts program.
Team St. Maarten participated in three debates; Debate 1 which was won by the team with Dwayne Griffith as 1st speaker. Debate 2 which were also won by Team St. Maarten with Alexandria Baly Stanford as 2nd speaker, finally Debate 3 where team St. Maarten became sub-champs and Dwayne Griffith winning Best Speaker.
The head coach of the LIDC team St. Maarten was USM’s instructor, Mr. Roberto Arrindell M.Ed. He assisted in developing the topics, writing and approving the script. Mr. Arrindell also received the J.A. George Irish Oratorical in recognition of outstanding achievements in the literary or oratorical and/or the promotion of freedom of speech among the youth.
In an invited comment from the USM Dean of Academic Affairs, Ms. Genéve Phillip, she stated that recently she learnt that Mr. Arrindell is the longest serving faculty at the USM. What is most important and admirable about this, is his diligence and level of unwavering commitment for all these years. I’m happy that he has remained with the USM to contribute not only as the excellent Math teacher that many of his colleagues acknowledge he is; but he has also remained with USM, ensuring that we have well rounded and skilled students who can represent us when the opportunity presents itself, such as this debate. It is noteworthy that these youngsters are very much aware and attuned with issues like the illicit drug trade and child abuse in the Caribbean region and that they possess the ability to effectively articulate their views on such. Traditionally, we have not engaged our region’s youth enough in these types of discussions and it will be to our detriment if we continue to forgo the opportunity to allow them to contribute to discourses that have far reaching implications for the political economy of development in the Caribbean.
St. Maarten along with Antigua and Anguilla Debate Teams will be travelling to New York on April 7 – 10, 2016 to participate in the LICD Debating Exhibition scheduled to take place at the Medgar Evers College in New York. Representing the St. Maarten team will be Dwayne Griffith and Alexandria Baly Stanford, and Charlotte Brookson Academy student D'shnay Matthew York. The first debate moot: “The Caribbean is not doing enough to combat child abuse†with St. Maarten as proposition and Anguilla as opposition. The second debate moot: “The marginalization of men has led to the breakdown of Caribbean society†with St. Maarten as proposition and Antigua as opposition. Moderator for the debates will be Mr. Roberto Arrindell, M.Ed. According to the organizers, this is no longer a competition, but an exhibition of the very best talents in Leeward Island Debating Competition. The purpose is to showcase the high quality of debating.
The first debate is scheduled for April 8, commencing at 11:30am EST. The debates will be streamed live on youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sL-0PXxLVcA
While in New York, the debating teams also plan to visit the United Nations office
The USM board of directors, staff and faculty of the University of St. Martin congratulate Dwayne Griffith, Alexandria Baly Stanford and Mr. Roberto Arrindell on a job well done. You have made the USM proud!
