Jazmin Garcia, of the Fremont Federation of High Schools, will get the last word on the Affirmative on Welfare Reform.

Tomorrow night, seven BAUDL debaters will analyze the some of the most important issues of their generation before a full audience in the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) Board Room (1025 2nd Avenue in Downtown Oakland) and for viewers following along on Comcast Channel 27.  This March 11 event, scheduled from 7 - 9 PM, will feature two debates: Healthcare Reform and Welfare Reform.  Representing the affirmative on Healthcare Reform are Skyline High School’s Rashid Campbell and California Preparatory Academy’s Natassija Jordan.  On the negative are Skyline debate co-captains, Kayla Wheatfall and Zach Seidl.  Representing the affirmative on Welfare Reform are the Fremont Federation of High School’s Jazmin Garcia and Juan Ramos.  On the negative is EXCEL Academy’s Tanesha Walker and Kayla Wheatfall from Skyline High School.

The debate promises to be exciting as indicated by an excerpt of Jazmin Garcia’s first constructive speech:

The biggest problem facing the U.S today is poverty. There were 37.3 million people in poverty in the United States in 2007. More and more people are in poverty everyday, and the current welfare system only traps them in cycles of poverty. Giving them only little to get by and for only a short amount of time, millions of people find themselves trapped in poverty without the opportunity to progress.

Come watch the rest of Jazmin’s speech as well as six of the finest opinions of our generation in the OUSD Board Room and on Comcast 27!