BeIR/webis-touche2020 huggingface dataset:
Resolved: College atheletes should be paid

College athletes work hard. Their athletics require long hours similar to a full time job while they also take classes, which prevents them from getting jobs and being able to support themselves. Paying them is fair and teaches fiscal responsibility. Since athletes already receive scholarships and other benefits, they are essentially being paid. Why not determine their value like you do in the real world? One's monetary value is often based on how much revenue they generate. College sports is very lucrative. Advertisements, sponsorships, video games and ticket sales lead to huge profits for college teams worth tens of billions of dollars [1]. Many college athletes suffer injury that prevents them from moving on with their college or professional athletic career. They put their bodies on the line every day. If they can make money while playing the sport, they should be able to. [1] http://finance.zacks.com...
Resolved: Gay marriage would weaken the insitutuion of marriage

Happy New Year!I literally have just 4 minutes to post an argument, so I will respond to all of my opponent's contentions in the final round. However I will say this -- Pro is wrong in saying that I have "not met my burden." I have explained repeatedly throughout the debate that allowing gay marriage will likely NOT affect other people's (heterosexual) marriages. Further, I have repeatedly explained that Pro has not established what marriage is supposed to be and its alleged benefits, or how gay marriage would negatively impact the institution. Meanwhile, I've contended that marriage means different things to different people, and individuals and couples have their own ideas and expectations about what the union is supposed to mean. Therefore legally recognizing gay marriage and giving those in gay partnerships more rights would strengthen the union - not inhibit it.
Dogs make better companions than cats.

Yes its really cause in companion that dog bark.It really is,because it can make your life want to kill or angry your dog or someone else's dog.This may lost some relationship. Now as Pro said "Watch the movie Homeward Bound, or Marley and Me.Then watch Stuart Little, the cats are assh*les." Movie is just only a show which already plan by someone.so that means cat in the movie already plan what to do.so this cant be prove as an evidence at all.Because its just the acting of the role. Your turn now Pro.
Dogs make better companions than cats.

Now as pro said "Yes, cats have actually shat on my couch before" that is just your house.Not other house or everyone's house Now let me tell you another statement of Cat make better companion than cat. Dogs always annoy you by barking while cat dont. In my house, I have a dog chiwawa (I dont really know how to spell it) ,when there is any one come in to our house.My dog will always bark.Some times, it also bark with non sense at all.Not like cat. Your turn now Pro!
Dogs make better companions than cats.

Respect to everyone.This house believe that "Cats make better companion than dogs" 1.As pro said "Dogs will always love you, cats will use you for affection.",Dog can also cause an affection when you do something bad to them as same as cat.E.g.You hit the dog,do you think what do they feel? The answer is for sure.They feel so sad,angry and want the bite you as same as scratch you if you hit the cat. 2.As pro said "Dogs will stay by your side if you die, your cat will eat you. ",There is no prove evidence at all and its not reliable information enough at all and this info didn't even make sense. 3.As pro said "Dogs will stay by your side if you die, your cat will eat you.",I know why.Because Cat are smarter than Dog.Dog don't know that person who take care you has die so the dog keep it.while cat have more thinking that they must eat the dead body,because its for survival. Good luck Pro.
"Shipping" in My Little Pony fanfictions is ...

Indeed, it's been quite fun, IX! Your argument has highlighted some enlightening things for me as well. This is not something one can win, but it is something we can discuss, which is always a good thing to do. Now, for my own ending statement. It is indeed a factor how the relationship is applied! I was going to mention this, but I ran out of characters. Indeed, it can be done well, and perhaps believably, by an author skilled enough to pull it off. As many have said, there are no bad concepts, just bad execution. So a shipfic can take many, many forms, and some of them have yet to be made common, and more yet have not even been written. Mallajong's success appears to benefit from his/her takes on the genre, and he's clearly creative in his ways and skilled in his writing. This proves the success of shipfics and this success aids their proliferation. They're most certainly benign and perhaps a good way to share thoughts and writing with peers that share interests, as is any other form of writing put up on display for a larger body, be it the public or a substantial group of people, as in a fandom. Creative expression is important for people. It's a thing that's driven many things great and small into being. Writing, even something like fanfiction, is one of many outlets through which humans can express their creativity in their own way. As with drawing, there are countless ways to write, defined only by broad categories that often overlap. There is no one answer to the question, 'Is shipping bad?' as it is so subjective and the subject it entails so wide that there is no real answer to that, and so it falls to opinion. The truth of the matter may be that no genre is better or worse than another, but another truth is that it is so very subjective, and viewpoints so very individualized. Perhaps you shall not convince me, nor shall I really convince you, but this has been an interesting discussion, one I must thank you for! Dear audience of this most unusual debate, I hope you have had some fun as well. Whoever made the better arguments should win, but winning isn't nearly as important as having fun, and since we're already having fun, we've both won in that respect, here. Thanks for the debate, IX. How I do love a good one.
"Shipping" in My Little Pony fanfictions is ...

Much thanks to my opponent for clarifying his case. First, to make a few responses to my opponent's points, and then extend my case a little further.My opponent's response to my point about "random" stories is entirely correct--nonsensicality is not inherently problematic. Nor is illogicality, by that same grain. Now, my opponent is attempting to avoid arguing that shipping is problematic while arguing that it is illogical.In lieu of an entirely-not-vague resolution (which I'll definitely admit allows my opponent to simply prove that shipping is illogical and leave it at that, but that would smack too much of semantics and abuse. It's still valid, though.), I question why my opponent feels that illogicality is a necessarily bad quality to have. After all, the faq I cited earlier stated that "Random" fics are a subgenre of "Comedy" because--as my opponent has stated--they are incoherent or illogical. I must ask why my opponent chooses to argue that shipping is illogical, and what my opponent hopes to gain by proving this as a fact.My opponent clarifies his case later on when he uses the word "tiresome." I believe that this puts us somewhat at an impasse--we've got Con (myself) advocating that shipping stories are just like any other, and we've got Pro arguing that shipping stories are repetitive, and thus don't make sense (to read? to write?).The only way I feel that I contend this is to argue that writing, in and of itself, is a medium of human expression, and this is inherently good. That would imply that writing should be encouraged (and indeed it is, in that venerable institution we all hate so much--school) and therefore shipping in fanfictions, being a type of writing, should therefore be encouraged.My opponent will not likely debate the validity of my first statement (that writing is good), himself being a writer, nor the second (that writing should be encouraged), but rather the third--that shipping as written should be encouraged.However, if he wishes to debate the other points' validity, I have no issue with debating them.Here is the main impasse--it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to quantitatively prove that certain types of writing should be advocated over another. That is, if I may use an analogy, the same issue facing educators in certain states in the United States, as they phase-in new curricula that features informational texts over novels.However, there is one contention I can make--entertainment. As my opponent stated, the "purpose" of the "Random" subgenre was to provide entertainment in the form of illogicality. Can't shipping do the same?-Ach. I heartily apologize for making this resolution so horribly. . .vague, IncoherentOrange. However, I'm enjoying this, as well. I might suggest that this not be a debate to win, but merely a place to converse. Unfortunately, we appear to be on a debate website. What fun!
"Shipping" in My Little Pony fanfictions is ...

Now, I'd like to make a brief outline of my points, although the majority of case will be spent in refutation of the points my opponent chooses to advance. Although I have some burden of proof, my opponent will be mainly "attacking" the established practice of shipping, so I shall do my best to "defend" it--which mainly involves refutation. My overarching theme is that "Shipping in and of itself is not detrimental to a story. " I have but one other point (which I shall elaborate on below), as this sums up my position quite nicely. My opponent has helpfully pointed out the statistics on shipping's presence in the fandom. I accept these statistics. What they mean, though, is that the fandom has a great interest in writing shipping and adventure stories. There is no problem inherent to shipping that is not present in any other genre. I challenge my opponent to prove, if he wishes to advocate against "shipping," that these types of stories have some demeaning characteristic or that they are inherently harmful in some way or another. If my opponent provides a problem that is present in other genres, or is not inherently harmful, then that argument is outside the bounds of his case, as it does not specifically address shipping. My second argument is that shipping provides a means for the fandom to express their appreciation for MLP in the written medium, and that shipping stories are a means for learning to write prose, and in doing so, provide a "bridge," if you will, to other styles of writing. "Shipping" or romance stories are a prevalent part of popular culture--it should be obvious that many works, from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet to the so-called "penny dreadfuls" of Victorian England to the romance novels of today, use romantic subplots to drive their stories. This illustrates another interesting point--shipping is not exclusive to MLP. While it is outside the bounds of this debate to focus on the relative benefits of romance outside of MLP, it is important to note that many factors influence writing, from historical precedent to popular culture. Now, to make a preliminary refutation of my opponent's case. Let me reiterate: Shipping is not inherently problematic, no more so than other genres. I challenge my opponent to prove otherwise. Furthermore, there is no inherent flaw in repetition--if an idea works, it's more likely to get repeated. My opponent's point on this matter, therefore, can be attributed to my side as a reason why shipping is good--authors emulate good ideas. Finally, to address the second part of my opponent's case. Being "nonsensical" is not necessarily problematic, also. A careful reader might note that IncoherentOrange mentioned "Random" as a story category. The definition of a "random" story is "[a] stor[y] that [is] rather incoherent [1]. " Incoherent in this context is very similar to "nonsensical. " Does my opponent mean to suggest that, if he successfully proves tha shipping stories are "nonsensical," there is an inherent flaw in that? Citation: [1]: www. fimfiction. net/faq I await my opponent's response.
"Shipping" in My Little Pony fanfictions is ...

I am here to argue for the concept that these types of stories are often repetitive, and often nonsensical in their logic. 'Shipping', a term derived from the term 'relationship', often used within fandom circles to describe romantic interactions between certain characters that do not have a romantic relationship in the source material, or to romantic interactions between characters in general, such as 'original characters' (those created by fandom members) forming romantic bonds with other characters. ('Friendshipping' is the non-romantic variety, having characters become friends rather than being involved in a romantic relationship, when, again, this relationship is not present within the source material.) This is how I define 'shipping'. In this particular instance, the subject is the My Little Pony fandom, specifically, the Friendship is Magic (or 'G4') portion of it. Something I take note of is the amount of shipping fanfiction stories within it, and using the browse feature (utilizing a 'romance' genre filter) of a website devoted to MLP:FiM fanfiction, 'fimfiction.net', I have determined the number of stories on the site containing this particular tag to be 9079. (This is with the mature filter of the site disabled, http://www.fimfiction.net...) The most recent story to be posted publically on the website, at the time of this writing, is numbered 67755. However, this number also counts deletions and stories not yet visible on the site, which do not show up using the 'browse' function, making the actual number likely higher, as more stories come out every day. Through simple math, it is easily found that the specific portion is 13.4% of all stories on the site, assuming the number I've named as total is correct; specific statistics are not readily available on the total number of stories on the site, as far as I've researched. As for statistics on the particular proportions, this number is fairly high, and is not quite evenly-proportioned to the number of stories in other actual 'genres', as defined by the site (I leave out 'human', which merely indicates the presence of humans in the story, not a genre), of which there are ten, which are as follows: 'romance', 'tragedy', 'adventure', 'alternate universe', 'sad', 'slice of life', 'dark', 'comedy', 'random', and 'crossover'. However, any number of these tags can be used in defining a story's genres, and a story can potentially contain all of them. Shipfics are common, and more so than those of any other particular genre except for 'adventure', which is held as a tag by 11321 stories, or 16.7%. 'Comedy' comes in third, at 8678, 'dark' landing fourth, with 8278. I'll state again, the genres do stack, and are not mutually-exclusive whatsoever (though the mixing of 'comedy' and 'random' isn't proper, as the latter is a form of the other as defined by site rules). So ends my initial statement.
"Shipping" in My Little Pony fanfictions is ...

Simply stated, I wanted to initiate a debate between myself and IncoherentOrange of FIMFiction DOT NET. Please, no-one else accept this. Whatever. If you do decide to, then I'll debate to the best of my ability, and start a new one in lieu of Inco's arrival. First round is for acceptance primarily, as well as minor discussions about the boundaries and terms of this debate, but if Pro wishes to write an argument or two down, I'm not going to stop them. I'll let my opponent make an initial observation as to the definition of "shipping" but I reserve the right to challenge said definition in the second round. Otherwise, good luck, have fun, and Love and Tolerate!
The USFG should ban hydraulic fracturing

Sorry for the hold up! This is the first argument I am writing from UIC, my new home away from home! I accept the terms, and I will hold the position that fracking should not be banned. I don't really like that my opponent will be arguing for an annual renewal; it seems that it is just a way to weasel out of the cons of a ban, but I won't ask that it be removed because I think I can beat it anyway. I look forward to a great debate and wish my opponent good luck. I look forward to his arguments.
The USFG should ban hydraulic fracturing

Full resolution: The United States federal government should institute a ban on hydraulic fracturing. I've been wanting to have this debate for quite a while, and I figure it's a pretty worthy subject considering it's a large part of our current environmental policy. I'll give some brief definitions. Ban: "to forbid people from using (something) : to say that something cannot be used or done. " . http://www.merriam-webster.com... Hydraulic fracturing (fracking): "Hydraulic fracturing is the fracturing of rock by a pressurized liquid. Some hydraulic fractures form naturally"certain veins or dikes are examples. Induced hydraulic fracturing or hydrofracturing is a technique in which typically water is mixed with sand and chemicals, and the mixture is injected at high pressure into a wellbore to create small fractures (typically less than 1mm), along which fluids such as gas, petroleum, uranium-bearing solution, and brine water may migrate to the well. Hydraulic pressure is removed from the well, then small grains of proppant (sand or aluminium oxide) hold these fractures open once the rock achieves equilibrium. The technique is very common in wells for shale gas, tight gas, tight oil, and coal seam gas and hard rock wells. This well stimulation is usually conducted once in the life of the well and greatly enhances fluid removal and well productivity, but there has been an increasing trend towards multiple hydraulic fracturing as production declines. " . http://en.wikipedia.org... For the sake of absolute clarity, I will say that this policy would allow any current fracking operations to finish before coming into full effect. No new sites can be drilled after the policy comes into effect. The ban will be reviewed on a yearly basis to evaluate whether it is still warranted. If anything remains unclear, I request that my opponent either seek to clarify it themselves in R1, or ask for clarification. The burden of proof is mainly on me. I must prove that there is sufficient harm to warrant such a ban. I realize that the harm must therefore be substantial, and I intend to prove that those harms exist. If I don't fulfill that burden, the debate should automatically go to Con. I've set the conditions as follows: - "Select Winner" voting with a minimum Elo of 2500 to vote - 10,000 characters - 4 rounds - 72 hours per side per round Note that only those with 5 or more debates under their belts can accept. If you have fewer debates than that and are interested, just post in the comments and I may challenge you directly. The structure of this debate will be as follows: R1: Acceptance only R2: Opening arguments R3: Rebuttals, new argumentation R5: Rebuttals and conclusion And with that, I await my opponent's acceptance.
Known alleged rape victims should not immediately be believed

Thanks for the clarification of "immediate" belief, as I think this is an important point that helps my case greatly. I don't think it was that stacked, so I'm going to go ahead and save my sources as well, if only to make sure that I still have an argument in Round 3. AS such,this round will only be examining the logic of the question.In the scenario presented by Pro above, featuring Persons A, B, and C, it is certainly obvious that there are a number of cases in which a rape may not have occurred as Person B described it, and the most likely scenario if Person B is was not raped by Person A, then they lied, more than likely to hurt the reputation of Person A. These facts are relatively indisputable.However, when Person C hears the testimony of Person B regarding the rape, they do need to immediately believe it in order to have cause to investigate further. If Person C immediately disbelieves the testimony of Person B, what cause would they have to look further at the facts of the incident? The belief proposition of guilt is what prompts the investigation, and thus it is necessary to give validity to the claims of the "victim."Believing a victim does not necessarily go against "innocent until proven guilty," as believing a victim's claims does not necessarily equate to believing that someone is guilty; it just means that you think the victim's account is credible and thus you want to investigate just to be sure. Of course, since people are quick to jump to conclusions, particularly in emotional incidences like rape accusations, their relationship with the accused will most likely affected; however, a relationship can be repaired after false accusations easier than a mental state can be repaired after an actual rape if the victim is not helped.Therefore, while the repercussions of guilt should not immediately be levied on the accused person, the claims of the victim should be given validity until they can be disproved.
Known alleged rape victims should not immediately be believed

I wanted to clarify that "believed" will be defined as accepted as true.Furthermore, I chose this debate so I could play devil's advocate, so we'll see how this goes, as it is somewhat difficult to defend a stance with which I do not ersoanlly agree. Since I'm reasonalby new, please call me out on any fallacies or other errors I may make that would help me improve in the future.Great topic, I look forward to the debate.
Known alleged rape victims should not immediately be believed

Rules of debate:1) If con chooses to use round 1 for debate, they should waive round 4 to keep the number of rounds used for debate even between us. 2) No ad hominem, personal attacks, or insults3) No new arguments or evidence presented in the last round4) If you accept this debate, you're agreeing to the below definitions, these rules, and cannot object to them later. If any of the above rules are violated by either side, voters should choose the one who did not violate any of these rules, or who violated them to a lesser extent than the other, for the point in conduct. Definitions:Definitions should be agreed upon in the first round. If con has objections to any of these definitions, say so in the comments before you accept the debate. You may present your alternate definitions as well and I may or may not agree to them. If I agree to them, I will replace the below definitions with them. Alleged: "Said, without proof, to have taken place or to have a specified illegal or undesirable quality"[1]Rape: "The crime, typically committed by a man, of forcing another person to have sexual intercourse with the offender against their will:"[1]Victim: "A person harmed, injured, or killed as a result of a crime, accident, or other event or action"[1]Thus an alleged rape victim is one who claims to have been forced into having sexual intercourse, without any evidence presented(yet). Known: for the purposes of this debate, "known" will basically mean a friend or relative. Source:[1] . https://www.oxforddictionaries.com...;