Southern University New Orleans November 20, 2015 SUNO Minimum Wage Debate Changes Minds As the debate over increasing the minimum wage rages in halls of the U. S. Congress and in the Presidential Debates, the College of Business & Public Administration sponsored a debate on the issue. Student teams debated pro and con positions on the proposition: The U. S. Congress Should Increase the Minimum Wage. Before the debate started, the audience used smart phones to answer yes or no to the question, "Should the minimum wage be increased?" Seventy-nine percent said "yes" while 21 percent voted "no." After the debate, the audience was asked to vote again. Post-debate 63 percent voted "yes" while 37 percent voted "no." Clearly the "con" team persuaded some people to change their minds. Interestingly the three-person panel judging the debate gave the grand prize to the team arguing for the increase. The debates took place Tuesday, Nov. 3 and Wednesday, Nov. 4 during the annual College of Business Week Celebration (November 2-5, 2015). The 14 debate participants had been coached and trained over a period of six weeks. The winning team members, Harmony Baston (Public Administration) and Mochelle Damond (Social Work), received $1,000 each. The losing team and other debate participants received financial awards of lesser amounts. The director of the project was Dr. Frank Martin, who wrote the proposal for the debate funded by the Charles Koch Foundation for $10,100. Though implemented by the College of Business & Public Administration, students from all over the university were eligible to participate. One member of the winning team is a Social Work major. More than 300 students, faculty, staff, and members of the community attended the seven debate contests. The debate coaches and trainers were two SUNO Communication professors: Dr. Sarah Jackson and Dr. Douglas Marshall. The debate judges and facilitators were Dr. Adnan Omar, Mrs. Timotea Bailey, Dr. Patricia Robertson, Dr. Adrine Harrell-Carter, Mrs. Toni Hackett-Antrum (outside judge), Mr. John Washington (outside judge), Dr. Igwe E. Udeh, Mrs. Shelina Gethers, and Mrs. Camille Alexander. On Tuesday, Nov. 3, preliminary debates on minimum wage related issues eliminated all but two teams, one pro and one con, which debated the main proposition: The U. S. Congress Should Increase the Minimum Wage. SANDRA M. PHOENIX Executive Director HBCU Library Alliance sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org/> 800-999-8558, ext. 4820 404-702-5854 Skype: sandra.phoenix1 Like us on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/hbculibraryalliance/ 1438 West Peachtree NW Suite 200 Atlanta,GA 30309 Toll Free: 1.800.999.8558 (LYRASIS) Fax: 404.892.7879 www.lyrasis.org<http://www.lyrasis.org/> Honor the ancestors, honor the children.