Fast-talking
high-schoolers gather in WW
Jul 30 2002 12:00AM
By Keith Chuof the Union-Bulletin
From left to right, David DeBay and Charlie Robbins prepare
rebuttals to Sarah O’Neal as she gives her speech in a practice debate at
Whitman National Debate Institute Friday.
Students from all over are
spending a portion of their summer vacation in great debates at Whitman
College.
Why would nearly 60 high
school students spend 10 hours a day for two or three weeks of summer vacation
indoors studying government health care policy, the work of French postmodern
philosopher Michel Foucault or other subjects unlikely to appear on MTV?
At the 3-year-old Whitman
College National Debate Institute, high school debaters from all over are
reading, writing and drilling in a nearly military manner. The debaters conduct
research, learn how to structure arguments and speak in front of other people
with the hope it will help them succeed in the season to come.
``Winning is important, I
want to get better so I can win,'' said Katrina Chappell from Corvallis.
While an outsider may think
of debate as a high school version of ``Crossfire,'' or something like the
presidential debates, in practice it is closer to ``Fear Factor.''
A practice debate last week
was representative of the oddities and attractions of competitive debate. Two
teams of two debaters faced off on whether the U.S. government should spend
more money on mental health care, the topic for policy or ``Cross-Examination''
debates this year.
While one team argued that
putting mentally ill homeless in long-term care would reduce the number of
mentally ill who are abused in prison, the other team argued that mental
illness doesn't actually exist, and that spending money would send the U.S.
economy spiraling into recession, which would spread recession worldwide,
leading to a global nuclear war. The debate highlighted the often nonsensical
nature of debate arguments, where, by stringing together logical ideas,
debaters end up with ridiculous conclusions.
With speeches constrained
by tight time limits and punctuated by violent hand gestures, Whitman Director
of Forensics Jim Hanson, who runs the institute, said unrealistic arguments
gained prominence gradually since the 1960s, when the creation of the
photocopier gave debaters the ability to take research into debates with them.
Speed talking, another
development of the 1960s, adds to the uniqueness of debate. With too much to
say and not enough time do it, competitors make up the difference by talking
fast. Experienced debaters speak at speeds near that of a cattle auctioneer.
Eventually policy debate
developed to the point where ``you had people rapidly reading deconstructionist
poetry in their debates,'' Hanson said.
Although the substance of
debates can appear bizarre, for debate veterans, the activity is less about
charting a realistic course for government policy than winning a battle of
wits.
``They know (some of the
arguments) are stupid, but they also know they're persuasive,'' Hanson said.
High school debate is even
ruled by a governing body, the National Forensics League, that is equal parts
sports and academics.
Debaters expressed varied
reasons for attending the camp.
``It looks really good for
your future if you're focused and you do well,'' said Sarah O'Neal, a debater
from Port Angeles.
``It's fun; I like the
competition,'' said Charlie Robbins 17, a debater from Port Angeles. ``I think
its fun when you compete mentally against other people.''
Other debaters said they
enjoyed the camp for more social reasons.
``I like to talk fast and I
like the people in debate,'' said Jessica Graver, 16, from Mountain Home,
Idaho. ``If you think about it, debate guys are smart and they're cute.''
Another crucial aspect of
the camp is to provide debaters with boxes of research broken into bite-size
pieces known as ``cards,'' on the major topics for the upcoming season.
To give the debaters the
immense amount of evidence they need, the institute will use about 30 boxes, or
150,000 sheets, of paper, Hanson said.
Depending on when campers
registered and if they stay for two or three weeks, the institute costs between
$950 and $1450, Hanson said. The institute began July 21 and ends August 7.