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E-mail StoryDebate: Not just for argument’s sake
Local teens put debate skills to test in tournament
| Saturday, Jan 12 2008 10:33 PM
Last Updated: Sunday, Jan 13 2008 9:18 PM
Instead of hanging out at the mall or playing video games, about 100 teens spent their Saturday tackling questions such as whether intelligent design should be taught in schools.
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Forensics tournament at South High kept local high school students busy Saturday including Bakersfield High School freshman Tasha, left center, and her partner, Mary Karcher, right.
The students matched wits at South High, the host of this year’s preliminary debates for the Kern Region Forensics League, a current events-oriented debate competition.
In parliamentary debates, or “parli,” as insiders call them, teams have 20 minutes to prepare their arguments. In the public forum debate, teams also tackle controversial topics. It’s designed to be “a little more peppy,” said Mark Olsen, a forensics coach and English teacher at South.
The teams were whittled to 12 in the parliamentary and public forum divisions Saturday, and the advancing teams will compete against schools from Fresno in early March.
Winners from that round of competition will go to the state level in mid-April in Santa Clara.
What makes a good debater? Someone who listens, said Andy White, a senior at Bakersfield Christian High.
Research and practice help, too. Teams typically practice about five hours per week, Olsen said. Angel Ford of South consults a dictionary, quote book and her U.S. history textbook because it has a copy of the Constitution.
Partners Kseniya Astakhova and Deepa Kannappan of Stockdale High hashed out pro and con arguments for their debate Friday night. Although they felt confident about their performance, they said it’s hard to tell how well they did during the debate.
“With each judge, you can never be sure whether you have the upper hand or not. You just have to finish with a bang,” Kannappan said.
Some of the judges have “Mona Lisa smiles,” Astakhova said.
Astakhova and Kannappan have been partners for two years. Astakhova, 17, will study economics at Cornell University.
“After that, it looks like I’m headed to law school,” she said.
Debate attracts some of the county’s best students, and it’s great preparation for the kinds of critical thinking students need to do in college, Olsen said.
And it’s an especially impressive pursuit considering most people’s fear of public speaking, he said.
“These kids can do that better than 98 percent of the population. It’s an inspiration to watch,” Olsen said.
Debaters headed to valley championship
Here are the 24 debaters who will represent the Bakersfield area in the valley championships March 7-8 at East High.
Parliamentary debate winners:
1st: Joshua Novins and Courtney Shipp, Centennial High
2nd: Angel Ford and Adrian Mercado, South High
3rd: Megan Dunphy and Peter O’Meara, Bakersfield High
4th: Andrew Green and Forrest Bashaw, Bakersfield High
5th: Richard Van Horne and Mark Van Kopp, Bakersfield High
6th: Tiffany Gill and Vinny Oddo, Bakersfield Christian
7th: Marissa Gonzales and Gwyn Sims, Bakersfield High
8th: Sagar Patel and Byron Mui, Stockdale High
9th: Andy White and Mark Heisler, Bakersfield Christian
10th: Hilary Glossbrenner and Clint Meek, Bakersfield High
11th: Bekah Smith and Ana Deleon, Bakersfield High
12th: Iraina Chaney and James Cutler, South High
Public forum winners
1st: Kseniya Astakhova and Deepa Kannappan, Stockdale High
2nd: Tyler Scott and Lauren Barrera, Liberty High
3rd: Olivia Garrison and Paola Lefler, Frontier High
4th: Parker Schill and Cameron Moody, Liberty High
5th: Anders Eagleson and Alexis Eagleson, Bakersfield High
6th: Brian Murphy and Justin Catapang, Centennial High
7th: Vid Reddy and Sona Shah, Stockdale High
8th: Charmaine Cleveland and Brian Gil, Liberty High
9th: Jordan Goh and Christian Cuna, Bakersfield High
10th: Andrya Salazar and Kasey Graves, East High
11th: Jonathan Armstrong and Robbie Keene, North High
12th: Angelica Ramos and Susi Cardoza, East High
Source: Mark Olsen, East High School
Become a judge
Debate competitions go a whole lot faster when there are more judges to help. If you’d like to volunteer as a judge for an upcoming competition, call David Ziegler at Liberty High, 587-0925, or e-mail: david_ziegler@khsd.k12.ca.us.