Practice leads to excellence, debate team learns

More than words
Practice leads to excellence, debate team learns

BY JESSICA STARK
Rice News Staff

The team members drink a lot of water to stay hydrated, take vitamins and practice warm-ups to stay limber. But all this preparation isn’t for the gridiron. This is forensics, better known as debate, and the physical conditioning pales in comparison to the mental preparation for members of the George R. Brown Forensic Society, Rice University’s speech and debate team.

“Like any other collegiate sport, we practice, strategize and play to win,” said Jeremy Grace, assistant director of the forensic society. “Forensics is not only an academic sport, it’s an endurance sport that combines multiple aspects of the humanities, social sciences and technical sciences into a performative act.”

As defined by Merriam Webster, forensics is an argumentative exercise or the art or study of argumentative discourse. The term is also used to describe the scientific analysis of physical evidence, which explains why most people think of the CBS show “CSI” when they hear the word “forensic.”

The forensic team was founded in 1984 and has grown to 20 members. They compete in individual events of public address, interpretation of literature and limited preparation, and group parliamentary debate events. All events require a broad knowledge base and articulate expression.

“The society has definitely taught me how to be extremely efficient with school and how to balance my schedule and my life as a whole,” said Holly Naylor, a Hanszen senior. “I have grown in my ability to keep up on current events and think on my feet. The team has also impacted me socially because we have all become pretty close.”

To develop a solid foundation for debate, students work as a team to research and gather information about social issues and current events. The team keeps files on the different subjects and practices multiple times a week.

“What I enjoy most about forensics is that it rewards a liberal arts education,” said Hrishi Hari, a Jones College senior. “Forensics provides a forum to use what we learn through our coursework and apply our knowledge to current public policy issues.”

As a by-product of forensics, Hari, a political science major, discovered that he needed to learn more about economics to succeed, though it was a topic he’d avoided.

“I started taking economics classes, and before I knew it I had found a multifaceted academic area that I was deeply interested in,” said Hari. “This past summer I worked for an economic development consulting firm in D.C.”

An award-winning team

The team competes in tournaments from September to March for a chance to qualify for the national tournament in April.

“We use a sport mentality when we set season-long goals,” said David Worth, director of the society. “We are highly competitive and continue to try to do better than the year before.”

In 2007, the Rice team took first place overall in all but one of their nine regular season meets and placed seventh at the National Parliamentary Debate Association tournament. In the American Forensics Association National Individual Events Tournament (AFA-NIET), the team finished 19th out of 120.

“The best part of being on the team is learning from such talented people,” said Aparna Bhaduri, a Jones College sophomore. “Looking at everyone else on the team, you know you are never done growing because there is always an upperclassman whose level you want to reach.”

A national champion

PRISCILLA PARRETT

One person Bhaduri looked up to was teammate Priscilla Parrett ’07, the 2007 national champion in persuasive speaking.

“Winning a national championship was one of the greatest moments of my life that I will never forget,” Parrett said. “Standing on the stage in front of all my peers, representing my team and coaches, I realized that all this hard work had paid off and that I had been able to reach people.”

Parrett persuaded her audience that replacing one standard lightbulb with a compact fluorescent lightbulb was a significant step to addressing global warming. She backed her claims by presenting research from the Christian Science Monitor, the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered” and many other media outlets.

The reports she featured led her to this conclusion: “The problem with traditional incandescent lightbulbs is simple: They are the Hummer of the lightbulb world and they are major gas guzzlers.”

To win, Parrett needed more than just good facts and a noble cause. Forensic competitions are subjective, so speakers have to be convincing and deliver their points with confidence and enthusiasm.

“That tends to be the most difficult lesson students learn. Just because they are right, doesn’t necessarily mean they are going to win,” Grace said. ”They have to use all available means of persuasion, in their words, voice and gestures. A forensic match encompasses all elements of communication — verbal and nonverbal. And developing those skills are beneficial to people in virtually every career.”

Preparation for the future

Recent graduates of the debate team have been accepted to Harvard Law School and the University of Texas School of Law. Others have attended Baylor College of Medicine or worked in the private sector for organizations such as Reliant Energy, Microsoft and American Express.

“Forensics is one of the finest ways to improve your communication, research and interpersonal skills,” Worth said. “Those skills last a lifetime and are important in all aspects of life. By taking part in speech and debate teams, students can learn how to express themselves and their ideas.”

Worth said there are two lessons each team member must learn: the real contest is with yourself and excellence is the result of practice.