JESSICA MERTURI
Staff Writer
Last weekend Pepperdine’s Speech and Debate team hosted its annual high school invitational tournament, hailing students from as far as Washington, D.C, and raising necessary funds for travel expenses this semester. The debates did not only give students a chance to perfect their debate skills, but the tournament gave Pepperdine a way to give back to the national debate community.
“Students need an opportunity to practice their communication skills,” Kylie Robertson, assistant director of the Pepperdine debate team, said. She added that not only will the debates challenge students’ public speaking anxieties, but the practice will improve their critical thinking skills and their ability to think on their feet.
The high school students participated in three types of debate styles: policy, Lincoln-Douglas and parliament. Policy is fact-based and allows two two-person teams to argue a resolution that stays the same throughout the year. This form of debate gives students plenty of time to prepare but is argued as fast as the students can speak. Lincoln-Douglas is valued-based, the topic changes every few months, and allows only one-person teams. This contrasts greatly from parliamentary style, in which students are given a new topic and have only 15 minutes to come up with arguments.
The debates were held in the Appleby Center, the Keck Science Center and the Cultural Arts Center, according to Robertson.
Chris Duran, a student from Notre Dame High School, beamed that he and his partner were 4-0 by Saturday afternoon. Duran said he loves debating because it is such a unique experience. “It’s a whole new form of having your opinion expressed,” he said. Duran also said his experiences at Pepperdine were one of a kind. “The beach lays out a friendly environment,” he said.
The debate also gave students from the Kamit Institute for Magnificent Achievers, a public charter school in Washington, D.C., a chance to experience a place very different from home.
Auraum Johnson, a junior at KIMA, said life in his community in the nation’s capital is rough. “[People] are used to fighting for what they have to get,” Johnson said of his community. “You have to hold your own.”
Johnson said that going to KIMA has made him change the way he sees things.
However, he does not hold back from bringing the style and culture of his community into his debate strategy. Students from KIMA, like Johnson, incorporate narratives, songs and even freestyle rapping into their debate.
“Some people aren’t as open to it as others,” Johnson said of their styles, which are new to the high school level of debating.
Carina Yaghsezian, a freshman member of the Pepperdine debate team, said people who aren’t used to the new style can get frustrated. “You don’t join the soccer team to play football,” Yaghsezian. However, she said she also thinks that by trying new styles, more doors can be opened in the debate community.
Yaghsezian also served as a judge throughout the weekend. Judges consisted of parents, high school teachers, the Pepperdine Speech and Debate team and debaters from other neighboring colleges.
Yaghsezian said the experience was great for Pepperdine’s own debate team because it gave them a chance to see new recruits, learn new arguments and other improvements for the team.
Like Robertson, Yaghsezian also hopes that high school students themselves are gaining knowledge from the opportunity to debate at Pepperdine.
01-25-2007
