Palo Alto Senior High School debate team begins successful year

posted October 21, 2009

by Maya Lloyd of Campanile

The Palo Alto debate team at a recent practice.

The Lincoln-Douglas debate team at Palo Alto High school recently broke one of their own records at a tournament in September by having all four competing varsity team members "break," or advance to the semi-finals.

"It was the first time we'd ever had 100 percent of the Paly people competing advance on," senior debate member Jujhaar Singh said. "All four people sent [to the tournament] broke, which was great."

Singh, along with sophomores Anjali Ahuja, Alex Carter and Uma Veerappan, all made it to the elimination round at the debate team's most recent tournament. While it was not Singh or Carter's first time breaking, it was for Ahuja and Veerappan (though Veerappan had won past tournaments where they did not have elimination rounds), making the event even more memorable.

"We are definitely very excited," senior debate team member Avi Arfin said. "This tournament is a sign of what's to come this season."

The competition took place at Saint Francis High School on Sept. 25 through 27 and included around 20 schools from all over California.

In a Lincoln-Douglas tournament, participants must first argue a randomly assigned side of a predetermined topic through about six preliminary rounds. The best of these debaters advance on to elimination rounds.

"In order to break at this tournament your record had to be four wins to two loses or better during preliminaries," Singh said. "For the first three rounds the pairings were random, but after that you were placed with someone who had the same record as you."

The topic for this particular tournament and for others until late October (although some will continue using it through December) addressed the necessity of requiring public high school students to pass an exit exam in order to graduate. Teams were given the topic in mid-August, allowing them time to research and form their cases.

"They give you a lot of time to prepare so you come in already knowing the arguments for both sides very well," Singh said. "We actually just got the topic for the November/December competitions: Public health concerns justify compulsory immunization."

Competing in such intense tournament environments can often be nerve-racking.

"Because you normally compete in a room with only two other people, your opponent and the judge, audience is never a source of anxiety," Veerappan said. "I get scared that I may forget or mess up my arguments."

Different team members employ different strategies; Ahuja, for example, likes to keep it personal.

"I actually don't let people watch me debate," Ahuja said. "It's just one of those things I like to keep between me, the opponent and the judge."

However, the debaters also take pleasure in the activity they devote so many hours to.

"You don't want to screw up but it's fun when you're in control of your argument and know what you're talking about," Singh said. "It's a little bit like intellectual sparring."

According to Arfin, the Lincoln-Douglas team recently acquired many talented new members with the addition of around 20 freshmen.

"We have a ton of new freshmen who will take the team far," Arfin said. "We can really make some noise at nationals and local varsity tournaments."

One such example of success is seen in senior Nikhil Bhargava's recent bid (one of eight at the tournament) at a Tournament of Champions qualifying tournament at Yale University. He finished as the twentieth speaker out of 160.

In order to qualify to the Tournament of Champions this year, he must attain two more bids.

"The nice thing about debate is that there is still a large, active debate community in college," Bhargava said. "In addition to continuing to compete, debate offers many valuable skills, such as critical thinking and comfort with public speaking, that are instrumental to any good education."

The Paly debate team has a great deal to look forward to and work towards, especially with so many new, young members.

"We definitely have a lot of passionate debaters who are working very hard to bring back medals for our team," Veerappan said. "There is no doubt that many of the new debaters have great potential."

Behind the various Paly debate teams is an incredibly capable and experienced coaching staff.

Head coach Jennie Savage attributes much of the success of the Lincoln-Douglas team to the head Lincoln-Douglas coach, Nadia Arid, who has, contrary to traditional strategy, chosen to coach the new members. Typically, only the older members of debate teams are coached.

"Usually, debaters only have access to the head coach when they have earned varsity status," Savage said. "It's a huge plus to our debaters to have Nadia working with them from the beginning."

Savage sees a continuation of the Paly debate legacy in the future, though it will be hard to beat Paly's current California state champion status.

"Our team is the strongest it's ever been," Savage said. "The fact that they are already so successful as debaters is an indication that we've got a hugely bright future ahead of us for at least the next 3 years."

Carter shares their enthusiastic sentiments about the future.

"We have a lot of new blood that signed up at club day which is great," Carter said. "And our varsity team, especially since the Saint Francis tournament, has really been tearing it up."

The team hopes to continue its success in the future.