. Ben Garvey for the Emerald
Debate team members Alan Tauber and Heidi Ford, both political science majors, won the National Tournament of Excellence award.
Debaters emerge victorious
■ A University Forensics
team won a national debate
tourney at Whitman College
By Lisa Toth
Oregon Daily Emerald
The clock was ticking and Uni
versity students Alan Tauber and
Heidi Ford only had 25 minutes
to prepare for a critical debate
that would last about 40 minutes.
Before the showdown began, the
team and other members of the
University’s Forensics Program
buried themselves in files and ad
vocacy pieces they would use to
strengthen their argument.
Once the stopwatch ran out 40
minutes later, Tauber, a senior po
litical science major, and Ford, a
junior political science major,
emerged as the nation’s top parlia
mentary debate team. Tauber and
Ford took home the national
championship at the first National
Parliamentary Tournament of Ex
cellence, April 27 to 29, which
was hosted by Whitman College in
Walla Walla, Wash.
The duo defeated some of the
best debate teams in the nation, in
cluding their competitor in the fi
nal round, the team from the U.S.
Air Force Academy. Tauber and
Ford had to make it through six
preliminary rounds and five elim
ination rounds.
During their final elimination
round, Tauber and Ford argued
against jury nullification, which
means the jury has the authority
to repeal laws it sees as
unjust.Going into the competi
tion, Tauber said he and Ford had
high expectations. They were
ranked sixth in the nation when
they entered the tournament, but
they had been ranked in the top
10 all year. Only the top 48 teams
in the country were invited to at
tend the tournament.
The University Forensics Pro
gram, which is 125 years old, be
longs to the National Parliamen
tary Debate Association, and this
school year it has participated in
intercollegiate parliamentary de
bates nationwide.
Professor David Frank, director
of the Honors College, said he’s
proud of the winning team be
cause they represent a “long tradi
tion of intercollegiate debating ex
cellence” at the University.
Frank said Michael Nguyen, a
sophomore computer science ma
jor, and Damon Martichuski, a
sophomore international studies
major who also qualified for the
tournament, finished the year in
32nd place. Frank, who also
serves as the director of forensics
education, said the team’s “well
honed” debating skills, natural
talent, experience and hard work
make them “clearly the best team
in the country.”
Ford said she and Tauber have
a great partnership, and she could
not have won the tournament
without him.
“It was the last tournament that
Alan and I had to debate together,”
Ford said. “We’ve had more sue
cesses together than with any oth
er partners. It was a wonderful
way to go out of our debating sea
son.”
Director of Intercollegiate
Forensics Rick Peacor, along with
assistant coaches Nick Lougee
and Pete Mohn, are all former de
baters. Ford said they were an in
tegral part of the team’s success
not only because they were a
“great cheering section,” but be
cause they brought their experi
ence as debaters and judges to the
winning team.
Ford said her future goals at the
University include working in
forensics as a coach on a collegiate
level and attending law school.
Tauber, who has been debating
for eight years — including four at
the University — serves as a clerk
at the Lane County Courthouse. He
said his experience helped the
team become more familiar with
the legal system, which strength
ened their debating tactics. After
graduation, Tauber is headed for
law school.
Ford, who has been on the Uni
versity’s debate team for three
years, added that debating helps
participants feel more comfortable
speaking in public and improves
research skills in topics ranging
from U.S. foreign policy to cam
paign finance reform.
“You feel informed about what
you are going to debate. I think
that’s a really useful skill no mat
ter what you do,” Ford said. “It
keeps your nose in the papers.”
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