Debate team tops all competitions

By Philip Guidry
Staff Writer

The USC Debate Team has argued its way to the top after more than a century of competitions. The team is now ranked No. 1 in the nation by the American Forensics Association.
In March, the Los Angeles Times ran a front-page feature in its Metro section profiling coach David Damus and his four top debaters. Juniors Marc Aquino and Greg Bevan and sophomores Andy Weitz and Armands Revelins are candidates for the individual national championship as they enter the fall 1996 debate season. For a team that was created in 1880, the year of the university's inception, the extra preparation has paid great dividends.
"We're way into it," Aquino said. "When you're competing at this level, you eat it, sleep it, drink it and basically live it."
In its first competition of the season, Revelins placed first and Bevans came in second. The team defeated Weber State University in the final round. Freshman Lindsay Harrison placed fifth and USC won three of the five top speaker awards at the event, held at the University of Utah.
Damus described the benefits of competing on his squad.
"This teaches them how to research, to write and (to) improve oral communication skills," he said.
The team members generally work an average of 20 hours each week honing their skills for future competition. Past topics have included homelessness, health care, environment and criminal procedure. Intense research for competition has another effect on the debaters.
"After working for competition we become like walking libraries," Heitz said.
When discussing the team's main competitors in the debate arena, the responses are varied.
"I'd say Redlands, Dartmouth, Michigan and Harvard are our primary competition," said Weitz, who is majoring in political science.
Revelins, who is majoring in philosophy, added his own assessment of the schools that could pose a threat to USC's top-ranked status.
"Yes, Harvard is definitely competitive," he said. "But Northwestern, Michigan, Wake Forest and Kansas also have good teams."
In its feature, the Times described the team's work ethic.
"The bright, fast-talking students do not need a formal forum to argue with one another," the article stated. "A supply of caffeine and sugar fueled them through hours of discussion about how to prove that the arguments they present are relevant to the year's topic."
Most of the members are pre-law students. But Damus was quick to point out that the students also come from a wide variety of disciplines.
"The top four are law students," Damus said. "But we also have students majoring in medicine, politics, engineering and entertainment."
Prospective team members are scouted in high school debate tournaments around the nation. Damus and assistant coach Rob Tucker then recruit the students, just as collegiate sports coaches do.
The team agreed that preparation for competition carries greater bonuses than the top ranking.
"They can think on their feet and problem-solve," Damus said.
"After debating in high school and then doing it here at USC, that adds up to seven or eight years of debating," Aquino said. "That definitely has an effect on study habits."
Weitz summed up what it means to be a part of a national championship contender.
"The art of what we do is in the hard work we do to prepare," he said.