Speech and debate team places fourth

Two weeks ago, the Penn Speech and Debate Team argued their way to a fourth place finish at the Pennsylvania state championships. Eight teams -- among them top-ranked St. Joseph's University and West Chester University -- competed in the event, which was held at West Chester University in West Chester, Pa. The championships consisted of a number of events which required the Penn speakers to tap their creative talents in order to form coherent and convincing arguments and explanations for statements they were given. Specific tasks given to members ranged from having to formulate plausible and creative rhetoric within seven minutes, in what is known as the impromptu event, to participating in one-on-one debates against individuals from other teams, called the Lincoln-Douglas debates. As they headed into this year's competition, the Quakers -- who ranked 13th in the nation and won the state championships last year -- lacked the experience of a veteran squad, as they had only two seniors returning to compete. Nevertheless, several members said they were impressed with the event's outcome. "We are a bigger team [in terms of talent] with younger members, [but] many of the novices are really coming along well this year," said team member Jason Auerbach, a Wharton junior. Auerbach earned first place honors in the impromptu event for the second year in a row. In addition to lacking veteran members, team president and College Senior Annie Fu noted that the team hadthe disadvantage of being one of the only top-ranked teams in the nation with no permanent coach. "The team is completely student-run, a board of five people are elected by members of the team [to attend to administrative needs] each year," she said. Overall, the Quakers performed best in the impromptu and Lincoln-Douglas debates, coming in first place in both events. Fu said the team's analytic and creative talents accounted for Quakers' domination of these events. "[The impromptu events are] more instinctive and the broader knowledge base you have, the better arguments you make," she noted. The team's performance at the championships was good enough to qualify members of the team for both the American Forensic Association and the National Forensic Association, both of which are national championship competitions. Auerbach will compete in four different events in the four-day AFA competition, which will take place in March at Northern Arizona University. So far, 10 members of the team have qualified to attend the NFA national championships, which will take place this April in Illinois. To qualify for the NFAs, Quaker speakers had to reach the finals at least once during the course of the year's previous competitions. As they head into the NFAs, members of the team said they were both optimistic and realistic. "We are looking forward to the nationals this year as a learning experience," College freshman Virginia Donovan said. "We're hopeful and looking at winning as a goal, but it is not an expectation."