Debator sets record

Stacy Dawson is setting a new school record at Weber State University, but her competitive field isn't in sports. It's in debate. "There has been no female in the history of debate that has qualified to attend the National Debate Tournament twice," said Omar Guevara, WSU Director of Forensics, "and she's only a junior so she could do it potentially two more times." Dawson grew interested in debate after taking an elective course during her sophomore year in high school. She has been debating ever since. "I'm a really competitive person so I like the challenge," Dawson said. "I'm not very athletic, so it's my way of being competitive." The debate team travels to tournaments throughout the year and has already participated in several tournaments this semester. Their next debate takes place at the University of Central Oklahoma on Nov. 6. Debate teams consist of two people. One gives the speech during the first part of the debate. In the second half, one person asks questions and the other team member answers them. Speeches are nine minutes long and are packed with all the evidence the debater can recite in that amount of time. "The fastest I know anyone to go is 300 to 350 words per minute," Dawson said. She said she doesn't know how fast she talks but guesses it is 200 to 250. That is equivalent to reading this article from the beginning to the end of this sentence in less than a minute. Presenting an argument quickly and effectively is an important facet of competitive college debate. "We debate Harvard, we debate Northwestern, we debate the University of Michigan, we debate Berkeley," Guevara said. "We are in the big league against the toughest conference, against the very best universities in the country." According to Guevara, Dawson's achievements are hard to come by in the world of collegiate debate. "Weber State has a pretty good track record of qualifying for the big dance but it's almost unheard of for a freshman and a sophomore to qualify twice," said Guevara. "She's not just going to beat the record; she's going to blow it up." The National Debate Tournament is at the end of the school year and is the most important and prestigious event in debate, Guevara said. "It's a very hard tournament to get into, only 78 teams during the course of the year even qualify." Last year, Dawson and her teammate, Ryan Cheek, finished 32nd out of 78 at the tournament. During her freshman year, Dawson also went to the quarterfinals at the University of Miami, Ohio and took first place with Cheek in the University of Denver Mile High Classic. As a sophomore, she achieved the highest team in the district, was the second speaker in the district, and won third place in the Val Browning Round Robin, which Weber State University holds on campus. She was also chosen as the team captain. Debate has given her an open mind when approaching issues and has allowed her to meet people she wouldn't have known otherwise. Before she starts a round, she gets really nervous but once the round starts, she said that she knows what she is going to do. The biggest challenge, she said, "is figuring out how to get your argument to work in a way that means judges vote for you." She also said that the strategy and practice is time-consuming and can be a lot of pressure. As a team captain, she watches the younger debate members and helps them prepare for tournaments. They spend a lot of time on research after they receive the resolution, or topic for the year. They research and prepare their arguments and then focus on the evidence for their topic. Other team members refer to Dawson as "Saucy Dawson" because of her bold debates. Other schools were interested in recruiting Dawson, but she said she is glad she chose WSU because she doesn't feel she would have been half as welcomed or appreciated as she does here. "My team here at home is really a family to me," Dawson said.