The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

April 27, 2007 Friday
Main Edition

SECTION: METRO NEWS; Pg. 1D
LENGTH: 708 words
HEADLINE: Quick thinkers, fast talkers tops in nation;
Emory debate team wins prestigious prize

BYLINE: ANDREA JONES; Staff
BODY:
They amassed boxes and boxes of research materials and spent hours a day reviewing every angle of their arguments. And when the time came to perform at the National Debate Competition in Dallas recently, Emory University senior Aimi Hamraie and junior Julie Hoehn took to the podium with grace.

Then they talked their lungs out.

The debate team members, the first all-female pair to win the tournament in its 61-year history, talk at speeds up to 400 words a minute in competitive mode, rocking back and forth as they hurl words, consult their notes and gulp for air.

To the untrained ear, it sounds, well, a little weird.

Think auctioneer meets attorney, with speed-talking the weapon of choice.

"It's much, much faster than normal conversation," said Hamraie, a senior from Colleyville, Texas, who, like Hoehn, has a full debate scholarship at Emory. "It takes a lot of practice."

And a lot of knowledge.

The pair estimate they reviewed 10,000 documents to prepare for the annual tournament, the most prestigious of its kind in college debating. All year long, college teams had tackled the same topics in debates around the country, arguing whether or not the U.S. Supreme Court should overrule one of four decisions. The debates escalate in difficulty and complexity as the season continues, culminating in the national tournament, held in Dallas March 30-April 2.

At their craziest, says Hoehn of Alpharetta, the pair spent 10 hours a day preparing for the big day. They faced off with the best teams around the nation and, in the end, beat them all for the silver championship cup. Both have been debating since middle school.

A team from the University of Georgia also took home top honors from the tourney as winners of the Copeland Award, given to the best overall team of the year.

UGA seniors Brent Culpepper and Kevin Rabinowitz also spent countless hours cramming data and honing their skills.

Culpepper, a speech communication and political science major who will head to law school in the fall, said after the tournament he "spent a week on the couch watching movies."

"You're so stressed out, there's so much adrenaline, afterwards, if anything, it's like a cathartic release," he said. Culpepper's parents attended the national tournament for the first time and were admittedly a little lost at first, he said.

"But after four or five rounds, your ears adjust, and if you really concentrate, you can comprehend arguments and begin to understand," he said.

Culpepper said he was glad to see the Emory women bring home the title. "It was a big year for Georgia," he said.

Melissa Wade, Emory's director of forensics, who has led the Emory program since 1972, said the sport had made great strides since she was a college debater and that she was "thrilled" to see more women and minorities take up the activity.

In addition to coaching Emory, Wade leads a nationally recognized urban debate league in local schools.

With Hamraie and Hoehn's historic win, Wade said, women who forged the way in college debate years ago are all sharing in the success. What does it mean personally for her?

"It's my career," Wade said. "There's nothing that could mean more."

ON AJC.COM

* Go online to see and hear the debate.

HOW DEBATE WORKS

Each college debate team in a tournament has an affirmative argument for four rounds and a negative argument for four rounds. For the affirmative arguments in this year's debate season, teams chose to discuss one of four Supreme Court cases. The cases were:

* Planned Parenthood v. Casey in 1992, which ruled a spousal notification for abortions to be unconstitutional.

* Ex parte Quirin in 1942, which gave the U.S. president the right to detain anyone, including American citizens, as enemy combatants during wartime.

* United States v. Morrison in 2000, which invalidated a section of the Violence Against Women Act to give victims of gender-motivated violence the right to sue their attackers in federal court.

* Milliken v. Bradley in 1974, which said that busing students to other school districts as a plan for school integration should be used only when there was actual evidence that multiple districts had deliberately engaged in a policy of segregation.

Next year's topic: The Middle East

Source: Debate Tournament news release

GRAPHIC: Photo: KIMBERLY SMITH / StaffThe Emory University debate team of Aimi Hamraie (left) and Julie Hoehn won the Sigurd S. Larmon championship trophy at the National Debate Tournament in Dallas this month./ImageData*

LOAD-DATE: April 27, 2007