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'Cut-Throat' Speech and Debate Tournament Challenges MHS

Students gave up their weekend to hone a very important skill: communication.

Around 1600 students from 34 high schools populated the campus of Milpitas High School Saturday and Sunday to participate in one of the largest speech and debate tournaments in the country. 

A part of the Coastal Forensics League, the tournament incorporated several forms of public speaking; Saturday was dedicated to individual speeches, which ranged from expository to humorous, while Sunday included Lincoln-Douglas (LD) debate, the only event with one student pitched directly against another. 

The competition can be "cut-throat," said English teacher and Milpitas High coach Stephen Stewart. 

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"This Coastal Forensics League that we're in is maybe the toughest league in the United States of America," he said, "I don't know anything more competitive than this." 

His team is newer than much of the competition, he said. A lawyer and judge for 30 years before retiring and then becoming a teacher, Stewart founded the team just three years ago with 12 students. That number has skyrocketed to 130 students, and physics teacher Charles Schletzbaum now co-runs the team with Stewart. 

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The students are very active, participating in around nine tournaments in the last three months alone, Schletzbaum said. They meet at least once a week for an hour at lunch and two hours before or after school if there is a competition that week. 

While it did not pick up any trophies at this weekend's competition, the team is doing very well given how new it is, said Stewart, and has won awards in the past. He pointed out that some schools, like Leland, Bellarmine, and Harker have established programs up to 30 years old.  

Milpitas High sophomore Vikram Sastry said he got involved with speech and debate because he's thinking of going into law as a career, but also because it's a good excuse to argue, something Sastry loves to do. 

"It's not everyday that they put a formal label on arguing," he said. 

Taking part in Lincoln Douglas debate, Sastry and the other LD debaters had to alternatively defend or refute the statement "justice requires the recognition of animal rights." 

Some schools promote a style of debate that is so rapid-fire that the opponent hardly has time to write. Although this reveals the competitive nature of the competition, it is not something Stewart of Schletzbaum encourage.

Being able to clearly communicate a certain point of view is an invaluable skill that crosses all disciplines and situations, Schletzbaum said, from interacting with a "cop and not getting a ticket, or defending your PhD thesis." 

"There's nothing that I know of in Western Civilization that's more important than articulating your position," added Stewart. 

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