THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 28, 1995 TAG: 9507270190
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JO-ANN CLEGG, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 90 lines
IT'S NO SECRET that there are good kids, great sports teams and superb student musicians in Virginia Beach.
What's less well-known is that there also are some pretty impressive participants in a form of high school competition that's gaining fans and participants at a rapid rate all over the country.
It's debate, that mind-sharpening, thought-provoking brain thing that pitted senator against senator in ancient Rome, Lincoln against Douglas in Illinois and high school student against high school student as far back in U.S. history as anybody living today can remember.
The debate season is long, the rules are rigid, the preparation is arduous and the opponents are formidable. It is, in short, a lot of hard work.
Which is precisely why recent First Colonial honor graduate and first year University of Virginia Echols Scholar Colin Miller enjoys it so much.
``I just enjoy the challenge,'' said Miller, who came in 11th out of 190 competitors from across the nation at the prestigious Lincoln-Douglas Debates sponsored by the Catholic Forensic League.
The topic, placed in the form of a resolution as are all debate topics, was: ``Government is justified in restricting rights and privileges of teenage minors.''
The catch for debaters is that each individual has to be prepared to speak to and defend both sides of the issue.
That's where the going gets rough. And that's the part that truly intrigues Miller.
``It boils down to best versus good,'' he said. ``It's who can defend both sides rather than the one which is easier.''
There are four different topics during the debate season, plus a fifth for the national competitions. Students get each topic about two months in advance.
``We have a really long season,'' said Miller's coach, Mary Sue Crommelin, the forensics coach at First Colonial. ``Basically, we compete from October through May.''
Miller, a tall, slim, quiet young man, has been active in debate since ninth grade at Lynnhaven Middle School. He's been on the team at First Colonial three years, generally competing three weekends a month.
The selection of topics for the Lincoln-Douglas Debates is particularly intriguing to him.
``The debates are modeled after the Lincoln-Douglas slave debates. The topics are based on values such as freedom, equality and justice rather than on specific cases,'' he said. ``There's a lot of philosophy involved with that.''
He also enjoyed the opportunity to meet other debaters from around the country at the competition held at Chicago's historic Palmer House.
``We were there from Friday until Monday morning. There were seven debates, but we also had time to socialize, have a good time and even do some sightseeing,'' he explained.
The Catholic league is one of two major forensic leagues nationwide. Although its original purpose was to give Catholic schools a league of their own, it has long since included other private and public schools in its membership. One of the last vestiges of its parochial beginnings is that its districts run along diocesan lines.
In order to get to the national tournament, each student had to go through a series of steps at local and regional levels and place first or second in the diocese. Miller took second place in the Richmond diocese, which includes most of Virginia, but placed highest among Virginians at the nationals.
Two other First Colonial students, Kendra Todd and Katherine Crommelin, also went to the nationals, where they took very respectable 23rd and 33rd places, respectively, in oratorical events.
Miller is the son of Bob Miller, a salesman for Levi Strauss, and Beth Miller, a substitute teacher. His brother, Derek, is a student at William and Mary and his sister, Lara, attends First Colonial. The family lives in Middle Plantation, where Colin says he's pretty much just been ``hanging out'' this summer, preparing for the start of school at the end of August.
He's looking forward to a career in law or politics, careers for which he considers his debate experience to be good training.
And he's grateful to all of his coaches over the years for what he's learned through forensics.
``Everyone has potential,'' he said. ``It's the coaches who fine-tune your skills and make you interested enough to reach your potential.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo by JO-ANN CLEGG
Colin Miller, bound for U.Va. as an Echols Scholar, had to be
prepared to debate both sides of the topic: ``Government is
justified in restricting rights and privileges of teenage minors.''
by CNB