The Forensics Club practices for competition. Eugene Paul Arellanes / MOUNTAINEER
Students shouting at each other, arms flailing every which way, practically getting out of their seats with emotion. These students aren’t fighting, or even irate: they are members of the forensics team rehearsing for the Fall Champs.
And it paid off. The team just won First Overall Two Year Sweepstakes and third place novice overall at the Fall Champs. Daniel Cantrell, 31, communication professor and debate coach, is a new addition to the Mt. SAC forensics team, and said the program has a lot to offer.
“I think it brings a lot of prestige. Mt. SAC is known really for excellence in forensics and public speaking,” said Cantrell. “One of the things I used to always do is I would tell my students when I was coaching at other schools to go watch the Mt. SAC students in finals because I wanted them to emulate Mt. SAC and so I think Mt. SAC has a really strong reputation for students who work hard and students who are excellent speakers.” Prestige is not the only thing that Forensics has to offer.
“It brings confidence, that’s the main thing, when you can stand up in front of an audience,” said Cantrell. “Some of these students at finals rounds are speaking in front of 60, 70, 80, people to give their speech and to be able to do that in front of such a large audience it gives them a lot of self confidence.” Part of the reason the students are so successful could be because they are a very diverse group of students, some of whom are not even communication majors, like Mike Drake. Drake, 24, political science major, said he initially joined because his speech 1A professor was offering extra credit. “I honestly got extra credit for my speech 1A class two years ago, so spring semester I tried out and got like 10 extra credit points, and I made the team, and I just stuck with it.” Drake stayed for different reasons, however. “It’s fun and engaging; I learn different stuff,” said Drake. “It was the first year doing debate, and it will help me get into college.” Yvonne Ramos, 20, communication major, said that she joined after taking speech class. “This is my second year, I did really well in my speech 1A class, and [my speech professor] is the one who brought me in and I started with readers’ theater,” she said.
“There’s a lot of really cool perks that come with it and when you join you get 40 new friends, and if you work hard and compete a lot you might get chosen for nationals,” she added. Cantrell said part of the success is due to the cohesiveness of the team. “One of the things that’s really fun about forensics is it’s not necessarily zero-sum, so everyone can be successful. What’s really exciting about the Ray Dollen Tournament, we got a lot of first and second places, which means we had the top two students in the events and it’s really nice that everyone supports each other and they want everybody to be in that final round,” said Cantrell. “And I always think if we get the first and second place then they share that award.”
Professor M. “Shae” Hsieh, communication professor and co-advisor for Veterans Club, said that the skills learned are most important. “The skills that students are being taught and gained from the program is confidence, the ability to speak well, and the ability to command an audience’s attention. I think one of the most important skills is confidence,” said Shae.
Cantrell says a lot goes into preparation for competition, not just writing speeches, but also brushing up on current events. “A lot of it is just following the news. We try to make sure they listen to NPR the on the radio,” said Cantrell. “They don’t listen to music anymore; they have to listen to NPR so that on their way to and from school they get to hear about what’s going on in the world.” Their continuous effort and dedication to the program has paid off, with the Forensics team winning national championships last spring, and winning over 20 awards at their past two competitions.
“It was really exciting. It was the first time that Mt. SAC has gotten a top speaker award in the past twelve years,” said Cantrell. “When we get to nationals and we have that kind of success then the students will do really well.”
- Albert Serna
Editor-in-Chief
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