There is no doubt that a student with four years of debate experience is exposed to a wide variety of legal, economic, political, and international topics, certainly one of the goals of a liberal arts education. In the past, CSUF teams have advocated a policy toward Haiti that eventually was the one adopted by the Clinton administration. We've also advocated enacting the ban on methyl bromide and have discussed the ramifications of security assistance to the Middle East. In the meantime, our individual events competitors are persuading others about the dangers of phen-fen or pointing out why the rescheduling of rohypnol does not guarantee stronger sentencing and doing so a year before federal governmental entities recognize these problems. The late night strategy sessions, the fifteen hour days, the weekends away from home, and the wear and tear of tournament travel are all worthwhile when you realize that you and your students are two to three years ahead of federal decision makers.
Professional service is manifested in many ways.
My guess is that many members of the campus community notice that each January, approximately 1,000 high school students from over 60 schools arrive on campus. Many of our forensics alumni help with the administration of or volunteer to judge at the tournament. And it's usually at this time of year when I find out that many faculty from across campus participated in either individual events or debate competition. This three day extravaganza is a tiring event, but it only spurs our enthusiasm on for the following to weekends of tournaments at the University of Utah and Baylor University. Given that we have a top notch staff at CSUF, there are many requests made for the coaching staff to take part in workshops or to work in the administration of other tournaments.