For most people, debating is a hobby.
For two Ball State students, that hobby won them a national title.
Brett Mock, sophomore, and Kevin Vance, senior, won the National Educational Debate Association's national tournament April 4 and 5 in Kankakee, Ill.
Mock and Vance are part of the Ball State debate team.
Vance was also one of four students named Debate All Americans and Mock placed fourth in the speaker category at the same tournament.
Students must apply for the Debate All Americans award, which names the outstanding debaters of the season, said Mike Bauer, communication studies professor.
"I thought it was a really great award because they look at the character you have," Vance said.
At each competition, two teams of two students debate a topic and a judge decides on who wins based on the arguments made, Bauer said.
Each team debates six times in the preliminaries, he said.
The top eight teams advance, and each team is eliminated until there's just one team left, he said.
Bauer said speakers are also individually judged on style.
Vance and Mock competed against 20 other teams at the national tournament, Vance said.
Vance has been on the debate team for two years.
"Originally, I thought it sounded fun, but you get to investigate more than in a classroom," he said.
Vance said he plans on going to law school to be a trial lawyer and the debate team helps him build skills he will need.
"It teaches how to present information in layman's terms," Vance said.
In NEDA debate style, the debaters base their argument on evidence, but must present it in a way so that someone who is not an expert on the topic can understand it, he said.
The topic the teams debated this semester was "The United States federal government should significantly increase its citizens' access to affordable health care."
Ball State's team has competed in nine tournaments and had a team in the final round at four of them, Bauer said.
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
