Talking Heads

Deep within the bowels of New Quincy, underneath unknowing, unconscious Q-manolds, amidst piles of clutter, a Crimson sports resurgence is quietly taking place.

In the tradition of James Q. Wilson and Laurence Tribe '62, the Harvard on topic debate team is once again preeminent in the nation. Following the victory of the squad's top team, composed of senior Jonathan Wiener and Junior Jonathan Massey, at the biggest tournament of the fall season, only the Miami Hurricanes football squad has a firmer grip on a number-one ranking.

There are two forms of debate. Off-topic debate is more familiar to most. It is skin to political debates and stresses eloquence and oratorical skills. On-topic debate, by contrast, is truly the varsity sport of the mind. Comparing it to college bowl is like comparing chess to "Trivial Pursuits."

A typical tournament consists of eight preliminary rounds of debate with the best 16 teams then continuing into the elimination rounds. In each debate, one team affirms the resolution, while the other team negates it. Sides are predetermined; seams that he prepared to debate both sides. The affirmative seam must analyze an inherent flaw in the status quo and propose a change within the resolution that will solve this problem.

This year's resolution is: "Resolved, that any and all injury resulting from the disposal of hazardous waste should be the legal responsibility of the producer of that waste." One example of a "topical" plan would be to make all producers of toxic waste contribute to a hazardous waste compensation injury fund. Points are proved by reading quotations from experts in the field.

Harvard has long been a dominant force in the debate world. Noted Harvard Law Professor Laurence Tribe won the national title for the Crimson back in 1961 and coached another team to the number one spot in 1969, James Q. Wilson was a member of one of only two two-man teams to take the crown twice, though he did it in the early '50s for the University of Redlands, located near Los Angeles. Harvard is the only school in the nation that has qualified for the national tournament every year since 1954.

After a minor slump in the 1980-81 and 1981-82 seasons, last year's edition, led by Wiener and Massey, re-entered the limelight, reaching the semifinals or better in five major tournaments and grabbing a share of fifth in the national debate tournament. This year, they've been in a league almost by themselves. Losing in the finals to pre-season favorite Dartmouth, the prestigious University of Kentucky tourney, the dynamic duo have established the best mark in the country, finishing first at Wake Forest, second at Emory, and fifth at Georgetown, Overall in debate rounds they are 36-11. Only dark horse Bates Colleges has emerged to challenge their superiority.

So the Crimson has to be the favorite to take the gold at this year's nationals, held in, of all places, Knoxville. (You can't win `em all. The last three national's sites: Colorado Springs, Florida, and Southern California.) "I think they're the finest debate team in the nation, the finest I've had in my decade of coaching," says Harvard Director of Debate Dallas Perkins, himself a living debate legend.

The road, of course, will not be easy. Who knows when an unknown squad will rocket to the top? A bad judging decision can prematurely end a title bid. Laryngitis is not good. At this juncture, however, Wiener and Massey control their destiny. They hold their future in their own hands...and mouths.