Top Talker

We called Phi Sigma Psi, where Stephen Meagher 'BO lives, to ask him about his performance at the 34th annual National Intercollegiate Debate Tournament held this spring at the University of Arizona, where he won the top individual award He was selected as the outstanding speaker among 128 debaters representing the 64 teams that qualified for the four-day event the first time an individual from Dartmouth has done so well. Dartmouth however, has been represented at the national tournament by one or two teams for 25 of the 29 years that Speech Department Professor Herbert James has served as coach, and during the 1960s Dartmouth teams won first place on three occasions This year, Meagher and his partner Tom Isaacson 'BO, who also received individual honors, tied for third place in the semifinals behind Harvard and first-place Northwestern after earning the most points of any team in the preliminary rounds. The other Dartmouth team of Cyril Smith '81 and Mark Weinhardt '82 tied for fifth place.

Whoever finally answered the phone at Phi Sigma Psi advised us without hesitation that Meagher wasn't in and that he could most likely be reached at the Forensic Union office 'in Robinson Hall. Meagher was there, all right, and the first thing we asked him was how much time he spends on debate. "An incredible amount of time," he replied. "During the regular season most of us average about 40 hours a week, but since spring break we've been working much harder in preparation for the tournament." Most of the preparation time is spent doing research to support arguments marshaling evidence from court decisions and law review articles, for example. This year's general topic debated throughout the season at various school tournaments was "that the federal government should strengthen regulation over mass-media communication." The argument that Meagher and Isaacson brought to the national tournament was that it would be a good idea to change libel laws to make it easier to sue newspapers.

Meagher, who is hoping to go to law school after graduation from Dartmouth but still was awaiting the decisions on his applications, said he is "looking forward to participating in moot court competitions."