Paul Wenzel passionately states his case over the phone, momentarily pausing to gather his thoughts, only to quickly resume his barrage of substantial facts in his presentation of a persuasive argument. What issue could have this well-spoken Chaminade High School junior so fired up; why Speech and Debate of course.

You see Wenzel recently topped all competition at the most recent tournament for New York Forensic League State Championships, earning himself a first place trophy in the JV Lincoln-Douglas Debate division.

The trophy is just one of the many prizes won through the practice of debate, according to the state champion, who is eager to communicate just what Speech and Debate offers students such as himself.

"I was a real air-head," said the brutally modest Wenzel. This however changed when constant practicing of pronunciation, elocution and preparation trained him not only to speak effectively, but to write effectively as well.

Better speaking and particularly better writing led to better grades, and better grades led to greater confidence.

Brother George Zehnle, the moderator of Speech and Debate, agreed that the benefit to students who participate in his club include confidence and better thinking skills.

A vocal student with a knack for arguing, Wenzel believes he was tapped for the club because of his behavior during Chaminade's introduction week for incoming freshmen, known as 3-C.

In fact, Zehnle, who encouraged Wenzel to join the club during that 3-C week, said he saw in the student what he looks for in all potential debaters; intelligence, eagerness, outgoingness and aggressiveness, though the moderator added that there is no one personality profile for all debaters.

"He is an open person," said Zehnle of the reason for his student's success, "A bit disingenuous."

Zenhle helped mold this open young man, along with his fellow students, into an effective debater. "It is a bit of work," said Wenzel of the preparation, "but for me it is worth it."

Prepared for battle, these platform pugilists enter competition against competing schools. The most recent example was the site of Wenzel's victory in Albany against the best New York State had to offer, during the weekend of April 23 to 25, where competition lasted up to 14 hours a day.

For those unfamiliar with the rules of a debate, Wenzel explained some of the basics.

First and foremost one who is set to debate must be able to debate both sides of the issue. The competitor knows the issue when entering the debate, but he or she finds out which side they will defend only when they are in the competition.

Wenzel finds the practice of studying both sides of the issue as beneficial, ultimately giving him a greater perspective on all issues.

When the debate begins, the debater charged with defending the affirmative stance of a resolution begins with a six minute speech. The debater representing the negative side then cross questions the affirmative debater for three minutes.

The negative debater is then given seven minutes to state his or her philosophy in a speech and to attack the affirmative's position. The affirmative delivers a rebuttal for four minutes.

Following that the negative debater gets seven minutes to wrap it all up usually concentrating on three major points to his or her position. Then the affirmative side wraps up his or her position, again concentrating on the three major points within a final three minutes.

To Wenzel the strategy for each debate is the same, speak slow and loud enough so that everyone can hear, give a lot of examples, be witty not dull and most importantly attack your opponent's position.

A well presented position would be filled with anecdotes, quotes and have a high entertainment value.

As stated before, the debater finds out what stance (positive or negative) that they must defend when they are in competition. So, many times Wenzel does not debate how he truly feels.

Take for instance his championship performance, where the young debater was charged with arguing against civil disobedience as an acceptable part of society.

Normally, Wenzel agrees that civil disobedience is acceptable and of course, as an accomplished student of debate, he can back up his position.

He gave as reason one for his approval of civil disobedience, that the nature of a democracy allows that the majority may rule, but is not always right, and if so must be stopped. Secondly, viewing the subject in relation to Natural Law, the world produces what needs to be done, so if civil disobedience happens, it should.

Wenzel is quite persuasive in the presentation of his beliefs, however, for the debate, he was charged with proving his own beliefs wrong, and to win the championship he had to convince the judges as well that civil disobedience is always unacceptable.

In response to the challenge Wenzel gave two points to support his negative stance.

First, he used the works of philosopher Immanuel Kant to create this example: Many would prefer not to pay taxes but they do. If people did not participate in this "necessary evil," then there would be no money for government services.

Secondly he argued that civil disobedience provokes violence, and violence is never acceptable, especially when other options are available.

Wenzel's strategy included the presentation of unique angles that surprised the judges, and that strategy proved effective as he walked away with the championship.

The judges wrote on his ballot that his speech was persuasive, his arguments logical and he was able to refute all points made by his challenger.

After three hours, the decision was delivered and the champion was given a standing ovation from the assembled parents, teachers and speech and debaters including the 96 participants in this particular debate tournament.

"It was one of the happier moments in my life," commented Wenzel.

The results also yielded Chaminade students Peter Kane taking third place and John Paul Igoe taking seventh place all culminating in Chaminade High School's taking third in the state as a team.

Wenzel's life right now is filled with hours at school working on Speech and Debate and the Communications Club, teaching religious education classes at Corpus Christi and coaching baseball in the MAA.

He hopes his future life will include a career in politics or law, two fields in which his sharpened speaking skills will most definitely come in handy and assist him in leaving an impression, just as debate has left an indelible impression on this passionate young man.