Daniel Leister

He thought he would be a natural, but then when it came time to perform, his hands betrayed him—taking on a mind of their own.

Daniel Leister, a junior from Lodi, Ohio, walked onto Ohio University’s Forensics Speech and Debate team during fall quarter of this academic year.

He said he had always been comfortable in front of people, but he didn’t realize that the ability to be a great speaker was an art form, Leister said. There are techniques to body language that emphasize the speech.

One of the most important body parts to consider is the speaker’s hands. Hands should not be distractive to the audience, they should stress a point the speaker is trying to make.

Leister has fine-tuned his overall speaking performance, and now his speech hand gestures are seeping into his social life outside the forensics team.

His friends mimic the purposeful hand motions that appear unnatural in a social context.

But, he is willing to withstand a bit of teasing from his friends if it means he is a successful speaker—his best event is impromptu. He is learning skills that will benefit his future.

Leister is a political science, political communication, pre-law major, with a minor in sociology. He is also in a band called the Epsilon Project, which performs around Athens.

~Jeanna Packard

Coach Patrick Barton

For forensics coach Patrick Barton, Ohio University is not only an opportunity to earn a doctorate in communication but also to learn from the expertise of head coach Dan West. As far as the rest of the season is concerned, Barton has high hopes that the team will place in the top five at the national tournament and he’s looking for as many students to qualify in the top 24 as possible.

Ohio University is the third college that Barton will earn a degree from and says that Athens is a nice little town with a good atmosphere. Although he likes OU, he says George Mason was his favorite college he has attended because of its cultural diversity and its location outside of Washington D.C. When asked about the Ohio University vs. George Mason basketball game, he said “I was rooting for George Mason, so I was a little sad when they lost, but now both teams have a chance of making it into the NCAA tournament”.

Aside from speech and debate, Patrick loves movies, Italian food, and alternative rock bands like Death Cab for Cutie and Snow Patrol, but poker is the pastime that he favors most. And it’s not your typical $5 buy-in with your buddies once a week, Barton has played in the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. Other than playing in the super bowl of poker, he stays on his toes with local VFW tournaments and online poker games.

“If I could do anything I would be a professional poker player,” said Patrick.

But there’s no need to worry, Coach Barton sees himself teaching at a four-year university and coaching a speech and debate team after he receives his PhD.

Michael Catlos

Standing more than 6 feet tall, a man of few words with a confident gaze Michael Catlos’ intimidating demeanor might seem daunting, but ask to see a picture of his dog and the tough guy image quickly fades.

Michael Catlos, from Poland, Ohio, is a freshman member of the OU Forensics team. He specializes in catching people off guard.

He uses his size and looks to his advantage. During his after dinner speech on the consumerism that has taken over American holidays he uses humor and songs in place of traditional spoken transitions to catch the audience off guard.

“I sing “Here Comes Peter Cotton Tail” as a lead into the Easter holiday and “It’s Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas” to transition into unwrapping the consumerism problems during the Christmas holiday,” Catlos said.

Catlos’ passion for speaking has helped determine his future. He is majoring in organizational communication and aspires to be a college speech coach—this decision could also be influenced by his current advisor, Dan West, who is the head coach of the OU speech team.

Catlos enjoys spending his weekends traveling and competing with the team. He is willing to make the necessary sacrifices in his social life to make room for practice. But amidst the high stress speech environment, he maintains an attitude of simplicity.

“My ideal day would be on a beach with Jimmy Buffett, Catlos said. “He would know how to seize the moment and squeeze the most out of the day. Plus, I wouldn’t mind wasting a day in Margaritaville.”

~Jeanna Packard

Kristin Nehls

Kristin Nehls looks like a new woman these days—she now has a chic red bob in place of her long dark blond hair, after she dyed her hair red and donated 10 inches of hair to “Locks for Love”.

She knows how to make a statement with her looks and her speech. As a freshman, she is already a dynamic member of the Forensics Speech and Debate team. She performed a prose at the Fall Showcase in front of numerous OU students, which included dialog in French.

Kristin wasn’t always excellent in front of the crowd. When she joined the speech and debate team at her high school located in Naperville, a suburb of Chicago, she was the worst speaker on the team, Nehls said. She worked hard, changed her tactics and event, and eventually became the best on her team. She has received a scholarship to be on OU’s forensics team.

The experience of being a part of the forensics team is worth all the effort and sacrifices, including sacrificing complete freedom with her hair. Initially she dyed it pink, but team rules require a professional appearance so Kristin opted for a red hue. She has developed her best friendships with the people on the team, and she is constantly being challenged to become a better communicator.

Kristin’s good communication skills will come in handy after graduation when she is traveling the world as a broadcast journalist.

~Jeanna Packard

(Note photo is pre-red hair)

Snapshots of OU Forensics

Ted Dacey

Along with finding a quaint college town, Ted Dacey came all the way to Ohio University from Maryland for the forensics team. Dacey, a freshman political science major, believes that being a team player and keeping a positive attitude are crucial to success in speech and debate. Although the team takes time and hard work, he says that they still manage to have a lot of fun together. Since Ted has a long career ahead of him for the team he hopes to see them become national champions several times over.
Besides being on the Forensics team Ted is a typical freshman experiencing dorm life and dining halls. Ironically, fellow teammate Spark Tabor is Dacey’s Resident Assistant in Sargent Hall. For the most part he loves the dorm life but finds having to wear flip-flops to the bathroom rather unfavorable. And as far as dining halls are concerned, “I always say it’s a good day when there are tater tots in the dining hall,” he said.
One impressive talent Ted harbors is the ability to quote nearly every line in the film Airplane!, “the greatest film ever, every time I watch it I find myself doubled over in laughter”. A love of all dairy, Dacey has even discovered the secret to making hardboiled eggs in a microwave.
A member of OU Republicans, Dacey is deeply involved in politics and has high hopes for Mitt Romney winning the presidential candidate. He feels that Romney’s success as a businessman and a governor has proved him to be capable of creating a much needed change.
By Amy Renner

Hassan Sheikh

by R. Devin Hughes


Name: Hassan Sheikh
Major: Communication Studies with a minor or double-major in Philosophy
Interests: Chess, Risk, and other games of strategy




Hassan Sheikh proclaims himself the “Lone Wolf” on the Ohio University Forensics team because he is the only member who participates in Debate, as in one-on-one competition against someone from another team. However, with regards to the competition, his dominance in Lincoln-Douglas debates might make “Alpha Male” the better nickname. Sheikh is currently the top debater in the state of Ohio, and is looking forward to this weekend's Appalachian Swing tournament to prove that he is the true number one. Other teams in Ohio already know his name, and a convincing win in the Appalachian Swing would make Sheikh a clear force to be reckoned with heading into States and Nationals.

Hassan Sheikh's forensics career began with victory, and he has not looked back since. Sheikh was declared the Novice Debate Champion in his first college competition. He was 19 at the time and competing for Brookdale Community College. At the NYU Skyline Spectacular, Sheikh went against Lafayette's best debater, Mark Kokoska, and was, by his own admission, “killed.” However, in the very next round, Sheikh debated Kokosa's teammate, Teevrat Garg, and won. To do so, Sheikh used techniques that Mark Kokoska had used against him in the previous round. This ability to learn from experience and apply the lessons so quickly impressed the judge so much that he approached Sheikh afterwards to commend his work. That judge's name was Dan West, the coach of the Ohio University Forensics Team.

This meeting with Dan West led Sheikh to transfer to Ohio University in his junior year, and under West's coaching, Sheikh has become a huge asset to the team, competing in the Lincoln-Douglas debates. He believes that debate is “one of the most time-intensive” aspects of forensics, and can not say enough about his appreciation for the coaching abilities of Dan West, who is “willing to take the team members as far as they are willing to go.” If they have a passion to improve, he will make sure that they do. Sheikh is very clear in emphasizing the team's admiration of West, saying “If Dan West calls, we answer it. We might as well have secret decoder rings, and also notes that “D-dub has a sparkling personality.”

Sheikh loves forensics and encourages high schoolers to join. He tells prospective students that “debate is like skiing down a slope...hitting speeds over 40 miles per hour, knowing you'll make it to the end, because if you argue properly, you'll never lose.” Even if they have had no previous experience, all students need to do is contact Dan West, who would be happy to take them in and train them. According to Sheikh, extensive debate experience is not as important as passion, the “critical ingredient to any success.” As long as the student has the passion to be a strong debater, Dan West can make him or her into a strong debater. Should he or she wish to best prepare themselves, Sheikh recommends competing in the National Forensics League. developing strong research skills, and not focusing so much on arguing properly, since the coach will take care of that.

A piece of general advice that Sheikh would give to high schoolers would be to build upon the social aspect of high school. In Sheikh's opinion, one will have plenty of time for learning in college, and thus time in high school is better spent making memories and forming strong social bonds. Though he may be the “Lone Wolf” on the debate team, friendship is extremely important to him. This is evident is his amicable disposition and openness to conversation. His strong debating ability makes him a huge asset to the Forensics Team already, but his character and ambition make him a leader and an excellent role model for any new recruits.

After college, Sheikh plans to take a year off to be a lobbyist for the Council for American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), and then attend law school so that he could practice law for a living. Once he gets a solid financial foundation, Sheikh has aspirations of running for public office, perhaps starting off as a mayor and moving up to a senator.