Photo courtesy of Owen Paun Debater Owen
Paun will share his skills during a tour of eastern
Europe.
By Wendy Su
Daily Bruin Contributor
Nine a.m.: a time before many students at UCLA even contemplate
getting up. But UCLA student Owen Paun, a fourth-year European
studies student, was already busy competing with five other
finalists.
Paun lectured, debated and was interviewed all day on April 8.
Now he is one of two Americans selected to represent the United
States in an all-expenses-paid tour across eastern Europe,
sponsored by the Committee on International Discussion and Debate.
Paun will be teaching both teachers and students with limited
debating experience to debate in English, according to CIDD chair
Randy Lake.
“I really love eastern Europe. The opportunity to teach
debate there is the greatest thing for me,” said Paun.
He will be leaving May 28 and will return in a month’s
time. The tour will include Moldova, Hungary, Ukraine, Romania and
Russia among the possible countries to be visited.
“Owen’s selection signifies our confidence in his
ability to be an ambassador of the United States and an effective
role model; we think that he will be able … to demonstrate by his
own performances what debate can offer people in this region of the
world,” said Lake.
Paun feels that questioning in the form of debate is necessary
for a democracy.
“Debating (in eastern Europe) is mainly for its academic
merit. I think the focus of my going there is to teach democracy
and teach them a culture of opposition and questioning
things,” Paun said.
Paun found his niche during his first year here at UCLA in
Speech and Debate.
“I love debate. It’s my life,” said Paun.
Currently, Paun competes in parliamentary debate, in which each
two person team is given a topic and constructs an argument to be
used against an opposing team. Paun’s debate partner is
Andrea Saenz.
“You have to learn everything about everything. I read The
Economist, Time Magazine, Newsweek and U.S. News & World Report
every week and The New York Times every day. I spend three hours a
day preparing by reading,” Paun said.
Paun applied for the debate tour when he saw it posted on a Web
site, and also because of his interest in overseas communities.
He speaks French and Russian, in addition to English and some
Spanish. Paun hopes to complement his knowledge of languages with
Arabic because he has plans to go to Africa, especially Northern
Africa. Paun would like to work with refugees, in order to make use
of his knowledge of French and Arabic. He is considering joining
the Peace Corps in the near future.
His other option is to stay another year at UCLA. Paun said he
has one more year of eligibility left which would give him an
opportunity to concentrate on debate.
“I would like to win a couple more tournaments before I
leave,” Paun said.