Living History

March 18, 2004

Six Northwest College students will never forget one of the most educational experiences of their lives. They were in down town Madrid during the terrorist attack, witnessed the aftermath and participated in the historic Manifestation memorial march outside their hotel.

Last March the International Forensics Association ("forensics" means in the public forum or public speaking to make an argument) tournament was held in Vancouver, BC Canada. Northwest College sent two person teams and did very well, including taking first place.

http://www.nwcollege.edu/debate/news/03/030320.html
Click here for tournament rules: http://www.brookdale.cc.nj.us/staff/forensics/

This year the meet was held in down town Madrid on March 15 and 16 -- about a fifteen minute walk from the railway station attacked by terrorist on March 11.

The students arrived late March 9.

14 colleges and universities attended from such states as Arizona, Kentucky, Florida, Oregon and New Jersey. Five schools canceled after the attack.

Northwest College sent six students or three teams.

The students Madrid include:

Team captain Jon King and his wife Ruth. We had planned to pair Jon with the top debater at Pacific University. This is called a hybrid team. But, Pacific University was one of the colleges that dropped out because of the attack. Jon instead coached our novice teams. Jon is English Major from Missoula Montana. Ruth (21) is a music major from Bremerton. Both are seniors.
Jed Nelsen (18) is a freshman philosophy major from Kamiah, Idaho.
Nelsen is paired with Gideon Copple, (19) a sophomore Communication major from Hanoi Vietnam. Copple is the son of a humanitarian aide worker in Vietnam (he speaks fluent Vietnamese and French). These men have been very successful as novice debaters this year. Gideon went down to the rail station on the 11th to watch the clean up. http://eagle.ncag.edu/academic/artsci/faculty/ggillespie/there_they_go_again.htm
http://eagle.ncag.edu/academic/artsci/faculty/ggillespie/making_an_argument_for_northwest.htm
Katie Jones (24) a junior Communication major from Bellevue and Kortney Thoma (18) is a freshman business major from Ephrata, WA.

Debate topics were assigned 15 minutes before each round. Students often apply what they are learning in their classes. Students may use prepared notes and read articles during the preparation period, but may not use prepared material during the debate.

Topics this year included the effect of the Euro on Spain, success of the Bush administration, Terrorism and the effects of technology on society.

Students also took part in impromptu speaking, an event that went on between debates. Students are given a quotation from Spanish literature or history and must immediately make up a seven minute speech.

Jon King has won many awards in this event in the last four years. He made final rounds in impromptu and come home with our only award. We are proud of his success.

The other two novice debate teams did not break into finals. It was a learning experience for these first year debaters.

The debates were in English and the tournament was held in our hotel.

Details of our experiences of the attack:

We had planned to tour the town of Toledo on Thursday, March 11 and on the 12 help a campus Christian ministry on one of the Universities that is directed by Miguel Perry, a former Northwest College student.

Because of the attack, the students spent the day in Museums in Madrid, instead of going to Toledo. Nadine Fabbri, the assistant campus minister with our denomination in Madrid, had agreed to take us on a tour of Toledo. She called to say that the city was shut down. It turned out that if we had planned to depart a half hour earlier, she would have been on the train.

On Friday we went to the University of Alcala to meet international students and Spanish students. Nadine introduced us to the students, we witnessed a memorial rally in the town square and shared lunch together.

The Prime Minister had called for a mass protest of terrorism for that evening at 7 PM in Madrid. Tour Bus companies were provided free buses to take anyone down town.

We wanted to do something to show our affinity with the Spanish people, and so spent the afternoon of the 12th making black memorial ribbons and passed these out as students and town people got on the buses. We also had available Bibles in Spanish and literature promoting spiritual values and faith in time of crisis.

The people accepted our gesture and the shoe box full of ribbons was soon empty.

That night in pouring rain we walked among the 2 million people in the "Manifestation" rally. It was somber and dramatic, as the people showed their resolve against terrorism and respect for the innocent people killed.

We couldn't help but think of the Picasso painting we had seen that day called Guernica. http://cgfa.sunsite.dk/picasso/p-picasso23.htm This masterpiece protests the attack on a Spanish town during that Spanish Civil War that killed only civilians. We recognized that the Spanish people have a long history of enduring suffering.

After the 18 hour plane flight home, the team arrive at SeaTac greeted by the bright lights of KOMO television news reporters seeking our comments about the tragedy.

About Parliamentary Debate

Academic debate goes back to the first university founded by Plato -- and so college students have engaged in debate as a learning tool for thousands of years. The British refined and carried on the democratic tradition of using debate to make decisions in parliament.

Parliamentary debate is a speaking game in which students role-play elected officials in an imaginary house of parliament. The Government team affirms the resolution and the Opposition team rejects it.

A speaker of the House officiates the debate and usually votes on who they think did the better job of debating.

Speaker times and order:

Prime Minister 7 Minutes

Leader of the Opposition 7 Minutes

Member of Government 7 Minutes

Member of the Opposition 7 Minutes

Opposition Rebuttal 7 Minutes

Government Rebuttal 7 Minutes

Each speaker may take questions from the other debaters if they choose.

Gary Gillespie
Associate Professor, Director of Debate

	Living History:
	Debaters Witness Attack on Madrid
	March 18, 2004 Six Northwest College students will never forget one of the most educational experiences of their lives. They were in down town Madrid during the terrorist attack, witnessed the aftermath and participated in the historic Manifestation memorial march outside their hotel. Last March the International Forensics Association ("forensics" means in the public forum or public speaking to make an argument) tournament was held in Vancouver, BC Canada. Northwest College sent two person teams and did very well, including taking first place. http://www.nwcollege.edu/debate/news/03/030320.html Click here for tournament rules: http://www.brookdale.cc.nj.us/staff/forensics/ This year the meet was held in down town Madrid on March 15 and 16 -- about a fifteen minute walk from the railway station attacked by terrorist on March 11. The students arrived late March 9. 14 colleges and universities attended from such states as Arizona, Kentucky, Florida, Oregon and New Jersey. Five schools canceled after the attack. Northwest College sent six students or three teams. The students Madrid include: Team captain Jon King and his wife Ruth. We had planned to pair Jon with the top debater at Pacific University. This is called a hybrid team. But, Pacific University was one of the colleges that dropped out because of the attack. Jon instead coached our novice teams. Jon is English Major from Missoula Montana. Ruth (21) is a music major from Bremerton. Both are seniors. Jed Nelsen (18) is a freshman philosophy major from Kamiah, Idaho. Nelsen is paired with Gideon Copple, (19) a sophomore Communication major from Hanoi Vietnam. Copple is the son of a humanitarian aide worker in Vietnam (he speaks fluent Vietnamese and French). These men have been very successful as novice debaters this year. Gideon went down to the rail station on the 11th to watch the clean up. http://eagle.ncag.edu/academic/artsci/faculty/ggillespie/there_they_go_again.htm http://eagle.ncag.edu/academic/artsci/faculty/ggillespie/making_an_argument_for_northwest.htm Katie Jones (24) a junior Communication major from Bellevue and Kortney Thoma (18) is a freshman business major from Ephrata, WA. Debate topics were assigned 15 minutes before each round. Students often apply what they are learning in their classes. Students may use prepared notes and read articles during the preparation period, but may not use prepared material during the debate. Topics this year included the effect of the Euro on Spain, success of the Bush administration, Terrorism and the effects of technology on society. Students also took part in impromptu speaking, an event that went on between debates. Students are given a quotation from Spanish literature or history and must immediately make up a seven minute speech. Jon King has won many awards in this event in the last four years. He made final rounds in impromptu and come home with our only award. We are proud of his success. The other two novice debate teams did not break into finals. It was a learning experience for these first year debaters. The debates were in English and the tournament was held in our hotel. Details of our experiences of the attack: We had planned to tour the town of Toledo on Thursday, March 11 and on the 12 help a campus Christian ministry on one of the Universities that is directed by Miguel Perry, a former Northwest College student. Because of the attack, the students spent the day in Museums in Madrid, instead of going to Toledo. Nadine Fabbri, the assistant campus minister with our denomination in Madrid, had agreed to take us on a tour of Toledo. She called to say that the city was shut down. It turned out that if we had planned to depart a half hour earlier, she would have been on the train. On Friday we went to the University of Alcala to meet international students and Spanish students. Nadine introduced us to the students, we witnessed a memorial rally in the town square and shared lunch together. The Prime Minister had called for a mass protest of terrorism for that evening at 7 PM in Madrid. Tour Bus companies were provided free buses to take anyone down town. We wanted to do something to show our affinity with the Spanish people, and so spent the afternoon of the 12th making black memorial ribbons and passed these out as students and town people got on the buses. We also had available Bibles in Spanish and literature promoting spiritual values and faith in time of crisis. The people accepted our gesture and the shoe box full of ribbons was soon empty. That night in pouring rain we walked among the 2 million people in the "Manifestation" rally. It was somber and dramatic, as the people showed their resolve against terrorism and respect for the innocent people killed. We couldn't help but think of the Picasso painting we had seen that day called Guernica. http://cgfa.sunsite.dk/picasso/p-picasso23.htm This masterpiece protests the attack on a Spanish town during that Spanish Civil War that killed only civilians. We recognized that the Spanish people have a long history of enduring suffering. After the 18 hour plane flight home, the team arrive at SeaTac greeted by the bright lights of KOMO television news reporters seeking our comments about the tragedy. About Parliamentary Debate Academic debate goes back to the first university founded by Plato -- and so college students have engaged in debate as a learning tool for thousands of years. The British refined and carried on the democratic tradition of using debate to make decisions in parliament. Parliamentary debate is a speaking game in which students role-play elected officials in an imaginary house of parliament. The Government team affirms the resolution and the Opposition team rejects it. A speaker of the House officiates the debate and usually votes on who they think did the better job of debating. Speaker times and order: Prime Minister 7 Minutes Leader of the Opposition 7 Minutes Member of Government 7 Minutes Member of the Opposition 7 Minutes Opposition Rebuttal 7 Minutes Government Rebuttal 7 Minutes Each speaker may take questions from the other debaters if they choose. Gary Gillespie Associate Professor, Director of Debate