Kirkland, November 7, 2005
Congratulations to Taylor Jones and Kortney Thoma
for winning second place in junior debate at the Lower Columbia College debate
and speech contest in Longview, Washington the weekend of November 4 and 5.
The women went into finals with a 5
– 0 winning record and lost in finals to Portland State on a two to one decision of the three judges. In addition to wins and losses, debaters are ranked on speaking ability and the top five are given awards.Taylor received a plaque for ranking as the best over all speaker in all divisions out of 56 competitors. Kortney ranked as the third best speaker over all and second in junior division.
Congratulations also to Nathan Chambers and Kevin Botterbusch for winning third place in junior division. The men lost in semi finals also to Portland State.
Nine schools brought 28 debate teams to the two-day event, known as the 33rd annual Smelt Classic Forensics Tournament. Besides Northwest and Portland State, other institutions that competed for top honors included Pacific Lutheran University, Seattle Pacific University, Lower Columbia, Clackamas College, Mount Hood College and the University of Portland.
Topics were announced fifteen minutes before each round and included controversies concerning military pay, the war in Iraq, civil rights, higher education, and drilling for oil in ANWAR.
The next tournament is the 75th annual Linfield College meet in McMinnville, Oregon Veteran's Day weekend.
For more see http://eagle.northwestu.edu/academic/artsci/faculty/ggillespie/Eagle%20Debate%20Home%20page.htm