IU Kokomo Speech Team begins new season

IU Kokomo Speech Team members for fall 2006 include, left to right, front row, Andrea Davis, Ryan Ramsey, and Josh Sommers; second row, Director of Forensics Jaime Hamilton, Cassi Myers, Elisabeth Bratcher, Gwen Jones, Chad Andrews, and Cidnee McQueary; back row, Kyle Etherington, John Vieke, and Sandi Giver. Not pictured: Latisha Martin and David Sims.

KOKOMO, Ind.—The IU Kokomo Speech Team, already successful on the forensic circuit, has grown since last season, adding several new members who were national competitors in high school. Last year, the Speech Team consisted of only six students. As the new season of intercollegiate competition gets under way, the team has grown to 13 members. Since the team’s existence, members have earned opportunities to compete at a national tournament.

The team participated in the Boilermaker Special tournament September 15 at Purdue University in West Lafayette. Chad Andrews, Kyle Etherington, and Andrea Davis represented IU Kokomo at the tournament. Davis, a communication arts major from Logansport, placed third overall in novice poetry. Her poetry piece was on the grieving process of a mother who lost a young son.

Andrews and Etherington took impromptu speeches and participated in parliamentary debate. Both made it to the quarter-final round of parliamentary debate. Andrews lives in Sharpsville and is majoring in English. Etherington is a history/political science major from Kokomo.

In West Lafayette, Andrews and Etherington debated a number of issues, including a resolution on U.S. sanctions against Iran. Parliamentary debate is a challenging event, which focuses on quick thinking and logical argumentation. According to the Dartmouth University Parliamentary Debate Team Web site (www.dartmouth.edu/~parli/about.html), this form of debate requires “analysis and a command of rhetoric over extensive research or collection of evidence on a current event or issue.”

“After practicing debate for over a year, I was very proud of our performance,”

Etherington said. “My hard work, coupled with that of Chad Andrews and Coach Hamilton, really paid off at the Boilermaker Special.”

Only one week after competing at Purdue, eight IU Kokomo students attended the Falcon Forensic Classic September 23 at Bowling Green State University. They participated in 13 individual events. Josh Sommers, a communication arts major from Kokomo, won sixth place in the varsity division for his dramatic interpretation. History/political science and secondary education major David Sims of Logansport won third place for his novice extemporaneous speaking. Gwen Jones and Andrea Davis won a top novice award for their duo acting presentation. Jones is a psychology major from Kokomo. Davis lives in Logansport and is a communication arts major.

“Doing well in a varsity round only reflects the overall team’s success,” Sommers said. “We all help critique each other, so, in essence, we all go into every performance together.”

“Our team is amazing!” IU Kokomo Speech Team Director Jaime Hamilton said. “Simply put, we succeed.”

The Speech Team is currently preparing for the Age of Aquarius Speech Tournament at Ball State University on October 20–21. Team members will compete in duo acting, impromptu speaking, informative speaking, and persuasion. For more information about the IU Kokomo Speech Team, contact Jaime Hamilton at (765) 455-9558.