Whitman Forensics Newsletter Vol. 17, No. 1, December, 2010
The Parli-IE Team, Fall 2010. Front Row: Scott, Will, Nick Budak, John-Henry, Joel. Second Row: Miranda, Drake, Nigel, Paige, Olivia, Chris, Zach. Third Row: Adam, Logan, Elliott, Sean Wang, Carly, Ethan. Back Row: Tom, Nick Robinson (coach), Nick Griffin, Riley. Missing: Marten, Hanne, Frannie, Lewis (coach).	The Policy Team, Fall 2010. Front Row: Ben, David, Allison, Tiffany Second Row: Tia, Andy, Sean Mulloy, Gabriella Back Row: Alex, Mitch, Aaron (coach) Missing: Jimi (coach)
The Reunion Join us! We are very excited to be hosting all Whitman Speech and Debate Alumni. April 28 – May 1, 2011. Reserve your Spot and See Info at: Debate Reunion Page Facebook Page at: Whitman Speech and Debate Reunion 2011 Email Jim with questions or whatevers: hansonjb@whitman.edu Food, Fun, Debates, Jim’s PowerPoint of the History of Debate in the U.S., Bob Withycombe, Remy Wilcox, see faces you haven’t seen in years, Whitman College.
Click the Stories that interest you The Reunion. 1 Smalls and Talls. 3 Whitman Cleans Out Washburn. 4 A Death in the Family. 4 Magic Takes over Debate Gatherings. 5 Viva Bellagio! 5 Drake Skaggs Mourns Death of Watch. 6 2010-11 Coaching Staff 7 2010-11 Participants (40 students) 7 Fall 2010 IM Tournament 7 Team Feast at Wake. 8 Finally Trophy Cases! 9 Frosh Parli Debaters Shell-Shocked but Alive. 10 The Winter Party. 11 Pictures from the Parli Prep Session. 13 Contributions to the Team.. 14 The Policy Team.. 14 2010-11 Policy Awards. 15 The Parli Team.. 16 2010-11 Parli and IE Awards. 16 The Policy Team at the Prep Session. 18 Thanks for Reading the Newsletter! 19
Smalls and Talls After graduating and losing no less than eight people from the policy team last year, Whitman started the year with one of the youngest teams in recent memory. With no seniors and only two juniors, we knew there was a lot of work to do to climb back up the mountain. Fortunately, Whitman’s top team of Allison Humble and Alex Zendeh have risen to the occasion. They put in solid performances at every tournament they attended in the first semester, including extremely difficult tournaments like Northwestern and Harvard. Despite starting the fall semester having narrowly missed qualifying for the NDT last year, they’ve improved with every tournament, and even made it to the elimination rounds at Wake Forest. But their success isn’t anywhere as noticeable as . . . their heights are. Whitman HZ is also winning awards for “Biggest Team Height Differential” at every tournament they attend. Allison is somewhere around 4’2”, and Alex is easily over 8 feet. They’ve found that this frequently confuses their opponents, and helps give them a competitive edge. People are always surprised when Allison is so tenacious, and aren’t sure what to do when Alex says something polite.
Whitman Cleans Out Washburn The Whitman parliamentary debate team won both halves of Washburn University’s McMillian Invitation swing tournament. Partners Nigel Ramoz-Leslie and Tom Friedenbach took first place at both tournaments, recording three wins over the top-ranked team in the country. Drake Skaggs and Joel Wilson locked up second place in the second half, with impressive wins over the University of Wyoming and the tournament’s host. To top things off, Friedenbach won the top speaker award for the best individual debater at the tournament, and the squad as a whole took first place in sweepstakes. All told, Whitman walked away with every trophy the tournament bought. “Our sinister plan of increasing Whitman’s baggage fees on the way back to Walla Walla worked splendidly,” said Washburn coach Kevin O’Leary. In the pictures: Miranda and Nigel and Tom.
A Death in the Family For the first time this year, the team had a collective pet. Hunter 304 was the recent home of a small beta fish, which had its own small tank and swam happily about. Stories of who originally purchased the fish, what it was doing in Hunter, and who, precisely, was in charge of it vary – as do accounts of whether or not it has a name. That aside, multiple team members took it upon themselves to ensure the fish was fed and cared for, and it brightened the otherwise darkened pallor of the winter prep rooms. Unfortunately, the fish’s hiatus as a team member was limited – over the course of the first semester the fish became more and more ill, and was clearly reaching its last legs. In some ways, this was to be expected. After all, it was living in Hunter 304, recently declared a toxic Superfund site by the federal government. Eventually, the fish’s circumstances became so dire that several team members decided on what they termed a “mercy killing,” which involved setting it free in Lakum Duckum. It was not long for this world. Sad though this occurrence was, attention has been turned to the future – Tiffany, for example, is insistent that the team needs a turtle. This, fortunately, has been vetoed by the administration.
Magic Takes over Debate Gatherings The collectible card game “Magic: The Gathering” is booming on the parliamentary debate squad. The game, in which players deploy magical spells, fairies, vampires, and other creatures against one another, is consuming a worrying amount of some debaters’ free time. “I just can’t seem to control myself,” said Senior Nick Griffin. “I was going to quit, but then Carly (Johnson) destroyed all my mana and then gave herself +4 life with the Green Elixer card, so I had to defend my honor.” The game has become so popular that a few sets of magic cards nearly won the “best gift” accolade at the annual Christmas party. At its current growth rate, the entire Whitman team will be playing Magic 24/7 at some point late 2011.
Viva Bellagio! The team had a special treat at this year’s University of Nevada Las Vegas tournament. Thanks to the generosity of John and Megan Salzman-Medica, the entire team got to stay at the Bellagio, complete with special VIP treatment. The consensus was that it was easily the nicest hotel the team has ever stayed at – and a significant step up from the Super 8’s Jim keeps trying to book the team in. The view of the huge Bellagio fountains and the perfectly designed spa/bathtubs in each room were both great. Everyone else at the tournament was jealous of how refreshed Whitman looked when arriving at the tournament each morning. The highlight for most people was the famous Bellagio buffet, which the team attended no less than three times. Thanks to VIP line passes, the team skipped the lengthy queue and got right down to the business of stuffing themselves. The all-you-can-eat Kobe beef was a particular favorite, though several of the other 43 types of meat were strong contenders as well. Even the vegetarians found more to eat than they could handle. Thanks Megan and John! In the pictures, the Belagio fountains, Chihuly glass ceiling in the Belagio lobby, and the team after watching the fountain show: Mitch, Sean, Tiffany, Jim, Lewis, Andy, Gabriella, Tia, Alex, Ben, and David.
Drake Skaggs Mourns Death of Watch Whitman junior Drake Skaggs is mourning the death of his beloved timepiece after it passed away from old age this fall. The digital watch, which included a stopwatch, alarm function, and calendar, was rarely seen away from Drake’s arm, accompanying him to debate tournaments, class, and meals without fail. Skaggs partner, Joel Wilson, says he’s taking it hard. “Drake really seems at a loss. It’s so sad to see him glance down at his wrist and then burst into tears,” he said. Although several teammates have offered to help Drake find a new watch, he has so far refused. “I’m just not ready to move on,” he said. Jim has been asked to call a counselor.
Jim Hanson, Professor of Forensics Aaron Hardy, Policy Coach Nick Robinson, Parli-IE Coach Jimi Durkee, Assistant Policy Coach Lewis Silver, Assistant Parli-Policy Coach Nick Griffin, Student Assistant Alex Folkerth and Carter LeBlanc, Student Assistants	2010-11 Coaching Staff · Jim Hanson, Director of Forensics (19^th year), Chair, Rhetoric and Film Studies · Aaron Hardy, Policy Coach (6^th year) · Nick Robinson, Parliamentary-I.E. Coach · Jimi Durkee, Assistant Policy Coach · Lewis Silver, Assistant Parli-Policy Coach · Nick Griffin, Carter LeBlanc, and Alex Folkerth, Student Assistants · Bob Withycombe, Professor, Rhetoric and Film Studies · Robert Sickels, Professor, Rhetoric and Film Studies · George Bridges, President, Whitman College · Tim Kaufman-Osborn, Provost and Dean of Faculty · Chuck Cleveland, Dean of Students 2010-11 Participants (40 students) Adam McKibben, Alex Zendeh, Allison Humble, Andy Larson, Ben Menzies, Carly Johnson, Chris Fleming, David Collier, Drake Skaggs, Ethan Robertson, Frannie Nunn, Gabriella Friedman, Hanne Jensen, Joel Wilson, John-Henry Heckendorn, Logan Emlet, Miranda Morton, Marten King, Mitch Dunn, Nick Budak, Nick Griffin, Nigel Ramoz-Leslie, Paige Joki, Olivia Kipper, Riley Mebus, Scott Campbell, Sean Mulloy, Sean (Shanglun) Wang, Tia Butler, Tiffany Lewis, Tom Friedenbach, Will Stark, Zach Johnston. Plus Alexandra Schaffer, Aviva Prager, Jamey Moriarty (joining team fulltime in the spring), Katy Witmer, Molly Warner, Taia Handlin, Will Gregg. Fall 2010 IM Tournament It was a large tournament and featured 38 debates over the resolution “Marijuana should be legalized.” The topic borrowed from a recent California ballot proposition. Jim made a number of changes to IM Debates for this year to encourage less debate “tech” arguments and instead to focus on the public policy issues raised by the topics. To that end, affirmative debaters defended the resolution instead of a specific plan and arguments were kept focused on direct advantages and disadvantages of the resolution. “Over the years, some of the IM debaters have requested that advanced level debate arguments and strategy be minimized so that they could just argue the topic. So, I changed the rules to help assure students would be able to talk about the issues they wanted to talk about.” On this topic—that centered on marijuana’s possible health harms, whether marijuana’s penalties of jail time are excessive, cost of enforcement and possible revenue source for governments, and medical uses of marijuana. Students won cash prizes up to $30 plus t-shirts for their involvement. They also enjoyed delicious snacks brought in by team members and IM Debate Assistant, Nick Griffin. Full Info is at: http://www.whitman.edu/rhetoric/51im.htm · In experienced division, Hanne Jensen, Tim Wilder, and Gary Wang tied for 1^st Place. · In the intermediate division, Frannie Nunn, Taia Handlen tied for 1st Place. · In the inexperienced division, Kramer Hudgens, John Callow, Kieran Burkholder, Noah Lerner, and Alex Folkerth tied for 1st Place. Frannie Nunn, Tim Wilder Hanne Jensen, Gary Wang
Team Feast at Wake Team alums Ali Edwards and Eric Chalfant live in Winston-Salem, N.C. and were kind enough to invite the team (plus alums Nate Cohn and Ben Meiches) over to their apartment for a home-prepared feast at Wake Forest. Also invited was Ali and Eric’s new mini-dachshund, Tidbit, which came to dinner wearing a fetching sweater-sock. Despite being difficult not to step on accidentally, everyone agreed Tidbit was adorable and deserved to be an honorary team member. The food was awesome. Ali used her chef skills to prepare an 8 dish meal, complete with dessert and homemade sweet tea. Keeping with our Southern locale, Ali served up deep-fried okra, mashed potatoes, black-eyed peas, collard greens, mac and faux-cheese, apple cobbler, and several more. Best of all for the vegetarians, the entire feast was vegan. Not only was it a great break from the standard tournament fare (even for the meat eaters), but the team had a great time catching up and hanging out with the extended Whitman debate family. Thank you Ali and Eric (shown to the right).
Finally Trophy Cases! After some 12+ years in the Hunter Conservatory, Jim finally was able to get trophy cases. Paid from a generous capital expenses grant from the school, the trophy cabinets not only provide a great place to show off the team’s many awards, they also allowed Jim and Bob to clean out their overstocked shelves of journals. Jim noted that “they have added a nice feel and warmth to Hunter 107, one of our main team meeting rooms and the room in which I teach most of my classes. It is really nice to be surrounded by many memories of our team.” The trophy cases (two of them show above) not only look great, they came under budget by over 50% according to Jim Hanson. “We decided among several ‘finalists’ and aside from the rich beauty of these cabinets, they were also much lower priced. At a time of tight budgets, these were the right choice.” You can view more of the trophy cases and our Hunter accommodations at: Hunter Facilities Sean Wang, Paige Joki, Lewis Silver and Andy Larson
Frosh Parli Debaters Shell-Shocked but Alive All eight Whitman debate frosh managed to survive their first semester at the college this year, with some of them even flourishing. New recruits Hanne Jensen and Logan Emlet spent their first few weeks of debate practice cowering in fear, but quickly adapted. They won JV division at the Lewis and Clark College tournament and, debating with Nigel Ramoz-Leslie, a senior, at the Lewis and Clark tournament, Logan advanced to quarterfinals. “It’s been tough to adapt, especially with that psycho kid Nigel always yelling at me,” Logan said, “but I’m proud to have made it this far.” Another frosh, Paige Joki, will join the upperclass this January for a tournament in Salt Lake City. Joki said she continues to be appalled by the abject squalor of college life, and especially the policy team’s prep room. “It’s like they are trying to grow mold cultures in there,” she said. Zach, Paige, Scott, Frannie, Jamey, Nick Budak, Riley, Logan, Hanne, and Marten are the new frosh on the parli team.
The Winter Party Held at Jim’s, the team enjoyed a scrumptious meal of roasted meat, boca burgers, green beans, mashed potatoes, along with bread and humus, chips, salad, and some delicious desserts. Jim is finishing up the last batch of mashed potatoes while Chris Fleming helps in the back. The event featured the always classic stockings. Inside the stockings were a Joel Wilson choice: foam swords. That immediately brought on multiple battles in the middle of Jim’s living room. Of course, the annual gift exchange had to happen and Miranda was oh so pleased with her Justin Beiber poster. Miranda with Justin Olivia and John-Henry show their Elton John best. Paige, Will, and Ethan enjoying good times. John Henry and Zach Johnson show off their mustaches.
Pictures from the Parli Prep Session
Contributions to the Team We are grateful for your contributions to the forensic team! Generous donors May 1, 2010 through December 8, 2010 include: · Ben Meiches · Bob Withycombe · Brian Simmonds · Carole and Ronald Kearney · Daphne and Drummond Kahn · David Hackett · David Kearney · Jan Berman · Jessica Clarke · Jim Carlson · Jim Hanson · Kristofer Peterson · Loan and Jared Lam · Maile Zeng · Matt and Nicole Levin · Microsoft Corporation · PG&E Corporation Foundation · Rebekah Foster · Ryan Hagemann · Sean Harris-Campf · Steve and Sara Rowe · Thad Blank · Todd Brown · If we missed you, please tell us because we do appreciate your support!
Send contributions to The Annual Fund Office Whitman College Walla Walla WA 99362 Checks should be made out to Whitman College with a note that says to place the contribution into one of the Debate Team Funds (Salzman-Medica, Withycombe, Walker, or just say “For Debate”).
The Policy Team Left to right: Jimi (coach), Gabriella, Sean, Mitch, Ben, David, Andy, Tiffany, Tia, Alex (Aaron not pictured)
2010-11 Policy Awards ALEX ZENDEH AND ALLISON HUMBLE Gonzaga, OCTAS Northwestern, 5-3 Harvard, 5-3 Wake Forest, DOUBLES MITCH DUNN AND TIA BUTLER WNPT, Semis BEN MENZIES AND SEAN MULLOY WNPT, Semis View our new Awards Page: http://www.whitman.edu/rhetoric/000sweeps.htm
The Parli Team 1^st row: Zach Johnson, John Henry Heckendorn, Logan Emlet, Joel Wilson, Ethan Robertson 2^nd row: Jamey Moriarty, Drake Skaggs, Olivia Kipper, Miranda Morton, Frannie Nunn 3^rd row: Hanne Jensen, Nick Budak, Paige Joki, Sean Wang, Will Stark, Chris Fleming, Tom Friedenbach, Nick Robinson (coach) 4^th row: Adam McKibben, Nick Griffin, Carly Johnson, Riley Mebus, Marten King Not pictured Lewis Silver, Nigel Ramoz-Leslie, Scott Campbell 2010-11 Parli and IE Awards ADAM MCKIBBEN AND PAIGE JOKI NW Warmup, Octas UPS, Octas CARLY JOHNSON Lewis and Clark, 3rd, Junior Extemp CARLY JOHNSON AND OLIVIA KIPPER NW Warmup, Octas CHRIS FLEMING Lewis and Clark, 6th Open Impromptu CHRIS FLEMING AND NICK GRIFFIN NW Warmup, Semis Lewis and Clark, Quarters UPS, Quarters Washburn I, Octas Washburn II, Octas DRAKE SKAGGS AND JOEL WILSON NW Warmup, Octas Lewis and Clark, Semis UPS, Semis Washburn I, Octas Washburn II, First (closeout) ETHAN ROBERTSON Lewis and Clark, 2nd, Junior Extemp FRANNIE NUNN AND NICK BUDAK Lewis and Clark, First Novice HANNE JENSEN AND LOGAN EMLET Lewis and Clark, First JV JOHN-HENRY HECKENDORN AND MIRANDA MORTON NW Warmup, Quarters Lewis and Clark, Second UPS, Semis Washburn I, Octas Washburn II, Quarters LOGAN EMLET Lewis and Clark, 3rd Novice Impromptu LOGAN EMLET AND NIGEL RAMOZ-LESLIE NW Warmup, Quarters MARTEN KING AND NICK BUDAK NW Warmup, First (tie) Novice UPS, First JV (tie) MIRANDA MORTON Lewis and Clark, 5th, Junior Extemp NICK BUDAK Lewis and Clark, 2nd Novice Impromptu NIGEL RAMOZ-LESLIE AND TOM FRIEDENBACH Lewis and Clark, Quarters UPS Round Robin, Semis UPS, Second Colorado I, Second Colorado II, Octas Washburn I, First Washburn II, First PAIGE JOKI Lewis and Clark, 1st, Novice Extemp RILEY MEBUS AND SCOTT CAMPBELL NW Warmup, First (tie) Novice Lewis and Clark, Semis Novice UPS, First JV (tie) SEAN WANG Lewis and Clark, 5th Junior Impromptu SCOTT CAMPBELL Lewis and Clark, 3rd, Novice Extemp TOM FRIEDENBACH Lewis and Clark, 4th, Junior Extemp WILL STARK Lewis and Clark, 2nd, Novice Extemp ZACH JOHNSON Lewis and Clark, 6th Junior Extemp View our new Awards Page: http://www.whitman.edu/rhetoric/000sweeps.htm
The Policy Team at the Prep Session
Thanks for Reading the Newsletter! Team News, History, Results, and More Jim hanging out in his office—too many computers! :)