Novice Northstate Debaters win at Northridge

Novice policy debaters Brea Jones and Claudia Militano won top honors at the Epicenter Classic hosted at CSU, Northridge on Nov. 6-9, 2003. Brea and Claudia also took 1st and 2nd place speaker awrds, respectively. The novice policy team of Troy Purdum and Jennifer Davis were semifinalists. In a collasped division of Open and Junior Varsity, Chekechea Pryor and Victoria Riordan were octafinalists.

Individual Event competitors were a large presence at the tournament as well. Mike Spelfinger was in the finals of After Dinner Speaking and Information. Hugo Allen competed in the finals of Dramatic Interpretation.

Institute Award goes to Chico State Student

Amy Jones, a second semester competitor for Chico State's award winning debate team, was awarded the Browning Award at the Arizona Debate Institute in Tempe AZ. This award recoginizes one competitor for their excellence in learning, research and competitive conduct. Nearly 200 students from colleges and universities across the nation attend the institute held July 27-August 10 on the ASU campus. The institute provides intensive training for college debaters and jumps starts research on the year's resolution. This year college debaters will discuss the relationship between the United States and the European Union. The resolution covers topics such as farm subsidies, the reconstruction in Iraq as well as the US's involvement in NATO, to name a few.

Debate Team 16th in Nation

Final rankings of the 2002-2003 competitive season were released by the Cross Examination Debate Association in April. California State University, Chico finished the year 16th in the nation. This ranking marks the fourth consecutive year CSU, Chico debate has crested the top twenty. The team's high rank is due to impressive performances from both novice and varsity debaters. CSU, Chico has been in the final round of at least one division for nearly all tournaments attended this year.

Coaches Awarded Honors

Kristopher Willis was awarded Critic of the Year at the Cross Examination Debate Tournament. This award recognizes his perceptive feedback to student competitors throughout the year and his professionalism. The Critic of the Year award has gone to a CSU, Chico Teaching Assistant for the last 3 years. Aaron Hess, debate assistant, will be honored at this year's School of Communication Achievement Dinner for his thesis work. Hess will receive the Outstanding Thesis Award for Communication Arts and Sciences.