Forensics begins season with first-place finish

By Valerie DePan

To MHCC Shannon Valdivia, director of forensics, winning is a familiar word in her vocabulary, and it’s a word that’s likely to stick considering the forensic team’s latest win.

MHCC’s 2006-07 forensics team took top honors for community colleges and finished eight overall out of 31 teams that competed at the Lewis and Clark College Invitational Oct. 14-15.

It is Sean Robinson’s second year on the team. Robinson attributes winning to the team’s solid commitment. “Our team is organized, we practice and practice is what makes all the difference in the world,” Robinson said. “It was a team effort and it showed.”

Forensics is another word for speech and debate. The competitions are divided into three categories: senior, junior and novice. A novice has no experience whereas a senior has the most. The topics and categories are endless. Valdivia said each Forensics team member individually walked with an award including:

Ally Fields placed first in senior dramatic and third in junior pose. Natalie Fetsch placed as a finalist in senior persuasion and second in junior prose. Andrew Hazell placed third in novice extemporaneous. Kristin Palmblad placed as finalist in novice persuasion. Jedidiah Parfitt placed first in senior poetry.

Valdivia said, “In Parliamentary Debate, MHCC advanced four teams to the elimination rounds while three students were singled out for speaker awards.”

Fields was named third best speaker in the novice division. Robinson placed fifth and Fetsche eighth in the junior division.

Honors were awarded to MHCC’s following teams:

Novice Division’s Field and Parfitt placed Octofinalists whereas Justin Wiley, Moriah Schaffer and Hazell placed quarterfinalist.

Junior Division’s Jay Sabin and Max Stanaford placed Octofinalists; Robinson and Behmer placed second in junior division.

Last year, MHCC’s 2005-06 forensics team took first place in a regional championship for the Pi Kappa Delta. “It was the college’s second regional tile,” Valdivia said.

While the word forensics may bring to mind pictures of investigative criminal science, the word forensics actually means “the study or practice of formal debate; argumentation,” according to Tormont Webster’s Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary.

Robinson said, “Public speaking is the number two fear in the United States.” Robinson has been offered several scholarships. “Public speaking sets up a student for success,” he added. Not only has forensics provided outstanding opportunities but also it makes academics, research, and writing a snap, Robinson said.

The next tournament scheduled for the college’s forensics team will be at MHCC. The college is hosting the first Greater Portland Parliamentary League Tournament. This event takes place Tuesday, Oct. 24.

For more information regarding MHCC Forensics, contact Valdvia at 503-491-7634.