Speech team takes first at tournament

Penn has a speech team? The chairperson of the University's speech team, College junior Chad Boonswang, said that if he had a dime for every time he's been asked that he'd be a rich man. Not only does the University have a speech team, but it's good. Last weekend the team took first place in the 12th annual Collegiate Forensic Winter Weekend Tournament in Montreal. Fourteen schools including Penn State, Hofstra, and Bloomsburg universities competed in this year's events. The tournament has nine events separated into three categories. In the first, limited preparation, the competitor is given a question which must be answered immediately in a seven minute speech. Dramatic poetry, the second type, consists of readings of prose, poetry or short duo-interpretation skits. Boonswang received a first place award in this category for his reading of "The Man in the Yellow Gloves," a first person narrative free verse contemporary poem by David St. John. In the third category of competition, public address, the competitors deliver 10-minute prepared speeches which are either persuasive, humorous, or informative. The team's captain, College junior Hayes Lewis, is very excited about this weekend's win which he predicted on Saturday. "When I heard that Penn b-ball beat Penn State I thought this might just be our weekend and it turned out to be true," Lewis said. The Speech Team is funded through SAC as opposed to through the Communications Department, so the team does not have money for a coach. "The lack of a coach, coupled with the fact that the University was one of the smallest teams competing in the tournament, made this weekend's win feel even more like a well-earned victory." said Lewis. Boonswang also said he wants students to know that the speech team does exist and is very active. The team's next tournament is the Pennsylvania State College Speech Championships, which are on February 21 and 22. Anyone interested in participating can call Chad at 573-8716.

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