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The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater speech team headed to Illinois on Saturday, February 4, 2017 for the MCC Crystal Clear Reception Tournament. First and second year members of the team got the chance to compete in 10 different individual categories including prose, persuasion, dramatic interpretation, critical analysis, extempt, poetry, info, after dinner speaking, and poi.

The novice performers kicked off their day at 8 a.m. by shaking off some nerves in warm-ups. Then put on their game face as they went into the first flight of competition, with the second flight following shortly after.

As the speech competitors performed throughout the day snacks and water were provided to them to keep their energy up. After, all for the lady forensicators it’s never an easy task to walk all over a campus for several hours in heels.

With the day settling down, tensions ran high while the team waited for the final results postings. Freshmen, Jenny Tooney stated “It would be great to final in persuasion or prose because that means the opportunity to earn qualifications for nationals.”

Many members of the team shared the same mutual feelings as Tooney. With the National Forensics Association competition coming in only a couple short months, this was one of the last chances to qualify for some.

When final results were posted, congratulations were in order for eight members of the team made it into the final rounds, and some in multiple individual events.

However, no one leveled up to the excitement of freshmen, Isabella Sengluab. It was Sengluabs first time ever making a final in her collegiate forensics career. “I can’t believe it finally happened,” said Sengluab through unshed tears.

Assistant coach, Sonny Deguzman gave words of encouragement before sending them all off into their finals. The team headed to the MCC auditorium as final rounds ended and awaited awards.

Each category got called up one-by-one as the audience applauded and music played in between. The speech team racked in 14 individual awards, and took fourth place overall in team awards.

It was a proud day for the speaking Warhawks and they walked out the building with their heads held high. Sophmore, Anna Messermichdt explained, “It’s not often that we travel without the whole team, so to be able to accomplish this goal and let our veteran team members know we go this is a really good feeling.”

The speech team is set to continue their season next weekend with Lovefest at the University of Wisconsin Eau-Claire on Saturday, February 11, 2016.

A Speech Bowl Event

February 27, 2015

By Starr Lee

On February 27, 2016 the University of Wisconsin Whitewater Speech Team hosted its annual Forensics Speech Bowl competition on campus. With over 587 high school students in attendance from 40 different schools in the surrounding area.

*The Speech Bowl has been around for several years and the UW- Whitewater Speech Team Director, Jim Disrude has kept on this tradition because “it is important to give back to the high school community and is a great time for recruiting students interested in collegiate forensics.”

The competition began at 7:40 a.m., with registration in the University Center. There was a total of 600 entries.

Coaches led their teams to find quiet places to do warm-ups, practice pieces, and eat breakfast. However, one can imagine the difficulty of finding a silent area in a building full of people who participate in speech as an activity.

The Whitewater speech team ran around helping students find rooms, answering questions, and listening to any concerns one might have. Whitewater Sophmore and speech team member Heather Patterson, describes the experience as “ an incredible energy because everyone is so excited to be there and I think the college setting makes it so much more fun and unique than your typical high school forensics tournament.”

Student’s compete against each other in categories such as Farrago, Prose, Radio, 4-Minute Speaking, Moments in History, and Poetry. Each student is assigned a room along with up to seven other competitors all performing at their best to gain a first place rank.

After three rounds, results of finals was revealed as students gathered around in bunches screaming, hugging, and crying from tears of joy.

At the award ceremony Senior, Hannah Farajpanahi performed her award winning poetry piece in the young auditorium packed with high-schoolers. “You spend so much time cultivating the perfect performance so you can really communicate with your audience, but you usually do not see the effect your message has on people, this was overwhelming” says Farajphanai after recieving a standing ovation.   

Forensics is an activity that can help students succeed socially, academically, and professionally. These forensciators love what they do and it shines through in their performances.

A Steve Jobs’ Commencement Speech

June 12, 2005

By Starr Lee

Today, Steve Jobs’ graced the graduating class of 2005 s at Stanford University with a commencement speech the students will never forget. Job’s shares life stories of struggles he has overcame that has molded him into the business mogul who stands on the stage before us.

In delivering the speech, Job’s exclaims the process of connecting the dots, love and loss, and death.

When speaking on connecting the dots Jobs discusses how his birth mother did not want him. Yet, she would not give him up to the adoptive parents without their promise that he would someday attend college.

Yet, Jobs never completed his degree at Reed College in Portland, Oregon that his adoptive parents spent their life savings to afford. “I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and college was not going to help me figure that out” says Jobs.

However, this did not stop him from getting his education. Jobs became a drop-in student and attended courses that sparked his interest such as calligraphy. He stated, “ If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts.

Also, having no place to rest he took to settling into friend’s dorm rooms.

Job’s describes his journey in a way that makes one feel that there is nothing in life that is definite. One has to take risk and be willing to do whatever is necessary to achieve success by having faith and believing that everything can work out great.

Jobs and Steve “Woz” Kovinak worked together tiresly in Jobs parents garage eventually developing a business they called Apple Inc that “in ten years would grow into a $2 billion company with over 4,000 employees.”

Love came with the strong feelings he felt for computers and relationship he developed with Laurene Powell. While, loss came when he was fired from the company in regards to a man he helped to hire. After getting fired, Jobs turned a negative into a positive by starting new companies, NeXT and Pixar.

Five years later, Pixar became popular from creating “the world’s first animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world.”

Eventually, Jobs found himself back in his lead position at his former company when Apple purchased NeXT.

Over a year ago, Jobs faced a health scare when he was diagnosed with an incurable cancer. Doctors felt his illness would only take a terrible turn quickly and he needed to prepare for the worst.

Though Jobs like any other challenge faced was not giving up, and thankfully was able to have surgery to remove the tumor. For him giving up meant he had “ to try to tell your kids everything you thought you would have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months.”

His journey came with quite a few bumps in the road but nevertheless did not stop him from becoming CEO of Apple and Pixar Animation Studios. Jobs lives his dreams and dares us all to go out and do the same.

Today it was announced that the City of Kittatinny will be facing some tough budgeting cuts in hopes of recovering its financial stability. The city’s main employer, Susquehanna Steel Corp., Blast Furnace Unit 1 shut down causing the loss of 600 hundred jobs and sparking a financial crisis.

Mayor Gustavus G. Petykiewicz announced a budget plan that is sure to raise questions from the city council and community.

Petykiwicz has been talking with City Council President Denelda Penoyer in hopes of getting the proposal passed however, it will take 4 out of 7 votes from city council members to make any of the plans official.

During the press conference with Petykiwicz, he speaks on if the city tax rate was to hypothetically go up to 5 mills with a tax bill of $500 a year and increased tax by 25 percent. “By doing this, there would be enough money to take care of the financial possibilities however, Kittatinny is a working class city, says Petykiwicz.”

However, Petykiewiciz proposal now is to only raise tax rate from 4 mills to 4.3 mills.

One of the major cuts in the budget plan was police protection which will indeed cause a safety concern for many Kittatinny residents. According to the proposal, no officers will be on duty from 4 a.m. till noon each day.

When asked about his thoughts on this idea and whether it will promote more crime, Chief of Police, Roman Hruska responded “it’s a hate brained idea, I don’t know what the mayor was thinking and I cannot stand by and watch a city of this size be deprived of daily protection a third of each day.”

Bjarne Westhoff, president of Pennsylvania Police Association Local 34 was not too thrilled about it either calling the mayor’s idea “dumb.”

The police staff was not alone with their thoughts completely; Penoyer’s first thoughts on the budget plan was “some of them are unacceptable and won’t get through council.”

Penoyer also, weighed in on the possibility of taxes being raised to 5 million since it would help law enforcement keep their jobs but acknowledges the financial struggles residents are facing.

President of American Federation of State County and Municipal Local 644, Martha Mittengrabben states “there must be a spirit of shared sacrifice, pain is necessary.”

Penoyer also discusses the new Tohickon Creek Plaza and how it will add about 12 million dollars to citizen base and that “it is important to think about the future. “ There is a Trade Readjustment Allowance U.S. for people who want to get training in different fields.

This week, public hearings will be held for people to come and voice their concerns; also, send letters, email, and call.

Other proposals included in the plan was a drivable weed vehicle to help clean up the city to attract more tourists and bring in more money.

Residential Assessments will not expand until further notice due to possible problems with there being abandoned houses with people in town having no income.

A balanced budget must be approved by the council and signed into law by the mayor by March 31, 2016

Elizabeth “Betsy” Jordan is an English major on the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater campus. Rarely seen without a book or coffee in her hands; Jordan is a proud Diversity Advocate and Resident Assistant.

There are many students and peers who look up to her and professors who admire the leadership she demonstrates daily. Junior, Janelle Heidelmeier describes Jordan as “someone who will help anyone academically or personally.”

In December, 2015 Jordan’s love for literature reached beyond the classroom and into the hearts of others. In hopes of helping those in homeless shelters, domestic violence shelters, and prisons who have little to no access to books, Jordan created a book drive on campus.

Utilizing her creed “Books are expensive, knowledge is priceless.” Jordan employed the use of social media, posters, and email to spread word.

Through these tactics, her drive has already received over 300 donations. This cause is significant to her because “A single book could potentially change someone’s life when they are in a terrible situation, it can help them gain a positive outlook for the future.”

The selection of books donated can help adults and children to expand their minds such as critical thinking, mathematics, history, and other crucial life skills. For Jordan, it is important for others to feel wealthy in knowledge, and have resources that they are able to utilize.

Therefore, she is continuing to work hard for them to have literature options.

However, Jordan’s voice for change does not stop there. She is using her voice to promote diversity and equality on campus.

Jordan comes from a mixed background with a white mother and black father, which has created some racial barriers within her family dynamics.

Her belief is that when one hears negative views on campus regarding race, people should speak up and educate others.

This past November she presented research on privilege within advocacy at a diversity forum entitled “Checking your Privileges at the Door: Boundaries within Advocacy.” The research shed light on the act of respecting the cultures and customs of others; and further, realizing that no matter what you are advocating for there will always be different levels to the privileges one has.

Jordan’s fight for advocacy for others has not gone unnoticed. Anyone can help her cause by donating books to the boxes located in the resident halls on campus and helping be that voice for change.

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