BOISE STATE FORENSICS TEAM WINS TWO NATIONAL AWARDS

Boise State University�s forensics team received two awards from the Pi Kappa Delta National Honor Society at the national PKD convention and speech and debate tournament hosted by Boise State in late March.

The school�s PKD chapter was awarded the Presidential Chapter Award as the outstanding program in the West Region (encompassing Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming). The award is based on service to the community, academic excellence and competitive success over the previous two years.

In addition, Boise State�s director of forensics Marty Most received the President�s Award for outstanding service to Pi Kappa Delta from 1999-2001. Most has coached Boise State speech and debate for 12 of the last 13 years.

Seventy-two schools participated in this year�s tournament, representing 28 states and 600 competitors. Boise State placed fifth in debate, seventh in speech and sixth in combined speech and debate. With only nine students competing, Boise State had the smallest squad of any school in the top ten.

Individually, Boise State students won the following awards:

Parliamentary Debate: Open division � Imran Ali (Boise) and Brooke Baldwin (Idaho Falls), third; JV division � Ken Rock (Coeur D�Alene) and Misti Rutledge (Kimberly), second; Novice division � Joe Buckles (Meridian) and Carla Emery (Boise), third. All received excellent ratings.

Individual Events: Rachel Wheatley (Rigby) � excellent in poetry interpretation; Brook Smith (Heyburn) � excellent in persuasive, informative, extemporaneous and impromptu speaking; EvyAnn Neff (Blackfoot) � superior in persuasive speaking and excellent in poetry interpretation; Rock � excellent in persuasive and informative speaking.

Boise State�s debate team ended this year�s season 17th out of 294 schools in the National Parliamentary Debate Association�s final national standings. It�s the fourth time in five years that the team has finished in the nation�s top 20. Boise State tied with Creighton University, just behind Notre Dame and ahead of University of Southern California. UC-Berkeley finished first.

Finishes for other Idaho schools: College of Southern Idaho, 38th; Albertson College of Idaho, 58th; Ricks College, 79th; Lewis-Clark State College, 128th; Northwest Nazarene University, 129th; and University of Idaho, 157th.

Contact:
Marty Most
Communication
426-1920

Media Contact:
Kathleen Mortensen
communications and marketing
426-3275