UT Tyler Debate Team Places First at State Tournament

February 13, 2004

The University of Texas at Tyler's Amy Arellano and Noah Conklin placed first at the Texas Intercollegiate Forensic Association Spring Tournament held Feb. 6-7 in Hurst.

Three other teams from UT Tyler placed in debate competition at the tournament, which was attended by 20 universities and colleges from across the state, said Dr. Jeffrey Hobbs, UT Tyler debate coach and associate professor of speech communications.

Arellano and Conklin were named to the Texas All State Forensic Squad after defeating a Texas Tech University team to claim the state championship in open parliamentary debate. The debate resolution for the final round was, “Resolved: That banking on the lottery to finance education in the state of Texas was a poor bet.’’

UT Tyler students Barry Cooper and Nicole Marks reached the quarterfinal round of open parliamentary debate, while Grant McKnight and Ryan Palmquist reached the semifinal round. Sean Dodd and Whitney Shannon placed first in the novice division of parliamentary debate.

The team's next competition will be Feb. 20-22 at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville.