Associate professor brings back speech competition for students

Calvin Alagot/Roundup calagot.roundupnews@gmail.com opportunity to take the skills they have acquired and use them outside of the classroom.

“The tournament showcases the student’s success and empowers students who may have had a fear of public speaking,” Silver said. “It allows them to take the skills that they learned inside the classroom and transfer it outside, in the real world. To be able to apply those skills, that’s what it’s about.”

Past events, the last known recorded being in 1978, only included a few select students. This new event is open to all Speech 101 students, which includes 37 sections.

“This is on a much bigger scale than we’ve ever done,”

Silver said.

Nearly a hundred Speech 101 students are participating in the event that is divided into two categories: informative and persuasive speaking. Three winners will be selected for each category.

The first round of the tournament will be held in the Village at 12:30 p.m.

Finalists will be announced in the Great Hall around 2:30 p.m. and will be judged by a three person panel.

Each speaker will be given five to seven minutes and the only restriction is that speakers will not be allowed to use technology, said Silver.

“Students have been advised to get creative and go old school and make poster boards and props and models and all kinds of stuff,” Silver said.

Participants in the tournament will be competing for trophies and cash prizes. First place will receive $200, second will get $100 and third $50.

Silver has been organizing the event since the beginning of the semester and would like for members of the campus to support the students and their hard work.

Khachik Ter-Kazaryan, one of Silver’s Speech 101 students, will be giving an informative speech about the history of rap music.

“It’s a great opportunity for all the kids to participate in the event and speak,” Ter-Kazaryan said. “It’s going to be really fun.”

-Le ers-

RE: “Gun safety course draws fire”

As a former international shooting competitor, a licensed firearms instructor, and a tenured faculty member, I am pleased that Pierce has the foresight and initiative to promote firearms education by offering a gun safety class on campus.

There are many people who inherit firearms or otherwise want to purchase these for recreational use or home protection. These people should have ready access to proper training on how to handle, enjoy, and properly store their firearms.

In fact, State law requires the demonstration of basic firearms handling skills prior to any gun purchase. I am sure the course instructor, Mr. Koehler, is taking every reasonable precaution to safeguard both the students and the community and the school’s reputation.

If guns on campus are the problem, firearms can be rendered total useless by simply removing the firing pin, and there are numerous “nongun” manufacturers who produce non-firing yet mechanically functional replicas of many modern firearms types.

I hope the college administration will not cave in to the weakly stated arguments of the Woodland Hills-Warner Center Neighborhood Council, and I applaud the nine members of the Council who showed restraint in voting against the move to ban this class.

Dr. J.S. Eisenlauer Department of Anthropological & Geographical Sciences Pierce College

umbs up & thumbs down

Summer session is stupendous

The summer session of classes at Pierce College is back this semester with 150 new classes available. Students looking to get back on track or ahead of the curve can really use the extra session to do this.

Thankfully, the school’s budget allows for these classes to return, and thanks to the administration for bringing back the much-needed classes.

New policy is pestiferous

The fall 2013 semester will kick off a new policy at Pierce College where certain types of classes will be nonrepeatable upon passing completion. This policy is intended to get students out of Pierce faster and to focus on getting students their degrees. But the policy will actually hurt students in some situations, such as in the case of older students attending school for fun or members of the media arts department and its three publications.

-Online Poll Results-

Q: Have you ever been to the Farm Center?

Out of 29 No

Q: Which would you rather buy for lunch?

Out of 28

Fruits and veggies from a food cart 71%

Meals from the current food trucks