Three Jefferson Students qualify for State Debate Tournament

Three Jefferson students qualifed for the State Debate Tournament. Jefferson
qualified 3 debaters: Seniors Arif Hasan and Corey Velgersdyk and Junior
Nick Groenke.

Hasan and Groenke placed as section champions in policy
debate and Velgersdyk placed 4th in Lincoln-Douglas debate at the section
qualifying tournament hosted at Jefferson High School. This will be Hasan's
second trip to the state debate tournament. This is the first time
Jefferson has qualified a Lincoln-Douglas debater to the tournament.

"I am very proud that this year we placed first in policy debate," said Meredith Aby, head debate coach at Jefferson. "We haven't done that since the early 90s! I am also excited that we qualified in Lincoln-Douglas. I don't believe Jefferson has EVER qualified a debater in that event to the state tournament! This is an exceptional group of students!"

The State Debate Tournament, which is the Minnesota State High School
League's longest-running event, marks its 105th anniversary this year. The
tournament will be held at Coon Rapids High School Jan. 13 and 14, and new champions will emerge in both categories.

While students in some rooms are debating whether the federal government
should decrease its authority to detain or search without probable cause,
students in other rooms will be debating whether or not the state's power of
eminent domain to promote private enterprise is unjust. Sixty students from
25 high schools will plot affirmative and negative strategies to enable them
to effectively debate these current issues during the 2006 State Debate
Tournament.

Katie Poulos of St. Paul Highland Park is the highest returning qualifier in
Lincoln-Douglas debate. She earned runner-up honors last year. In Policy
debate, Rick Ducott of Eagan is the highest returning competitor. He placed
second with Kevin Troy in 2005.

The Spotlight on the Arts Award of Excellence will also be presented at the
2006 tournament. Wells Fargo, the League's premier corporate sponsor,
created the recognition program for fine arts participants in cooperation
with the League.

Policy Debate
This year's policy debate issue is "Resolved: The United States federal
government should substantially decrease its authority either to detain
without charge or to search without probable cause."

Eighteen teams of two from 12 schools will compete. There are 19 individuals
involved this year who competed last year.

Eagan's Rick Ducott is the highest returning qualifier. He earned runner-up
honors with Kevin Troy in 2005. This year he will partner with Samantha
Oxborough.

Four teams from 2005 return intact: Sarah Mogen and Rachel Sternhagen of
Moorhead; Mia Bonitto and Dana Rognlie of Moorhead; Ian Cero and Carley
Hurley of Rosemount; and Juan Garcia and Ruby Langworthy of St. Paul
Highland Park. Cero and Hurley were the only competitors to advance beyond
the preliminary rounds. They lost in the quarterfinals.

Two repeat competitors return with new partners this year: Miranda
Meidlinger of Mankato West with Jake Swede, and Arif Hasan of Bloomington
Jefferson with Nick Groenke. Aneesh Sohoni and Thomas Langle of Wayzata
competed with different partners last year, but teamed up this season.

Besides Cero and Hurley, only two other return competitors advanced beyond
the opening rounds in 2005. Sohoni lost in the quarterfinals and Langle fell
in the semifinals of last year's tournament.

Three competitors who were alternates last year will compete for their
respective schools this year: Qiu Chen of Worthington with Kristi Kuhl;
Michael Lando of St. Paul Highland Park with Nat Olson; and Doug Gschneider
of Edina with Logan Chin. Boris Kessler and Patrick Heffner were both
alternates for Wayzata in 2005, but qualified together as a team for this
year's tournament..

Brett Lind of Rosemount is the only competitor to represent his school as an
alternate for the second consecutive year.

Mankato West, Moorhead, Eagan, St. Paul Highland Park, Wayzata, and Edina
each have qualified two teams. The qualifying teams are the first- through
third-place finishers from the six section tournaments.

Lincoln-Douglas Debate
This year's Lincoln-Douglas debate topic is "Resolved: The use of the
state's power of eminent domain to promote private enterprise is unjust."

Twenty-four students from 18 schools are qualified. The qualifiers are the
first- through fourth-place finishers from the six section tournaments.

Among the 24 qualifiers are five individuals who competed last year. Tim
Greenfield of Apple Valley, Billy Affield of Barnsville, Katie Poulos of St.
Paul Highland Park, Amanda Bryan of Coon Rapids, and Elizabeth Scoggin of
Edina. Greenfield, Affield, and Bryan all lost in the preliminary rounds.
Scoggin made it to the quarterfinals and Poulos was the runner-up. Lauren
Cork or Eagan, who won the event in 2005, graduated last spring.

Apple Valley, Eastview, Brainerd, Eagan, Forest Lake, and Coon Rapids each
qualified two competitors for this year's tournament.

As it occurred when Lincoln and Douglas debated more than a century ago,
this event pits individual against individual.