Sheila 'Shae' Ortega being given the one minute mark on her available time. On Saturday, February 8th, the annual Speak Out event was held at the Center building of Lane Community College. Ortega, gave a speech on the color purple and spoke of the laws of attraction.
Six students debate topics relevant to student issues
The fourth annual Speak Out at Lane Community College began Saturday morning on Feb. 8 at 9 a.m. Daniel Henry has run all four of the events. Henry is a full-time speech and communication instructor who was drawn to LCC because of the diversity of students and their educational needs.
Any student at Lane that has taken, or is currently taking, a communications class is eligible to participate in the debate and speeches. Around 20-30 students typically take part in the annual event—this includes judges and presenters.
The event grew from Henry’s passion for providing opportunities for students to discover their voices and hone their capacity to make clear messages and deliver them orally. He said, “We plan to continue with the Speak-Out as a low-anxiety, informal opportunity for Lane students to enrich their communication skills whether as speakers or listeners.”
The day began with individual speeches and then moved onto debates. Due to the participation of only six students as debaters, there were only two debates that occurred. They were done simultaneously in two separate rooms. One room had two teams of two people, while the other room was a one on one debate.
After each round the three judges made decisions based on specific criteria listed on critique sheets, which the students received at the end of the contest. Roughly 15 students and a few bystanders were involved with attending the event as speakers and judges.
Daniel Henry introducing Speak Out on February 8, Saturday, to newcomers and giving an overview of how the event will go. Henry is the runner and conceiver of Speak Out; this is the 4th annual event in a row. 
In addition to student judges, there were guests present who filled out separate, more detailed, grading forms. These longer sheets allow for a more specific and in-depth analysis of each participant’s argument. These give way for a speaker to better understand their weaknesses and ways of improving. 
Sheila ‘Shae’ Ortega being given the one minute mark on her available time. On Saturday, February 8th, the annual Speak Out event was held at the Center building of Lane Community College. Ortega, gave a speech on the color purple and spoke of the laws of attraction.
The debate topics were chosen with the aim to be relevant to students’ lives and reflect present-day issues. “I selected the debate topics from a list built by students in my persuasion class.”
The first debate resolution was whether the Measles, Mumps and Rubella vaccine should be mandated by the government. The second debate proposition was if social media should be regulated for content.
MariAnna Hinojosa won the informative speech, with Sarah Lopez close behind in second. In the persuasive speeches Lopez placed first and Tallis Andresen took second. The top speakers in the debates were Aria Hidy, Sarah Lopez, Maggy Edmonds and Connor Bigelow.
