This February Binghamton University’s speech team will host the regional championships on campus. This is just one more accomplishment for the team, which has had great success this semester.

‘The team has been in existence for many years, but we are just now gaining recognition throughout campus,’ said Amanda Jaret, the club’s president.

The team recently placed third overall in a tournament held in Boston, with Jaret and members Fang Fang Fu and Laura Winocur placing in the top ranks of their categories.

The speech team competes in tournaments against other schools in the Individual Events division, focusing on individual competitions of written and oral communication.

‘This encompasses both verbal and non-verbal means of message transmission, and focuses on a variety of presentation styles,’ said team member Dana Stecker.

The members compete in three events ‘ public address, limited preparation events and interpretive events.

Public address speaking allows competitors to research the speech topic, while limited preparation allows students a time frame ranging from 30 seconds to half an hour to prepare. The interpretive events are determined based on the competitors’ theatrical abilities.

Club members are given four credits through the English department’s independent study program, and are thus required to participate in at least three tournaments per semester.

Senior member Fu, however, stressed the fact that students don’t have to fill out an application to join the team.

‘There are no requirements before hand to join the team, just the willingness to put in the effort and try,’ she said.

During the weekend of the Regional Championship in February, the speech team will also hold its second annual Showcase Dinner.

‘[Last year] speechies [sic] and debaters performed for the alumni, faculty and SA during dinner, to showcase what we do. It was very successful and we will do it again in February,’ explained Fu.