The debate team is currently arguing a national topic: reduction of fossil fuel consumption. During the weekend of October 8-10, debaters Dusty Day (senior, Canton, IL) and Elizabeth Thompson (junior, Effingham, IL) competed in their first novice tournament at Northern Illinois University. Day and Thompson represented ISU well as they beat teams from Capital University and the University of Wisconsin at Osh Kosh in tournament competition. Day also ranked eighth in the overall individual speaker rankings. Competing at Loyola University in only their second tournment, Day and Thompson defeated teams from Miami University, University of Florida, and Marquette University. Day ranked fourth and Thompson ranked seventh in the overall individual speaker rankings. "The reason I really like doing this," said Day,  "is because I get a lot of direct coaching. It's a really great way to learn, not just about debate, but about the world. And, it's a great way to meet people." Thompson concurs: "It's a huge challenge, in an intellectual way. You learn to look at arguments from different perspectives, and it challenges the way you look at things."

The ISU debate team is coached by Dr. Joseph Zompetti (Director of Forensics and Assistant Professor of Communication) and Michelle Kelsey, communication graduate student. The team plans to debate at the Augustana, Marquette, and Notre Dame tournaments in the Spring.