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Printer-Friendly ModeSenior wins second Sims
November 12, 2007 —
Senior Kevan Umberfield received first-place at the 18th annual Sims' Public Speaking Competition held Friday in the Rhea Miller Recital hall.
Umberfield took home $400 after beating out five other competitors in the final round of the competition. Umberfield won for his persuasive speech, "Burzynski Breakthrough and Parent's Choice," which presented a case for the use of antineoplastons as an alternative treatment for cancer. The first-place finish was Umberfield's second in his tenure at SVSU.
Umberfield said that his cousin's personal experience was his main source of information.
"I've known about it since 1996, so because of that I've been able to research it since then, learn a lot about some of these other patients discussed and their stories," the math and history student from Freeland said.
"And I've learned that this is an actual treatment that has options and I think it's really important for people to hear that there are options like this out there."
Umberfield first won the competition in 2005.
Communication sophomore Holly Plewa finished second with a speech arguing for better support for the arts, and education junior Kelli Fitzpatrick took third place with her speech "Movies and Wartime."
As the second-place winner, Plewa won $200, and Fitzpatrick won $100 as the third-place finisher.
Communication senior Meghann Carr ("Legalizing Prostitution in the United States"), communication senior Megan Lang ("Saving for Retirement"), and computer science sophomore Marcus Fitzpatrick ("Performance-Enhancing Drugs") rounded out the rest of the top six. All received $50 prizes.
Umberfield and the other finalists made it to the last round after having received the top six scores after preliminary rounds of judging. Each competitor delivered their speech twice and was judged on a the fundamental elements of public speaking.
"There was a score sheet which talked about introduction, delivery, content, controversy, and conclusion," said SVSU President Eric R. Gilbertson, who attended the event as one of the final judges. "It was a blended evaluation of both what they said and how they said it."
Argumentation and credible sources were also criteria for judging.
This year had a record number of 40 participants, all from an assortment of different majors.
Why does Linda Sims (along with her husband, Larry) continue to sponsor the event?
"Public speaking is important," she said.