[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 88 (Thursday, May 25, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1125]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


               TRIBUTE TO RHODES COLLEGE MOCK TRIAL TEAM

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                          HON. HAROLD E. FORD

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 24, 1995
  Mr. FORD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and pay tribute to 
members of the Rhodes College Mock Trial Team for winning the 1995 
National Intercollegiate Mock Trial Tournament. Rhodes College, a 
prestigious four year liberal arts college in my congressional 
district, has for six consecutive years, sent a group of students to 
the National Intercollegiate Mock Trial Tournament. For four out of six 
years, the Rhodes College Mock Trial Team has captured this 
distinguished award.
  These undergraduates deserve special mention because they have 
developed the vital skills of communication, advocacy and rhetoric. 
Mastery of these skills will make them well qualified for careers in 
public service, the professions or business. Led by Political Science 
Professor Marc Pohlman and Memphis Attorney Whit Gurkin, the team 
consisted of the following Rhodes students: Melissa Berry of Searcy 
Arkansas, Ryan Feeney of Marietta, Georgia, Jenny Hall of Bartlett, 
Tennessee, Mike Hart of Monroe, Louisiana, Nikki Holzhauer of Columbus, 
Mississippi, Karen Jones of Collierville, Tennessee and Gina Yannitell 
of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The team participated in a trial involving a 
train which struck an automobile. Because evidence existed that both 
parties were negligent, the court had to decide proportional 
responsibility what damages would be awarded.
  This year, the team competed in the regional tournament which 
qualified it to compete in the national tournament in Des Moines, Iowa 
on April 5, 1995. A distinguished panel of Iowa Supreme Court Justices 
and federal judges judged the competition. The jury was comprised of 
prominent state and local citizens including Iowa Governor Robert Ray. 
Rhodes joined 72 other colleges and universities in Des Moines and 
defeated St. Johns University, Northwestern University, University of 
Minnesota, Dayton University and Loras College to win the national 
championship. Among the prominent schools that participated in the 
competition were Brown, Cornell, Duke, Grinnell, Johns Hopkins, 
Northwestern, and Yale.
  The Rhodes Mock Trial Team is carrying on the college's tradition of 
advocacy and debate. Its continued success is a tribute to the quality 
of higher education in Tennessee's Ninth Congressional District. I am 
proud and honored to recognize this important milestone.


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