April 25, 2002

NDSU Team Wins Communication Challenge

By performing an episode of the Jerry Springer talk show, nine North Dakota State University judging team members won the communication challenge held at the National Livestock and Meats Evaluation Contest held in St. Joseph, Mo. March 21-23.

Team members were Jordin Lursen from Milan, MN, Dean Knell from Hazen, ND, Cody Chesrewn from Turtle Lake, ND, Bleaux Johnson from Morristown, SD, Jacob Reister from Washougal, WA, Travis Engelhard from Donnybrook, ND, Jessica Barenthsen from Powers Lake, ND, Billie Galbreath from Enderlin, ND, and Jennifer Oelke from Glyndon, MN. The team was accompanied by Bert Moore, NDSU livestock judging coach, and Paul Berg, NDSU meats judging coach. NDSU was one of 13 universities represented at the competition.

The team, consisting of a combination of livestock and meat judgers, was the first NDSU group to receive top honors at the competition. The contest was started in 1963 with the communications portion added in 1992 in response to growing demand for improved communication, problem solving, and interpersonal skills in college graduates. "The challenge brings a whole new dimension to the contest and makes oral communication skills important," Moore commented.

The students were presented with a topic and given an hour to create a 12-minute presentation. This year’s topic debated the portion of the proposed farm bill that would eliminate packers from having contracts of finished animals prior to 14 days before slaughter. "We all knew something about the proposal, we just put our heads together and worked as a team," said team member Dean Knell.

By presenting the issue in a scene from the Jerry Springer talk show, team members played a variety of roles ranging from the producer to the consumer as well as the show bodyguard. "We tried to add some humor and still get our point across," stated Travis Englehard, who played the role of Jerry. "We just wanted to do something that would set us apart." Coach Moore was pleased with the teamwork of the students. "They put some energy and passion into the presentation."

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Source: Bert Moore, (701) 231-7651, bmoore@ndsuext.nodak.edu
Writer: Jessica Barenthsen, (701) 239-6189, jessica.barenthsen@ndsu.nodak.edu
Editor: Tom Jirik, (701) 231-9629, tjirik@ndsuext.nodak.edu

Click here for a higher resolution photo. (122KB jpeg photo)

Caption:
Back Row (L to R):
Coach Bert Moore, Jordan Lursen, Dean Knell, Coach Paul Berg
Middle Row (L to R): 
Cody Chesrewn, Bleaux Johnson, Jacob Reister, Travis Engelhard
Front Row (L to R): 
Jessica Barenthsen, Billie Galbreath, Jennifer Oelke