MUNSTER HIGH SCHOOL NOVICE DEBATE TOURNAMENT

 

Saturday, October 11, 2014

Munster High School

8808 Columbia Avenue

Munster, Indiana

 

The Munster High School Debate Team will host a Novice Debate Tournament on Saturday, October 11, 2014.  This tournament is intended as an introduction to debate for novice students and schools creating new debate programs.  Observers are not only welcome, but encouraged!

 

The tournament will feature four rounds of competition in policy, Lincoln-Douglas, and public forum and two sessions of congressional debate.

 

SCHEDULE:

Registration:  6:45 AM – 7:30 AM CST

Round One:  8:00 AM Congress Session One:  8:00 AM

Round Two:   10:00 AM

Lunch Break 11:30 AM

Round Three:12:30 PM Congress Session Two: 12:30 PM

Round Four:    2:00 PM

Awards:           4:00 PM (recognizing top eight contestants in each event)

 

IMPORTANT NOTICE:

When you arrive at MHS, you must use the C Door to enter the building.  Enter the faculty lot in front of the building, where you see the flagpole and main entrance (A Door).  C Door is on the north side of this lot and is well marked.  We will use the North wing of MHS for this tournament; there will be SAT testing taking place in the South wing and debaters are not permitted to enter this portion of our school.

 

EVENTS OFFERED AND TOPICS:

The tournament will feature four rounds of competition in policy, Lincoln-Douglas, public forum, and two sessions of congressional debate.  Students may enter only one (1) of these events.

 

DEBATE TOPICS:

Debate events will use NFL rules regarding speaking, cross examination and crossfire times and preparation time and argue the appropriate NFL resolutions unless otherwise noted.

 

Policy Debate:

CXD will use the 2014-15 NFL topic – Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase its non-military exploration and/or development of the Earth’s oceans.  We will observe the NFHS novice case restrictions (see below).  Each side will have five (5) minutes of prep time.

 

1. Accede to (or ratify) the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (Treaty) so that resources of the Arctic can be developed by the U.S.; or

2. Increase development of offshore aquaculture in U.S. ocean waters; or

3. Increase federal oil and/or gas leasing on the outer continental shelf; or

4. Increase offshore renewable energy development (offshore wind, ocean thermal gradients, wave power, or tidal barrages).

 

Lincoln-Doulas Debate:

LDD will use the "varsity" September/October 2014 NFL topic - Resolved: In just society, consent ought to be presumed for organ procurement.  We will not use the "national novice" topic.  Each debater will have four (4) minutes of prep time.

 

Public Forum Debate:

PFD will use the September/October 2014 NFL topic - Resolved: On balance, public subsidies for professional athletic organizations in the United Statees benefit local communities.  Each side will have two (2) minutes of prep time.

 

Congressional Debate:

SCD will debate the following six (6) IHSFA bills and resolutions: #5; #6; #9; #10; #12; #14.  All bills are available for download on the IHSFA website (www.ihsfa.org).  Each congress session will spend at least 30 minutes debating a bill before any contestant/debater/representative can move to close discussion and call the previous question.  It is our objective to have each chamber debate three bills before adjourning; the first chamber can choose its three bills, the second chamber will debate the remaining three.

 

For the purpose of this tournament, we will use the following classifications for debaters:

 

Novice:

Novice is defined as those students with 50 or fewer NFL points.  Competition at this tournament is limited strictly to novice students.

 

Junior Varsity:

JV is defined as those students with 51 to 249 NFL points.  Junior varsity students may serve as presiding officers in congress or as mentors/angels for policy and public forum teams or Lincoln-Douglas debaters.  A mentor/angel may flow the debate and assist a team/debater during preparation time, but not during speeches.  For maximum educational effectiveness, we recommend assigning one mentor to a team/debater for the tournament and not rotating them from round to round.  Mentors/angel will be used for ROUNDS ONE and TWO, but ALL debaters will be on their own for ROUNDS THREE and FOUR.

 

Varsity:

Varsity is defined as those students with 250 or more NFL points.  Varsity students are allowed to judge at this tournament.  A team may supply its entire quota of judges through the use of student judges.  These students should understand they are writing ballots for novice students, many of whom have never before debated in their lives.  BE KIND!  Disclosure and oral critiques are not permitted.  Save instructions for the ballot.

 

FOOD:

There will be food and beverages available for purchase and consumption at the school.  There is a designated lunch break plus we expect there to be enough time between rounds for students to grab some refreshments.  Sealable water bottles are permitted in debate rounds; no other food or drink is permitted outside of designated areas.

 

JUDGES:

Please bring one judge for every two entries in policy, Lincoln-Douglas and public forum and one judge for every six entries in congress.  By allowing student judges and requiring a 1:2 ratio, we hope to be able to single flight all LD and PF rounds to ensure a quicker tournament.  There are no limitations on entries; teams may bring as many teams/debaters as they desire, so long as they can cover their entry with judges.  Judges are not to leave the judges’ lounge between rounds; we may need an available judge to cover a debate or we may have questions about an incomplete ballot.  Judges should not walk away from the ballot table until released by the table staff.

 

REGISTRATION:

You may register online via Speechwire; your entry is due no later than Wednesday, October 8 at 5:00 PM.

 

Questions may be directed to Bob Carroll (rccarroll@munster.us or 708-254-2058).

(vr)