SpeechWire Tournament Services - Forensics Tournament Software

Invitation to WKU/Alumni Fall Tournament

Dear Colleagues:

Please help us kick off the 2018-2019 competition season by joining us in Bowling Green, KY September 22nd-23rd for the 2018 Western Kentucky University/Alumni Forensics Swing. The tournament will take place on the campus of Western Kentucky University and will include:

•   A Lincoln-Douglas Debate Tournament
•   A Lincoln-Douglas Debate Round Robin
•   2 Individual Events Tournaments
•   Novice divisions in debate and top novice in IE
•   Team Awards for the top three schools in debate and IE
•   Top Speaker Awards in debate
•   Quadrathon Awards (LD counts as 2 events towards eligibility)
•   Overall Awards for schools competing in both debate and IE

NEW OR STUDENT-RUN PROGRAMS WILL RECEIVE 50% OFF THEIR TOTAL ENTRY FOR THE TOURNAMENT. Please notify us.

More information is contained within the rest of this invitation regarding entries, hotels, food and scheduling. However, if you have any questions, please contact Chris Chandler by phone at 270.745.6340, or 270.202.2771 direct, or by email at christopher.chandler@wku.edu. We sincerely hope that if you attended this tournament last year that you will keep us on your travel schedule, and if you did not attend last year please consider adding us to your schedule. See you in September!

Sincerely,
The Western Kentucky University Forensics program

FEES:

LD Entry                                              $30.00 per debater
IE Slots (duo = two slots)      $8/per slot/per tournament
Uncovered LD Entry                         $75.00 plus entry fee
Uncovered IE Per Slot/Per Tmnt    $15.00 plus entry fee
Drops after the drop deadline      $25.00
No-Show/Unreported Drop             $50.00

All fees (entries, judges, drops, and no-shows/unreported drops) must be paid for any entry from a school to be eligible to advance to any elimination round or to be eligible to win any sweepstakes award. NEW OR STUDENT RUN PROGRAMS WILL RECEIVE 50% OFF THEIR TOTAL ENTRY FOR THE TOURNAMENT. Checks must be payable to "WKU Forensics."

REGISTRATION:

All registration is done online via Speech Wire.

INDIVIDUAL EVENTS:

Competition will be offered in all 11 AFA-NIET events. All events will follow the AFA-NIET rules. The events will be divided into the following patterns:

Pattern A: EXT, PERS, DUO, POI, CA, DI
Pattern B: PRO, INF, IMP, POE, ADS

Extemp prep will take place in the Faculty House (the cabin next to Garrett Conference Center). The use of internet for research during prep time is allowed and a guest network is available to all participants; however, the tournament cannot guarantee consistent access to this network throughout the weekend. Western Kentucky University is not responsible for any damage or theft of personal/team property left unattended in the Extemp prep room or anywhere else on campus.

DEBATE:

Lincoln-Douglas debate will follow the NFA-LD Debate rules (including both a warm room and the release of bracket prior to elimination rounds) and utilize the 2018-2019 NFA-LD debate topic. Speech times for LD will be the standard 6-3-7-3-6-6-3 with four minutes of prep time for each side. A ten minute forfeiture rule will be in place for LD. If a debater is not present and prepared to begin the debate ten minutes after the scheduled start time for the round, judges will be instruct to forfeit the absent debater. A forfeit will result in a loss and zero speaker points for the round. Any debater scheduled to debate an individual that forfeits will receive a bye for the round. ALL teams will be required to submit 1AC outlines to the tournament director prior to the start of the tournament. A detailed explanation can be found on page 8.

Note: to facilitate our tabulation and management of debate, we ask that you email (or send however) the NAMES, EMAIL, and CELL NUMBERS of all debate JUDGES and COMPETITORS. The goal is to digitize tabulation and publication to speed the debate tournament along (i.e.: texting you the postings, etc).

RESTRICTIONS:

Students in LD will not be able to enter in IEs on Saturday. Should a student qualify for the semifinal round of LD on Sunday, he or she will not be allowed to compete in more than one Pattern B event on that day (they can compete freely in Pattern A). It is our intent to also offer novice competition so long as entry numbers permit. In the event that we are unable to offer a full novice division, novices will compete in the open division and will be eligible for a Top Novice award.
Competitors may enter up to three events per conflict pattern, but are personally responsible for getting to all rounds in a timely manner. Students who are entered in multiple events should always sign in to all rooms before the round begins. Novice divisions in all events are limited to students in their first year of intercollegiate forensics competition.

JUDGES:
Each school is required to bring one judge for every 2 entries in debate. An IE judge covers 6 IE slots. If you do not bring enough judges, there is a hefty uncovered judge fee. In other words, please attempt to fulfill your commitment. If your school can supply judges beyond your commitment we will be happy to discuss possible reductions in entry fees.

DEADLINE:
Entries must be received by 4:00 PM Central Standard Time on Tuesday, September 18th. Registration will be done online via Speech Wire. You will have to create an account with them for your team. That system also allows you to check your entry at any time.

DROPS:
If you must drop an entry, please phone in or email the drop early so that we may make appropriate changes. The drop deadline will be noon on Thursday, September 20th. Any drops after the deadline will result in a $25 drop fee. Finally, there is no excuse for a student not showing up to a round or being an unreported drop; consequently a stiff nuisance fee of $50 will be accessed for any unreported drops.

DEBATE:
Awards will be presented to all debaters advancing to elimination rounds. In the event that a full novice division does not make, a final round between the top non-advancing novice debaters will be held. Speaker awards will be given to the Top Novice speaker and to the top 5 speakers in the open divisions of LD. Sweepstakes awards will be given to the top 3 schools participating in debate. For the purpose of calculating sweepstakes, a school will be awarded 1 point for each preliminary round win. Only the top four entries in each event from a school will count towards sweepstakes.

INDIVIDUAL EVENTS:
Awards will be given to all final round participants. Each half of the swing will also present quadrathon awards to the top 3 competitors. To be eligible for this award, a competitor must compete in at least 4 open division individual events and or debate. Any combination of four or more open events is permitted; however if a student is entered in two duos, only the top one will count toward the quadrathon award. Points for this award will be earned under the same system as the team sweepstakes awards. Sweepstakes awards will be given to the top 3 schools at each half of the swing and the top 3 schools that competed at both halves of the swing. Sweepstakes points will be earned as follows:

In preliminary rounds, all contestants will accumulate points with each rank of one worth three points, each rank of two worth two points, and each rank of three worth one point. In the event that semifinal rounds are necessary each break to semifinals will earn a school 2 points. In final rounds, schools will receive twelve points for a first place finish, ten points for second, eight points for third, six points for fourth, four points for fifth, and two points for sixth.

OVERALL:
There will be 3 overall sweepstakes awards given for those schools that competed in debate and individual events across both halves of the swing.

FOOD:
Food is available in the Garrett Conference Center, one level beneath the ballot table on Friday only. On Saturday and Sunday pizza will be available for purchase in Garrett Conference Center for $1 per slice. Food for judges will be available in the judge's lounge. When you’re away from the campus, Bowling Green has a wide variety of dining options, most of which can be found along Scottsville Road. A list of local dining options will be available in your registration packet.

DIRECTIONS:

1. Take Exit 26 off of Interstate 65.
2. Turn toward Bowling Green onto Cemetery Road.
3. Continue straight for three miles. Cemetery Road becomes Fairview Avenue. Continue going straight across 31-W Bypass. You will pass a fire station on your left. After passing the fire station, go through one traffic light and a stop sign, then turn left at the second stop sign onto College Street (this is a one-way street).
4. Stay on College Street through downtown Bowling Green and continue until you reach the top of the hill. College Street will dead-end at College Heights Boulevard at a statue of Henry Hardin Cherry.
5. Turn right onto College Heights Boulevard and stay in the right-hand lane. Veer left up the hill as you pass Cherry Hall and Gordon Wilson Hall. Veer left again after you pass Van Meter Auditorium (driving between Van Meter and Potter Hall).

PARKING:
Parking on Saturday and Sunday should be no problem, but please observe all restrictions and signs. University parking regulations are strictly enforced at all times.

More detailed parking maps are available on the Parking and Transportation website at http://parking1.wku.edu/dnn/default.aspx

HOTEL INFORMATION:

We have a discount with Holiday Inn, but have also listed other reliable options.

7-story atrium style hotel (that means you can stand in the middle of the hotel and see all of your student's rooms!).
Contact Jessica Warren at 270-393-8623 or Jessica.warren@atriumhospitality.com and ask for the "WKU Speech and Debate Tournament Rate" for a discounted rate that includes breakfast.
Call early to ensure guestroom and room type availability.

Hyatt Place: 270-467-0001 (right next to campus)
Staybridge Suites: 270-904-0480 (1.5 mi)
Microtel Inn: 270-745-9922 (5.1 mi)

SCHEDULE:
Entry Restrictions: No more than three IE’s per flight. Debate can do their IE’s only on Sunday.

Saturday, September 22 (WKU Portion)
7:00 – 8:00       Late IE/LD Registration – Main Lobby Garrett Conference Center
8:00           Extemp Draw; and LD Round 1
8:15           Pattern A Round 1(EXT, PERS, DUO, POI, CA, DI)
9:45           Pattern B Round 1 (PRO, INF, IMP, POE, ADS); LD Rd 2
11:15         Pattern B Round 2
1:15           Extemp Draw
1:30           Pattern A Round 2 and LD Round 3
2:45           Pattern B Finals and LD Round 4
4:00           Extemp Draw and LD Round 5
4:30           Pattern A Finals
5:00          LD Round 6
6:00           LD Elimination Round 1
ASAP Awards (for WKU portion of the IE Swing; during LD elim)

Sunday, September 23 (Alumni Portion)
8:00 – 8:30       Remaining Registration – Main Lobby Garrett Conference Center
8:30           Pattern B Round 1 and LD Elimination Round 2
9:45           Extemp Prep
10:00        Pattern A Round 1
11:30         Pattern B Round 2 and LD Elimination Round 3
1:00           Extemp Prep
1:15           Pattern A Round 2
2:30           Pattern B Finals and LD Elimination Rd 4 (if needed –round may be accelerated)
3:45           Extemp Prep
4:00           All remaining Finals
ASAP         Awards (for LD and the Alumni portion of the IE Swing)

PRE-TOURNAMENT AFFIRMATIVE DISCLOSURE:
During the early parts of the debate season, teams are often left scrambling to gather as much data as possible on the teams competing at tournaments. It is our opinion that is unfairly biases host schools, teams with larger squads, and teams with more judges in the judging pool. In order to encourage better debates, more in-depth early season research, and a more equitable playing field, Jessica Furgerson and John Boyer have worked to develop a potential solution. As we have done for the past two years at both the WKY Fall Tournament and the Lafayette College Tournament, entrants will be required to disclose their affirmative arguments prior to the start of the tournament. This information will be released to the participants during the tournament and to the public at the conclusion of the tournament.

Please follow the directions below to comply with the disclosure requirement:

1. Each debater is required to submit via email a digital outline with full citations (defined as being compliant with NFA-LD rules) of the 1AC they will read in their first affirmative round of the tournament. Outlines should be saved as a Word document or .pdf (as long as copy/paste is allowed from the .pdf) and emailed to wkuaffdisclosure@gmail.com. Outlines must be received NO LATER THAN Friday September 21st at NOON.
2. The case-list will be kept private by the tournament director until the conclusion of round 2. Once the first round 2 ballot is received by the ballot table, the case list will be released publicly. The case-list will be emailed to the email address provided at registration and will also be available on a thumb drive at the ballot table. The time between round 2 and 3 has been expanded to allow debaters a chance to review the case list prior to round 3.
3. If a debater makes any changes to their 1AC during the tournament or reads a new 1AC that was not submitted, they are required to provide revised or new outlines with full citations prior to awards. Revised and/or new 1AC’s should also be submitted to wkuaffdisclosure@gmail.com.
4. At the conclusion of the tournament, a comprehensive case list will be created and distributed publicly on the IE-L and on the NFA-LD Facebook group.

The intent of this policy is to result in the fair distribution of a complete and detailed case-list. Historical and more recent attempts at developing a case-list for NFA-LD have ranged from open source to opt-in arrangements. While I am extremely grateful for past efforts, this policy is an attempt to mainstream and institutionalize equitable access to information. Team size and number of judges should not give one school an information advantage over other schools.

Teams that fail and/or choose not to comply will not receive a copy of the caselist during the tournament and the tournament reserves the right to scout those rounds and include outlines of missing affirmatives in the case-list.

You will enter your open L-D and SATURDAY's IEs in this tournament. Sunday's IEs must be entered in the seperate "Sun" tournament listed further below on the list of tournaments. If you enter Sunday's IEs, therefore, you will have a SECOND fee sheet.

Note also that we (the host) will manually verify your registration and fee information after you've registered. Speechwire does not automatically support our complex tournament structure, so some meddling is required. The primary changes will be verifying that your judges are assigned to the proper event types (e.g.: A judge assigned to IE cannot also be assigned to LD) and that the resulting fees for insufficient judges is accurately reflected.

You will be able to modify your entry at will and at no cost until the Thursday mid-day deadline, at which point drop fees start to apply. If you've any concerns, simply email christopher.chandler@wku.edu

Also note that we must strictly apply our event restrictions as they are listed. At points in the past we made acceptions, but this usually created problems. That is a complication we wish to avoid, thus some of the entry restrictions. The website does not bar you from registering such mistakes, so we (the host) will manually check for such issues.

Chris Chandler
Email address: christopher.chandler@wku.edu
Phone number: 270-202-2771

Home - Order SpeechWire - Tournament results - Your account - Tournament manager

(vr)